Tony Lucca At Space In Evanston, March 1, 2011.

Tony Lucca played a show on March 1st at Space in Evanston, a small, but not too small, venue in one of the few Chicago suburbs worth visiting (no offense Schaumburg!). Lucca has six studio records out and his latest is, Rendezvous With The Angels, features Sara Bareilles. Lucca opened for her on a recent tour.

Lucca's three-piece band are not going to appeal to all you punk rockers out there. They are a three piece who infuse a great deal of acoustic (be it guitar or piano) songs into the set and have an almost bluesy tinge.

For info and tour dates www.tonylucca.com

Lucca also did something many might think impossible; He played a cover of Billy Joel's Vienna and I didn't run screaming from the room. His version was so  emotive it made me think not only "Billy Joel did actually write some good songs" but "I should listen to some old Billy Joel records."  NOW, if you do not want to go back to the works of Joel, fair enough, but Lucca's new record also includes his version of, Vienna.

Tony Lucca playing Billy Joel's Vienna (I think)

A little tidbit of information Tony Lucca is probably sick to death of having disseminated is that, as a kid, he was on the Mickey Mouse Club, sharing the stage with the likes of Justin Timberlake. The thing is, there really is no connection between Lucca and that any more than there is between Tom Hanks being the co-star on that show where he had to wear a dress with Peter Scolari (who now does ED commercials).

I did some interviews with a clean-shaven Lucca a few years back about his music gear. He was pleased to be talking about gear and not all the starlets he'd dated or known.

I always try to post one drummer photo.

Space is a non-profit (The Society For The Preservation of Art & Culture in Evanston). The venue is all ages and caters to a pretty wide variety of bands but with a definite slant to the singer/songwriter, folksy, blues and lighter rock varieties. It isn't a good bet for Death Metal.