Archive for November, 2006

Friday night I met Wife of 2 over at The Note to see Planes Mistaken for Stars play a show. It had been a couple years I think since I last saw them play so I was looking forward to seeing them again because the last two times I saw them they put on a great show. After downing a super-sized PBR (for only 2 bucks!), the first band was up on stage testing their equipment.

Viva La Foxx

Viva La Foxx

Viva La Foxx were the first band. They were a four piece band that featured two men and two ladies (bass and vocals). They were a sort of garagey rock and roll band. The singer danced around a lot while the band played their raunchy music. At one point I went to the bathroom and when I came out, she was on the floor dancing around. As I walked by her, she grabbed me by the shirt and started dancing on me. I can’t say it was at all unpleasant and it was pretty funny. They played about a half hour.

The North Atlantic

The North Atlantic

The North Atlantic were next. They were a mostly noisy post-punk band that reminded me of bands I would have gone to see regularly at Lounge Ax in the 1990s. I really liked about the first half of their set, but they started losing me when they played a couple longer and slower ones. One of their songs featured a keyboard and was pretty catchy. Overall I enjoyed their set for the most part and would definitely like to hear some more of their music, perhaps I’ll pick up one of their records.

Haymarket Riot

Haymarket Riot

Haymarket Riot followed and I was surprised to see a familiar face on stage setting up his drums. It turned out to be Brian W from Big’n. Some of you who have known me for a very long time may know that Big’n were friends of mine and that I started my record label by putting out two of their records way back around 1993. They played a rather hard edged indie rock that was mostly pleasing to my ears. Again they are a band I wouldn’t mind hearing more from again sometime.

Planes Mistaken for Stars

Planes Mistaken for Stars

Planes Mistaken for Stars finally took the stage and much as I suspected, they kicked a whole lot of ass. They have such a powerful energy live that doesn’t come across as well on their records, even though I enjoy their records. They played some new songs and a few older ones and barely stopped for air in between. Their one guitar player even has a clear guitar like Greg Ginn used to have. I liked every single song they played and when they finished some people were chanting they wanted more.

Planes Mistaken for Stars

Planes Mistaken for Stars

Overall it was a fun night out with a pretty solid lineup of bands. Sadly the club hardly had any lights so I had to use the flash but the sound in there was really good. Thanks to Brian at MPShows for comping me so I could come out to take pictures of the show.

Punk The Whole Story – Book
DK Publishing

It seems that now, some 30 years after a new style of music that came to be known as punk rock started, it has become a much more accepted (and co-opted) style of music and as a result there has been a lot of books and movies starting to come out documenting its past. Punk: The Whole Story is a very large hardcover book put out in association with Mojo Magazine that attempts to tell the story about how punk started and where it ended up.

Each Chapter of the book covers a specific time frame in punk’s lineage, and each chapter is divided up into different sections; each covering a specific band or person. The individual sections are very well written and seemingly well researched. You will learn how The Sex Pistols, Clash, Ramones, Damned, Television, and more discovered punk rock, met each other, and how they came to form bands. At some points in the various chapters, you get a break from the reading to have a few sections of some amazing photographs from the old days of punk rock. There is a lot of photos in the reading sections too of course and the layouts are generally really well done.

Reading through the book, it really does a good job educating you on the early days of UK punk and the New York scene. I learned a lot about bands like The Ramones and The Clash that I never knew before and even being as huge of a Sex Pistols fan as I am, I learned a lot about their history too that I didn’t already know. I know that the UK and NYC scenes have been covered a lot in other places but I believe there were things is this book that I didn’t read in other books. I was pretty captivated by it and found it hard to put down at times because I just wanted to keep reading and looking at more of the pictures.

For as many things as the book got right though, it isn’t without its flaws. For something touting itself as “the whole story” with the exception of a section on Black Flag, they pretty much completely ignore the hardcore punk scene of the 1980s. The book goes from doing a good job of the 1970s scene to skipping ahead to Green Day and closing with covering some punk deaths and a “what’s next” feature. It’s like they didn’t even know the hardcore scene existed! The other major flaw is in their listing of the “77 best punk records”. It starts off fine but when you list The Germs – Germicide LP as one instead of the (GI) album, that is just obvious that whoever slapped it together didn’t read heavily enough at whatever other sources they were using to pick these from that they picked the wrong record. Worse than that though, it starts off all well and good with some very accurate picks, but then they’ll throw some shit in there like The Hives. Excuse me?! You’ll proclaim that to be one of the 77 best “punk” records but Social Distortion’s Mommy’s Little Monster gets no mention?! While making a list of the best records is subjective and will vary from person to person, it is picking something like The Hives and The Libertines that make it obvious that some mainstream rock mag was responsible for this and not some true punk rock fan. In a book that limited its scope to mostly the 1970s and some of the 1980s, I wouldn’t be adding records to the list that were made recently, it just doesn’t fit.

One more glaring omission is the lack of coverage for the California scenes. There was almost nothing mentioned about the thriving Southern California punk scene that spawned so many great and influential bands, and no coverage of the Northern California scene either. Again, it makes the title of this book a little misleading.

Shortcomings aside, Punk The Whole Story did an admirable job on what they did choose to cover and the book was a fascinating read from cover to cover. You won’t breeze through this book quickly, there is a lot to read (and the print is small) and a lot to look at. When you do finish it, the attractive presentation and the wonderful photos contained inside would make a nice addition to your punk coffee table and is worth your time to check out.

Related links:

Order the book from amazon.com

DK Publishing

Mojo Magazine

Yesterday the mailman left me something to be thankful for this holiday. On my doorstep was a package of records from Lisa Fancher, owner of the wonderful Frontier Records. Inside was the three latest colored vinyl pressings of three of her best releases.

Christian Death – Only Theatre of Pain LP on clear vinyl. Now this death rock classic is pale and see-thru just like a death rocker!

Suicidal Tendencies first LP on clear vinyl, which also happened to be the only good record they ever did! Another classic!

If you want one them for your own punk vault or for those of a loved one for Xmas, go visit the Frontier Records website.

Thanks Lisa once again for the contribution to The Punk Vault!

Since the last time that Naked Raygun played a show and gave out some free shit, things have changed. They made families. It seems the entire Raygun staff has produced little Rayguns and they were all sitting on the side of the stage watching the show. When it was time for the first of three dispensing of “free shit” intermissions, the band brought their kids on stage and had them toss the stuff into the crowd.

Son of Raygun dispensing some free shit.

The roulette tape measure keychain.

The first item was a keychain that doubled as a roulette wheel and a tape measure. On the back of it was the old school NR logo. The kids started throwing them into the crowd and the crowd were going crazy trying to catch them. Some of the kids couldn’t quite clear the barrier so the security guards were picking up the missed ones and tossing them to the crowd. Spicer’s kid was right in front of me and simply handed me one. He was decked out in a Naked Raygun t-shirt and was sporting a mohawk.

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

After that, the band started playing again and the crowd resumed flying all over the venue and jumping up and down. I swear at times Jeff could have just held out the microphone and the crowd would have sang entire songs for as much singing along as they were doing. They did a couple of songs where Jeff played guitar, including “Peacemaker” which is my favorite song on All Rise! Every song sounded great, and better than the last few times I saw them play even before they broke up.

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

As time flew by, it came time to be round two of the free shit. This time it was these plastic hands that would make a clapping noise if you shook them back and forth. Once again Spicer’s son handed me one.

Spank you very much

Free shit for everyone!

After the stuff was gone, the band was about to start playing again when they announced for the next song they would have a special guest join them on stage. Now I had peeked at the set list a few times on the stage and knew what was coming next in the way of songs, but had no clue what the special guest was. I thought maybe they were going to bring out a former band member to play or something but who it turned out to be made the song they were about to play something pretty spectacular.

Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers and Naked Raygun

Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers and Naked Raygun

They brought out Jake Burns from Stiff Little Fingers to sing “Suspect Device”! When I saw that song listed on the set list I was wondering why they’d bother since they had so many of their own great songs to sing, but once they brought out Jake it all made sense! It was incredible. The crowd went absolutely apeshit for that song, everyone was singing the chorus.

Naked Raygun

The crowd during Naked Raygun

When the song finished, Jake left the stage and they played a few more songs and then came the final dispensing of the free shit. This time Spicer’s son gave up on trying to throw the stuff and just started handing me the stuff and had me throw it for him.

Naked Raygun buttons

Naked Raygun

The last item was Naked Raygun buttons. There were two different ones, black or white. They had a ton of them and it felt like a good 5 minutes or more that they were handing them out. At this point the band had been on stage for about an hour and it looked like they didn’t intend on stopping.

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

Eventually they stopped playing and left the stage only to come back a few minutes later for the first encore, which included the mighty “I Lie”. It sounded even better than it did the night before. They played another song and left the stage again, only to return to close the show with “New Dreams”. I thought that was a great song to go out on. When they left, the lights came on and they opened the doors to escort out the people as the show went way over its scheduled time. I’m sure no one there minded, from top to bottom it was a solid show. I packed up my gear and left exhausted and elated from a full day of some great old punk rock and recapturing a little bit of my youth.

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

Riot Fest 2006 far exceeded my high expectations. It was better than last year’s show (which ended up being a lot of fun) in every way; better lineup, better organized, all in one day, and a better crowd. I think you might be hard pressed to find someone who disagrees.

Some post show thoughts:

- Riot Mike did a hell of a job putting this show together and it was run smoothly. I’d also like to personally thank him for the pass and accommodations. He went above and beyond the call of duty in hooking me up and letting me stay in the barricade shooting through the entire Naked Raygun set while others had to go. He is a real fan of the punk rock and an all around good guy.

- The security crew from what I could see from being up there with them most of the time did a stellar job as well. They were catching the crowd surfers and gently putting them back on their feet and out the side of the barrier back into the crowd. I never once saw them harm anyone or display any attitude.

- Regardless of my personal opinion on the horn bands, every band I saw up on that stage were entertaining and gave it their all. I don’t think anyone half-assed it up there and it made even the bands whose music I wasn’t a fan of worth watching at least part of their sets.

- The bathrooms at the Congress Theater are pretty nasty, but the theatre itself I actually like. I certainly am a fan of the stage lighting and the barricade! All these photos were shot with my Tamron f2.8 28-75mm lens.

- It’s now a couple weeks later and I am still happy from what a good time the show was. This show was as much fun for seeing friends and hanging out between bands as it was for seeing such a great lineup of longtime favorite bands.

More photos not seen here and larger sized ones are up on my flickr page.

After the amazing performance that 7 Seconds put on, I was really excited to witness the reuniting of the best post-1989 Chicago punk band, one who I saw play a handful of times during their existence and who always put on a great show.

The Bollweevils

The Bollweevils

The Bollweevils set up their gear and got going. Not even two minutes into their first song it was evident that the band still had it, even though they haven’t played a show in years. It was like they never quit. They were full of energy and they played one great song after the next. Their style of music was definitely inspired by Naked Raygun, which is part of what made them so catchy. When they played “Dehumanize” I had a grin from ear to ear. Their singer, Dr. Darryl, was all over the stage and even did a stage dive off the monitors inside the barricade into the crowd, which was a pretty far jump! I didn’t want them to stop playing and when they were done, I was a little sad that it could very well be the last time I ever get to see them unless they decide to do any more reunion shows. Darryl said “never say never”, but made it seem unlikely that they’d do it again. It was a real treat to get to see them one more time in my life and I’m really happy to have been there.

Blue Meanies

Blue Meanies

There was only one more band to go before the main event and it wasn’t a band I was a fan of or very familiar with. The Blue Meanies got on stage with their large ensemble and got to work. As the band started playing, their singer came strutting out and around the stage. They had horns, and keys and were pretty upbeat and they didn’t really sound much like the other bands that played before them. While musically they weren’t my cup of tea, they were quite the showmen and I found them to be very entertaining to watch despite not being a fan of the songs so much. The singer sang a lot through a megaphone which I thought made for a pretty cool effect. For the last song, they had a couple of drag queens come out and sing and that song was easily the most entertaining of the lot, and I found myself starting to like it. They definitely surprised me in how entertaining they were. I’d go so far to say that I might even want to see them play again sometime should they ever do another show like this.

The Crowd of Riot Fest

After they were done, anyone who may have been sitting it out in the lobby or the bathrooms came pouring into the theater and the place was packed from wall to wall, front to back. People surged forward trying to get closer to the action they were anticipating. I saw the poor people in front of the barricade practically being smashed thinner from the force of the people trying to pack themselves into the main floor. I knew the security inside the barricade where I was were going to have their hands full even more than they had the entire evening up to that point. It seemed like an eternity waiting for the band to get on stage and start the show.

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun got up there picked up their gear and upon the first notes of “Home of the Brave” the place went crazy. Not even 90 seconds into the song, the band suddenly stopped playing. Apparently something had gone wrong. Jeff was complaining about the microphone stands and the microphones themselves. He wanted a regular mic stand with a heavy round base, not the flimsy tripod gimmicks that were set up and he wanted a mic that wasn’t cordless. He looked pretty annoyed and the rest of the band seemed to be a bit of the same. My initial thought was “oh no, this could be very bad”.

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

A couple minutes and only one replaced mic stand later, the band tried again and restarted. This time every thing seemed right. In fact, it was more than right, it was great. They played hit after hit. By the second or third song they seemed to hit their stride and everything was sounding tight and perfect. I had already seen them twice in the past two weeks doing warm up shows for this big event so I had high hopes for them this evening and so far they were not letting me down. Songs like “Vanilla Blue”, “Knock Me Down”, “Surf Combat”, and “Gear” sounded as good as they ever did. The crowd were going insane, there was crowd surfers flipping over the barricade every couple of minutes and the large security force was catching them carefully and safely escorting them out the side of the barricade back into the crowd.

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

A handful of songs into the set and the crowd starting chanting for “free shit”. For those who are not familiar, Naked Raygun had a tradition at their shows of throwing free shit into the crowd such as combs, flyswatters, pens, key chains, etc, all emblazoned with the Naked Raygun name on them and sometimes a clever message. At the handful of shows I saw back in the day, I never once caught any of the free shit as people would get violent trying to get it! This evening since I had the luxury of being inside the barricade up in front of the stage, I was hoping my chances of snagging something would be good.

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

So when the chant for free shit started getting louder than people requesting songs, the band decided now was a good time to give away something…

To be continued!

More photos after the jump.

The Stern brothers set up their equipment on stage and I was getting pretty excited about seeing them again. After some fiddling around with equipment for what felt like longer than the last few bands, they were finally ready to play.

Youth Brigade

Youth Brigade

Youth Brigade tore into their set and quickly had the now extremely large crowd moving around. It’s pretty amazing that they haven’t really stopped playing in well over two decades and that those older songs sound as good now as they did back then. They also threw in a fair amount of newer material and occasionally between songs, Shawn Stern would say some things regarding the Bush administration and how things are as fucked up now as they were back when Youth Brigade started. They closed with “Sink with California” and the crowd wanted more. One song they didn’t play was “Men in Blue” which happens to be the first song I ever heard from them back when I was a freshman in high school and still remains one of my two favorite Youth Brigade songs. Had they included it, I would have said they played a near perfect set. Still, it was a very solid performance that left the crowd and myself smiling.

Mustard Plug

Mustard Plug

Next up were Mustard Plug who continued what seemed to be a pattern of every other band being a “horn group”. Another ska/punk fusion. This was the first time I’ve heard their music and to be honest there wasn’t much in it to differentiate it from the other horn bands of the evening but again trying to get me to judge their music is about as futile and effort of me trying to describe and judge classical music; it’s just not something I know about or have an interest in. For what it was they were just fine. I snapped some pictures and then went to take a walk. By this time the place was even more full and the stream of people coming in just seemed to be endless. It was a good thing the Congress Theater is so large because they were going to need the space to hold this massive crowd that just kept growing.

7 Seconds

7 Seconds

7 Seconds took the stage next and I was looking forward to seeing them again as it has probably been 10 years since I last saw them. Since the last time I witnessed them, Kevin grew a beard and was looking kind of rugged, and they added a guitarist which left Kevin to just sing and not play guitar (the last time I saw them I’m fairly certain they were a 3 piece, however Gentleman Jim may have been playing with them, I can’t recall). The guitar player had a huge 7 Seconds logo tattoo going down his forearm so I would imagine he must be a permanent fixture in the band, that or he was a huge fan and landed his dream gig of being in his favorite band!

7 Seconds

7 Seconds

The band played with a fury and power that I don’t think they’ve had since the early days. They played a ton of old material and Kevin was all over the stage and down on the floor singing with the crowd who were going crazy climbing all over each other and singing along to all the songs. I swear these guys must have somehow tapped into their youth because you’d be hard pressed to believe it was guys in their 40’s up on that stage and not a bunch of teenagers. I was completely blown away by their set as was everyone I talked to. I thought Kevin’s constant beckoning for the crowd to move around was a little unnecessary and borderline cheesy because the crowd were pumped up and going crazy thanks to their spot-on performance. I’m still in awe of the intensity that came off that stage during their set. At one point some dude named Toby from the band H20 came out and sang a song with them. The crowd went especially crazy for “99 Red Balloons”, and the closer, “Walk Together Rock Together”. Much like Youth Brigade, when 7 Seconds were done, the crowd wanted more. They easily could have come up for an encore had time permitted. I popped big time when they played “Regress No Way”.

At this point in the show, I was quite happy as I had just witnessed a few long-time favorite bands play some great sets and one of the best newer Chicago punk bands who I saw a bunch of times before they broke up in the 1990s was about to take the stage and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Tune in next time for part four!

You should know the drill by now, more photos can be seen by clicking below.