satan165 – Page 6 – Low Profile

Show #49: US Beer Company, Chicago

Jason Sebastian is the digital camera toting Knob lover who is friends with Andy. Andy is the guitarist for the Symptoms and he also books gigs for US Beer Company. I emailed Andy 10 minutes after Jason told me we could get a show from him. Dan from Arena Venus also had emailed me a few days previous and asked if we could get a gig in Chicago for them. Well it all worked fucking perfectly, I talked to Andy and got both bands on the bill.

So the ride wasn’t too bad and suprisingly neither was the parking. Loaded in and saw the stage in back of the room with the bar. Then I was told that we weren’t playing there, but ‘downstairs’. Checked out the scene down there and it was pretty bad ass: nice stage with drum riser, crazy blacklights and blacklight paint and glitter and shit on the walls, very nice. So it was decided that Arena Venus would play first and we would play second, followed by Silverback and Andy’s band, the Symptoms.

So I went upstairs to get a beer. I saw that they had a bunch of good shit on tap and I asked for whatever kind of Goose Island they had. I was told by the kind of hot and cordial bartender that they were out. She then told me how they had had a huge show the weekend before (which doesn’t make sense since this was Thursday) and the place got cleaned out. More then half the kegs were empty and they had hardly anything in bottles. I started drinking a slightly below average beer called Spaten. (My owly other choice was Bud Light or MGD, neither of which I will fucking touch). Ross and Andrew showed up and we started drinking. Me and Ross then tried a Dinkle Acher which was flat and dark as Coca Cola, wasn’t very good.

Bill Knobs showed up (making 3/5ths of the Powerknobs as Courtney of Arena Venus pointed out) and Arena Venus took the stage after many delays. They fucking rocked and played all the 3 songs I knew including my favorite ‘Red Violet’. I stood and watched them and closed my eyes and listened very carefully to all the insturments, it was awesome.

So at some point we took the stage. We had laid out the set list the week before but once we got there I was really not hyped about playing the opening song ‘Not Fun’. We went into it anyways and I was blanking out on the lyrics and music a bit for some reason. Rob hit a rim on a fill and I’m thinking that this song sucks dick. Then Hilger stops playing. For a second, I thought he was going to stop the song or something cause it sucked. As I sang and played, I looked at him from the corner of my eye and tried to figure out what the fuck he was doing. I saw him take off his bass and remove the strap. Then I thought that his straplocks gave out or something. Turns out he broke a string. I can’t remember that happening ever before, worse yet that it broke like 8 bars into the 1st song. Very odd. Me and Rob continued to play and Hilger eventually jumped back in. We then went into the 5 min. + insturmental ‘Empty Rantings of an Old Silly Man’, it seemed like it took hours but was fun to play. We played ‘Escape from the Island’ by Kiss for Kiss fan #1 and Hilgers co-worker Dave and it was one of the smoother songs in the set I thought. (sorry about the shitty pic Dave, it was way too dark in there. Come to another show and I promise to take a better one!)

I was sweating and not feeling well, I took a shot of Jagermeister which playing and I was not feeling too hot. I don’t know if I was just thrashing too hard or what. My chest hurt and I couldn’t catch my breath. We kept jamming and eventually just started picking songs and taking requests outside the set list. We closed with the ‘King of the Hill’ theme and people seemed to like that one. I went off stage and gave away a ton more stickers and some CDs. Hilger and Rob were tossing out T-shirts and everywhere I looked, someone was wearing one.

I hung out till the end, the other bands were good and full of nice people. The only thing that kept this show from being totally awesome was the lack of good beer. It was a blast though as every show is.

Oh yeah, and while The Symptoms were playing, Hilger told me to take a pic of this chicks ass. So I did. Better watch out when the Bigbossman has the camera shootin’, cause I’ll make ya famous!!

Low Profile live at US Beer Co in Chicago
Friday May 22nd, 2003
w/ Arena Venus, Silverback and the Symptoms

Great show all around. Besides the lack in choice for beers. I figured, US Beer Co…..u know, many choices in beers. Nope.
I was drinkin shitty Bud Light from the tap and the then they ran outta that and my last beer was a Budweiser. Fucking garbage.
So I got there first, parked illegally to run in and unload. I met the soundman who right away commented on my Fight shirt. He showed me a tattoo that JJ, the bassist in Fight, did for him. Props on that one dude. This guy was pretty cool all around. Then he tells me that we r not playing on the stage in the main bar. We r playing on the basement stage. So I just start loading in.
Williams and Rob arrive. Dave Evert, from my work shows up. We all carry our shit downstairs. All the bands r there and hanging out, drinking and whatnot. Bill, Ross and Andrew from the Powerknobs show up to support Low Profile and the 708. Jessica shows up. Thanks everyone for the support. Arena Venus r set up and do soundcheck. Then we chill a long time later and they start their set.
They fucking rock! We played with them at the Mutiny originally and they didn’t have all the original members. But tonight, they did and they were great. This band is just awesome. I can break down each member and rave about them and their talent and stage presence and besides that, they r wonderful and very nice people off stage. Courtney made a comment that they r too softcore compared to us but hey, we like to mix up our sets and who we play with. She must have gotten that thought from the Bossman yelling “Fuck Yeah” and “Into the Pit” in front of the stage the whole time. It was pretty funny. But they were great and it was a privelege to play with them again. We hooked em up with stickers, cd’s and tshirts and told them to sticker up Madison for us. We were up next. So we do a lil soundcheck. The stage is pretty awesome but I was blinded the whole time. Damn lights!
I bust out my Gibson Nikki bass and break my fucking A string within 30 seconds of the song. I really ripped on it and felt it break underneath my fingers and it felt good. At first, I was like “FUCK!” but then I realized my band kicks ass and they will jam the rest of the song till I get my back up axe ready. So I calmly put the Gibson in its case and grab the Ibanez and set it up. I jump in at a pretty decent time in the song and finish the song very out of tune. So I tune her up and go on with the set which was something like this:

Not Fun
Empty Rantings of an Old Silly Man
1-2-3-4
Escape From the Island (originally by Kiss)
What I Failed To Mention
All the Wrong Reasons
Kata
Breakin The Law (originally by Judas Priest)
Hot Mom
King of the Hill

Great set. It was a lot of fun. I don’t think we’ve ever played What I Failed To Mention live. It was a lot of fun and I think people dug it. Why wouldn’t they? I introduced it as a song about a one night stand I had. They all cheered for that one. I was surprised. 1-2-3-4 was a lot of fun too. We need to play those more often. Those r probably the 4 most “punk” songs we have. Kinda poppy and happy in a way. But I like em. Our rendition of King of the Hill was receive well too and people cheered wildly during the stalls part. We thrashed around and got wild on stage. I was jumping off the lil risers on the stage and on one jump, banged my head on a rafter pipe. It kinda knocked me silly and I stumbled but continued to play. The show must go on mutha fuckas!
And props to the soundman. On the line “U don’t know what its like” in Breakin the Law, he knew it was coming and he added some reverb type effect on the vocals and made it sound awesome.
So we r all sweaty and done with our set. Movin our shit outta the way for the Silverbacks to set up. They were great. Jason, the bassist, played an awesome Rickenbacker and the guitarist played a real nice SG. They rocked for sure. Very melodic bass and guitars, right into some noisy changes. I dug these guys a lot. And Jason played with his mic all up high and pointing down like Lemmy from Motorhead so I was yelling “the ACE OF SPADES” at him. They were great. Andy’s band the Symptoms played last. They were 3 piece and the bassist was a lil of a surprise to us. It was my buddy from the Prodigal Son who waved in front of the camera before I was going to snap a pic. Not the best of ways to make friends with me.
Anyways, fuck him. I shut him out and watched Andy and the drummer rock hardcore. And they were awesome. I dug this band and Andy is a true personality and a cool guy to have in the scene. I’d luv to play out with u guys again sometime. Set us up another show at US Beer asap. They ended with Night Train by Guns N Roses and Andy and the bassist switched instruments and Jason from Silverback sang. Pretty awesome.
So we loaded our shit out. So I hope Arena Venus got home safely and hope to set up another show with u guys sometime in the future. And I gotta say hey to Stella cuz I told her I would. And I’ll give a nice Marlon impression to end this mutha fucka:

“Stelllllllaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!”

-ERIK

Show #48: Blondies, Chicago

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.

Show #47: Champ’s, Burbank

Low Profile live
Thursday April 24th
Champs in Burbank
With the Powerknobs

Big bossman and I have especially been looking forward to this show for sometime. We always luv playing out with the Knobs and knew it would be a lot of fun. And of course it was.
So we met up at Rob’s at 7. Stood around in awe of the gigantic new pool in his back yard and then had to pry ourselves away from it to go load up. So getting to Champs was kinda fucked. We all had a little trouble getting there properly but made it in one piece.
As soon as we get there, we meet the door guy who is down with my Youth of Today shirt and Williams shows him his Bold tat and the dude is definately cool with us now. Dave Evert who I work with at Siegling showed up to see us for the first time. Thanks Dave, hope u enjoyed the show or were at least entertained a bit. And he offered to carry my amp “the beast” in for me so thanks for that also.
Williams cousin Nicole showed up with two of her friends. And of course Jessica was there and as usual was the loudest amongst the audience. So we set up first. Our set was something along the lines of this:

Escape From the Island (originally by Kiss)
Hangin Around (originally by Screeching Weasel)
Boat Dreams From the Hill (originally by Jawbreaker)
Want (also by Jawbreaker)
Summertime (originally by Crimpshrine)
Folsom Prison Blues (originally by Johnny Cash)
Stabbed In The Back (originally by Youth of Today)
Take A Stand (also by Youth of Today)
Wild Colonial Boy (psyche out intro courtesy of Williams)
All Night Party Action (originally by the Powerknobs and with Mike Gaynor on vocals)
Spreading Yourself Thin (originally by Pie in the Sky)
Arnold Palmer and Katie Holmes (requested by Ross)
Hot Mom (requested by Billy Knobs)
Breakin The Law (originally by Judas Priest)

So as u can see, we played all covers just about. That was the plan. But if the Powerknobs request a song, they get it. So they requested two Low Profile songs and we had to play em. It was a fun set. I didn’t have to sing a whole lot which was pretty cool. But I knew I’d blow my voice during the Powerknobs set for sure.
The Powerknobs set up next. They rocked the house. Opened with a lil intro piece and they all sang “hey ho, low pro”. Very cool guys. I dug it. Then Dr. Z and Gaynor switched and they played Uncivilized with Williams and I singin right along.
They played Sorority Shakedown and Testosterone Twist right in the beginning. I peeked at their set list and called out the next song which was supposed to be Library Girl I think but Bill psyched us out and just started playing I’m Bored. They covered White Riot by the Clash. Fucking awesome. I luved it. And they covered Wully Bully and two chicks came up on stage. One sang and the other just shook her ass and we all stared at her beautiful set of bouncing boobies. It was fun.
They closed their set with Bats Blood. What a show.
So we hung out and drank and talked and then loaded out and went to eat at the Mexican place thats right in the lil mini mall where Champs is. I got home at like 2:30 and went to bed at 3 just to wake up at 6:45 for work. And now I have to get ready to go to Halford tonight at the House of Blues. And I’m going to see the Powerknobs play tomorrow night. 3 nights of total partying and music. I can luv that. I’m listening to Talking Heads right now. Sets the mood good for me to sit and write this review.
So we had a blast. It was fun rocking the stage with the Powerknobs once again.

We played here 11 months previous to the day. Then we were booked by Sheri, the owner. This time around she referred us to a fella who calls himself ‘Promo Joe’ although he never promoted shit (at least not successfully) in his life. He allowed us to book the bands, but we had some troubles finding other bands to play. In the end , only the great Knobs were willing to do the show. That’s fine for us. We explained this to ‘Asshole Joe’ (his new, secret pet name) and he failed to ever book any others.

I first dealt with Joe about a month prior to the show date. Although he was confirming the date, he still wanted CD’s from us and the Powerknobs. He also stressed getting flyers for the show to hang up in the club. I originally planned to drive down there but decided against it. So I called him and left a message (rarely answers his phone). I told him that I would be shipping him the flyers and cd’s through the mail. I asked him to please contact me via phone or e-mail to confirm he got the package when it arrived. A few days before the show, he admitted that he never got it but ‘it must be at the club…somewhere’. Stupid fuck.

So we rolled up after getting a bit lost on the way. The bouncer was immediately cool and gave props to the Youth of Today (Hilger was wearing the shirt). A dude named Dave that Hilger works with showed up as well. There were only the two bands, and we just set up on stage right away. We started having some beers and then we got right down to it.

Being that we have 60 songs and 5 albums, somewhere along the way we lost interest in playing out songs at practice. We always find ourselves playing covers. So I made the recommendation before the show that we play a typical practice type set at the show. And we did. The highlight for me was ‘Lost in Space’ by the Misfits. A great fucking song no matter how you cut it, we played it 4th (to conserve energy, it takes a lot out of me, and probably the other guys as well). The drum fills at the end give me the chills every time. It did seem to get a bit of a larger reaction from the crowd them some of the others so I guess they enjoyed it too. I should mention at this point that not unlike many previous Low Profile shows, no one else showed up whatsoever aside from Hilgers co-worker and my cousin and 2 of her friends. But the trusty Knobs were front and center, swilling PBR’s and cheering us on. The sound man ended up telling us that we could play 45 minutes to an hour so we added a few songs to the set. ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ for one because it is such a great song and because Knobs front man Gaynor brought it up before the show. I called him up on stage to sing along but he didn’t know the words too well. He got his chance later when we surprised them with ‘All Night Party Action’. He came up and sang it and the song we had rehearsed for a while went on without a hitch.

The Knobs took the stage and just went off. I am never not amazed by this great, great band. They are unbelievable in their musicianship and professionalism. I got the chance to play guitar with them at the Big Wig a while back on ‘Wild Colonial Boy’ and for this show Gaynor motioned me on stage and handed me the mic. How fucking awesome. I could recite those words in my sleep. Hilger and Rob came up front and sang along and I held out the mic to them to sing into like a real front man.

After the show we chilled a while and drank some more. They had a deal ‘Buckets of Trash’ which was 4 PBR bottles in a bucket with ice for $6. I figure we drank at least 10 buckets. They seemed to just disappear. I guess they called it trash because PBR is so shitty. Normally I’d agree, but they tasted OK that night.

We talked to the sound man and the bouncer about the next days Halford/Testament show (strangely, they were more interested in Testament) and NYHC as well. Very nice fellows, both of them. I have out lots of stickers and flyers and some CD’s also. When we were leaving, I found a CD Hilger had given out lying on the bar. I grabbed it and tried to give it to another drunken patron. This guy was a scumbag and had a very dirty motorcycle jacket on with some shitty air-brushed junk on the back which was extremely faded. He laughed and pushed it away. So if you’re reading this (assuming you can read) fuck yourself in the ass, you cunt.

Then there was a great Mexican place next door open late (Ross said it sucked, tasted good to the rest of us) so Hilger, Rob, me , Bill and Andrew all went over there and ate out balls off. In usual form, I got my food after Andrew and Bill but still finished it first. I’m a slob like that. Jessica stepped outside to get some air since she wasn’t eating and a cop harassed her. Finally made it home and felt like shit as the drunkenness wore off and passed out. All in all, a great show though I still think the Knobs were very disappointed that no one showed up. I didn’t give a fuck cause that’s nothing new to me. They actually have a following and people that like them and few or none that hate them (imagine that!) but as far as I’m concerned it was a success.

Show #46: Fireside Bowl, Chicago

This is our 11th time playing here, but first in 2 years. i found myself telling alot of people that statistic because i myself am amazed by it. this is my personally 13th time there, i played there twice with C.F.D., my first band.

so we got there and found out we were playing 2nd of 4 bands. i think a lot of people (hilger said it and i agreed) that reality was a little off kilter that day, either from partying over the weekend and/or the daylight savings bullshit that ‘the man’ uses to steal an hour from us. how dare he!

so bill knobs of The Powerknobs showed up and we had a drink while the 1st band played. smear campaign was the headliner but they were soundchecking early before any of the bands. i see 1st thing that the singer is wearing like a softball jersey that says ‘south cicero’. now as if it wasnt crazy enough to be representin cicero, hes representina small part of it. that is definately down. they came off stage after their soundcheck and we start talking to them all (actually, i never did speak even once, nor did any of us, to the guitarist. he was definately awesome but just did his own thing i guess. so i go right up to the bassist, hes wearning a flannel shirt, and some bgi ass fuckin boots, like construction boots. so i just asked him, ‘hey dude, are you a fucking construction worker or what?’. he said that no, with a laugh, that he was a mechanic. i asked him for a smoke and he pulled out a very rare cigerette. he had pall mall menthol. i related a story to everyone about my dead grandfather. he smoked cigars but sometimes he would buy cigerettes — pall malls. but he didnt smoke them, he would lite them and just drive around with the thing burning in his mouth. they were definately unfiltered, but they arent shorties like lucky strikes. so anyways, the members of smear campaign are very cool, very friendly, were all laughing together.

bill knobs and i go have a beer, didnt even step out to the see the 1st band. they are called scissors. pop punk from elmhurst, or so i was told (what i was told as far as their home, im quite sure it was pop punk. i could hear it in the bar). and we were next. the set felt really good, wasnt very tired. it was real cold in the place, hilger and i were the only 2 with shorts on. i think it kept me awake. i kept wiping my head with a towel but wasnt that sweaty. the set was done quick and we gave out 10 cds to people we didnt know in about 20 seconds. they we hit the bar. the bartender thought our last song (‘summertime’ by crimpshrine) was fifteen (same singer, jeff ott) so i gave him props for being so close.

moto played, they had some wicked guitars. their singer/guitarist had an ampeg guitar which are rare. the one he had was old but looked pretty awesome. smear campaign played and matt was pretty drunk. he took his shirt off first. i can understand that, youre hot up there and sweating. then he took off his pants. well i was only out there to take some pics and then i went back to the bar. but i guess that he took a shit in his drawers on stage. thats pretty sick. i dont even know what to say about that.

matt from smear campaign was in there getting tanked in the bar afterwards. he buddy who he called momo was there, we were talking about the dirtiest suburbs. i said riverside, i made momo guess and he named dixon, i brought up robbins, but the worst is ford heights (ford city?) fuck if i know what its called. i aint going there. momo said how he used to sell those steaks door to door, and he said the trick is, ‘youre not selling the meal, youre selling the deal’. sound advice. then a guy named jon from windy city punk, i guess they are a label. he said that moto was signed with them and he saw me take pics. he wanted to get a copy of the pics and of course i obliged him. i emailed the 4 i took for the site (see them here). there was this one other dude, i had seen him talking to bill eariler. i figured he was his friend. he looked kind of weird, had dark skin…i dont know. so me and bill are sitting at a table and this guy starts asking me what kind of guitars i play and shit. he said that he missed our set, he got there late. and hes grilling me about guitars, amps, effects…i could keep up with his ass though. we started even spitting some shit about ohm’s law and other electrical theories. he told me he was a veteran, and that he could get military surplus tubes, which they used in old radios but work fine in an amp. thats insane. eventually he left and i asked bill who he was. he said he had no fucking clue, that the guy had come up to him to and grilled him about guitars too. i saw a mohican punk kid talking to some other dudes and i heard him ask them ‘have you ever heard of skokie’? refering to the band. i heard it an the dude said no. i said that i had. so we talked for a while about skokie, i said that they had a big ass black dude singing which of course is very fucking odd. i saw skokie play with strung out and straight faced several years ago also at the fireside. i told him about the show and he had one of ours cds, which he got from hilger after the show. he talked about a couple of bands he was in, we started talking about oi! music. i had to bring up skrewdriver becasue they are pretty cool although they are fucking nazis, its hardcore, crazy shit which hobo platis had gotten me into. ive downloaded a couple of songs and read about the singer and the band, theyre nuts. anyways, i said that i wasnt into the nazi shit. so i asked him ‘are you a nazi?’ and he said no, in fact he said he was jewish! hes from skokie of course. so we all had a good laugh at that. and right now i am listening to ‘nigger ( i hate your face)’ on repeat because of this dude. he was fucking cool. if youre reading this, holler at me!

The sound man, stan, was a class act. the fireside sound must have improved because it sounded great in there, better than our last few gigs. i was really surprised. and when i was going to leave i had to holler at stan who was at the bar also now. i also saw sitting next to him jon from windy city punk and another guy who i assume to be another windy city punk guy, he had a british accent. he broke the news to me, he said “hey man, did you see that guy up there? he shit himself” but in a british accent. i was shocked. thats insane.

i eventually went home, ate, passed out till like 2 am, woke up cleaned my house, walked to the gas station to get a soda in a fucking sleet storm and now its 5 am. so im posting this and going to bed. hey hilger, make sure you cover anything i forgot. it was another awesome show.

Low Profile Live

Sunday April 6th

Fireside Bowl

with Scissors, Moto, and Smear Campaign

Alright. This show was very cool and fun. Bill Knobs and Jessica both showed up so thanks to them right off the bat. also eorl and his old friend. We met up at Rob’s at 4:30 and loaded up and drove to the Fireside. We loaded in and found out that we played second. Smear Campaign were on stage setting up while we were loading in. They played a sound check and then got off stage and took their equiptment off which was kinda weird. They said they were playing last and were gonna go get drunk first. And I’m sure they play better when their drunk. At least for the singer.

So Scissors play first. They were poppy punk type shit. I watched like one and a half songs and got bored so went to go hang out.

We were up next. We represented to the fullest. And we’re down with Smear Campaign. They were representin Cicero which is in the 708 so u guys r cool with us. And don’t think that if your not from the 708 we’ll hate u or whatever. I think people think that sometimes. Its not the case. Be cool to Low Profile and we’ll be down for life. So our set was:

Kamakazi 9-11

Brown

Character Profile

The Limitation

Walter Mander

Chimerical

Grudge

Hot Mom

Summertime (originally by Crimpshrine)

We rocked the fucking house. Jessica was our loudest fan as usual yelling out Low Profile and 708 thru out the show. The drummer and singer from Smear Campaign were digging us too. Thanks for the support guys.

Moto was up next. They played with their leathers on and everything. They rocked for sure. And I mean straight up rock. 4 piece with 2 guitars. Their first song was called Metal Man. It was kinda goofy but alright.

Then Smear Campaign played. They were fucking insane. The drummer was probably the funnest to watch. He thrashed around like a wild man. Props to the bassist. He plays with no pick and all fingers. They were wild. They had a song called Hulk For President. It was funny as hell. Williams had to sing along on the big choruses. Matt shit his pants at one point during the show and proceeded to wipe while still on stage and then got very close to being fully naked.

So then we hung out a bit. The singer from Smear Campaign offered us a show which we took on the spot. They were very nice and fun to talk to and hang out with. We got paid a whopping $15.00 which is cool cause we can split it easily 3 ways. Eric blew his cash on a last free drink. I blew mine on a healthy McDonalds breakfast the morning after the show.

-HILGER

Show #45: Big Wig, Chicago

From left to right: of the Powerknobs — Gaynor, Andrew, Bill, Ross, and Matt from Shooting Blanks.

Prior to the this Sunday gig, Hilger and I were holed up in a Rockford hotel getting smashed for a couple of days. We were supposed to play the Divine Cup in the city but the entire venue closed down. We already had the hotel booked for this scheduled show and figured fuck it, we’ll go anyways even if we can’t play.

So I wasn’t feeling all that hot as I finally got to the club Sunday night. There were 3 bands booked: us, Shooting Blanks and another band who I knew nothing about called Dead by Midnight. Their name sounded cool and I hoped they would be dark and heavy. Shooting Blanks is a great bunch of fellows who have a picture of a cock on their website for their drummer, Dan’s, pic. They offered us the show thru Fellowship of the Punk. Well we all took seperate cars and got to the club. We loaded in and I had a few words with Charles from Ratbag Hero who runs the joint. Well, he runs it on the ‘Distortion Sundays’; the rest of the week its a classy type of nightclub where they probably have the hot chicks that would laugh and spit on you. Well maybe not you, but probably me. Well Charles is a great person and very fucking friendly and nice. HE explained that there were actaully going to be 4 bands — The Fonzarellies from Omaha, Nebraska were in town and were personal friends of his. So now we were going to play 4th. I wasn’t exactly excited about that but as I told Charles, he is the boss and I wouldn’t question his authority. We are not some kind of fucking rock star band nor am I an ego maniac. We are just glad to have the show. So we loaded in our shit and I sat down to drink some water in an attempt to clear my fuzzy and clouded albeit technically sober mind. Much to my own joy, they projected ‘The Chinese Connection’ on the wall, which I very much enjoyed as well as the numerous AFI albums which played throughout the night. Charles hooked the band up with 3 free drinks per member, and 1/2 off all drinks after that. Then, the opportunity of a lifetime. Charles informed us that Dead by Midnight still had not showed. He said that if they weren’t there in another 10 minutes, we should just set up and we could play first. Thank god, the band actaully did show up as we were sound checking, too late for them. That band ended up being about 45 min. late to load in, then just left when they were informed that they could not bring their underage girlfriends into the club. Fucking losers.

Well we went into our set eventually without a set list for what I believe was the 1st time ever. My guitar was also having a bit of trouble staying in tune as we opened with ‘Hangin Around’ by Screeching Weasel. We ripped thru a nice mix of covers and originals, playing ‘Wild Colonial Boy’ by the great Powerknobs when I saw that 4 of the 5 members had showed up for the show. By the time our set ended I was quite sweaty and very short of breath. I eventually recovered enough to suck down 6 or 7 vodka/redbulls. That got me really fired up.

Next was Shooting Blanks. Their drummer Dan (the cock) had had a long discussion with me prior to our set about, of all things, King Diamond. To make things even stranger, he didn’t seem to be familliar with very common punk acts like Screeching Weasel who the DJ was playing inbetween bands. He told me a crazy story about one of his friends who was so shaken by listening to too much King Diamond that he threw all his albums and tapes away in the middle of the night because he didn’t want them in his house. Well back to their set. They raged on for a good set, their singer, Matt, was throwing shapes with the best of them. They had the twin guitar attack and Matt blazed some nice leads to add some originality to their pop punk sound. And also, he played a Jackson guitar, and everyone knows I have much love for Jacksons.

Last up was the touring band, The Fonzarellies. Hilger is a #1 Motley Crue fan and after repeated forced listenings, I have become a fan myself. Well the singer of the Fonzarellies looked just like fucking Nikki Sixx, from his black eyeliner to wild hair and tons of fucking tattoos. He even had the sunglasses in his hair to round out the ensamble. They busted out some wicked fucking guitars and amps. The singer asked the crowd as they were sound checking “does it sound OK?” to which I replied, “No, its too quiet. Turn it up!” although it was loud as a motherfucker to begin with. But they were glad to oblige me and crank it up to 11. They closed with a 10 min. version of one of their songs that really kicked ass. Their singer was trying to talk to us(the crowd) but we really couldn’t unfortunately understand him as the vocals were too distorted and evreything was so fucking loud.

Another highlight of the night was when I walked to one of many 24 hour Mexican resturants in the area to score some grub before I started drinking as I was fucking famished. I ordered 2 steak tacos and the guy asked if I wanted everything on those. I told him I did, but oddly enough their idea of ‘everything’ was basically just onions and cilantro. Not that that is entirely bad, I fucking ate it all anyways. And after the Fonzarellies were done, we were all sitting around getting drunk and the DJ was spinning some old school punk rock like the Stooges. Hilger handed me the new Powerknobs CD which Rob had just scored and told me to give it to the DJ to play. HE was very skeptical at first but eventually played ‘I’m Bored’ much to the surprise of the Knobs who were present. That DJ even got a little silly, making use of the night clubs DJ’s gear like a flanger which he kicked in on the later half of the song.

–satan165, low profile

Low Profile review of show Sunday March 30th, 2003 at Bigwig
With Shooting Blanks and the Fonzarellies

This was one of the funnest shows I’ve played. I was expecting to feel like shit cause Williams and I were “coming down from a 48 hour bender”. No shit. We partied our asses off at a hotel in Rockford. We ate a lot, drank a lot and did other …um…….stuff………..
So I was feeling surprisingly well considering the situation. I’m not sure about the big bossman though. I think he felt better after he had a few drinks in him.
So we meet up at Rob’s at 7 to load up. We all drove separate. When we got to the Bigwig, we met Charles who was extremely friendly and all around nice. So we load in and were due to play last which sucked but oh well.
I’m not sure exactly what happened but we ended up playing first which was fine with the three of us. We played Nature of the Way Things Work for our soundcheck. Then we just chilled till a little after 9 and then started our set.
4 of the 5 Powerknobs showed up. Thanks for the support guys. And our biggest and loudest fan, Jessica, was there. We didn’t make a set list whatsoever and just called out songs as we felt like it. So our set was something like this:

Hangin Around (originally by Screeching Weasel)
Low Pro Pt. 1
Wild Colonial Boy (originally by the Powerknobs)
Solitaire
Zamboni
Figure It Out
Stabbed In the Back (originally by Youth of Today)
Take A Stand (also by Youth of Today)
Mr. Pig (requested by Jessica)
Summertime (originally by Crimpshrine)
Hot Mom

It was a good set. We ripped thru the songs. Rob said he couldn’t hear the bass whatsoever so that sucked for him but I didn’t notice any major fuck ups besides me not being able to recognize Figure It Out. I remember Williams just started the song and it starts with guitar and I was trying to think of all the songs that start with guitar so I’m going thru them, Hate? Grudge? Oh, shit. Its Figure It Out. So I started on B. Went to A. And then finally realized the first note was G#. I’m dumb like that.
Shooting Blanks were up next. These guys were great. We talked with Dan (the dick with glasses) for a while before the show. We talked a lot about music and bands and shit. He told me that King Diamond was also in Mercyful Fate. So u learn something new everyday. I’ll have to check that shit out.
They rocked for sure. They were 4 piece. 2 guitars. Very fun and energetic to watch. We heckled and yelled back and forth at them. The song about Britney was hysterical. I wanna cum on her tits too! And Matt, I got your back, man! U guys r down with Low Profile. Thanks for the show. I got a burned CD from Matt with 8 songs on it. Props.
Up next were the Fonzarellies from Omaha, Nebraska. These guys were great. I was truly impressed. They were also 4 piece, same lineup. The singer was sleeved up with tats and sported a Social D shirt. I requested a Social D song and he said that he knew how to play some Social D but the band didn’t. Oh well. These guys were awesome. Very professional, very talented, etc. I got their CD and 2 comps and hooked them up with some greens for their 7 hour drive home. I also gave them all the money that was in the donations bucket. Touring bands gotta get paid and they always get our share of the profits. Thats a Low Profile custom.
So the whole night was great. I got pretty drunk. They played great music like AFI, the Misfits, Clash, Bouncing Souls, Screeching Weasel and Williams had the DJ guy play the Powerknobs CD. They also played Bruce Lee’s the Chinese Connection up on the wall and then later had some Japanimation shit on which was cool to watch while your drunk and chillin. I had a blast. I hope everyone else did too. Good bands, good music, and a Bruce Lee movie. Fucking A.

Show #44: Mutiny, Chicago

Friday January 31st at the Mutiny in Chicago

Low Profile

The Steve Gattemayer Band

The Powerknobs

Arena Venus

Fucking awesome.

I could leave the review at that. But I know u all want the long ass, unedited Hilger version of how the whole thing went down right? Right?

Alright then. We met up at Rob’s at 8. Eric tells us that we r voted to play last. That kinda sucks. No that really sucks. Oh well. So we load up and drive to the club. Its on Western right off Fullerton. Its a nice place. A nice dive. Perfect for us. So we load in and hang out for a long time. Arena Venus r set up. We’re hanging out talking with the Knobs and everyone else. My sister shows up with Kelly who is a friend of my families. That was cool. Then two guys that I work with Jim Cavanaugh and Mike Phillips, showed up. Leo “Bones” Toal(shown here, with Rob) and Dave Metko showed up. It was great.

Even some mexican dude came into the bar and was trying to sell us some homemade tamales! And what the hell, even the great Dr.’ Z’s dad, Dr. Z Sr. showed up!(shown here, with Powerknobs bassist, Andrew)

So Ross from the Knobs feeds us some slices and Dominoes Dots. Thanks Ross. We chill and talk with Steve Gattemayer who is fucking awesome. He was telling us some wild stories about Cincinatti. All night I kept yelling at him “SG representin Cincinatti”. He would just laugh. He thougt Eric and i were a trip.

Arena Venus start their set. They r a 4 piece with a chick singer. They were alright.

Then the Powerknobs played. They fucking rocked the house. But Bill needs mutha fuckin strap locks. Or just duct tape that strap on for good. At one point he broke a string and Eric restrung the bitch during a song. They played all the songs we wanted to hear. They opened with the Powerknobs theme song which is instrumental and went right into Wild Colonial Boy. Eric and I went nuts. They played Library Girl, My Baby’s in the CIA and All Night Party Action. They played Bats Blood and Eric and I got to sing, or yell the chorus with Dr. Z. who was going wild on the vocals. Then as a tribute to RG Connect, they did a rendition of Straight 708’n. I think it may have brought a tear to Eric’s eye.

Next the Steve Gattemayer band played. They were a 3 piece. Gattemayer sings and plays guitar. They opened with a KISS tune, Detroit Rock City. Eric and I were freaked out. After that I was yelling for them to play Deuce or Strutter and Eric yelled for Black Diamond. They were laughing at our enthusiasm. They played a bunch of originals and made us wait for Strutter. It was awesome. Eric sang backups on the other mic.

Then we played. We put up a sign that I made. I just wrote on a piece of cardboard all ghetto: www.lowpro708.com and then on the back: Low Profile loves bizarrebooks.com. We rocked fo sho. We edited our set a bit. Since Gattemayer played KISS, we had to play KISS. Eric told him that we covered an obscure KISS song and he guessed that it would be off of the Elder which it is. So our set went something like this:

Escape From the Island (originally by KISS)

Solitaire

Kata #2

Low Profile Pt 1

Folsom Prison Blues (originally by Johnny Cash)

Mr. Pig

The Empty Ramblings…..

Think About It

the Grand Finale…….

Wild Colonial Boy (originally by the Powerknobs) feat Mr. Gaynor

encore………

Breakin the Law (originally by Judas Priest)

After the show, we made SG take all the money out of the tip jar. He couldn’t believe it. He kept offering it to us and we wouldn’t take any of it. Dave Metko kept apologizing in advance for any bad pictures he may have taken. Eric told him that if he didn’t stop aplogizing, he’d kick his ass. We talked with some crazy crack head dude outside the club about My Pet Monster, Voltron, other toys and cartoons from our childhood. But he got a bit deeper with Eric telling him about how he plays from his heart and that he believes in it all. I got a parking ticket and Eric told me not to pay it right away and to wait about a year till I get a notice in the mail telling me to pay it and this cracked out dude gives me the best advice. He told me to pay it now while I have the money and get it out of the way. “U may not have the money for that ticket in a year man.” Thats pretty good advice coming from him. So thats it. The show was a blast. U missed it.

-ERIK

Low Profile

Show #43: Rockhouse USA, Aurora

We first heard that DRI was playing the Rockhouse and immediately said, ‘we have to go to that show’. It was Hilger’s idea to try and actually play on the bill. He called United Talent promoter Joe DeMarco and asked what we had to do to get on the bill. He said we would have to sell tickets and pay up front. Hilger and I discussed it and then decided that we would pay whatever they wanted. So then Joe starts giving us the cold shoulder: not answering his phone, not returning calls. He had originally mentioned that there were alot of other bands wanting to play thE show.

I figured he gave away our slot to someone else and we were fucked. Then, out of the blue, he calls us back and says that we are in. He says that we must immediately go down to the Rockhouse and pay Doug, the clubowner $300 for our 30 tickets in advance. He also says that we must make our own tickets.

Now I know what youre thinking. But you can fuck yourself because you think that the Big Boss Man has been had by these wanna-be Hollywood, rock star jerk-offs. I know that we were getting ripped off. At this point I even am pretty sure that we are the only band that had to do all
this (pay up front $300, make our own tickets). But I (and we) don’t fucking care because I’ve listened to DRI since before I even played guitar. I saw them once before at the Fireside Bowl at one of the rowdiest shows I’ve
ever seen there and I almost got killed.

So Joe Demarco tells us that we have to drive down to Aurora either on Wednesday of Friday night. He says that we can meet Doug on these days between like 9 PM and 2 AM. So me and Hilger make arrangements to meet up Friday night at like 1130, I sneak out of work a bit early and we hit
the road.

So we get there and go in and meet with the long-time door man and overall fat ignorant bastard Curtis. We tell him we are there to see Doug and what our deal is. He says to wait there. He walks us into the kitchen which is not in use. Were waiting there. This other chick who works
there comes out. Shes real nice, asking about our band and shit. Then she starts asking if there is another member(which there is, our drummer Rob.) She says that he was down there last weekend or something and that he was ‘checking out the place’. I just go along with it. There is no
fucking way in hell that Rob was there(for one thing I asked him) but this place is a dump anyways far from home.

So then Curtis comes back and says, ‘Doug is sleeping.’ OK, there is like a death metal band or something playing REALLY loud, theres no way anyone could be sleeping through this. But him and this other chick recommend that we just chill and have a drink and wait a while. So we agree.
So we go to step outside to Hilger’s car and Curtis comes up to me and says all snotty, ‘Don’t you want to know what I found out?’ as if I was an idiot for not asking. So were standing outside, Hilger and I are in the parking lot below the Rockhouse, Curtis is above us. He says that, ‘We dont know anything about any tickets or you meeting Doug, and on second thought, Doug wont be waking up anytime soon so even if you wait till the end of the show, you’re not going to get to see him.’ Just then a car gets rear-ended in the street behind us. So Curtis goes back in and me and Hilger look at each other like, ‘what the fuck?’. So we fucking leave. I got home and
wrote Joe DeMarco a long email describing what happend.

The following (sat.) morning I give Joe Demarco a call and he he actaully answered. He hadn’t checked his email so I explain what happens. Joe is the type of guy who acts real calm on the phone (I’ve never met him or seen him in real life although we’ve worked with him for a long
time, always on the phone) but a little condescending. So he sighs real dramatic and goes, ‘You know Eric, some people just need to get out of this business. Curtis is one of those people, he just doesn’t respect others’. So I’m very glad that Joe is taking our side. He calls the Rockhouse and Doug actually answered. We’re all on the 3-way and Joe explains
what happend. So we make new arrangements for me to come back that night. Joe even berated Doug a bit on the phone, he then tells Doug to buy me a drink when I get there and Doug agreed.Joe asks who I’m going to bring with and I say no body. He says I should bring someone with me
and tells Doug to hook us up with some free drinks. Surprisingly, Doug agreed.

So that night I come back and as I’m walking up I see fat Curtis. There’s another fat dirty headbanger talking to him and I had a hunch it was Doug. Curtis sees me and motions Doug over to me. So Doug just acts ignorant like I’m a stranger off the street after I identified myself. I said, ‘hey lets talk business, not out here.’ So we go back into the filthy kitchen. We briefly talk, I pay him the $300 cash and he gives me a receipt. He gave
me ONE free beer.(Cheap bastard).

So there is a crazy death metal band, I watched them a bit and drank my beer. They were called Mortician. I’ve never really watched a death metal band up close like that. They were a 3-piece which definitely surprised me, the bassist was singing. Literally the music and vocals sounded
like white noise. I caught their last song and the fans are tripping out, like Mortician are the Beatles. There were a lot of crazy t-shirts in that place. One said, ‘Fuck you all — AS YOU DIE!’. Another was, ‘Pure Norweigan Black Metal’. I watched the drummer throw out his sticks into the crowd after their set and people were like jumping around the place trying to get them. One dude came up and asked if he could take a photo with him. I talked to the drummer for a bit, he was very cool. Stupidly, I’m thinking that their from around Chicago and I told him about the DRI show, but he said they were from Pennsylvania. Then I left.

That’s it for the pre-show drama.
I’ll let Hilger take over this shit now……

–big boss man

Heres the bill for the big show:
=====================
1.low profile
2.mo fucked
3.johnny vomit
4.payback(purple ibanez guitar)(1 guitar/2 frontmen)
5.this guy(2nd guitar feededback the whole show)(2 guitar/1 frontman)
6.new society of anarchists
7.dri

==============================================

Saturday November 9th

Live at Rockhouse USA in Aurora, IL

Alrighty. Well, this was a very crazy show as is every Low Profile show. The Illinois Entertainer listed 6 bands but 7 ended up playing including us.

So we all meet up at Rob’s around 4:30. We load up and drive to Aurora. We got there in good time and went in to see what the deal was. They told us to load right up onto the stage cause we r playing first. So we do so. Paul was the soundman who hooked everything up on stage and did the monitors. Doug, the owner did the sound for the audience. So whatever. We hang out. Hobo shows up. Jamey Johnson shows up. Jessica shows up and thats about it for our fans. Nobody likes us. Oh well. I thank the three of them for showing up.

So Paul sets up with a lot of trouble. He seems a bit burnt and can’t figure out whose amp is whose and where to set the mics up. But he did an alright job. So we get on stage to start up around 6:45. Our set was something like this:

Character Profile

The Limitation

Walter Mander

Grudge

Figure It Out

En Guarde

The Nature of the Way Things Work

Serial Killer

Excited To Die

We played really well. No one got crazy during our set or anything but a lot of people gave us props while we were loading out and while we were hanging out afterwards. One guy came up and shook my hand and then pulled me in for a hug. I was a bit surprised but he said “Much love. Much love man. U guys play that hardcore shit.” So that was cool. And this was a total punk rawk show. Mohawk punks included.

So up next was Mo Fucked. They were a 3 piece and were totally punk. Gutter punks at that. The bassist sang. They played good street punk. Very fast and crazy. They covered the Ace of Spades by Motorhead.

Next was Johnny Vomit who rocked the fucking house. And of course John was drinking two beers at once and falling all over the stage. They ended their set with the crowd favorite What The Fuck. They were great. Then by the end of the night, they were all drunk. John would try to say something to me and forget what he wanted to tell me in the middle of the sentence but then he’d pass me his beer mug so I could take a good swig. What a guy. I love them.

Next was Payback. These guys were cool. They had one guitar but two singers. Or screamers. They were both big dudes and could sing hardcore perfect. One guy sounded like Jamey from Hatebreed. I dug them. The guitarist and bassist were rowdy and were “throwing shapes” for sure. I talked with the bassist after their set and we both gave each others bands props. They were cool.

The next band was called This Guy. I remember that they started their set oddly. Their first song started up with everything. Voice, both guitars, bass and crazy loud drums. What a way to start up your set. They were good. Very hardcore but my main complaint is that the second guitarist kept feeding back. He played an SG guitar which is expensive but it must have been a piece of shit or he didn’t know how to control feedback and other guitar noise. So that sucked.

Next was The New Society of Anarchists. They were so fucking awesome. They r from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and r on tour with DRI. They were a 4 piece. 2 guitars and the bassist sang. They were too damn awesome. Rob bought their CD. I should have too. They had a lot of fans there. A lot of people were singing along and stuff. They were all about unity and be cool to each other so I can respect that. I’d love to play another show with these guys.

And last, DRI played. They were great of course. They opened with I Don’t Need Society. They played Thrashard in the beginning of their set. They played for a long ass time but no one cared. But after 7 hours and 7 bands, it gets a bit tiring. I got their set list but gave a page away to one of the stagehands at Rockhouse. Then I got Spike, Kurt and the bassist to sign my album insert to Thrash Zone, my favortie DRI album.

I bought that album originally in 1989. I was 11 yrs old and in like 7th grade so imagine what an honor it was to play with them. Williams and I both saw DRI at the Fireside like 6 or 7 yrs ago. That was one of the craziest shows at Fireside I’ve seen. We took pictures with Kurt and Spike.

So thats about it. It was a late night. It was a total blast and u missed it. Oh well. Thanks for reading.

Show #42: The Prodigal Son, Chicago

Low Profile live at the Prodigal Son / 2626 Halsted Wednesday September 25th

with the Powerknobs and the Planet of the Planets

What a fucking show. I could start all of my reviews with that line. But seriously. This show was a blast. I emailed Brian who does booking for Prodigal Son and the Fireside and asked him to book us with the Powerknobs and he said they were playing the 25th and he would add our band. So we got the show with like 10 days notice. No problem for Low Profile though. So we get there around 8. We’re all hanging around and whatnot. The bartender/soundman puts on a CD. Eric and I recognize it. “The Sinner” by Judas Priest. We were going nuts. So we got all rowdy about it and told him nice choice and he said “I only play Priest here.” We were like “Fuckin A.” So we sang along and acted like fools and had fun. The other two bands showed up with their crews and we all talked and whatnot. I think our antics made some people nervous but it was a friendly atmosphere. And get this. One of the weirdest things about this place is that they offer u free bacon and free juice. I mean, cmon. Bacon. And I was told that it was salty as hell. Probably to make u drink more. But someone came up to Rob and I and told us about the free juice and bacon. We didn’t get it and still don’t. But that just added to the madness of the night. Another cool thing about the place is that they had a great choice of beer. Eric and Rob were drinking down some Red Stripes. Whice r from Jamaica. And Eric said that they had a beer that cost $13.50 for a bottle but it was much bigger bottle than average.

So whatever. We play first. Our set was:

Ghouls Night Out originally by the Misfits

Carl Panzram

The Limitation

Walter Mander

Breakin The Law originally by Judas Priest

Lachrymose

Grudge

Excited To Die

Hate

Low Profile part 1

And that was it. We were going to play Want by Jawbreaker but we changed it last minute to Breakin The Law because the sound dude played the whole Priest album Sin After Sin. I asked him what he thought of our version of the song and he said “You guys played that song so fucking raw. It was awesome.” What a guy. So we were all hot and sweaty and we moved our shit outta the way so the next band could set up. By the way. Let me describe the stage. It was a decent size but the ceiling was very low over the back half of the stage. Maybe 6 and a half feet high. Rob said he kept banging his sticks on the ceiling. Then they had crazy homemade sound proofing along the back wall and on the roof. They filled burlap potatoe type sacks and hung them to the wall. It just looked crazy. Again, adding the to madness of the whole experience of playing this show.

Right after us, the Planet of the Planets set up. They were mind blowing. I mean crazy music. It didn’t make sense to me. They were a four piece. Drums, Guitar, Bass and then the fourth guy switched between playing guitar, keyboards or he would just sing. They were great. The guitarist wore a cowboy hat. The singer dude wore these crazy old school sunglasses and Eric said he looked like he was in the witness protection program which was kinda true. It looked like he was wearing a disguise. The bassist played a 5 string and he ripped. Parts of their songs would be very melodic and slow and then the tempo would speed up and they would play some noisy changes. They were all very talented and I dug their music a lot. The guitarist said in between songs that he always wanted to see Priest play live but now that he saw us play Breakin The Law, that made his day. Fucking props. They were very nice and cool to talk to and everything. The singer made a comment on stage about Eric and I singing along to the song Screaming For Vengeance by Priest before the show. He said something along the lines of “We don’t promote vengeance and we definately don’t scream for it.” Pretty goofy.

Then the Powerknobs hit the stage. They were great of course. They r a 5 piece. Drums, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards and a frontman singer who is just fucking awesome. What a voice and what a frontman. They covered an oldie by the Dave Clarke Five. At least thats who I think originally played that song. I think the song was called “Glad All Over” They rocked it out for sure. During one song the guitarist ripped a solo and started using his full Pabst Blue Ribbon can as a slide and made some crazy sounds and sloshed beer all over himself and his guitar but it was awesome.

So like I said. What a show. It was a ton of fun. I got to play my Nikki Sixx deluxe Gibson bass for the first time at a show. It played great but went out of tune kinda quick. Then I switched and used the Ball. Eric played his maroon Jackson guitar. I don’t think he really had any problems or anything. No technical difficulties whatsoever.

So thats it. Fun was had by all. Well, most I should say.

-ERIK

Low Profile

Show #41: The Divine Cup, Rockford

Alright. Well, its been a week since this show. I should have written this the day after the show but oh well. I’m a professional crastinator. (is that spelled right?)

Well, we left for Rockford around 5:30. We got there right around 7. So Rob and I go in and meet Andy and he takes us to the room where we will be playing. There is no stage or anything. Just a big room. There is a big piece of black fabric hanging against a wall as like a backdrop. There r lights set up and a PA and a sound board and thats about it. We meet Kent, the sound man. Both him and Andy r real nice to us. They say we r playing 2nd out of 5 total “acts”. That was kinda strange to hear. So we go get Eric and drive around the side to unload. So more people get there but we don’t know who they r or what bands they r in. I was pretty anti social then for whatever reason. So we wait and wait around till 8. The first band starts their set. They r called Spencer Park. They r a 4-piece. 1 guitar, bass, drums and a singer who played keyboards on like the first 3 songs. They were very poppy but rocked. The words were about love and nature and feelings and emotions and stuff like that so I couldn’t get too into it. I just wanted to hear the keyboards rip. So we set up to play next. Of course we smoked up before our playing. Our set was something like this:

Sex Party

Excited To Die

Low Pro pt 1

En Guarde

Summertime (originally by Crimpshrine)

Problem Solved

Solitaire

Hate

Zamboni

All The Wrong Reasons

We fucking rocked the house. People cheered very loudly and it was a blast. We didn’t know anybody which made it even better. The lights were very hot and blinding and u couldn’t see anybody’s face. That kinda sucks. So then after us a band called the Fightbacks played. They play very noisey hardcore. They were great. I dig that noiscore shit.

The three of us all sat outside and talked to the people who were all hanging out. There were a bunch of Rockford chicks that were around so it was interesting to say the least. Eric was all excited to go eat at the Ground Round restaurant so he called them on his cell to see what time they closed. It was like 10:45 by that time. The fourth “act” was on by then who was just a guy who played guitar and sang. Eric and I talked with him earlier that night and he made his guitar case out of wood and he did the felt on the inside and everything. It was pretty odd. So we left to go eat. The waiter at the restaurant was fucking cool. He took a picture of us sitting at the table. So we chowed. Eric really fucking chowed. The waiter had to give him a bib so he didn’t slob all over himself. Fucking hysterical. So we leave. About an hour into the drive, Eric is very antsy and squirming around. We’ve beeen singing Cash Money lyrics the whole way home and now hes quiet and gripping the handle in the truck and moving around a bunch. So he yells that I have to pull over and hes in pain and has to take a shit and can’t hold it any longer. It was funny as fuck to Rob and I but I can’t imagine what Eric was going thru. So after about 15 minutes of him clenching his ass cheeks closed we get to an expressway Oasis. He runs in and goes to rid his body of the steak, chicken and shrimp quesadillas he just ate. Rob and I kept laughing about it. It was pretty funny to us. I felt bad though cause he was in such excruciating pain and said he almost shit his pants. There was tons of construction so I couldn’t pull over. He said he would have taken a shit on the side of the road and wiped with newspaper or whatver if he had to. Luckily I drive fast and we were close to that Oasis. So thats about it.

We left the Divine Cup without really saying goodbye to anyone. We didn’t ask to get paid. We just asked for directions to the Ground Round and we were on our way.

Here’s a pic that Hilger stole off the wall of the place, its somekind of daycare center or something…

Show #40: Oasis 160, Chicago Heights

Alright. This show was fucking crazy. We all met up at Rob’s at around 1:30. We loaded up in the truck and got to the club 10 minutes to 3. No one was even there. The place was deserted. So at about 3 some dude gets there to open the club. He says shows don’t start till 5. That sucks. So we have to wait around. So we set up and have to talk some shit to this guy cause he says that “according to the computer, u guys play last”. I tell him that its a punk rock show and we’re the first band there and that we’re setting up. He doesn’t do a thing. So Eric and I start helping him set the club up, moving chairs around and setting up the tables. He gives me a couple free beers which was cool. So then the Chainsaw Johnny and Johnny Vomit guys get there. So we all hang out a bit and they load in. Our buddy Eorl from Des Plaines drives all the way down to see us since he saw the ad in IE. Fucking props to Eorl. So him, Eric and I r stupidly throwing an old beat up cymbal around like a frisbee and Eorl throws me a perfect pass and I catch it and slice my hand open. Blood everywhere. So I clean up a bit and wrap my hand in Eric’s towel which he caught from Ripper at the Judas Priest concert. So I ruined it and stained it with my blood. Sorry dude. So whatever. We wrap and rewrap my hand a few times. Its still gushing blood. Finally its time for us to play. Of course we went out and smoked up a bowl before the show to get us good and in the zone. Our set was:

Empty Rantings of an Old Silly Man

New Blues

Excessive

Low Profile Part 1

Beer Cans (by Chainsaw Johnny) with Johnny Vomit on vocals and me singing backups

Figure It Out

All The Wrong Reasons
Problem Solved

Hate

In The Zone

We played awesome. I played even sloppier having my hand wrapped in duct tape. I didn’t bleed all over my guitar though. I got really into jamming. The club was really dark and everyone was pushed far back from the stage so u couldn’t really see anyones face closely or anything. I was feeling it though. So then we chilled and drank up some water that the hot bartender chick supplied for us. The next band up was called the Powerknobs. They were fucking raucous rock n roll. They had one guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and a vocalist. None of them looked like they would even play instruments and they were very pleasant hanging out before the show. They fucking rocked though. Then Johnny Vomit played. By this time, we were drinking beers with the guys in Chainsaw Johnny and Last Man Out. They had $1.00 pitchers. Jeff from C.J. was all excited about it. Johnny Vomit rocked the house. They played Eric’s favorite song Liver Rebellion second to last. Vomit was drinking out of a “fountain drink” container with who knows what in it on stage since they wouldn’t let us drink open alcohol on stage since the show was all ages. Blah Blah Blah. So next was Chainsaw Johnny. They were pretty drunk before they went on stage. I’m not sure how many songs they played total but during Drink Till The Day We’re Dead, someone walked up and lit Steve’s set list on fire and it flamed up and then went out and ashed itself on the floor. Well, the soundman wasn’t having that and he turned on the house speakers and jammed a Perfect Circle louder than Chainsaw Johnny and then he just shut off the PA and he kicked them off stage. What a punk show. Steve was playing with a box on his head that Johnny Vomit made for him. He poked out the eyes and mouth for him. It was hysterical. So they were done. Then Last Man Out played. They were tight as fuck. A full ska punk band. Very high energy, a ton going on at once. They were great. So after all the bands, I guess the guys in Johnny Vomit got caught stealing speakers and the cops came because of the fire on stage. So it was a very interesting night to say the least. I went to the Emergency Room early Monday morning and had them wrap my hand. I had horrible nightmares about my hand while I slept that night. In one of them, the cymbal completely cut my hand off and in another, I dreamt that my hand bled all over my bed and I was laying in it. I jumped up and ran into the bathroom to see if my hand was all bloody and it was fine. My mind was fucking with me hardcore. So after all that, I had to go get my cut taken care of. So here I am, typing with a fucking splint on my pointer finger and my hand all wrapped up. What a pain in my ass. I take for granted having both hands. Its been a pain trying to do basic shit and forcing my left hand to do more. Oh well. So thats it. We gave a bunch of our live CD’s away at the show and even some tshirts. So u missed out on an amusing and fun show. L8er