Alkaline Trio, Saves the Day, Death in the Park at the Metro (4.20/21.09):

First off, what the hell is wrong with this weather? The e-mail I got for the Alkaline Trio meet and greet said to be there at three, and I didn't go inside till about five. Anyways, I'm not complaining because it was all totally worth it. I go in, and I hear them playing something, so being the fanboy that I am, I run up the stairs and they were just ending a song that I didn't hear enough of to recognize. Then they dicked around a lot with pickslides and effects and then played "Into the Night" off their latest album, "Agony & Irony."


^"Into the Night" at the Meet and Greet^

After the song, they came down and hung out with us lucky 15 members. It was kind of like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Only way cooler and none of us got kicked out for being douches.


^Matt Skiba and I. Look behind us, there's Chris Connelly from Saves the Day!^

Anyway, I'm not gonna lie, I brought a lot of LPs. I brought two posters I have had for a long time that will finally go in a frame and on my wall. I have the Halloween at the Metro poster that Paul Frank did and one from their Metro shows withg Against Me! a couple years ago. I think those ones were the ones where they played Goddamnit from start to finish. Maybe? No, I think those were three other shows. I'm not sure. I've seen them too many times to remember. Jeez, I'm only 22, I hope I remember all this cool stuff when I get old.
Anyway, it was cool. They signed my Maybe I'll Catch Fire LP too (Original pressing - orange wax/1000!) So I'm gonna put that one in an LP frame next to my signed Goddamnit LP. Man, my room is gonna look cool once it's together.
Anyway, here's Alkaline Trio's setlist for Monday's 18+ show:

1. My Friend Peter
2. If We Never Go Inside
3. Burn
4. Fatally Yours
5. Continental
6. Love Love, Kiss Kiss
7. I Found Away
8. Queen of Pain
9. Cooking Wine
10. The Poison
11. Calling All Skeletons
12. Sadie
13. 100 Stories
14. The KKK Took My Baby Away (Ramones Cover)
15. San Francisco
16. This Could Be Love
17. Time To Waste
18. Every Thug Needs a Lady
19. All on Black

I couldn't find a setlist posted for last night's yet, but they did a new song which was fast, kind of aggressive and had Dan singing. It was awesome. They also played Cringe, Radio, Cooking Wine, Tuck Me In, Calling All Skeletons, My Friend Peter, If We Never Go Inside, Burn, Fatally Yours, I Found Away, Into The Night, The Poison, Sadie, 100 Stories, This Could Be Love, Every Thug Needs a Lady, I'm Dying Tomorrow, Donner Party (All Night)...I think that's it.
Anyway, it was an all-around great night. Met up with some friends afterwards next door for a beer and then hit the road and basically sat in Cubs traffic for a while, which sucked.
Oh, Ed (Kobanes drummer) and I handed out a bunch of fliers for our Gasthaus and Underground Lounge shows coming up. I'm stoked about both of those. Especially the Elgin one because that place is just fun. At least from what I remember of going there a year and a half ago. Last night was a great time. Oh, Death in the Park - not worth checking out. Bunch of hipsters playing bad music. The lead singer was one of those guys that would be emo, but then extra emo by putting his hand out like a "stop" signal. It was weird and a bit too lame for me. Even the all-agers didn't seem to care too much for them. They were selling their CDs for $5 while everyone was walking out, but then a half hour later, I'm standing outside of the Gingerman and they are walking up and down the sidewalk trying to sell their CDs to people. It was a bit weird and the guitar player's freaky mustache probably didn't help their album sales. Alkaline Trio kicked ass. Saves the Day was OK because they played some old stuff I used to listen to. The first band sucked.
Anyone know where I can get semi-cheap poster frames by the way? Preferably a store and not the Internet?


^Saves the Day 4/21/09^


^Alkaline Trio 4/21/09^


^Alkaline Trio 4/20/09^


^Saves the Day 4/20/09^


^Me and Dan before the show on 4/20/09 at the Gingerman. We were watching the Bulls lose to the Sonics. Well, he was. I was too busy drinking and trying to get the balls to ask him to take a photo with me^

Rise Up and Revolt Against Chicago's Parking Meters!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

It's the top story on the Chicago Tribune's Web site.
It really pissed me off last Saturday night when not even a week before, parking meters off State Street and Cermak were free after 6 p.m. Saturday I go to park and there's a new sticker there by a company appropriately named "LAZ." They hiked up the price to $0.25 every 15 minutes and made it free after 9 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. My friend and I were pissed.

Well, after reading through the 99 comments the Trib currently has on that story alone, I got to thinking a slew of destructive thoughts from these people's ideas. Someone said bash them in with metal baseball bats, someone said we should rip them from the ground and leave them in front of city hall...
But do you know how hard that would be? Not to mention how indiscreet??

I used to be a thief and a vandal when I was younger - not so much anymore. But if you really want to stick it to LAZ, I have conjured up an idea:

Step 1: Simply buy a can of black spray paint.

Step 2: Paint over the entire head of the meter, making everything completely unreadable.

If you do this, you can't just do it to one meter, you have to do it to all of them down a street, preferably in a ski mask when nobody's looking. Also - park your car far away because cameras could be watching. Better yet, walk to and away from the scene.

If the head of the meter is spray painted, nobody will put quarters in. After seeing that they're all like that, people will catch on and - still needing a place to put their car - will park in one of the spots. The police officers can't issue tickets because the meters are faulty.

Not only will this stick it to LAZ, but also to that prick, Daley, for selling out another piece of Chicago. If enough people do this, LAZ will lose money, the meters will stay in the ground so taxes don't go up to buy new ones if they're ripped out and LAZ will get the point. Just remember - don't get caught and if questioned, deny, deny, deny.

The Queers/The Scissors show review (3.14.09):

So tonight, Reggie's in Chicago hosted The Queers with The Scissors. There was another band in between called The Poison Arrows, but they had to cancel due to alleged "van trouble."
It was cool because unlike the last four times I've seen The Queers, this time had something different; something special. They had, on tour with them, Wimpy Rutherford. Wimpy used to play in the original Queers in like 1982 (See:The Queers story) when they first started out as just a local punk band to piss off local art fags, as he once called them. Ah, who am I kidding? Art fags are everywhere.
They did a Ramones cover of "I Don't Care," which was pretty cool considering they usually do "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" and "Blitzkrieg Bop." Adam from The Leftovers was playing drums for them, which was awesome because The Leftovers are a really great band. He was a really nice guy too, which is always cool. They all are nice guys.
They played a lot of the usual stuff - "Debra Jean," "Granola Head," "Hi Mom, It's Me," "Ben Weasel," "Teenage Bonehead," "I Hate Everything," "I Want Cunt," "You're Tripping," "Fuck the World," "Punk Rock Girls," "No Tit," "Born To Do Dishes," "etc...
But with Wimpy, they did "MacArthur's Park," "Fagtown," "This Place Sucks," "Tulu Is a Wimp," "Kicked Out of the Webelos," "Terminal Rut," "I Spent the Rent," "I'm Useless," "Wimpy Drives Through Harlem," "We'd Have a Riot Doing Heroin," "I Like Young Girls," "Nothing To Do," "Fuck You" and I think some others. They did a cover of Screeching Weasel's "Cindy's On Methadone" too.
It was a really good show. The Scissors were pretty good. I don't recall seeing the chick guitarist the last time I saw them play at The Note. So, possible new addition there. Pretty good stuff though. Queers are coming out with a split with The Riptides sometime this year as well as a new full-length, I believe. I'm pretty sure both are going to come out on Asian Man Records. Go catch The Queers with Wimpy Rutherford, it was fuckin' good.