Halloween Recap

Well, if the state of my ears this morning is any indication of how insanely loud it was last night (thanks Tony!)... and what a night it was! It was such a pleasure to join in the festivities with both Rabid Rabbit and Indian. My thanks to all of them for including me in such a killer show. I had the best of both worlds, getting to see/hear two of my favorite Chicago bands play incredible sets and getting to jump up on stage with them for a pair of intense songs. With Rabid Rabbit it was a reprise of "Suicide Song" (AKA "Gloomy Sunday"), which I first performed with them back in February. For this outing, Dave Rempis, who is also on the studio version, joined in live... another one of those "How have we never met before?" scenarios. It was cool to meet him and to play with him. And with Indian, I played synth/noise and I provided a few quick screams on "Worshipper of Sores," from their 2005 album, "The Unquiet Sky." And, in the middle of that, was a totally monumental performance by Monarch. As a huge Winter fan (the band, not the season, for fuck's sake), it was great to hear something equally glacial sounding, but with a uniquely feminine feel to it. Emilie's vocals were devastating -- at one point, all I could think of was Monarch!/Pharmakon split 12-inch -- and, my god, their set was remarkably tight... not at all belying the fact that my bandmate Kenny Rasmussen from Anatomy of Habit was playing drums for them after only two days to learn "Sabbat Noir" and to practice with them. Kenny did a phenomenal job and they sounded fantastic. They were also such nice people to hang out with, even if only briefly. It was great to see so many friends come out to the show and to see such a full house in support of what has definitely become a Chicago institution... Halloween at The Hideout...