I was talking to Larry Gates last week about the local music scene in Chicago. It seems to me that there are a lot of locals that dismiss Chicago bands. I noticed that there was a show at Schuba’s tonight featuring a couple of local bands, so I thought that I would check it out.

Tennis Courts (MySpace) opened. Nice pop punk band. Loud, Rawkus, Fun, Rock. Usually I don’t like it when the drummer tries to get into the act of entertaining. Sometimes it is just distracting. I’ll forgive this one tonight, because he was a great drummer. The whole band had a lot of energy and it was fun listening to them. I think that they are pretty new together, so there were a few snafus, but nothing that won’t work out in time.

Next up was a San Francisco band Love Like Fire (MySpace). These folks put on a great show, lights and smoke and all. Great vocals from the lead singer. There seems to be a lot of indie rock with interesting female vocals lately. They fit into this category, but seem to pull it off well. Definitely not a bad copy of any of the other ones.

Company of Thieves (MySpace) was headlining the night. They had a really good following. The crowd was really into the show, and singing along throughout. I still haven’t made up my mind about this band. There were times when they were brilliant. Lead singer with a powerful voice, and the band melding together to form a well balanced sound. At other times the band seemed to clash and it just became noise — bad bass tones, noise guitar, and loud drums, all drowning out the vocals. But when it was good it was great, so I will be checking them out again. For my old friends in Champaign, they will be playing down there on Friday. I would have recommended the show, but it is at the Courtyard, which may very well be the worst venue in town. I hope it turns out for them.

Another good night of music. The place was packed, and into the show. You can’t really ask for much more from a music scene. (Even on a Sunday Night). I am yet again a little drunk. That seems to be happening a lot lately.