BLOODYMINDED
August 15, 2007
Subterranean
Chicago, IL
with:
Dropdead
Artimus Pyle
Punch In The Face
Rager
BLOODYMINDED
Heber Burguette - Synth
James Moy - Live Mix + Synth
Isidro Reyes - Synth + Vocals
Mark Solotroff - Vocals
01. LAKE STREET
02. ANGEL OF DARKNESS
03. AS IF
04. GIRLFRIEND ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN SCHIZOPHRENIC EPISODE BY REVEALING CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE
05. MIND THE GAP
06. HEAD
07. OUTSIDE THE GATE
08. PRO-ANA
09. BLIND FURY
10. TWO DROPS OF BLOOD
11. VISITING AN EX-GIRLFRIEND IN THE HOSPITAL - AIDS WARD
12. SHIVERY
13. WITHIN THE WALLS
14. YOU SUFFER (NAPALM DEATH)
15. A SONG FOR LISANNE, A YOUNG MODEL
16. TROPHY
Pretty much what you would expect... set us on a stage in front of 200-300 mostly punk and hardcore fans - many of whom were under-21 - and let the fun begin. Actually it was an amazing show. The set-up and sound check went extremely smoothly, the show was run very efficiently, the promoter and the club took good care of us, and it was great to play to a nice full house at such high volume. With The Empty Bottle as a high standard for how well a local club can take care of performers, I was really happy with how things went at Subterranean, it being my first time playing there.
Rager went on first, at 6:30 PM on the nose, and they definitely got the crowd worked up with their Nausea- and (fast) Kylesa-tinged dual male-female-vocal-driven punk.
We were on at 7:15, as scheduled, and we plowed through our sixteen songs in about 24-minutes. It would have gone faster were it not for all of the interaction with the crowd. It was just too bad that the heckling was so boring. I actually thought that it would be more interesting than at a noise show, but I was wrong. Isidro really stepped up on vocals, as he had in Mexico, and as the photos of the show demonstrate (see Flickr), he worked the stage more than usual. Heber lurked back in the shadows, in a creepy sort of way, and he even caught me off guard once, when I was over on his side of the stage. James brought in the low-end synth, which was enhanced by the clubs powerful subs - I could feel it vibrating my legs - and the mix was a really nice balance of synths, feedback, and vocals. I had my work cut out for me, trying to reach the main speakers - made even harder by all of the spotlights, which made it hard to see certain things - but the monitor wedges at the front of the stage worked really well to generate feedback, especially on the "Magnetism" tracks. All in all, it was one of our best Chicago shows, ever. Loud, heavy, relatively fast-paced, and in front of a nice big crowd. We got a nice MiniDisc recording of the set, too.
Punch in the Face was on after us, and they stepped up the crowd energy with a heavy, driving, more hardcore punk set. They definitely introduced a bit of the Dis-core feel into the proceedings, too, with some hard, shredding guitar.
Artimus Pyle was up next, and they launched into such a ferocious whirlwind of raging, crusty darkness... marked by incredible howling vocals, down-tuned guitars, and intense energy. A fucking great set and really good guys. I am embarrassed that this was my first time seeing them live.
Dropdead finished off the night with a completely destructive set of the best, fast hardcore influences possible... from the USA to the U.K., from to Sweden to Japan... straight-up raging brutality. They were a really good match with/contrast to Artimus Pyle, too. It was great to finally share a stage with them, too, since as I recall, we were scheduled to play together in Providence on our first trip there in November 2003, when we first met them.
We moved on to Pozoleria San Juan, for a late (well, not that late, really) dinner - and then James, Alex, and I, headed back to my place to hang out. It seems that Heber and Isidro had just not had enough, and they went on to Exit and The Note... WTF!?!?
Thanks to all of our friends who came out to support us - and even those who showed up to witness any sort of meltdown that never happened -- it was nice to see so many familiar faces in the crowd. Thanks to Alex Kmet, for helping us out with load-in, sound check, merch, drinking free PBR tall boys, etc., all night long. Thanks to Ben and Dropdead, for asking us to play the show, and for the great support. Thanks to Artimus Pyle, and Mark from Milwaukee, for such kind words, on and off stage. Thanks to Dave Song, for the solid promotion and organization. Thanks to everyone at Subterranean. Thanks to Kyle King, for the great photographs. Thanks to Marlene, and to Heber's friend (???), for videotaping.
