Archive for April, 2007

Friday night I went over to House of Blues to see Naked Raygun, The Bollweevils, The Effigies, and Shotbaker play a show. Due to my having to work, and the shitty rush hour traffic, I knew I was going to miss some of the show and had planned on missing Shotbaker. However the show was earlier and I got there later than planned so when I got there, The Effigies were playing already while I was waiting at the slow will-call line for my pass.

Because the venue has a rule where you can only shoot photos for the first three songs and I was in line waiting longer than that for my passes, I was unable to snap any photos of The Effigies. They played their typical set of old songs mixed with songs from their new album that finally comes out Tuesday (which hopefully they will send me one to review). As usual, the band were tight and spot-on. The new songs have really grown on me and I’ve been enjoying them quite a bit the last few times I’ve seen them play. They finished the set with “Body bag” which is still my favorite Effigies song.

The Bollweevils

The Bollweevils

The Bollweevils

The Bollweevils

The Bollweevils took the stage next and a better description might be they commanded the stage. They came out of the gate full of energy and blasted into their lengthy set of all the songs you’d want to hear them play and then some. The crowd were way into it too and were bouncing all over the place. It’s amazing that after about a decade of not being a band, seeing them up there on stage again it’s like nothing had changed and they haven’t aged. It’s really good to have them back.

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

After a bit of a delay for the equipment change, the crowd started growing impatient and started chanting for Naked Raygun. They eventually got their wish and curtains opened and Naked Raygun tore into their first song. The set list started out similar to their one at Riot Fest back in the fall however it wasn’t long into the set before they started changing things up. Most notably and to my absolute delight, they dusted off “Potential Rapist” and played it as their fourth song. That is one of my all time favorite NR tracks and I never would have guessed that they’d play it again. They also seemed to sprinkle in a few more songs from the later albums this time out, and it sadly came at the expense of the song “Gear” which I don’t recall them playing this time out. As much as I really disliked the bands last two or three albums, the songs they played at this show sounded much better than I recalled them sounding on the actual albums thus I was enjoying them nearly as much as my favorite older songs.

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

The band dispensed the obligatory “free shit”. This time out it was beer coozies and whistles (sadly at this point I was upstairs watching the show from a good vantage point and was not able to get my hands on any as they tossed them out. They played a few more songs and left the stage. The crowd wanted more and the band came out and did a three song encore featuring “Rat Patrol”, “I Don’t Know” and “New Dreams”. After that it was all over and the stage curtains closed. Total run time for their set was about an hour and it was I think even a tighter performance than their showing at Riot Fest.

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

Naked Raygun

There was a second show the same night with some different bands playing but sadly I was still not really recovered fully from having been sick the entire week so I was unable to stay for the second show. They had some nice special appearances lined up for the late show too that I’m sorry I had to miss.

Some more pictures from the show can be seen up on my flickr page. As always thanks to Riot Mike for the accommodations.

Friday night, Lady MXV and I went to see CH3 and Destroy everything play at Memories Bar in Chicago. In what could go down as the most idiotic booking decision in history, the show was set to start at 9pm and there was 6 bands on the bill! Needless to say that I had zero interest in sitting in a smoky bar that long and from the number of people I knew who were planning to go but didn’t, apparently the over-bloated bill was quite the deterrent.

Godzilla

Godzilla

Godzilla

We tried to time it so we would miss most of the opening acts and just see Destroy Everything and CH3. We almost timed it out perfectly too, getting there one band before Destroy Everything. That band was Godzilla, and they feature a member of CH3 so I was actually interested in checking them out. Their blend of punk rock made for a good soundtrack for hanging out and drinking and I’d certainly not mind seeing them again open a show somewhere.

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything were up next. I’ve actually lost count now how many times I’ve seen them play because the band is made up of some of my best friends. This time out they played mostly new material from their upcoming album and the new stuff sounded really good live. As usual the band was in good spirits and in fine form and I have yet to see them put on a sub-par set. The crowd in attendance were enjoying them quite a bit as well.

CH3

CH3

CH3

CH3

That just left CH3. Sadly I was only able to see about the first five songs or so of their set before we had to get Lady MXV home to her kids. I felt really bad for not being able to stay for their whole set, let alone for any post-show hanging out but you can blame that solely on the ridiculously over-inflated lineup and late starting time for this show. Had it started earlier or there been a manageable number of bands on the bill we would have been able to enjoy the entire show and not miss out on seeing some friends band from CA play a rare show here in my town! Anyway the songs I did see were a mix of old and new songs and they all sounded great. I really wish I could have seen the rest and they didn’t even get to play “Manzanar” before I had to go and that is my favorite song of theirs! Hopefully they’ll come back again sometime soon and I’ll be able to enjoy their full set. Sorry about having to go guys, but I did really enjoy what I got to see.

So despite my having to cut things short, the stuff I did see was a good time and I drove home happy to have seen that, but ideally I would have liked to see the whole thing. Many thanks to Mike and Kimm of CH3 for putting us on the list and for the soon to be reviewed new CH3 7″.A few more photos after the jump.

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything

Destroy Everything

CH3

CH3

CH3

CH3

CH3

CH3

CH3

CH3

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The Mentors - El Duce Vita DVD
Music Video Distributors

The Mentors started in the very early 1980s and were a three-piece rock band who were a bunch of perverts wearing black executioner hoods. Their songs were raunchy and offensive to those without a sense of humor. They got their start releasing a now-legendary EP on Mystic Records, followed by a live LP before going even more in a metal direction and leaving for perceived greener pastures on Death/Metal Blade Records, among other labels. The band lasted sometime into the 1990s before the tragic death of lead singer and drummer saw the end of The Mentors.

This DVD compiles music videos the band made for their post-Mystic releases. There is a total of 7 of them that make for a total run time of about 30 minutes. Watching them all in a row you’d think they were all made the same day as many of them look alike and they are certainly very low budget. They are also chock full of naked girls, El Duce’s penis, golden showers, El Duce eating out a girl on the rag, more naked girls, and the band playing. Think of it as a mix of porn and MTV and you know exactly what to expect. They must not have had the masters available for these videos because they look like they were taken from Nth generation VHS tapes complete with the occasional tracking glitches and the picture isn’t exactly sharp either. In between a couple of the videos is some interview footage of El Duce talking about the band.

As a bonus there is 45 minutes of live footage shot at three different venues. The footage is of bootleg tape quality with decent sound. Having only seen the band play once before El Duce died, it was a nice little bit of nostalgia for me as I was a fan of their early years, though the footage was all from around 1991 so the ratio of old to newer songs is heavily weighted in the new department. I’m sure there probably wasn’t a lot of people filming the band in the early 1980s so it doesn’t surprise me that there was no footage from that era included. What was a little disappointing however is that they didn’t include “The Mentors Fuck Movie” which was a little video they did during the Mystic years. Perhaps this footage was lost forever, I don’t know.

The Mentors were a band whose gimmick and joke did get stale as the years passed but their early records still hold up pretty well today. This DVD is really only recommended for the most die-hard of fans due to the sketchy video quality and the fact that it really only covers the band in what I viewed as their waning years, but at the very least it was nice to have some sort of visual document of the band so they won’t be forgotten.

Hot on the heels of the last jumbo sized package that came in the mail came one more package from Frontier Records. This time it contained only one record, but what a record it is…

This is the newly released “Silver Edition” of the Christian Death - Only Theatre of Pain LP. This has silver ink on the cover and comes on clear vinyl. This was done to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this record. It is a limited edition that can only be purchased from the Frontier Records website. It is not available in stores.

I can’t believe this record is 25 years old now, where has the time gone?!

Grab yourself one from Frontier Records and tell Lisa and Betty that MXV sent you if you do. Once again my thanks and ever-lasting love go to Lisa and Betty for sending one over for the Vault!

Saturday night I ended my unplanned hiatus from going to shows by going with youngdave to see The Locust, Daughters, and Cattle Decapitation play at Logan Square Auditorium. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in seeing any shows in the past few months, it was just there really wasn’t any I wanted to go to in all that time!

Cattle Decapitation

Cattle Decapitation

Cattle Decapitation

After meeting up at Reckless Records and doing a little shopping, we got through the venue doors about just as Cattle Decapitation were tuning up. This is a band that I’ve known about for the past couple years or so, but I never had the opportunity to see or hear them until now. They played a rather chaotic and noisy metal type music complete with the growling vocals. I enjoyed the first 20 minutes of their set, and after that it felt like they played another 60 minutes, it just felt like they were dragging on and on, partly due to the fact that a lot of their songs sounded the same, so after awhile it felt like I was watching them play a half hour long song.

Daughters

Daughters

Daughters

Daughters

After a fairly quick equipment change, Daughters were the next band to hit the stage. These guys I was somewhat familiar with as I own one of their records. Their chaotic noisecore sound would be exactly the type of band you’d expect to be playing alongside The Locust. They were loud, fast, crazy and violent (the music, not the nice folks on stage). The crowd were going pretty crazy during their set too. Unlike the first band, I didn’t grow tired of their set and I not only thought they were really good, but I’d be quite happy to see them play again sometime!

The Locust

The Locust

The Locust

A much longer equipment change later and The Locust landed from outer space and took the stage. This time out their alien costumes were adorned with fur patches that I assume are to keep their extra terrestrial parts warm during these harsh cold weather months (despite it being spring, it was all of about 30 degrees outside this day). They positioned themselves very close to the front of the stage, including having the drum set up there too. They played a great set that mixed the new with the old and the way they crafted the set list I don’t think you could have asked for a better blend of when they played the old versus the new.

The Locust

The Locust

The Locust

They played I think about 45 minutes, which is a lot longer than they played the last time I saw them a few years ago. In that time since I last saw them, they only became tighter and play with even more crazy precision. Even if you weren’t a fan of their really off the wall music (but how could you not like it??), just watching these guys play this crazy intricate stuff, then start and stop on a dime and you can’t help but be impressed. When they finished their set, I was hoping for an encore but sadly there wasn’t one. As soon as they were done the lights came on and they started ushering people out of the venue. I will definitely be going to see both The Locust and Daughters the next time either of them come though this fine city.
The Locust

The Locust

One last thing while I inform you about the additional pictures after the jump. I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoy the smoking ban. It was so nice to go to a show and leave not smelling like smoke and having to wash that crap off of me after the show, plus being able to breath better air and not have people blowing smoke in my face while I’m taking pictures was such a treat. The fact that they also now have to let people go outside to smoke means at a crowded show you can go outside for a breather and some room between bands.

The other day I was once again surprised to find a very large package sitting on my doorstep. It was full of records and I do mean full! The package in question was sent over by Lisa and Betty of Frontier Records, one of my favorite labels ever, and contained the latest in colored vinyl offerings they just pressed. There was some punk rock classics…

Adolescents - Welcome to Reality 10″ on clear vinyl.

Adolescents LP on clear vinyl

Circle Jerks - Group Sex on blue vinyl

Suicidal Tendencies LP on gray vinyl

Weirdos - We Got the Neutron Bomb LP on clear vinyl

And some indie rock ones as well (featuring Elliot Smith)…

Heatmiser - Yellow No. 5 10″ on clear vinyl

Heatmiser - Dead Air LP on clear vinyl

Heatmiser - Cop and Speeder LP on clear vinyl

All of these are of course available for a limited time and can be purchased direct from the source at the Frontier Records website. If you drop by there, tell them MXV sent you!

Once again my undying thanks and love go to Lisa and Betty for sending this sweet stack of color wax for the Punk Vault!