Together Again

Fig Dish
Schubas, Chicago
Saturday, March 4, 2006

When we last heard from Fig Dish, they were two different bands called Caviar and Ness. Food association notwithstanding, the band were a late addition to the Chicago major-label surge in the mid 1990s, pimping their dense power pop at a time when (Everclear, Spacehog) it seemed like a purty good idea.

On tour for 1995’s debut, That’s What Love Songs Often Do, they encountered a how-they-survived-no-one-knows van crash, which destroyed almost all their equipment. The same, grim 1996 evening, drummer Andy Hamilton subtracted himself. Minor (mainly regional) airplay for the “Seeds” single carried zero momentum into a second album no one wanted to promote (When Shove Goes Back To Push), and there Fig Dish died. Bassist Rick Ness began his eponymous project while Blake Smith and Mike Willison created the similarly minded Caviar, which likewise suffered without their label’s commitment.

A reunion now? Caviar just played last month and Ness has almost finished mixing Up Late With People, set for spring release. When it comes to Fig Dish, stranger things have happened.

Idle Hands will open; the 10 p.m. Fig Dish concert is a separate, later event than Steve Forbert, whose show begins at 7 p.m.

— Steve Forstneger

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly