Swans 10/24/12 at Metro
For the third year in a row, the Swans have gone on a fall tour. This is a welcome tradition as until three years ago the band was inactive and seemingly retired. This year they not only brought us another tour but they just released a monumental and incredibly lengthy album called The Seer which [...]
Naked Raygun 11/23/11 at Metro
The Thanksgiving holiday weekend got an early start when Chicago punk rock superheroes, Naked Raygun, returned to the Metro. In the 1980s Naked Raygun was a staple of the Metro and their shows were always big events that packed the house. This time was no different as the Metro quickly filled up with people ready [...]
Scratch Acid 11/12/11 at Metro
Last night the Metro played host to a very special reunion show from one of the best and most different bands of their time. That band was Scratch Acid and they reformed for a reunion tour which thankfully brought them to town. Aside from a three show reunion stint centered around the Touch and Go anniversary [...]
The Damned 10/25/11 at Metro
Last night one of the earliest and best punk rock bands of all time made a long overdue return to the Metro and that was The Damned. The band is celebrating their 35th anniversary by going on their first US tour in years and they had something special planned for these shows. The Metro was a [...]
Wax Trax Retrospectacle day two
Saturday night was the second night of the Wax Trax Retrospectacle. With the first night being so good, expectations were high for the second night. The same people flooded into the Metro and parked themselves in almost the same spots as the first night. It was as if no one ever left from the night [...]
Wax Trax Retrospectacle day one
If it wasn’t for Wax Trax Records this site may never have existed. Wax Trax Records (the store) did more to shape the punk and new wave scene in the Chicago area than anything and Wax Trax Records (the label) did more to create the industrial music scene of the mid 1980′s to early 1990′s [...]
Wax Trax Retrospectacle
There was a time throughout most of the 1980s and partially into the 1990s that Wax Trax Records in Chicago was arguably the greatest record store on Earth if you were into punk rock, industrial, new wave or any sort of alternative music. I used to save up money for weeks to spend at the [...]
Riot Fest 2010: Torche and Kylesa 10/10/10
As the week came to a close so was Riot Fest as the final shows of the week were taking place on Sunday. The show at the Metro was a Riot Fest first in that it was a show full of metal bands, and damn good ones at that. This was the first time Riot [...]
Riot Fest 2010: Jello Biafra and Articles of Faith 10/8/10
Riot Fest kicked into high gear Friday night where fans had a bunch of different options to choose from. Over at the Metro, the highlight was the reunion of Articles of Faith. They were playing with Jello Biafra but honestly AOF was the real reason to choose this show because while Jello still tours and [...]
Boris 8/13/10 at Metro
Friday the 13th was only unlucky if you were a photographer hoping for the barricade to be in front of the stage of the Metro and for them to turn on more than one light bulb on stage. For everyone else who came to Wrigleyville (home of the incorrect Chicago baseball team) for the Boris [...]
Riot Fest Day Three
Day three of Riot Fest had me returning to the Metro for a totally Chicago old school punk rock lineup. Nostalgia would be running wild this evening because three of the four bands were regulars on the Metro’s stage back in the old punk rock days and this evening would end up feeling like some [...]
Riot Fest 2009 Day One
Fall in Chicago means two things; winter is coming soon and the return of the annual Riot Fest. The former I loathe while the latter is something I look forward too every year and it is the only thing that takes the sting out summer being over, and my aging yet another year. This year’s [...]
Pegboy and The Bollweevils 5/15 at Metro
I found it funny that I hadn’t been to the Metro in years and then all of a sudden I find myself going there twice in as many weeks. This time I made the trek over there to see two of Chicago’s finest punk bands: Pegboy and The Bollweevils (the latter being my motivation to [...]
