2012-07-14 Tonight We Unite! Tour

Last night, my wife and I headed south to Joliet, IL to catch the Tonight We Unite! tour.  On the way, we went to pick up Down by Law's guitarist, Sam Williams III, at the Midway airport.  We chatted with Sam on the 30 minute ride to the venue in Joliet, IL - Mojoe's.  Sam filled us in on the status of Pseudo Heroes, The Spears, and his heavy metal band with the lead singer of The Accused.  Sam was nice enough to leave me a DVD of the Spears who have a new demo complete and are looking for a label to release their new CD.  We then met up with the rest of the band at a Chicago Style BBQ shop.  We spent some time talking with DBL's lead singer, Dave Smalley, before we each went our separate ways prior to the show.

By the time we got back to the venue after buying an air conditioner and spending $175 on alcohol at Kenwood Liquors in Homer Glen, we missed some of the bands - The Horrids and The Sheds.  I did, however, pick up 4 additional flavors of Van Gogh vodka that I did not have.  I will save that for another post.

First up for us was Chicago's Flatfoot 56.  I have had to see this band about 10 times by now.  They always put on a good show for their local fans and seem to be real nice guys.  In addition to older tracks like "Chi-Town Beatdown", they played a few newer tracks including "I Believe It" and "I'll Fly Away" from their newest CD Toil.  We enjoyed their set.

The Lower Class Brats from Austin, TX were up next.  They played their Clockwork Orange style street punk for the fans.  The crowd were into them.  I am not a big fan, but do not mind seeing them play.  They have a lot of energy and can stir up a crowd.

Down by Law hit the stage next.  Their sound does not quite fit in with the street punk or psychobilly sound of the rest of the bands on this tour.  After a few songs, the crowd did begin to get into the band and a circle pit started here and there throughout the rest of the set.  The band was in top form and Dave's vocals were great as usual.  During "Gruesome Gary" Dave pulled up the 14 year old guitar player, son of Flatfoot 56's drummer and member of The Sheds, to play guitar.  That will be a memorable event for the young lad who performed quite admirably.  I was able to meet a new person from Daghouse, the Dag Nasty messageboard, during the set.  Jason was in town from Kitchener, Ontario with his daughter for a volleyball clinic, and they made it to the show.  It is always nice to meet another Daghouser, and once again another stand up person.  Before "Heroes & Hooligans", Dave, the classy guy that he is, personally thanked my wife and I for coming out to the show to see the band play.  Here is the play list to the best of my memory, but not in order.

Independence Day
Right or Wrong
American Dream
The Last Brigade
Flower Tattoo
500 Miles
Punk As Fuck
Heroes & Hooligans
Gruesome Gary
Radio Ragga
No Equalizer

The Casualties from NYC were up next.  The young kids went ape shit for these guys.  Lots of kids running up on stage skanking around and then jumping off the stage over the barrier into the crowd.  I can get into the sound of some of their songs, but could not discern the vocals.  After a while, all of the songs began to blend together as one very long song.  I did enjoy their cover of Motorhead's "R.A.M.O.N.E.S.".

Dave was nice enough to come out and meet up with us during the end of the Casualties set and chat.  We spent about 30 minutes together catching up in between other fans like myself who wanted to chat with him.  He is a good friend.  I wish him and his bands a safe and successful remainder of their tour.  The band has merch to sell on tour.  I picked up an XXL tour shirt and their new CD that is coming out on August 9th on DC Jam Records - Champions At Heart.  Be sure to support these guys when they come through town and by their CD at Interpunk or Amazon if you don't get to see the tour.

Unfortunately for the Nekromantix, about 2/3 of the crowd departed before they came on the stage to play including us.  It was a great day.  Thanks again to Dave, Sam, and the DBL band and crew for spending time with us.