Samstag, 28. Apr 2007, 11:59
So there actually were two shows: an early one that featured Shot Baker, The Effigies, The Bollweevils, and Naked Raygun, and a late show that featured Dillinger Four, The Bollweevils, and Naked Raygun. I attended the early show. Mostly because they apparently decided to add the late show after the early show sold out. The late show had some extra guests showing up to play a song or so with Raygun (including the lead singer of Stiff Little Fingers). Wish I'd seen that. Oh well.
Anyway, back to the show. There was a very interesting mix of people there. The early show was all ages and man, was it ever. Saw several kids in the 10-14 age range that came with their 80's hardcore parents as well as several men that were clearly nearing retirement age.
I'd never heard of Shot Baker before. They did a pretty good set. Sounded a bit to me like Pennywise-style hardcore. Then The Effigies came out. They are among the elder statesmen of Chicago hardcore. I'm not that familiar with their music, but they rocked it nicely for guys that have to be approaching 50. The Bollweevils had a lot of energy. The lead singer was running around the whole time, really getting the crowd into it.
The House of Blues and the bands seemed to do a pretty nice job of switching gear in between as there wasn't a lot of time inbetween bands and they weren't using all the same gear (certainly the drum sets changed for every band, though there appeared to be a couple bands sharing guitar amps).
Then Naked Raygun came out. What everyone was waiting for. They were incredible. They sounded great and looked really happy to be back. They played a nice mix of old songs and even older songs. At least one track from all of their major releases, I believe. They came back for one encore, ending with "New Dreams". Part of what makes a good hardcore show really amazing is the crowd. If they're into it and singing along and going crazy, it makes for a really intense experience. Hearing the crowd sing the "Whoa-a-ohs" along with Jeff Pezzati and sometimes almost drowning him out was great.
I've only seen Raygun once before and that was only last fall for the special Subterranean show before Riot Fest 2006. I'd been a fan since the late 80s, but never got to see them back then. Although last November's show was great, I'd say last night's show was better. Pezzati seemed to move much better at last night's show and the band in general seemed a little more into it.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable show.