The Evening Rig

There is no denying that times are tough right now, with the unemployment rate at a 20+ year high, gas prices creeping well above four dollars a gallon—the list could go on and on. This being said, I cannot think of a better show to attend to boost morale or, depending on how some of us might be feeling, allow one to wallow in self-pity. This four-band, quadruple shot of rock, Americana, and/or alt-country is headlined by the Evening Rig, whose brand of rock flirts minimally with the fringes of country, with their romantically raw, noisily stunning rock steeped in obvious Replacements fandom without seeming like copycats. Western Fifth, in slight contrast to the more-spirited Evening Rig, is a bit darker, just that much more alt-countrified—lushly fuzzed-out and sometimes mournful. Straggly-looking Chicagoans Sleeper Car open with their fully realized alt-country, complete with steel guitar, wistful harmonies, and fiddle. Nestled in between all of this are local upstarts Prairie Sons, who have yet to set their music to wax, playing in the hard-living facade of the Hexagon Bar. 21+.
Thu., June 19, 9 p.m., 2008