Low Profile live at Blondies Lounge on Diversey in Chicago
Saturday May 3rd.
With Squared Off, Piehole and Waxon 7
This show was crazy as all of our shows usually are. My buddy Dave Mazur called me about 2 hours before I was leaving to meet the band and I haven’t seen him in months so I invited him along to be my personal roadie and chaffeur and got to drive to the show in his fuckin Caddy.
So this place is on Diversey but is not marked Blondies anywhere. All there is is an Old Style sign hanging outside. This place is a corner Polish bar. Very small inside. I walk in and Williams is sitting there with a huge grin. We couldn’t believe 4 bands were gonna play in this place. There was so much equiptment and it was very crowded but it all turned out great. Jessica showed up a little later on. The people at the bar though were regular local Polish people. They were all very drunk and fun. This one guy was telling us crazy stories and singing Journey and AC/DC to me. He would shake my hand and not let go for like 3 or 4 minutes. He was crazy and the owner Blondie, this awesome Polish lady, threw down and got crazy with him and threatened him and kicked him out for being too drunk and fucking with people. It was awesome. She doesn’t let anyone get too out of line in her bar.
POLSKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Williams was drinking some crazy Polish beer he couldn’t pronounce so he would just ask for “Polish beer”. It was pretty funny.
So Waxon 7 take a while setting up. 4 piece. Hoser is setting up the PA and monitors and shit. They start their set. Good, fun punk rock. They had real nice equiptment. The guitarist ripped good solos and they were good all around. They covered Police Truck by Dead Kennedys. It was pretty awesome. They were real cool guys.
We were up next. Williams and I didn’t even use our amps. I used the bassists from Piehole. Thanks man, it sounded fine. He kept asking if it sounded okay and I just told him I didn’t care. Turn it up and I’m all good. Our set was something like this:
King of the Hill (intro)
Excited To Die
Spreading Yourself Thin (by Pie in the Sky)
En Guarde
Grudge
Figure It Out
Folsom Prison Blues (originally by Johnny Cash)
Low Pro Pt 1
Solitaire
Mr. Pig
Boat Dreams From the Hill (originally by Jawbreaker)
Hate
Hot Mom
King of the Hill (outro)
People went crazy for Folsom. The drummer from Piehole was on my side and was singing along with us. Even the local Polish drunks seemed to get into it. It was very cramped but that made the show all the more intense. We were jamming right in everyones faces. I didn’t have much space to move around in. We had to raise a lamp or we would have been banging our heads and guitars on it. These 2 awesome chicks who were very….uh…..interesting….and very fun…….and very hyper…..
knew the Jawbreaker song. They asked if I liked Jets To Brazil and I told them that I liked the first album all the way thru but didn’t care for the other 2 albums and they agreed so that was cool. And I was lucky enough to take a pic with them. They were very fun.
Piehole was up next. Willy, the lead singer and legendary street punk was so fucking awesome. What a frontman. Punk to the bone. The guitarist played a white Jackson so u know the Bossman was digging it. They rocked. The drummer played very flashy and was just awesome. I dug them fo sho. Even a local Polish drunk got into them. He stood in front of Willy and danced and clapped and he really seemed to get into it. I’m sure he’s never seen anything like this but he seemed to be entertained and thats great. Blondie was even dancing and getting down behind the bar.
Squared Off played last. I’ve never heard them before and we got the show from them so I didn’t know what to expect but they were awesome. 3 piece. Hoser, Ryan and Joe. They covered Seeing Red by Minor Threat and went right into Merchandise by Fugazi. They also covered ‘Rise Above’ by Black Flag. I was luvin it. Got to watch Ryan jam the little bass part in Merchandise. I was goin nuts. Can’t wait to play with these guys again. I didn’t know any of their songs but picked up their 3 song CD and have listened to it 3 times already. 3 songs go by pretty quick so I’ll have to get more of your songs. Hopefully their new CD will be done by the next show. And thanks for the Tshirts.
Fun was had by all at this show. It was a total success. When Hoser and Willy were dividing up the money with us, we just told them to buy Williams another Polish beer and they could keep the rest. Mazur felt a little too fucked up so I got to drive the Caddy back to Rob’s to unload. Thanks everyone involved. We had a blast.
-HILGER
We got this show after meeting Hoser of Squared Off at a gig we played with Smear Campaign at the Fireside Bowl. We practice Saturdays at noon, so we hoped to run through the set the day of the show. Hilger had to work so we planned to meet up at Rob’s at 7, run through a few songs, then load and jet. Well, idle hands lead to dranken 40’s. I downed a Schlitz Blue Bull before practice and was buzzing hard. I got to the club before my other band members or any others. There was no sign that said ‘Blondies’ or anything, just an Old Style sign. I checked the address and walked in. I saw a hardcore Polish bar full of regulars, and no possible place to play. I figured I was in the wrong bar and made a quick U-turn back out the door. I walked down the street to look for other bars, there were none. Then, I went in the alley and checked the dumpster. Many times they mark them with the bar’s name. I was right, it was marked and this was the place. So then I figured I’d stand outside and wait for more people to show up so I didn’t have to go back in alone. Soon after, the drummer from Squared OFf, Joe, walked up. We went in and ordered some beers. We started talking and everyone else started to show.
There was a dude in there who was really drunk. He was Puerto Rican and babbling about ‘Rock n Roll’. He would relate anything to Rock n Roll. He said, ‘I was in vietnam….and I just wanted that old time rock n roll!’. We were laughing hysterically at this dude, but he got annoying quick. He would shake your hand and hold it tight and not let go. And he would get up in your face and talk about all this nonsense. He sung a little big of ‘Stranglehold’ and he wanted to hear this Journey song so Hilger found it in the jukebox and put it on.
So we were all getting drunk and having fun. The other bands started to show up and it got real crowded in there. Somewhere along the way I ran out of money (and therefore beer) and also started to get pissed about this show. I think the 2 to a large extent go hand in hand. You couldn’t even stand or sit there was too much gear and people in there. Some crazy old punk rock looking dudes showed up and I was getting a little weirded out by it all. My girlfriend Jessica was on the way and I called her and said not to come. But she was almost there. So I said fuck it, might as well come in then. So this one crazy looking punk rock dude was charging people at the door, but many had slipped in earlier for free. So I figured fuck it, this guy is trying to rip people off or something. So when I walked in with Jessica he immediately tried to hit her up for the $5 and I said ‘Fuck that dude, shes with me’ like a total dick. I was really pissed about being here at this point, and I’m not exactly sure why. Later I apologized to the dude.
The first band was Waxon 7, they seemed to be taking forever to set up. They had too many members, too big of amps and their drummer had a music stand (???), they also replaced the lead mic with an old school type mic for image. Now I was getting real pissed at them and everyone there. I wanted to just drive home and go to bed or something, I don’t know. They played and I just wanted it to end. I was not listening to this band fairly at all. They finally finished then we had to wait longer while they tore down their shit.
Finally we got up there and set up. Hoser offered for us to use their amps for convienience since the bands after us would all be using them too. We don’t give a shit about sound or ‘tone'(whatever that is) so of course we agreed. Luckily for us the amps sounded excellent.
There’s no need to go into details of the set (it’s mostly just a blur anyways, as always) but when we were done my frown had turned upside down. It just felt really good and the people were feeling it. I was staring people down as I often do when I sing and play but some people were only like 2 feet away so they were getting scared which was fun. We finished and loaded our shit out and I was totally rejuvinated. I got some cash from my girlfriend and started drinking like a motherfucker.
Piehole was next. That punk dude at the door is their singer, his name is Willie. I learned his name from a dude named Jon from Windy City Music, some kind of local label/promoter. I met him previously at the Fireside, he was there to take pictures of MOTO and asked if I would send my pics to him via e-mail (I did). I asked him what he was doing at this show and he told me that he was there to interview Willie, and that he was ‘hard to get a hold of sometimes’. I guess this guy is somekind of fucking icon or something, I think hes also actaully from New York. Well Piehole was just fucking awesome, total old school. Their bassist was bashing the shit out of his bass and their drummer was around middle age or older but played perfectly. The guitarist was jamming on a JAckson and I showed my love for that. He was wearing a big cowboy hat and soe weird earrings and necklace/choker type of thing. When he showed up earlier he had a bag with him. I heard someone ask what was in the bag and he said ‘A big sandwich’ then he proceeded to eat the italian beef and drink an old style out of a mug. Fitting, but it grossed me out a bit.
Willie kept giving me the mic like I was their biggest fan and knew the songs. The bassist also kept motioning for me to sing into his mic. It was like a musical test: have someone sing you a melody once real quick when your drunk, then you sing the chorus next time it plays. Somehow I pulled it off on numerous song. Later the bassist said to the crowd ‘I’ve got Billy Milano Jr. over here!!’. I don’t see the resemblance between myself and the singer of MOD/SOD but I’ll defiantely take it as a huge compliment.
Squared Off was last. As they were setting up, I looked out the door of the bar and saw a paddy wagon. Now that’s definately not a good thing. I hollered for Hoser to quit yelling in the mic then 2 cops walked in. I tried to be very cordial and asked if it was a bit too loud. He said that it was and they were nice about it. The drummer from Piehole walked up and said something to them and they left just like that. Very smooth on his part. Squared off covered songs by Black Flag, Fugazi and Minor Threat and it doesn’t get any better then that. They rocked hardcore and Hoser was using a dope fucking SG that he custom made himself with a weird pickguard, I complimented him on it later.
After their set, Rob, Hilger and Dave Mazur took off. Mazur was very drunk. I stayed and kept drunking. Willie busted out the money from the door which I think was around $70 or $80, not bad. He tried to hand me a $20 and I refused it, I ordered 2 more beers (I cannot spell or say the name, I’ve had them before and I just told the bartender I wanted 2 ‘polish beers’ please), handed Willie one and stood on a stool and yelled ‘Nostrovya!!!’ as loud as I could and guzzled 2 beers at once. At one point I stepped outside and the guitarists from Waxon 7 and Piehole were hitting a joint. I could smell it a mile away. I guess that was a guitarist circle. I stuck around till the end and helped Squared Off load out the PA and all their gear.
