Hokey smokes Bullwinkle! Walking up to the Subterranean to see Naked Raygun’s not so secret show under the Ukrainian translation of their name and we see Seattle’s Briefs on the bill as well. With the Bomb also playing… What a stellar line up!
Four Star Alarm opened the evening and if I’m not mistaken they included at least one member of the Bomb. They played well, had a potentially interesting sound that was based in some of the more melodic pop punk acts of the day. The crowd seemed to appreciate them. Next up, The Bomb, who obviously went over well. Pezzatti’s trademarked crowd participation vocals made it almost sound like an old Raygun show.
The surprise guests turned out to be the Briefs who had played an earlier show at the Metro. They went over well, but didn’t receive as much appreciation as they should have, probably because a lot of the crowd was unfamiliar with them and they were almost intruders in an intimate Chicago punk evening. Chicago punk loves it’s heros, so it could have been a tough crowd to crack. They played a blistering set, and the crowd finally erupted during the last song which was a dead on cover of the Angry Samoans’ Todd Killings.
Lastly, Naked Raygun. It was great to hear those old songs live again and the crowd loved it. No bouncers meant eventual mayhem on the stage but everyone was cool and there were no problems. I can’t remember the last time I saw a punk show at a venue where there weren’t any bouncers and anyone could do basically whatever they wanted. It was beautiful. The encore was started with the audience singing the chorus of I Lie and surprisingly the band actually launched into it. I don’t think that it was planned. I’ve seen more than a handful of Naked Raygun shows over the years since the days of Throb Throb, and I’ve never heard them play that song song live. I think Pezatti was the only guy on stage that actually played in the lineup that recorded that tune, but it’s a tune that their fans have identified the band with and clamored for during the rest of the band’s existence and five major releases. Hearing it live was a rare treat. The crowd’s collective voice overpowered the Jeff’s vocals the most part, he didn’t need to sing much of it at all.
I’ve got more pictures and better versions of these, but I’m on the road and don’t have the time to wrestle Gimpshop. When I get back to Portland and a proper copy of photoshop I’ll post more. There were cameras and video in the crowd so I’m sure more pics will turn up soon. Today is the proper Riot Fest show and I almost don’t want to go as I had such a good time last night.
5 comments
ShackleMeNot
That was a great show. I was jumping off the stage every 2 minutes.
Lulu
I was one of those 10 women in SubT on Saturday night. It was an old, male crowd for the most part, although not as old at the Cobra Lounge show 2 weeks ago.
I thought the show was way oversold and too crowded, as well as terribly mixed. Sure the crowd is part of the fun, but that was borderline dangerous.
We were up front for Four Star Alarm (and yes, that was Jeff Dean from The Bomb and about 4 other bands playing) the Bomb, and The Briefs, but moved toward the back for NR as didn’t want to get trampled. And you could barely hear anything from where we were standing.
I agree that the crowd was kind of lame when The Briefs were playing. This chick standing next to us gave my friend a too-cool-for-school glare when we started jumping around. I thought one of the joys of being 40 was not feeling the need to pose anymore. Oh well.
House of Neil
Randy gave a fine writeup, but was too generous on one point. Older “punk” are some of the most reactionary people you will ever meet. Stuck in their ways, seemingly lacking the willpower to discover any new bands. That’s why the reunion shows do so well: most of the mid-30s set stopped trying 20 years ago, preferring to retreat into the comfort of the bands they knew in 1989. “There’s no good bands today”. Piss right off. There’s plenty of great bands playing today. You’ve just got to get off your fat arse and do a little digging. What made me so angry? The Briefs played an amazing, tight , fun as hell set, and were met with a wall of indifference from most of the aging ballsniffers in the crowd. Then the fucking misfits came on the PA and the crowd sang along as one. Made me fucking mental.
Sorry for the swearing Randy, but it really pissed me off. Punk rock should breed the most open-minded of music listeners, but most are sheep who are closeted into a corner with their Misfits and Minor Threat records. Not that there’s anything wrong with those records, but there’s some amazing music being put out today. get out there and find it.
End of rant.
Kilwag (k.ed)
I think my wife was one of 10 women at the club. Packed. Lot’s of crusty old Chicago punks, some younger kids, but mostly an older crowd. A lot of fans from earlier days.
brad
That looks rad. As always I’m really curious who was there. Lots of kids? Were you the lone old man? Were there people we knew from the ’80’s? Hip/jaded old timers still inthere leather jackets? Any girls we used to know?