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.

2011 Riot Fest - Day 4 - October 8, 2011

It seemed like we just went to bed, but it was time to head to the Congress Theater for some more Riot Fest.  We arrived just in time to make sure we could buy some Descendents t-shirts.  I bought two just like I did at the ALL show on Thursday.  Unfortunately, they did not have any Congress pizza when we arrived.  We did partake eating a few slices throughout the day though.  Nothing beats that $5 slice.  I settled for a cheeseburger to get started for the day.  I must note that I did not partake in any adult beverages during this event.  Of course, we had to be there right when the doors opened as Earthdog can't miss a note during Riot Fest :).

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).

Stiff Little Fingers - Double Door, Chicago - 2011-08-17

http://www.slf.com/
http://www.flatfoot56.com/
Ticket price = $20 (at the door)

I went to the show with my friend Matt S. from work. We got to the city before the doors opened so we went to The Pint (Edog knows the place) and had a few beers and a burger.

The first band, The Rambos, tried to sound like X. Interesting band - 2 guitars, stand up drummer w/ no kick drum, and female backing vocals. The novelty wore off after the 1st song we heard.

Up next were Chicago's own Flatfoot 56. As usual, they brought their brand of Celtic Oi! with them. This was the first time I had seen them as a 5 piece. I think I liked the 4 piece unit better. I could have done without the new songs (unrecorded as of this date) that they played live for the first time. They ended the set with 'Amazing Grace'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np7IjmgbCx8&feature=related Overall, it was nice to see them again before the Riot Fest.

Finally, SLF hit the stage. It was interesting to note that their bass player this evening was from the Chicago band Dummy. I believe he plays in a Chicago punk cover band with Jake Burns. This is the 3rd time I have seen them in about 5 years, and it was the best. Jake's vocals were much better than the other times. No new songs were played which was a bit of a disappointment as I really wanted to hear 'Liar's Club' again. About every 3rd song, Jake spoke about the meaning behind the next song. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear what he was saying. Overall, I had a great time and was glad that I attended. Here is the setlist.

01 Roots, Radicals, Rockers, and Reggae (1981 - Go For It LP) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyBQESqzfDo
02 At the Edge (1980 - Nobody's Heroes LP)
03 Nobody's Hero (1980 - Nobody's Heroes LP)
04 Silver Lining (1981 - Go For It LP)
05 Straw Dogs (1979 single)
06 Just Fade Away (1981 - Go For It LP)
07 Listen (1982 single)
08 Doesn't Make It Alright (1980 - Nobody's Heroes LP)
09 Barbed Wire Love (1979 - Inflammable Material LP)
10 Strummerville (2004 - Guitar and Drum CD)
11 Wasted Life (1979 - Inflammable Material LP) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kImXKQGpZdE
12 Fly the Flag (1980 - Nobody's Heroes LP)
13 Tin Soldiers (1980 - Nobody's Heroes LP)
14 Suspect Device (1979 - Inflammable Material LP)
15 Johnny Was [encore #1] (1979 - Inflammable Material LP)
16 I Fought the Law [encore #2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJllZpV2oak
17 Alternative Ulster (1979 - Inflammable Material LP) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU7aVjJ_SJs

 I saw the following people at the show.

Jeff Pezzati - vocals, Naked Raygun
Eric Spicer - drums, Naked Raygun
Rob Villanueva - lead singer, I Attack
Justin, record label owner of Shot Baker's label
Senor Citizen - guitar, Destroy Everything
Jeff Dean - guitar extraordinaire, 50+ Chicago bands including The Bomb, Noise by Numbers, All Eyes West, etc.

Sorry.  No good pics from this show as the lighting at the venue is horrible for photos more than 3ft from the stage.  I did manage to take this pic of Flatfoot 56 from my cell phone.