Low Profile live at Hangouts in Wheeling
Friday August 19th
with Shooting Blanks, Sad Hannah, High Ball and Starlike Collision
i took the whole day off work once again. and what a day. i slept in a lil bit, went to breakfast, watched Blackhawk Down, went to the woods and walked around, then sat and chilled a while, started reading a new book called the Informers, stopped at Subway, tried to figure out who sang an awesome 80’s song that was playing on the radio with the guy making my sub, went back to my crib, played bass for like 20 minutes, checked my guitars and started going thru all my shit for the show, showered up, got dressed and then headed over to Rob’s.
we played 4 songs real quick just to get warmed up and then we started loading up. it took us maybe half an hour to get there. but the area kinda sucks. everything is really spaced out on Milwaukee. we started walking down the street to find a gas station so Satan could hit up the ATM and luckily we turned back when we did cuz we’d have to have walked a good 2 miles to the nearest gas station. anyways, the club was pretty cool. they had a good sized area for the bands to play in. no stage or anything. i met and introduced myself to Dave who was a bartender and doing the sound for the show. he was a super cool and friendly guy. and as the night went on, my drinks were getting cheaper and cheaper and some he hooked up for free. the redbull/vodkas were goin down smooth and we were doin shots of Jagr. mmmmm…good stuff.
so all the bands were there. Sad Hannah was set up and ready to rock. Koz is in this band and we know him from Ratbag Hero and cmon now, everyone knows Koz. he’s also a super cool guy. but this was our first time seeing him with this band. they were fucking awesome tho. i was definately impressed. it’s kinda hard to explain their sound. most of the changes weren’t super fast or anything but they were heavy and just rocked out. i got a cd from Koz so i’ll have to go throw it on later today. both the guitarist and drummer were super cool too. i’d luv to play with these guys again.
we were due to play next. i quickly ran out and smoked up with some VIPs while Rob set up his drums. i used Koz’s amp and Satan used Hoffman’s combo amp. our set was something like this:
Milwaukee
High Gravity
Hotboxed
Figure It Out
What I Failed to Mention
The Will to Kill
Excited to Die
King of the Hill (theme)
R of A (originally by the Rules of Attraction)
Hybrid Moments (originally by the Misfits) requested and sung by Koz
it was a good, fun, hot set. i threw Figure It Out into the set cuz Hoffman says he likes that song so i’ll throw it in every set when we play with Shooting Blanks. and he said he liked What I Failed to Mention too so that will also be in all the set lists when we play with them. the R of A song is just too fucking good. we like it a lot so figured we’d play that for this show. then Koz was calling out for us to play some Misfits. first i heard ‘Where Eagles Dare’ but we don’t play that. then he called for ‘Hybrid Moments’ and even though we haven’t played it for probably over a yr, it sounded pretty good and playing it seemed natural. i had to ask Satan what the first note was and from there, my hands just played the song without much thinking at all. not that it’s all that hard but still, i had in the back of my head i’d fuck it up at some point. Koz ran up and sang most of the lyrics. it was a lot of fun.
the mighty High Ball was up next. once again, just a good band made up of some awesome guys. this was our second time playing with them. always a good time.
Starlike Collision was up next. Satan and i checked out their site beforehand and they listed Smashing Pumpkins as a main influence but we didn’t hear it in their style so that was a lil disappointing but they still had a good rocking sound. they are a 4 piece band and have 2 chicks in the band. 1 plays guitar and sings and one plays bass. thats always cool. i didn’t speak with any of the members of this band so i can’t say much more.
Shooting Blanks were up last. it was getting late so they played a pretty quick set it seemed. these guys are a blast as usual. and we’re playing with them next month too!!!! gotta luv em. they ended their set with Another Chance and Payback so Satan and i were up front singin along for both of those. and once again, Hoffman’s guitar fucking rules. u can slice someone up with that. and Scotty got a new drum set which is pretty fucking dope. so congrats to him on having a new set.
we loaded out and said our goodbyes. we had my buddy Steve and his girlfriend stow away with us for the ride home and i got fucking lost. i’m not gonna get into details and even tho it sucked, i really didn’t mind and would have driven another 2 hours or whatever it took to get us home. it started raining real hardcore right when we got to Rob’s so we quickly loaded back into his basement and then i proceeded to take Steve and Andrea home. so on the expressway back to their place, no shit, 2 fucking cars totally lost control and spun out at separate places on the expressway. the first one got pretty close to smashing into the van and that would have sucked so bad at that point. i watched him change lanes and then the car just did a full 360 and he couldn’t control it. i just slowed down to avoid him altogether so he drove onto the shoulder and i sped up to pass him by. the second one spun out way worse tho and slammed into the guard rail on the right side of the lanes. it was fucking crazy out. i could just manage to see and could feel the van hydroplaning but it was pretty cool. so i got them home in one piece and on my way home saw the first car still on the side of the road. i’m at work now using my work computer to write this review since my comp crashed and the car was still on the inside left shoulder facing the opposite direction when i drove here.
so i got myself home ok and ran in leaving my basses and amp in the van. i showered up and was laying around at like 3:45 watching Simpsons season 6 on DVD smoking bowls, when i started freaking out about my basses. i just had boxers on and it stopped raining at that point so i ran out to bring my basses in incase someone broke into the van. u wanna try to steal my amp, go ahead. i’ll laugh while watching u try to carry it or roll it down the street. but i can’t have my basses stolen. that would suck so bad. anyways, while walking out, my new neighbor and his woman were outside just getting home all dressed up from some club and i had to say whats up to them in my boxers. i’m a fucking goof. they were a lil surprised.
all in all, it was a great day and a super fun show. thanks to Shooting Blanks for inviting us out to play, Deech for taking pics for us, Dave for being such a cool and hospitable bartender/soundman, my sis and Jean for coming all the way down from Wisconsin, Steve, Andrea and their friends for coming out, and everyone who bought me drinks all night. i had a blast.
-ERIK
got this show from mr. hoffman of shooting blanks. this was the 7th show weve played with em. our 2nd time with highball, both are ‘coincidental’…got also booked with them originally at the bottom lounge. our friend koz formerlly of ratbag hero is now in sad hannah. i checked out their site and listened to like 15 seconds of an mp3 like an asshole and it seemed to be some kind of pop punk. no doubt im an idiot and was wildly wrong.
wheeling is part of shady white trash suburbs. nearby prospect heights and northbrook are also similar. people always think of northbrook casue of allstate HQ and other big businesses, but go visit ‘salem walk’ apartments on milwaukee ave….fuckin dump. wheeling has trailer parks and all, a real dump. the club is pretty shady, it obviously used to be a house which was converted into a bar. hoffman warned me about their shitty money grubbing techniques, they have no beers on tap and everything else is overpriced with zero specials and zero specials for the bands. they wanted to charge a ridicolous $7 at the door until hoffman told them to charge $5 and take the rest out of his/our end, which they did….and the bands still got paid!
we got their real early. we hadnt practiced in a while so we threw down a very productive rehersal just before we loaded out to hit the road. it definately did the trick and felt real solid. the ride seemed to fly by and there was no traffic. no other bands were there yet, i called hoffman and he said he was on the way. it was pretty hot and humid out but i didnt mind. we quickly loaded in our gear and went for a ‘band walk’ in the search for a gas station and ATM. none were anywhere within walking distance or even eye shot. so we went back and hilger drove to one. we headed back to the club and sad hannah was up first. i was blown away! they are super heavy, all dropped-D shit. their drummer reminded me of the drummer from tool: real heavy with lots of tribal like beats on teh toms, he had a 2nd snare of sorts on the far right which was crazy and he used it often. it was a nice departure from these trendy new bands that play ‘screamo’ where they try to be heavy and it comes off as laghable. this was truly heavy and had good melodic vocals. koz bandmates were super fuckin nice and real friendly, it was a pleasure to play with them but also to chill and drink with them. great guys, great band. why i thoguht they played generic punk rock ill never know.
we were up next. we tore it up pretty good. vocal monitors were a little low which casued me to strain my voice a bit early on. that wouldnt have been a problem if not for the closing song in our set, which should have been a bit earlier on in the show. but it didnt matter. a highpoint was i ran into the crowd during an insrtumental interlude and i ‘stabbed’ some random chick in teh back with my guitars headstock. of course i only fuck with jacksons, which have a pointy end. she actaully screamed a little and jumped in her chair, it was hysterical. before ‘will to kill’ i introduced it by saying ‘hang on now people, i have something really important to say’, then i just started the song which begins abruptly with vocals/guitar. people actually seemed to quiet down a bit and gave me their attention, probably thguht i was going to talk about some political bullshit or bullshit about the war. as if i woudl ever think that people woudl want to hear that crap.
after our set koz (i think, maybe others too??) called out ‘where eagles dare’ , trying to get us to play some misfits songs which we are known for (we must know 20 songs off the top of our heads easy). i vaguely know that song but i never really liked it that much and strangely as common as it is weve never really played it much if at all or learned it. i was going to give up and put away my guitar, i should have demanded they pick another cause then wed probably know it. i didnt need to, and koz yelled for ‘hybrid moments’. definately a good pick and a song weve known for ages. i briefly spoke with hilger for 2 seconds to refresh us both since we havent played it in many months. those songs are deeply bunred into my brain however. we played it perfectly. i told koz to sing what he could and give me the mic if he was stuck for the lyrics. with taht formula, anyone could sing with us. (pic 1, pic 2, pic 3) of course some peopel are ignorant and fuck up, but if they just gave me teh mic all would be well. koz followed this golden rule and the song rocked hardcore!! it was really fun, and even more fun to have koz up there with us of all people.
next up was highball. it was great to hang out and jam with these guys again, talk about a class act. their drummer is super fucking polite, a real good guy. they are a fun band and i was telling rob they should go on tour with the burbanks (RIP), they are so similar musically and i dont just mean that they both are playing ramones influenced pop punk. beyond that even, they are playing the songs the same way, its nuts.
after them was this gay band called ‘starlike collision’. i say they were gay because they made no effort to commiserate with anyone that i could see. no doubt they felt a little out of place since the other 4 bands knew each other before the show so well…but ive been on the other end and felt like an outsider. the only thing to do is just approach people and be like ‘hey, im satan from low profile’. go break the ice!!! i might have even taken care of the ice breaking myself but they seemed pretentious, they showed up like during highballs set, effectively missing 1/2 the show and almsot 3/5ths of the bands. they played some pretty boring rock music as well. not fond of these guys.
well last up was the mighty shooting blanks. i used to rock out to this band cause i knew them more then because of their music, tho now its shifted, i just know their jams so well its great to hear it live! for some reason i still cant get used to deech on the bass, although i only played 2 shows with them it still seems odd. no doubt thats a sacreligious thing to say, as he is a TRUE member of the band, and i was only a weak replacement trying to steal his styles, to varying levels of success. i was pretty drunk at this point and demanded that brey take off his pants as he often does at shows. i dont think he was quite drunk enough to do it on his own but i continued to demand it. then he said he would for a shot, and even offered to pay me back for it after the show (which due to teh ridicolous prices in this place i shoudl have taken him up on it!!) but i todl him fuck that, the shot is on me. i cant remember what song it was in now…maybe ‘another chance’ (which was alwyas one of my favorite songs to play when i was ‘with’ teh band), i just held the shot at the ready to pour in his mouth which he played, at first it was funny, he backed away as if to say ‘wait until this upcoming part of the song when i can more easily play and have jager dumped into my throat at the same time’. he stepped up and i tried to gently pour it in his mouth and i think i did ok. it energized him and he seemed to rock harder. then he fufiilled my gay wishes and depantsed himself. they rocked the house super hard, closing out with 2 awesome songs: ‘shelia’ (which low profile has covered) and ‘payback’, one of the oldest shooting blanks songs and definately one of the crowd favorites. hoffman plays the leads in that song so sloppy that its awesome. i remember i never got to play this song with the band cause i didnt know the bass fills in teh beginning (tho i do now, stolen red handed from deech). they were fucking great all around. ive seen them live since scott has been in the band but last time we jammed with them (at the big horse) it was dans last show. scott rules on the drums and he got a shiny new set. ill bet he thinks hes really special now. yeah right!
at some point in my drunkenness between ours and shooting blanks sets i tried to take a pic of brey. he waved his arms all crazy to try and sabotage my great photography skills but it didnt work. so i tried leaving the shutter open and using ‘night mode’ but it still fucked up. so i got 4 crazy pics and none really got blurred. but they sure are funny!!! and big ups to deech for taking great pics of us again while we played, i found this one mixed in there too, he must have been making a very important phone call. i can tell becuase of the area code he must have been calling some of his thugs!!!
after that i was pretty drunk and tired and hungry so we rolled out quick. i guess we actually we going to get paid but we left too quick and hoffman still has my money. hilger volutenteered to drive home this guy steve he works with and his woman. so rob, steve and me all rode in teh back of the van aka ‘teh cage’ aka ‘the dungeon’. it was getting pretty hot back there and i had a headache as i came down off my alcoholic buzz. we took mad wrong turns and got totally sidetracked, so much so that hilger actually dropped me and rob off first (even tho schaumburg where steve and his woman were supposed to be dropped off was definately on the way). just as we arrived it started raining, something it hasnt done in chicago land much in teh last 4 months, and it rained HARD. really fuckin hard, i got soaked pretty good just loading back into robs basement, and i got REALLY soaked walking home. i tossed my 2nd axe in my cars trunk (my 1st stays at robs for rehersals) and drove 1 block to mcdonalds. i got gas and got 2 quarterpounders (the mcdonalds is 24 hours but has a gay ‘limited menu’). i drove home and got soaked yet again trying to walk into my backdoor with a bag of food and my guitar. the bag was super wet and falling apart and i was trying to guard it.
i made it upstairs to my condo and set down my guitar and got ready to rip off my soaking fucking clothing and looked atht ebag of mcdonalds in my hand. think of in ‘back to the future’ part 1 when doc builds the model of the town with the model car. the car flys off the table and bursts into flame. doc (christopher lloyd) makes this crazy facial expression and runs to put out the fire with an extinguisher. the mcdonalds bag in my hand was so disintegrated that i was literally holding a shred of paper and the burgers were gone!!! i imitated doc and was truly infuriated and shocked. i realzed they may be sitting in the pouring rain!!! i had no food in my house and was starving and this was bad news. i sprinted out the door and down teh staris and the power went out! it was pitch black and i had to laugh hysterically at myself. luckily it came right back on, and i found my food sittin g in the rain on the back patio. i scooped it up and it wasnt that wet (the boxes protected them somewhat from total ruiniation). and ran up and ate them and crashed out after taking some allieve for my laser beam headache.
–satan165
