Up first, we had the Cheap Girls. They may have been more entertaining in a small venue. The echo of the big theater with a very, very small crowd killed their sound. Up next were Carbondale, IL's The Copyrights. I have seen them several times at Riot Fest and once or twice at Insubordination Fest in Baltimore. I really like the show these guys put on. I think they get ripped off by playing early. The played some of my favorites - "Let's Get the Fuck Out of Here", "Shit's Fucked", "57 North", "Thinking with the Lights On". They were followed by Larry and His Flask. Now this is quite an interesting band. They would make a great concert tour with Reverend Peyton. The band had an acoustic guitar, a banjo, a fucking crazy stand up bass player who was all over the stage and damn near in the crowd, an electric guitar, a fiddle, stand up drums, and then some band members switched to horns and harmonicas throughout the set and sometimes in the same song. They sure had the crowd going crazy while my lazy, tired, hungover ass sat on a seat at the back of the venue. Chicago's own Shot Baker hit the stage next. They were a little pissed that they had to follow Larry again like they did at Riot Fest East in Philly a few weekends earlier. These guys just get better every time I see them. I can't wait for the new recordings that they are putting down in the next few months. They played my favorites (some of which they have not played the last few times I have seen them) - "World She Hides", "Bred to Be Perfectionists", "So Alone", and my ultimate favorite "Sorry, Illinois". Thanks for another great show guys!! I headed back to a seat to rest for the next two bands - The Flatliners from Toronto and The Menzingers from Philly. Let's be clear it was not the bands fault. I had a few too much hops and barleys the first 3 nights of Riot Fest. These bands had the crowd going. I may have enjoyed them more at a smaller venue. Chicago's Flatfoot 56 followed them. I was still sitting down, but the boys once again delivered the goods. Some don't like their Christian rock influence which they did not push this evening. It may have been one of their better shows which included - "Smoke Blower", "Stampede", "Chi-town Jailbreak", "Warriors", and a few new never before played tunes that I will be looking forward to picking up when they come out. Strike Anywhere from Richmond were next. These guys are hit or miss for me, but the crowd loved them. I must admit that I left to get some Congress pizza during their set. Next were Leftover Crap (Crack). I don't know how anyone can like these guys, but the kids dug them. We left before the first song finished. Total shite!! Detroit's Suicide Machines were next. I have not seen them since I last saw the Descendents at the New Daisy Theater in Memphis back in the day (Shades Apart rocked during that show too!). These guys have been hit or miss for me throughout the years. Tonite, they fucking tore the house down!!! I have not seen that much excitement in quite a long time. The lead singer, who puked in the car the night before while out with Jeff Pezzati and Jeff Dean of The Bomb, was all over the place - on the barricade, on top of the crowd, and in the crowd. I have never seen so many people cross my path out of the pit bleeding in all my years. I told Earthdog that I would hate to be Milo following the set of that guy. Much to the dismay of my pal, mxv, they played two Black Flag songs that got the crowd going. They also played - "Sometimes I Don't Mind", "The End of the World (As We Know It)", "New Girl", and "War Profiteering" which tour the fucking roof down at the Congress.
Well ladies and gents, the time came for arguably the best punk rock band ever from the USA to hit the stage - The Descendents. I, to this day, remember the day my friend Larry played the Milo Goes to College LP for me in his bedroom. I have not been the same since. Milo Came From Dupont hit the stage and the crowd went nuts - a bunch of 40+ year olds like me in attendance. You have to remember, I have only seen this band once. That was in Memphis on April 4, 1997 (near a first date anniversary with my current wife). I remember being out in front of the venue before it opened talking with Stephen who just got off the pay phone (sure you all remember what that was) with his girlfriend. We discussed how disappointed ALL was with the Breaking Things CD. Milo had just came back for the Everything Sucks CD which rocked. This night again was magical. Milo even had stage props for the song "All-O-Gistics"!! I borrowed this photo from a Daghouse member, johnw.
Since The Business could not make it to the USA to play the scheduled show at the Cobra Lounge for health reasons, I convinced Earthdog we needed some rest and we should decline to see the Cro-Mags take their place. He bargained and required we see the secret show on Sunday night to replace a show we were missing.
We managed to see Daghouse buddies Bill (working merch), MXV (taking photos), and Jaygun aka Jeff Dean (with wife and daughter), and Tom M throughout the day. We also spent some time talking with Tony, lead singer for Shot Baker, and had a brief chat with Darryl, lead singer for the Bollweevils, who was standing next to us waiting for the Descendents. We found out his favorite band was the Descendents and that the Bollweevils were looking for a bass player. I tried to get Earthdog the gig, but he declined to move to Chicago from Boston much to my shigrin (at least until after I visit him to see the Dropkick Murphys play their St Pat's hometown shows).
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