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.
