i went to my first punk rock show in around 1994. i saw a band called the monsignors and they were awesome. i saw then 4 more times over the years and somewhere in the midst of that in 96 bought a bass and started playing music of my own.
fast forward to 2004. i was thinking about the monsignors and enlisted an old friend to help me complete their discography as he had a single 7″ i did not. i converted everythign to mp3 and listened intently for the 1st time in years; and it was good. but it wasnt enough, i was curious and wanted more info and possibly/hopefully more music.
i found that the label (chicago based) that put out some/most of their stuff was still around, harmless records. i found their site and contacted teh kind fella that runs it. his name is scott. he was super cool and we reminiced and talked about old bands and stuff and i told him of my love for the monsignors. he told me that he is good friends with mike, the guitarist and still talks to him often. he said he could put me in touch with mike. well he did. me and mike talked a few times and he soon told me about his new band, the rules of attraction. this was in the fall and halloween was approaching and he told me about an upcoming show they had. i attended with my then-girlfriend and we both enjoyed the show and music
immensley. by the time spring came i woudl still occassionally hear from mike, as he continued to promise me exclusive and unreleased/live shit from the monsignors, tho he was quite busy finished graduate school.
now allow me to ‘change lanes’…we have been trying to book a show at the bottom lounge for a long long time. brian peterson is by no means the biggest asshole of promoters in chicago but hes not easy to get a hold of. well hilger emailed him and he immediately responded! this was a first! he offered us our choice of 2 dates, both in may. after a few days we were able to accept the 2nd date. i only became more ecstatic when i found that of all the fucking bands in the world, we would be playing with the goddamn rules of attraction. i couldnt believe it! by now i had become a full fledged fan, with their tracks in heavy rotation in my home and car. also on the bill was highball. this is a band i had never seen, yet i knew of them well because at least 10 bands we know and have played with know and have played with them. last on the bill, the headliner, is/was a california band called pitch black. signed to none other then revelation records. if nothing else their label is a thrill, since i own half the discography probably and have BOLD (a former REV band) tatooed on my fucking arm. so basiclaly we were set for an awesome fuckin show.
well the day came around and first of all i got my man 64 from the south side and his woman to come out to the show. also in attendance were eorl and also frizank of rocky denis. its great that those people came out, and im glad they did nor can i thank them enough. pitch black ended up canceling. we enjoyed a ride over to the venue in hilgers shiny new van and loaded in, then hilger found a prime fucking parking spot in back of the club. the night was set up for total success.
the sound man was also awesome and was real cool and open and talking to us before the gig. chris from highball was very social and also a super cool dude. we hung out in and outside the club wasting time until the show started, which had been pushed back due to the canceled band. i always assumed pitch black had some kind of draw but either they dont or somehow word got around REALLY fast because it did not seem that any stray fans came to teh club anyways expecting a show.
it was awesome to meet mike andy and matt from RofA. they look exactly the same as they did when i saw them on stage with teh mongignors back in teh day. talk about nice guys….its amazing. they could have been dicks and i wouldnt have minded since i hold them in such a high regard anyways. i shoudl also mention that a week before the gig i had the balls to ask them to play another show with us in june and they accepted. we talked about that as well as other crap. mike and i discussed pinball at length, as well as many hybrid pinball machines which could be combined with other crap. he said hes into bird feeding so that might be nice if you could work that into the machine somehow. we spoke of a wild monster telescope which could be combined with a deli so you could have a nice sandwich if you got hungry while looking at stars, however i mentioned that greasy fingers from salami and italian dressing and/or mayonaise do not mix well with sensitive optics of a telescope. should those optics become greased from your filthy paws the telescope would not function. he seemed down after this but i was able to bring him back up once discussion ensued regarding a combination urinal/pinball machine. he also showed me the proper way to ‘jerk off’ the machine. he was a real pro at this.
well we took the stage first. the show felt great. the sound was awesome and the stage and lights were on point. hilger and i both rocked the wireless for hte 1st time in a while and both worked great, we ran all around teh venue and floor area without a hitch.
next up was teh rules of attraction. i was very excited to see them play since i hadnt known them as well when i first caught their live act back on halloween. this time around i knew probably half the songs in their set and it was fucking awesome. but ive listened to them so much more (plus got new material) since this show, that i cant wait to see them again, casue now ill REALLY know whats up! this band is great, really great. the last local band i was this excited about was the powerknobs. i feel the same when i see em, like its something truly fresh and not trying to be trendy or follow something else. its just unadulterated. and its fucking great. they were awesome live! cant wait for june 25th!
last up was highball. they are a great bunch of guys. chris swung his whole bass around his body which was a smooth move i have never attmpted, tho now im beating myself up for not trying cause i had the wireless going plus that is a club with a big enough stage to try it. if i try that at a rehersal i will definatley have a busted headstock.
when we were chillin backstage someone came up to me and asked ‘are you eric?’. it was scott harmless. it was a privledge and pleasure to make his acquaintance. again, what a fuckin nice guy. i love that pic. and what the hell is rob doing in the background? i put that pic on my desktop, it fuckin rules.
before we left we took an awesome pic in teh alley. the lighting is awesome. unforunately im making some open mouted look cause i was trying to see my camera or something…i dont know. still rules. 64s woman vicki copped a low profile shirt off of us, all the ladies love our fashion stylezz. hilger grabbed some random person and made her take this pic with us too.
after the show i think all 3 of us were just drunk enough and also so happy and in good spirits that we had one of the most fun rides home from a show in a long time. we were blasting the fearless flush (old school comp, if you dont know ya betta ask somebody) and singing along to every song. this was such a fun show and i know damn well we played really fucking good. i hope to play here again one day and i definatley hope to play many more shows with RofA.
–satan165
Low Profile live at the Bottom Lounge
Wednesday May 18th
with Rules of Attraction and Highball
so we finally got our first show at Bottom Lounge. and it was totally awesome. i had a blast. Pitch Black was supposed to play this show but they cancelled for whatever reason. they were the touring band from California. it would have been cool to see them, hang out with them, etc. but oh well.
we all met up at Rob’s around 5. loaded up the van and we all rode together. we listened to some Slayer and then put on the Fearless Flush comp. it was a pretty fun drive.
i parked right down the streen from the club and we loaded in and then i pulled around back and got prime parking right behind the club. i should have just parked there to begin with. we had some time to kill so we just hung out and chatted with whoever was around.
we got to do a soundcheck which was cool and everything was sounding real nice. then back to hanging out. some people started to show up so that was cool. me and Rob both got ourselves a RedBull/GreyGoose and they were going down so smooth.
at around 9 or so, we got the go ahead to start our set. it was something like this:
Figure It Out
Arnold Palmer and Katie Holmes
The Limitation
Walter Mander
Hotboxed
All the Wrong Reasons
Solitaire
En Guarde
The Will to Kill
Milwaukee
it was a good fun set. Satan and i rocked the wireless systems and ran around the club. the stage is definately nice and big but off the stage is even bigger. it’s fun running thru the crowd and jamming. and they seem to get a kick out of it.
during Milwaukee, Satan pointed out towards the crowd ordering me to go run out again. i took it as he wanted me to jump over the barricade and off the stage. well, i thought for a split second that the stage was kind of high, the barricade was even higher and i could easily not jump right, fall, break my body or worse yet, break my bass. but like i said, it was a split second thought and i just pushed it out of my brain and pulled the jump anyways. the landing was a shock to my feet and my head. i’m sure my bass made a nice loud noise as i touched the floor too. it was fun tho. i haven’t done one of those in awhile. i guess cuz most places we play don’t have a stage or the stage is only like 3″ high. hahahaha. the Birdman bought us a round of shots before he took off. chilled Absolut goes down fucking smooth when your mouth is dry and you’re still all hot and sweaty from the show. and i was smokin bowls in the back rooms. no one seemed to notice so hopefully no one will be mad about it. Eorl showed up and he was at our last show which was at the Mutiny and he requested All the Wrong Reasons but we didn’t play it. so i added it to the set last minute on stage and dedicated it to him. good ole Eorl!
the Rules of Attraction were up next. this band just fucking rules. super nice guys. very cool to talk and hang with. but their style is awesome. they just fucking rock!! we like them so much, we asked them to play Buddy’s with us June 25th and i’m glad they accepted. and their bassist plays the same Trans Teal Ernie Ball bass i have. so props on that.
Highball was up last. they played a good solid set. once again, a bunch of good guys in this band. i bullshitted with the bassist the most. he played a nice natural wood tone Ernie Ball bass. it looked pretty sweet. it was good to play with and hang out with these guys cuz they have been around as long as we have and have played with a bunch of bands we know. long live the mighty Highball!!!
so we left sometime around midnight i think. we got some good pics posted. we had some key people show up that made the night. shout out to Scott Herschler, the Birdman, Frizank and Eorl. i was so happy to see all of them there. them being there just made the night all the more better. props the soundman for being fun and making us sound so good. i could hear everything and that was one of our best sets yet. we always say that after almost every show but i think this may have been the funnest show i’ve played. i luv the Bottom Lounge and u know what? i’m gonna email Brian right now thanking him for the show and asking for another. hahahahaha….i’m persistent.
–HILGER
