Category: suburbs

Show #70: Buddy’s, Franklin Park

Low Profile live at Buddy’s in Franklin Park
Saturday July 31st
with Time and Distance and Rocky Denis This show was fucking great!!!!!!

Thanks right off the bat to ManKnee who booked us.
Thanks to Rocky Denis for playing with us.
Thanks to Time and Distance for passing thru our town, playing for us and for
being cool guys. Good luck with the rest of the tour!!!!!!

We met up at Rob’s at 8:30. Well, I got there right on time. Satan showed up twenty minutes late. We both loaded out while Rob was taking a shower and taking his time getting ready for the show. I don’t fucking blame him, he lives not even 5 minutes away. That made the show all the more better. We all live so close to Buddy’s.

So Satan and I got there around 9ish. Loaded in and just hung out. Mingled. Chatted with everyone there, etc.
We walked to what used to 2001 and each bought a Red Bull and some water. Pounded the Red Bulls and headed back to Buddy’s.

Rob showed up and he loaded in. A lil later, Time and Distance arrived and pretty much set up and started playing right away. They are from West Virginia and are on a lil tour. They played acoustic type emo. 4 man band. 2 guys played acoustics and sang, 1 guy on bass and then drums. They were pretty awesome. I watched their whole set and dug it. Good vocals, good backups, good changes, interesting song structure, etc.

I bought their CD and hooked up the bassist with our CD. They were real cool guys. Their next show was in Minnesota but got cancelled. So they were still heading that way and were going to see Midtown play. I guess the drummer from Midtown put their CD out. Pretty cool. The Cd is good. But is all acoustic guitar and vocals. No bass, no drums. Seems like it may have been recorded by just the singer/guitarist frontman. Its good tho.

We were due up next. We took our time setting up for a change. There seemed to be no hurry. This was our first time at Buddy’s. I hadn’t been there for at least a year. The stage is only a few inches off the ground but is plenty big. We’re only 3 piece and we made good use of it but it is very spacious. Gotta luv that.

Digger was somehow connected to this show and were supposed to play but they broke up not too long ago I suppose. They had played Buddy’s once before Monty was telling me before the show. So we learned and thru the Digger instrumental into the set to show our appreciation for that band.
Our set was something like this:

Digger (instrumental originally by Digger off of Powerbait)
Milwaukee
Ultraviolence
The Limitation
Walter Mander
48
The Will to Kill
Studio Nightmare
Hotboxed

The set was good. We played pretty tight. Rob’s bass drum beater fell off for the last half of Hotboxed. He asked me if I noticed and I definately didn’t. I remember something being a lil off and trying to really listen to Rob to stay in time but didn’t notice there was no bass drum.
Double J took pics of our set. So thanks to him!!!!!

Rocky Denis played last. They fucking rocked!!!!
This was my first time seeing them live since we played that lil show in Rob’s basement with them a long while back. I was truly impressed and would luv to play with them again sometime. They brought a huge crowd who loved every song they played. Props guys!!!!

I hung out till about 2:30. I was so ruined tho and felt so damn icky from being so sweaty all night. I went home, showered, drank some more and smoked up some herb and didn’t pass out till past 4.

Thanks to Manknee, Rocky Denis, Time and Distance.
Thanks to Brock and Dave for letting us all rock out at your place.
Thanks to the Ranger for running good sound and being a cool guy.
Thanks to Jessica and Crystal. U 2 r always fun!!!!
Thanks to Double J. always a pleasure to have u around and great pics as usual.

Thanks to Satan’s 40 crew for being there!!!!
Thanks to the cool underage kids I met outside who I gave CDs to.
And thanks to everyone else who was there watching, hanging out, drinking,
partying, etc. It was a great night!!!! Can’t wait to play Buddy’s again!!!! =)

-ERIK HILGER

i met manny at robs house. rob was having a party after the river front fest which is 2 doors away from his crib (and 1 block from mine). i heard someone yell ‘satan!’, i looked and was confused cause i didnt recognize anyone. manny introduced himself. we were both tanked but i remember him saying some shit about mexican food, how awesome he thought it is cause its just made from ‘meat, cheese, lettuce, etc…’, he offered me the show right away. i was a little apprehensive, espcailly since i knew we were both getting drunk and i like to do business like that sober and shit. i gave him a cd and he rattled off a grip of insults at me. first he said how we dont play that many shows. i tried to defend myself saying how we played alot last year and have been playing at least once in month in 2004. he wasnt havin it! i gave him a cd and he said he would play it on tritons radio station where he DJs a show. he added that he would play it if the cd was a ‘good quality’. i told him it was recorded in a studio, i didnt know what he meant. he kind of took it back then. he busted my balls quite a bit within 10 minutes of meeting him. im not mad about it and im definately down with manny. he wants to get rowdy with booking shows and shit and wants to let you know that he knows whats up. since i like him personally i can respect it, otherwise if i didnt know him or if he was more of a dick i might go off on him. well anyways we got the gig and all was good.

so the story is that originally teh bill was supposed to be triple lindy (tony perrys band) , rocky denis and digger. digger ended up breaking up shortly before the gig so they were out. strangely triple lindy pulled out also, they didnt want to play without digger. while i can certainly feel their pain for digger disbanding, i cant see why you would want to turn down a local show, its very convinenent for people coming out to see you that you know. we played with them on halloween and theyve changed drummers a few tiems since. i dont know what their deal is exactly and i dont care to find out to be honest. i think that pulling out of the gig was an insult to rocky denis and to the scene and everyone in general, like they are too good to play teh show without digger, like they play 100s of shows or something. well it was just as well cause it contributed to manny needing bands more so we got in. the 3rd band of the night was called time and distance. they were from west virginia and played some acoustic emo type shit. they definately had their act together and had like $1200 in awesome road cases for all the drums and shit. they were very solid. 2 of the members stood right up front basically our whole set which was awesome. i definately dont expect the other bands to do that esp. considering we play very different styles of music. they are on tour so i bought a tshirt and cd to support their cause as they go on. cool people.

well they played first and i tried to cool out. i was feeling pretty anxious and wanted to get it on real bad. luckily we went on 2nd. the stage was very solid and plenty big. the PA sounded great and so did the monitors. my wireless system worked great and i didnt break any strings. didnt go out of tune and my voice felt strong. i really cant complain about the performance and it felt solid. hilger was critical but i wasnt hearin that. we definately pulled off a tight set. we stuck to the set list and ripped thru it as fast as possible. it was cool to see some people in the audience like jim washburn and joe reid, they really did inspire me to play harder and better. in general got to see alot of cool people and it was a good vibe.

some of my peeps from the south side came up including simon the bulgarian, my man 64 and my boy king cobra and also my boy biggie. they were pumped and seemed to enjoy themselves and said the set was solid. althought king cobra was wilin out now, he wouldnt be later (foreshadowing!!!) we planned to get crunk afterwards at my place so i copped some beers and 40s and 64 brought a case of big bear 40s for good measure.

rocky denis went on last. i know they were eager to get up there. it seemed like the crowd doubled when they went on, i dont think any one else showed up but all their fans who chilled in the background the rest of the show came up front to support their band which was awesome. watching them play was pretty intimidating, its like they sat down one day decided to be an awesome band and write super soild songs. they keep writing better shit and moving on and elevating the game constantly. im gracious they welcomed us and i expect to see big things from these guys soon. they dont have to do much else then they already are to blow up on a bigger level.

after the show we all headed back to my place. hilger and rob ditched out, the south side crew came as well as tommy myers, washburn and reid. king cobra was passed the fuck out and shit got rowdy.

i think ive covered all teh show details. at this point ill leave you with a copy of the super long post i wrote the next day on a message board for my man 64 to read. looking back it was fun and worth it and i would do the whole thing again. good times all around, solid music at a solid club. big up to brock and dave, major players in the game, entrepenurs on a higher level. i told them many times thru the night of how awesome their club is as far as every component of it. big up to my man the ranger from ranger sound working the boards that night, every time we run into him he provides a great mix for all involved.

so ill leave you with this rambling post. enjoy.

–satan165

well time for me to tell the tale
my house is clean now and ive calmed down a bit

64
simon the bulgarian aka mr ignorant
biggie
king cobra

all rolled down to tha RG last night for my big show.
the bar was packed and the show was absolutely a success
big shot out to rocky denis for letting us/helping us get this show because i was very glad to be a part of it.
we got paid almost double our previous highest payout for a gig.
people seemed to love us, i saw lots of local peeps i know that i havent seen or talked to in ages
gave out LOTS of cds
the south side crew was gettin fucked up at the bar
i only had one drink all night in the bar (vodka red bull) after my set
rocky denis played last and the peeps seemed to come out of the woodwork, suddenly they all crowded up front.
when they were done i bailed out
came home and got shit ready

peeps came out then to have some drank at my crib
4 QRCs
me
my girl
one of her friends
washburn
tommy myers
mr. reid
2 hoes i didnt know that reid brought

we were having a great time
king cobra was real trashed
by all accounts he had drank 3 24s before he even left the sotuh side
he drank steadily at the bar for hours while we were there
as soon as he came in he asked if he could have a 40
i busted him a little kings
64 came thru with a case of big bears
i also had a case of heiniken keg cans and some various other brews
i cracked a ballantine for myself
simon the bulgarian came in and starts rooting thru my fridge for food!
i had to break him off some linguini for his hungry ass
i cant wait till i go to his house
im going to make a triple decker sub sandwich and sit on his couch with his parents and elbow em out of the way and eat it

so we start having a good time
king cobra blasts thru a 40 little kings in record time
now hes fallin ass out
not lookin so good
he cracked a heiniken keg can at some point and was fallin out

peeps were crowing around my computer to play some gay old ass computer game like wheel of fortune
i was smahing thru bongs of 65/eighth shit in my living room with the smokers
my girlfirned comments that king cobra is drooling on himself
which he was and it was disgusting
the whole front of his shirt was wet

i should have fucking known!!!
drooling only leads to one thing well around 4 am i was feelin crunk and so was everyone else
i gave one of these random hoes a 40 of big bear and she smashed thru it and was real drunk talkin all crazy
im shooting my mouth off to these 2 hoes cause i didnt know em
i started telling em to follow orders and that id crack their skulls and shit
just verbally abusing the fuck out of em

its kind of hazy at this point but i think it was my girl that said king cobras barfing

now im the king of barfing
althought i havnet /dont that much any more, when i was younger i did LOTS
i came into my living room and he was completely fucking unconsious
puke was like dripping slowly from his mouth
all over some pillows and my couch itself
if i was sober i would have grabbed him but i was like stunned
i just stood there for like 10 seconds and watched him do it

then i smartened up, i kicked my ikea rug out of the wya and tossed him on my floor
i have tile cermaic everywhere so thats easy to clean

i grabbed this 260 pound or more motherfucker and tossed him in like a boddy slam to my floor
then he puked a bunch all over the floor

i got super pissed then
my buzz became total rage
i yelled at simon and 64 that this was their time to get teh fuck out of my crib
in 64s defense he was shitfaced
he had drank 2 40s at my crib amongst a ton of beers at the bar and like anything he could find

i told him to grab cobra and roll out and he just kind of looked at me
no longer could form sentances
then i started yelling to get teh fuck out of my house immediately
so 64 tried to rouse cobra and was slapping him HARD on the back
cobra didnt budge

now in case you dont know cobra is an alcoholic
the stories are true about the 1000s of cobra 40s
last year he drank like 15 schiltz blue bull 12 oz cans at 64s one night
woke up at home hours later in terrible pain
the doctors did emergency surgery and slashed open his gut to remove pints of blood from his stomach

his puking was disturbing
it was just flowing from his mouth and i started to wonder if this dude might die on my floor
not because he drank so much that night
but because he shouldnt be drinkin and he looked like he was in a super bad way

i screamed at them to carry his bunk ass from my crib right then and there
i husted everyone else the fuck out
finally he got up after a few minutes
he looked up and his face was completely covered in puke
his eyes were the reddest ive ever seen
his visor and shirt were tottally puked
it was honestly maybe the most disturbing and disgusting thing ive ever seen
but i had mad adreneline and kenw i had to protect my shit so it didnt really gross me out

in a biblical way
i grabbed a dirty towel my girl had used to clean spilled brew and wiped the chunks of puke from his face like mary does for jesus in the bible

he took his shirt off and we tossed his visor in the garbage
i had 2 40s for 64
steel reserve silver wide moth (DC40s)
MX ice (turbotic)
i handed them to biggie as he walked out
walked them to the door

i ran back up and my girl was drunk and also literally about to puke becasue my lviing room was a foul site indeed
she was honestly gagging and i told her to go in the bedroom and change
cause i knew id need some help with this shit

i rolled my carpet out of the way
luckily it missed any pukings

pushed the couch out of the way
ripped off the cusions and pulled the pillows out of the covers
one of the covers literally had like a 1/2 pounds of chunky puke on it
i had to be strong
you cant let that shit set on there or its ruined for life
i should also mention that this is a loveseat thats over 50 years old
its been reapolshered many times and i got it from my grandma

i tore off all my clothes except boxers
grabbed the 2 couch cusion covers and another pillow case for a throw pillow he puked on
the actual pillow would have to be trashed

i ran to my laundry room and put it on hot and pounrd in a gallon of soap

ran back up and i had endless brew bottles everywhere
20 cans
abou 6 40s i think
weighed a million pounds
carried that and the half full case of big bears downstairs to recycle

came back up and mixed up buckets of hot water and mr. clean
me and my girl scrubbed the floor
i had to actually scoop up huge blasts of puke from my floor
then we both scooped and then scrubbed the inside of my couch
under where the cushions go it was wet
i lysoloed everything for odors and germs
we scrubbed the floor then busted out the swifter mop

then we looked at the actual couch cushions themselves
their covers were in teh washer but one of the cushions was real wet the puke had seeped thru

the cusion is like a square piece of yellow foam with like white cotton stuffing around it
the stuffing had to go

then scrubbed the yellow foam with mr.clean and lysoled it set up fans to air out and dry shit

took out massive loads of garbage
grabbed shit from washer and hung to dry

total vibe and buzz killer

my girl passed out so i killed the lights in my bedroom and turned on a/c
i cleaned for another hour and sat there in a stupor trying to figure out what the fuck happend
took a shower and crashed at 6 am
i talked to 64 on his home phone
he left his cell phone here in the chaos of leaving i told him to come pick it up tomorrow (sunday)
i was like ‘yo dude my couch is fucked, shits disgusting’
he goes ‘oh yeah? oh…from king cobra?’

i almost drove to burbank there to grab him my the collars and shake violently
he was real drunnk and couldnt hardly understand me
i told him to come after 3 pm cause i knew id be sleeping
of course he comes at 1 pm
i gave him the phone and went back to bed
slept till 5 pm
woke up and my girl brought mad arbys over
ate and cleaned the floor again to be safe
the couch and everything was dry and i forced the cushions back into the covers
vaccumed everything else
found a nice burn hole in my carpet in office
thanx to whoever did that, 64 was sitting directly there it was still a good time
everyone was laughing and having a good time
oh well

Show #64: Mugsy’s, Forest Park

This was a unique show in many respects. We were offered it a few weeks before by Mr. Johnny Vomit, of the group…..Johnny Vomit. He informed me that Joe from Mo Fucked (all 3 of our bands had played together with DRI about a year ago) had another band (which I later leared to be Chopped Liver) and he had booked this show. It was close to home which was great. Also, although we had played with Johnny Vomit 3 times previous, all times we had asked them (or ended up on the bill with them, like DRI). So we were honored to have been given the opportunity. Johnny had emailed me asking if we could play ‘the 6th’. No day was specified. I checked a calendar and saw that it was a Tuesday. I called Hilger and Rob and they were both down. I arranged to have the day off of work and called Johnny back to confirm. He said he would call when the date got sooner and tell us what time to be there, etc…

Well the day before came and no word from Johnny. So I emailed him when I went to bed and said to email all 3 of us back with the time to be there. I woke up that afternoon with a gang of messages from everyone and also a bunch of missed calls and voice mails. It ended up that the show was actually Friday the 9th. Johnny claimed he never told me the 6th, and I deleted the email so who knows. I do know that we have never had this happen in 60+ shows. So I made more work arrangements and got the Friday off as well. Johnny left me a hilarious voice mail from his work to tell me what was up.

Well the day of the gig arrived. I slept until a leisurly 5 pm and made some food, chowed, and went to Robs. I left before them. Now long before the show I took a drive down ‘the strip’ (Madison Ave.) in Forest Park because I had never heard of Mugsys and I had drank at a few bars in the area. I was coming west on Madison that day and I remembered that it was at the east end of the strip at Harlem Ave. I put that on our website and told everyone that. Well I was driving down and got to Madison and Harlem…that wasnt the club! I dont know where I got that idea from.

It ended up being almost at the opposite (west) end of the strip. I quickly called Hilger and told him. But all night every person that showed up told me how they went to that bar first, some said they even went inside looking for us. That sucks, I’m sorry.

Well I eventually foudn the place and a decent parking spot so I went inside. I saw no sign of any band people or equipment which is a bad sign always. This is why I never bring gear in first, I just sit down and have a drink. I assume the gig is canceled everytime (though it almsot never is). I ordered a Heiniken and the bartender says smoething like ‘you dont have to be so mad about it!”. Which of course I wasn’t trying to be, but I guess I had my normal serial killer face on or whatever. Soon after that Hilger and Lisa stormed in with amps and gear (Hilger doesn’t subscribe to my theory about not bringing shit in first). Well it worked out because Kathy (who i then foudn out was the contact/promoter/whatever) approached them and introduced herself. Hilger introduced me then. Kathy was super nice and told me she worked for Red Bull. We discussed phony red bull products like Matador (the shit bar spray out of the gun). I don’t know if she also owned the bar or what because she seemed to be the only real authority figure there that night and she also ran the bar.

Well she busted out a marker and went to stamp my hand. Then she said some crazy shit ‘you can have beer…but no shots.’. Thats right ladies and gentlemen, she hooked up all band members with FREE UNLIMITED BEER. I’ve never ever before seen that. 2 or 3 free drinks tops! and thats fine with my anyways. I immediately ordered more Heinikens and sat down to chill. Just then Joe came in and I regognized him as a ‘band guy’ and introduced myself. We spoke for a second and he asked if we wanted to play first. I said sure.

Joe also told me how when he had met Kathy and scoped the place out for a show in advance, he mentioned to her that he wanted to change some bright lights in the ceiling above the area where the bands were going to play. Kathy had some blue bulbs to put in and there was some guy trying to put em in. He was a little short and could barely reach even with a ladder and just fucked with shit for like 15 minutes. It started to bug me and also entertain me as he seemed pretty ignorant and in the end he just gave up and put the old bulbs back (actually, he only ever got 1 out).

The DeKalb connection was key at the club that night. Joe and Mo Fucked (and I assume Chopped Liver as well) are all from Dekalb. Johnny Vomit has played out there at a club called Ottos a few times. I met numerous other people from DeKalb that night. One was a mexican guy named Carlos. He was wearing a Misfits shirt and I asked him what his favorite song was. He eventually related back to me that he didn’t know the names and his english was shitty but that basically he loved punk rock! Another mexican guy from DeKalb was running the door. I guess Joe brought him along for this purpose. His name was Raphie (here he is — with Carlos on the left) and he started ranting to me and Rob about his love for punk rock and how crazy he was! He also said that he had many song lyrics written up (but no band/music)…one was called ‘Suicide’! Sounds crazy! He kept going on about a massive party he was going to have with bands and food and kegs. He said I could just crash at his house. ME and Rob were kind of laughing at him because he had such a wild ‘i dont give a fuck’ attitude. I dont mean that in a bad way, but he was just super energetic and insane. Later, during Johnny Vomits set, he ran up and started ranting into the mic! It was crazy! There was also another guy we had met before. When we played with DRI I’m sure this guy was rollin with Mo Fucked from DeKalb. He was this massive black dude and he was giving us mad props. It was a little out of place cause the guy didn’t look like he really belonged there, and I’m not just talking about the color of his skin. Well Hilger spotted him at the gig and pointed him out to me. Then later in the night he actually came up to me and Hilger and gave us props again! I had to take a pic of this guy. This pic is hilarious!!

Well we went on first. We had a set list but decided not to use it since we hadnt run thru it (too busy at rehearsal with new songs) and it had some odd ball songs Hilger picked which we havent played in a while. When I first showed up the place was full of regulars. (no punks). Johnny Cash was playing on the juke box which was awesome and I fed it some more cash (no pun intended) and put on more. I told Rob and Hilger how we should open with ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and we all agreed. Well the regulars were long ran out of the club by the time we took the stage and it was full of punks. I turned back to them and said ‘no way can we open with that’. They agreed and from there was just winged the set. We played ‘Figure it Out’ first because I wanted to play a crazy song and it starts with guitar (so I can start it without any warning).

By the third or fourth song I decided that a little Cash would actually go over well with the crowd (no particular reason I thought this, just seemed right). Well my hunch was correct and people loved it, espically some members of Chopped Liver and The Tossoffs. Jim from the Tosssoffs even grabbed a mic and sang along. We played some Misfits too and that went over well. The problem was that with no set list and no set time for our set (after like 12 songs I asked Johnny how much longer and he just said ‘keep playing till i tell you to stop’) I had no way to pace myself at all. Therefore I blew out my vocal cords near the end of the set. I was getting real tired and some songs like ‘Milwaukee’ had weak vocals. We played ‘Skulls’ by the Misfits near the end of the set and it was a bad idea, at the end of the song my voice completely crapped out. Dr. Z from teh Powerknobs showed up and hollered for an encore when we said we were going to finish so we played ‘Hot Mom’ for him. I had a good second wind for that one (Hilger sings 1/2) and I jumped 3 or 4 times in the song.

Next up was Chopped Liver. First to understand this band you have to understand Joes main band, Mo Fucked. They are a 3 piece and Joe plays bass. That band is just unruly gutter garbage thrash old school. Chopped Liver is even worse/better. They are crazy. Joe plays the drums and his lack of prowess translates into super raw, super REAL hardcore punk rock. His drums were super water damaged and beat to shit and they fit him perfectly. Their guitarist has a massive mohican as well. BEfore the show started I seen the bassist and guitarist walking up to the club when I was outside. I addressed them with ‘hey you fucking punks’ and they took it in stride with a smile and greeted me warmly in return.

Next up with The Tossoffs. They have 2 guitars and a singing drummer. Their drummer Woody looks to me like the real deal. The guy can really play the drums well and sings in a strong and deep voice. Their originals were good and they threw in a couple Misfits (played at lightning speed!). They seem like real down to earth fellows and it comes thru in their music which is as real as can be and what i would categorize as ‘street punk’.

Johnny Vomit closed the night out. As usual Johnny drank about literaly 6 Old STyles just during his set. But then again, they played a super marathon set (or so it seemed) so maybe thats not that much. They played all my favorites as well as all the songs off their new NGS Records MWHC split cd. The last time I went and seen them I kept calling for ‘Shut Your Face’, noe of those songs. They didn’t play it and I didn’t think they were going to this time either…but luckily they did close with it. I was getting super tired by the end of their set and just wanted to go home real bad. I just destoyed myself during our set and a bunch of beers isnt the best way to recover. At some point during their set people started to mosh. Well some beer got on my camera and I got pissed. I handed it to Hilger and started trying to kill people in the pit. I was grabbing dudes aruond the waist and trying to throw them and bashing hard. Well Joe from Chopped Liver was in the pit and hes not one to fuck aruond with. The problem is that he is actually taller then me and when he gets the elbows up they are at my face level (which rarely happens, since Im taller then most). He got me once pretty hard in the head and I kept at it and got more pissed. Then, accidentally (I think) he came up beneath my head and slammed the top of his skull into my chin. Luckily my tounge wasnt out or it would have been cut the fuck off. The bottom of my chin is still bruised and hurts and my left side of my jaw is fucked up and feels like it almost got seperated out. Just then one of the workers made us stop. During the pit some glasses or bottles got busted and there was broken glass around. For some insane reason, some bitch that was there took off her shoes and socks and was walking around like that. The floor was disgusting and covered with beer if nothing else, I have no clue why you would do that, plus there was glass (which I assume she didnt know). I kept waiting for her to slash her foot open but she dodged the bullet somehow.

I went home and relaxed like a motherfucker. Driving in the winter sucks and so does loading in and out. I got back to Robs and he was crashed out on his couch when I snuck in to drop off my amp. It was a wicked show that took a lot out of me. I still cant believe the free beer special. I cant imagine how much beer Johnny Vomit alone drank.

And oh yeah, I think Rob and Hilger were under the influcence of some drug or something when they posed for this one right here.

–satan165

Low Profile live at Mugsy’s in Forest Park
Friday January 9th
with Johnny Vomit, Chopped Liver and the Tossoffs

This show started off a lil weird. Somehow, we originally thought the show was on Tuesday the 6th but after emailing Johnny Vomit, who booked us, he cleared it up just by saying ‘be there at 8. cya on Friday.’

So we met up at Rob’s around 7 to load up. We then headed over. I got some good parking right across the street. Lisa and I started bringing my shit in and were greeted by Kathy who was running the show. She was very cool all night. She told me she works for Red Bull and does all sorts of promo for them. What a cool job. Johnny Cash was playing on the jukebox as I walked in and I had to go throw in a few bucks to play some songs. They had a nice selection. I played 2 Motley Crue songs, some Sublime, some Bob Seger, some Elton John, and some Guns N Roses.

The place is pretty nice. They gave all band members free beer but I was getting my vodka/red bulls for free also thanks to the cool and hot bartender chick.

Kathy had bought some colored light bulbs to dim the area where the bands would be playing and this guy who worked there couldn’t seem to even get one in. I don’t know what he was doing or what he was having problems with but one thing I can say is that this dude was sort of a shortie and standing on the top step of the ladder and still trying to reach up to the lights. We were waiting for him to take a dive. So he failed miserably and didn’t even get one changed and he seemed to have broken one of the light fixtures while fucking around with it. Is was all amusing to us. We just sat and drank and watched the guy for what seemed like half an hour.

All the bands showed up. We volunteered to play first so we started setting up. Johnny Vomit provided a nice PA for the show.

We didn’t have a set list whatsoever but this is along the lines of all the songs we played. Not in order of course but I’ll try to get it as close as I can:

Figure It Out
Grudge
Vampira (originally by the Misfits)
Arnold Palmer and Katie Holmes
Folsom Prison Blues (originally by Johnny Cash)
King of the Hill theme
Think About It
The Limitation
Walter Mander
Skulls (Misfits)
Milwaukee
En Guarde
Execution Style
JPF
Lachrymose
Hot Mom

It was a good long set. I was all hot and sweaty and out of breath but it felt great. Rob had his drums set up next to a big ass furnace so I’m sure that made it a lil uncomfortable. We played 2 of our new songs which went over well. We did 2 Misfits covers since we seen some dude with a Misfits shirt and someone else had a Misfits hat on. We played Folsom since so many Johnny Cash songs were played on the jukebox. Williams ended up giving out all the CDrs he brought and I must have given out like 30 stickers.

Chopped Liver were up next. They r 4 piece with a frontman. They play fast, aggressive hardcore. The bassist used my amp for their set. Their drummer Joe plays bass in Mo Fucked so we knew him from the DRI show we played with them at Rockhouse. The guitarist was a real punker with a full mohawk. He was real cool tho and gave us props. I gave him a sticker and told him to check out our site but he said that none of them have computers. Oh well.

The Tossoffs were up next. They were real good. They r 4 piece. 2 guitars and the drummer, Woody does lead vocals which was pretty unusual. Rob came up to me and pointed at them and said “Rodrigo style.” As in Rodrigo who sings and plays drums from Satanic Surfers. I dug their set and they r a bunch of cool guys. They did 3 Misfits covers. I Turned Into A Martian, Astrozombies and Some Kinda Hate.

Johnny Vomit were up last. They rocked the fucking house. They played a real long set till around 2am. They played Liver Rebellion right in the beginning which was great. And later played two of my favorites, What the Fuck and Shut Your Face. They did a lot of originals and some covers but they just tore it up, Johnny drinking 2 beers at once and having beer after beer brought to him in between songs. He pounded em all !!!!!! They were great.

We were all a lil drunk and fucked up at that point in the night. Some people started moshing and this dude got bashed in the face and had a big bruise and it got a lil puffy. Bottles got broke and beer spilled and it was just craziness. What a fuckin night!!!!!

Thanks to Johnny Vomit for inviting us to play the show. Thanks to Joe for setting the stage area up. Thanks to Kathy for having such a good arrangement for the bands and being so cool and understanding about everything. Thanks to Lisa for helping load in and out of the bar and for taking pics. Thanks to Dr. Z, Bones and Metko, Jessica and Crystal, Jonny and Betty Burbank, all for coming out. And thanks to everyone else who dug our set and asked for CDs. We had a blast.

-ERIK

Show #60: Party At Dylan’s, Franklin Park

GET THE LIVE RECORDING HERE

My god, what a night. I was nervous about this event for a while before hand but now looking back I can see that it was a total success and not a single thing really went wrong.

Joe from Squared Off (here, in mask, with Rob, Hilger and some little kin) was nice enough to provide the use of his van and some assistance of lugging gear around for the day. The night before he came over and we swilled some beer 40s (Milwaukees Best Ice and Old Style). He showed up the next day at 3 oclock. We grabbed some gear from my crib and went to Rob’s to grab all his drums, the amps and the PA. I knew there would be mad kegs at the party but you know I’m always prepared: I ‘stole’ a cooler that had been chilling in the back yard of my condo for over a year and cleaned it up the night before, and filled it with 2 King Cobra 40s and a 6 pack of the worst beer I’ve ever seen in my life, ‘Golden Anniversary Beer’. We stopped for some ice at Shell on the way to Dylans (of course I took 2 bags even though I only paid for one). We got to Mohles and there were just a few people there including Dyland and Jim Washburn. We loaded in and Joe roughly set up Rob’s drums. I set up the PA and amps and got the 4-track ready. Hilger showed up in a little bit and Rob showed up a little bit after that. By the time Rob showed up it was probably about 5:30. Dylan had a whole spread of awesome food set up for when people got there, but he let me mange early since I was starving (plus I’m ‘in the band’). I scarfed down some mostocholli and BBQ chicken wings which was warmed up in the microwave by Dylan’s mom. I went back outside and people were starting to drink a lil although there was still very few people there. I then went inside to get ready. I stuck my head in Dylans shower and gelled/moussed up my hair and combed it forward into a mighty devilock. I put some black paint around my eyes then to top it off I poured some of my all natural fake blood into my mouth and let it drain out over my chin and down my body and shirt. When I decided I looked scary enough I went back outside. The look was still not complete so I poured more blood in my mouth and also over the back of my neck. It was dripping everywhere very nicely and I was content.

We played a short set for basically no one and then took a break. We later jammed a bit more but were cursed as the opening band and hardly anyone saw us. But in the end it was worth it as far as I was concerned since we were not rushed and could really relax up there.

I’d like to give a quick shot out to Dylans girlfriend Jenny. She was in my ‘homeroom’ (although we called it something else and now theyve done away with it completely) in high school and was never a cunty bitch like alot of other hot chicks were to me in high school. She worked her ass off for days before decorating and getting shit ready and thoughout the party truly played the part of hostess to a ‘T’. I want to thank her for all her hard work as I defiantely appreciated it and everyone there did even if they didn’t acknowledge it.

Well we played the obligatory millions of Misfits songs and a bunch more. We opened, closed and played one other time the song ‘Halloween’. There were some little kids there. When we first started, and after we took our little intermission, they said how ‘it was very loud and I was singing too close to the mic’. Future sound engineers, let me tell you. But strangely, as the show went on, they started to love it, dancing all around and screaming uncontrollably thoughout the songs, during every song! After some convincing, we got em to talk into the mic a little bit which was great. Check em hear throwing the goat — the vampire one is only in 2nd grade! Low Profile probably ruined her for life. My girlfriend showed up in her costumer: which was her idea, but I helped engineer it and also added the blood. Click the pic and youll see what I mean — bloody tampon. Heres another one. Alot of people seemed to be disgusted by it, but I was so taken with its originality that even now it hasnt dawned on me that its gross. The smoke machine, which I had brought to only 1 other gig (the Mutiny — but I put too little smoke juice in it and it was real weak) kicked ass as I dumped about a liter of smoke juice in there before we played, it was cranking for a long time. I even taped the remote control to my mic stand so I could jam on it during songs real quick here and there.

Well at some point Tony Perry asked to use our PA. I told him he should have asked in advance but it ended up that they had their own. Tony complained that his was a ‘piece of shit’ but he had massive speakers that were at least 4 1/2′ high! It was loud as hell so I didn’t understand why he wanted mine and still don’t. I’m just happy I didn’t have to provide it. Tony was dressed up as ‘Fat Elvis’ and his band Triple Lindy (the remanants of Out of Time) was pretty decent.

Well during this time I was drinking some keg beer and taking down Jello shots. Jenny was carrying around trays of em and I had at least 3. I started buzzing pretty hard for whatever reason.

At some point I cracked a King Cobra and later some Golden Anniversary Beer (when I saw matt boyle of carmapgin armando swillin an old style, I knew he was down with the bad beer — so i had to hook him up with one). The fake blood was mad sticky all over me and the top button on my only 3 times worn new camo pants busted off. I was getting pretty hammered. The other bands played well past midnight and it got a little blurry. Hilger used to be in a band called Socially Unnaceptable with 2 of the members of Campaign Armando back around 95 or 96 so he demanded I take this pic of their ‘reunion’. Socially Unacceptable I used to go see before I even owned or ever picked up a guitar, so go figure. They were real cool, musically and personally.

Around 1 am most people were gone and so was the beer (4 half and quarter barells). I went down into the basement and started eating mad cold bbq wings, i was eating the meat off in 1 bite each and tossing the bones into a massive heap. then i crammed a massive cold beef sandwich down my throat. i ended up staying up to 5 am and getting completely sober. i wanted to do laundry right away cause i didnt know if it would be bad if that shit dried all over me. my hair was greasy as fuck and that black eyemakeup is a bitch to get off. ill admit that this review is a little weak but i wrote a ton that night then didnt touch it for a while, now its monday night and i figure i better fucking post it. some times too much happens at the best shows and its hard to write it all down. this isnt too bad.

well looks like every 5 years so dylan, thanx again and well see you in 2008.

–satan165

Show #55: O’ Malleys, Alsip

The Burbanks and Dina from Future Entertainment hooked up this show for us. Dina also books for Oasis 160 and they had just finished giving us the run around big time, so she owed us. Alsip is south side and I thought the show would suck for some reason. I was off of work so I got home a few hours before I had to leave. I ate, took a shower and then slept until 8 pm. I got up, changed and hit the road.

The place is alot like Champs, in Burbank, another southside venue. I rolled up and went inside. Hilger was already there, as well as all of the Burbanks. I loaded in and the bouncer asked for ID. I showed him then he marked me down as a fan of the Burbanks on his little list. I told him, no, I’m in Low Profile. He rudely replied ‘not to worry about it’ or something. Still dont get that. Hilger helped me load in and we chilled. They had $1 domestic bottles and I had a few Miller Lites. Rob showed up shortly afterwards. The Burbanks were supposed to go on at 9:30, and even though they were set up and ready to go, they pushed it back to 10:00. Then 10:15. I busted out some flyers and the asshole bouncer told me that they dont ‘allow that’. Now thats supporting the scene. Fucking dicks would let us put flyers out or even give them to people.

The Burbanks went on finally and rocked hard. Johnny had to take a leak in the middle of the set which was weird. They played a song with a long guitar/vocals (from Mark) intro, then Johnny got back and him and Betty joined. Joe from Squared Off showed up and I gave him my camera to take pics of us while we played.

The 2nd band was called Who Did Bender? which I still don’t understand. They had a ton of top notch equipment. They sounded super produced and had real good vocals — double vocals actaully, from both guitarists.

Finally we got to go on. Me and Hilger both had the wireless systems in full effect. We wrote up a set list shortly before we played and fucking rocked out. We played ‘Dont Turn out the Lights’ by Screeching Weasel because I always wanted to play that for the Burbanks. It came out great. We played ‘Folson Prison Blues’ and I was running around the place for the guitar solos. I wanted to go right into the King of the Hill theme and was about to start it and Hilger ran up and told me to play it — he read my mind. Both of us totally ran around the joint for that whole :40 second song, awesome.

Betty had asked that we play ‘Dig up her Bones’ or ‘Saturday Night’ by the Misfits because she wanted to sing. She kind of chickened out before the show but I told her we’d play ‘Dig up her Bones’ and she could just sing what she knew cause I’d sing the whole thing. We played it last and it helped her on the stage and told her to just take Hilgers mic. We had not played this song whatsoever in probably 2 years and didnt practice it at all. I listen to the Misfits constantly and the song is very simple. I know the lyrics in my sleep. The vocals (or at least the monitors) sounded great and I was actually kind of impressed with my own vocals. Johhny came on stage and was over by Betty’s mic. Neither of them were singing much and I was thinking, what the fuck, are they going to sing or what. Then the chorus kicked in and I got the chills and couldnt fucking believe it. The 3 of us were all singing it and it was so perfectly intune, it was unbelieveable, it sounded better then we ever played it even back in the day. I was singing like 2 feet from the mic and it all blended perfectly. For the 2nd chorus, I just let them sing it compeltely. I was blown away. Not only did we play the song exactly after not playing it for a long fucking time, it sounded great.

Well we were the last band so after that I wanted to play more. We jumped into ‘Ghouls Night Out’ and ‘Horror Hotel’ to keep the Misfts thing going on, I was nearing collapse at that point and very little sound was coming out of my throat because I couldnt breathe.

A gang of people came up to us for shirts and cds and shit, one dude named Troy said he was there cause he knew the bartender and was very impressed by us, I hooked him up with some free merch. The bouncer even came up and paid us $17, which I totally didn’t expect! Then outside the Burbanks told us that they got paid $77! Thats insane, around the most weve ever been paid in 50+ shows. They demanded that we take $25, I said no, then finally took the $20 bill and refused to take the $5, Johnny just threw it on the ground, so then I had to take it.

Super love to the Burbanks, that show was fucking awesome.

–satan165

Low Profile live at OMalleys in Alsip, IL
Thursday August 7th
with the Burbanks and Who Did Bender

I got this show from Dina who booked us at Oasis 160 or One Sixty or whatever they call themselves. Then about a month later she cancelled the show date. So then she called about a week later and offered a the midnight slot at OMalleys and said that the Burbanks were playing so I called up the Bossman and he told me to just take it. So I did.

Lisa came and picked me up and we went to Rob’s to load up her truck and then drove to OMalleys. We got there a lil after 8:30.

The Burbanks were all there already. Betty was lookin so fuckin fine in the lil skirt and tall socks. And Johnny and Mark were also lookin good. But not as good. ha ha j/k.

There were some people chillin and drinking and they had a bunch of TVs with various things on them so u had a choice. They had the first season of Jackass on a few and the Simpsons on a few others. Elimidate on some others. Good shit. I ordered a redbull/vodka and chilled a while.

So Satan165 shows up and we load him in. We chill and check out all the old sports cards in the tables. Very cool idea and very entertaining looking at the old jerseys and styles of the players.

Rob showed up a lil after that. We loaded him in. Satan bought us both beers. We chilled a while. Joe from Squared Off showed up. Thanks for the support and for taking pics.

So at a lil after 10, the Burbanks were given the go ahead to start their set. They rocked. They were very fun and amusing. We luv them! And they covered Henry the VIIIth again. Props.

Who Did Bender were up next. They had some very nice amps and shit. Honestly, I wasn’t feelin em at all. I don’t wanna rip em. I was just not into it. But they were tight and having fun and they rocked their set for sure. I just wasn’t into it. So I watched a few songs and then went outside for a quick session. I came back in feeling very in the zone and ready to fuckin jam but I had to sit thru a few more of their songs. They played a song and introduced it as a song that has been played on Q101 but for me, that kinda shit is why I don’t listen to that fucking radio station. If that song came on the radio, I’d shut it off quick. Bossman was mouthing to me “You love it” and we were laughing back and forth to each other. But u know what, they had a lot of people come out to see em and had some chicks standing up and dancing along to the music so props to them in a way. Like I said, I just wasn’t feelin it. I was gettin mad waiting around and just wanted to get up on that fucking stage.

So finally it was time for us to get up there. They tore their shit down pretty quick. I actually went and helped drag their amps off so we could get going.

Our set was something like this:

Figure It Out
Low Pro pt 1
Zamboni
Don’t Turn Out the Lights (originally by Screeching Weasel)
Hate
Grudge
Excited To Die
Folsom Prison Blues (originally by Johnny Cash)
King of the Hill theme
Dig Up Her Bones (originally by the Misfits) featuring Betty and Johnny
Ghouls Night Out (Misfits)
Horror Hotel (Misfits)

I think that was it. We ran around the place a lot. Cordless systems rule. There were a pair of scissors on the stage in front of my monitor and I kept looking at them and laughing to myself about how my mom used to tell me not to run around with scissors or I’d stab someone or myself. So I picked em up at one point and ran around the stage with them and slipped and fell in a lil puddle of water and luckily didn’t stab myself. Sorry Mom.

People were digging our energy. Johnny Jobless’s uncles dug us for sure. They came up front at the end of the set and told us how entertained they were and how crazy we r and all that. I think its just cuz they were drunk. Like I said, the more u drink, the better we sound. hahahahaha
Thanks everyone.
One guy put on a Low Profile shirt right away. Very cool.

So we took our time loading out and chilled a while by Lisa’s truck. Then we said our goodbyes and headed home.

Thanks to the Burbanks for being just all around cool. Thanks to Lisa for ushering me around. Thanks to Joe for showing up. Thanks to Williams and Rob for rocking so hard with me. What a great set guys. That show was a fucking success!

-ERIK

Show #53: Elk Grove Community Center, Elk Grove Village

Low Profile live at the Elk Grove Community Center
Saturday June 28th
With Squared Off, Lacquer and the Amazing Interceptors

This whole day was just awesome. I woke up to a lawn mower at like 10:30 in the morning but didn’t really get outta bed till noon. I went skating for a lil while. It drained too much energy from me so I went back in and just chilled. I watched the baseball game and fell in and out of sleep. Then I put on some Slayer to get me motivated. I showered up and got ready.

We met up at Rob’s at 5. Loaded up and headed on our way. We got there around 6. Met up with Hoser and Lisa and just chilled outside enjoying the sun till the rest of the bands showed up. Lisa and I went on a run and came back with some yummy Mt Dew Live Wire slushies. They were pretty damn good. Got a nice brain freeze from it.

A bunch more people showed up. Andrew and Bill from the Powerknobs showed up. Jessica showed up. Cactus Matt was there swigging some whiskey out of some fountain drink type container.

Squared Off decided to play first. There set was fucking awesome. They opened with Made In America. They played My Turn, Not Takin It, I Want One More, Our Fallen Bretheren, Porcelain and a bunch of other good songs. They covered Seeing Red by Minor Threat and went right into Merchandise by Fugazi. Props all around. Great set.

The Amazing Interceptors played next. I didn’t watch them one bit but could hear them clearly. Pretty loud and rocking. Sorry, I can’t really say anything more. I should have went in and watched a few songs. I was too busy chillin, mingling and having a session in my car with a few others.

Lacquer played next. I saw them with Squared Off and Smear Campaign at Brauerhouse last weekend so I knew what they were all about. They played a good long set and had the people dancing.

We played last. Our set was:

Attitude (originally by the Misfits) for Rhyno
My Turn (originally by Squared Off)
Green Corn (originally by NOFX)
Kamakazi 9-11
Hot Mom
Spreading Yourself Thin
The Last Laugh
Astrozombies (also by the Misfits)
Folsom Prison Blues (originally by Johnny Cash)

I think that was it. We rocked it out for sure. Attitude was a good opener. Rhyno and Cactus Matt sang. My Turn was a lil sloppy but came out all good. Hoser ran up and grabbed my mic and sang like a front man while Joe and Rhyno grabbed Bossmans mic and sang backups. It was great. Very cool to see their faces when we started it up.
Joe and Cactus Matt ran up to sing as much as they could of Green Corn. That song rocks hard. I luv playing it. I watched Bossman blaze the solo. He ripped it up fo sho!
We’ve never played the Last Laugh live before. It was a lot of fun. It’s a pretty mid tempo slow song so I was chilled out for it and it was a good break in a strenuously fast set of songs. The peeps in Lacquer all went swimming during our set. I’m jealous. They snuck into the pool. I guess they don’t have it too secure. There was a big ass water slide attached. I would have brought my suit and paid to go down that thing if I knew it was there. Oh well. Now I know for next time.
Bossman added Folsom at the end of the set and that was that. We took our time loading out and just chilled afterwards and talked. Bossman drove Bill home. Thanks and much luv to the PK’s.
Squared Off invited us to go to Brauerhouse to drink for the afterparty but then Rob invited us back to his house for a late night swim so I quickly changed my mind. I’d rather drink in a big ass pool over drinking in a bar anyday.

So I went home and brought my guitars in and showered and put on my suit and headed over to Rob’s. Hoser, Rhyno, Joe, Lisa, Bossman and Rob were all there already. We drank a lil and then Bossman and I jumped in. Joe and Rhyno later jumped in and then finally Rob came in. It was great. Like bathwater.

What a day. What a show. What a night. I had a blast. Thanks to everyone involved but especially to Cactus Matt and Squared Off.

-ERIK

One of my greatest pleasures whilst in Low Profile was playing early 2003 at the Fireside. Although it was our 11th time playing there, we were lucky enough to get a show with the mighty Smear Campaign. The greatest bunch of guys as well as awe inspiring musicians. 5 minutes after our set, their frontman, Cactus Matt offered us this show — a good 3 to 4 months in advance at that. The date eventually got moved back a week or so, and bands were added and removed from the lineup as well. Finally the date rolled around. I had seen Smear Campaign (with Squared Off) once more in the meantime and hung with Cactus at some other shows. Hoser from Squared Off was at the Fireside that day as well and we learned his band would be playing with us as well. We even played once with them in the meantime and got to know everyone in both bands really well, including Smear Campaigns new bassist Dan (who coindicentally was in a band with Hoser — who we played with — at the Fireside years before!) formerlly of FID. The date was quite anticipated.

Got there early, it was a very nice day out. Sunny and warm, but a bit overcast at times. There was a forecast for rain but it never broke upon us at all on that date. Cactus was no longer playing, but he was the mastermind behind this gig so he was in attendance, swillin’ whiskey from a bottle in the back of Joe from Squared Off’s minivan. He offered it to me a few times but I declined. I drank 2 Cokes before I left, then had a Red Bull and a Mountain Dew Live Wire Slushie before the gig.

Bill Knobs and Andrew from the Powerknobs (here with Cactus), with some other people they brought along showed up which was great. Matt had printed up some great fucking WFTN Radioflyers which were double sided and full color, beautifully done, which even has an awesome blurb about us (with all the other WFTN bands) in it. PVC and his lady showed up, much support there thankfully. I just found out because I am oblivious obviously that Rhyno is a fireman, so he busted out the full mask and helmet for me to wear and amuse everyone. Just like they say, you don’t want to know all the crazy shit a fireman has to wear and how much it weighs.

The lineup was getting changed real fast — Squared Off and us had flipped a coin to see who would play 3rd or 4th. I won the toss with Hoser and we got 3rd. Then due to some nonsense, we were moved back to last. That sucked big time. And somehow Squared Off went from 4th to 1st then.

Squared Off was awesome as always, tore thru a great set with FID, Minor Threat (w. Joe singing!) and Fugazi. I had never heard the Fugazi song before I saw them play it first (at a previous gig). It seemed like this time they played it and it was even tighter. Next up was The Amazing Interceptors. They were a 4 piece with 2 guitars, both guitarists singing. The vocals weren’t really delivered with any force behind them but they had interesting, chaotic 2 guitar attack, lots of textures and different tempos. They were clicking their pedals and footswitches all the time too. Their drummer wore no shirt and was all built. He also wore a tight backwards cap and drumming gloves. He actually did look like he was holding back then to crack a stick right thru those skins. The bassist had a nice Fender Jazz Bass and looked like Dave Guerin (owner of Melrose Park Cock Robin) a bit. He was active on the bass as well and had excellent tone.

Next up was Lacquer. I saw them play with Squared Off and Smear Campaign (as they had many times before in the past) the week previous at Brauerhouse. They are a 4 piece with 1 guitar and a singer. The singer wears some wild outfits and plenty of makeup and even has a DigiTech footpedal board for the vocals. The guitarist name is Mike but looks like a chick, even more makeup on and a big hollow body guitar. The bassist is Lisa, Cactus Matt’s girlfriend. The drummer Brian is by far the most normal, talked to him for a while, he carries his drum stands in a big bed comforter.

By this time I was getting quite anxious and not wanting to talk to anyone. People say I act like a dick when I get this way, but I just don’t want to talk to anyone. I try not to hang around people in that situation because I might snap at them, so I just try to sit alone and stare at the walls. I’m getting a little angry thinking about that feeling now, how you feel when you have to wait 3 or 4 hours to play. I know people will say I’m a pussy or a rock star or any of a number of other things. But here’s the thing, you fuckin’ haters (shaking fist at imaginary people): I don’t drink 5 cases of beer before I play like you fuckhead. And as a result I make you look bad again and again. I thrash until my body is limp and devoid of strength. I swear about a gallon and soak a towel. I try to swing my arm to hit the guitar from as far as I can reach toward the ceiling. So that’s why the fuck I don’t like to wait.

Finally got up there. Hilger was daring enough to bust out his wireless system which often has failed at shows and forced him to use a cord. But I will say, when it works (as it did at this show luckily) it kicks ass. The thing seems to be able to go about 1000 feet, this place is a gigantic room, he was way back in the other end of it and I never even noticed he was gone. The bass was clear as a whistle.

We opened with the message board contest winner song pick from Rhyno — “Attitude” by the Misfits, then went into Squared Off’s ‘My Turn’, it was great seeing the look on their faces for that one. Hoser ran on stage and sang the whole thing, with Matt, Rhyno and Joe yelling into my mic. We played it flawlessly depite what Hilger will tell you. We ended up hooking up Squared Off with more shirts and they were all wearing em like our #1 fan club, thanx guys.

We tore through our songs and it was pretty damned hot in there. I was swiggin’ on some water and drying my head with the magic towel every song and those 2 things make me feel fucking great. If I was a big rock star, all I would ask is that I have a stack of 4 or 5 white towels, neatly folded and maybe 2 cold and 2 room temperature bottles of Evian. And a free ball of coke everyday. And 5 whores. And a deep freeze on the bus full of Colt 45 and Schlitz Blue Bull. And a few Olde English too. And a Mexican chef to cook me shit every day. And an Italian Chef too. That should do it. I think.

After the show as always my mood changed 180 degrees and I was relaxed and smiliing like a motherfucker. Playing a show can only provide that feeling. I could care less about a crowd. I just want to play in front of other bands, that’s obviously enough for me. Rhyno recommended we go to Brauerhouse and get drunk but Rob was gracious enough to proivde the use of the pool for the 2 bands, it was fucking awesome. On the way home I hit, in order, all on North Ave. from West to East:

1) TCF bank — free ATM — $40 withdrawl
2) Taco Bell — ordered 1 7-layer and 1 chicken burrito. I believe they were both bean burritos. Bad times there.
3) Liquor Brokers — the greatest liquor store in the fucking land. My #1 40 spot. They Carry:
a. Colt 45
b. Blue Bull
c. OE
d. St. Ides
e. Steel Reserve 16-oz 4pack

Copped 1 Blue Bull and 1 Colt 45. Ate my Taco Bell in the Liqour brokers parking lot. I was rushing cause I get bad party anxiety (among other anxieties). This is where I’m going to a party and I get scared its going to get rowdy and I’ll miss it or arrive at a bad time. As a result, I often show up to parties way too early or start speeding on the way there for no reason. I chowed my nasty T-Bell and cleaned the beans off my body, and copped my 40s. Went home, thru the 40s in the fridge, jumped in teh shower, dumped dirty show towels and shirts in the hamper. I was only taking a quick shower like when you go to the pool, like where they make the brothas wash out their afro-sheen so the filters dont get clogged. I threw on my new Polo bathing suit and a Polo robe Tony Soprano style, sandals and the big blue cricket hat. I walked up to everyone but Hilger with 2 40s in my hands. Now thats a true playboy. I offered Joe a 40 and he took the Blue Bull. I swilled the Colt and we went in the pool. Burned some shit when Hilger got there. Drank some more Miller Lites after that, got home at about 4 AM, updated the site, then crashed till 1 the next day. I got up, took a shit, piss, blew a ton of snots out of my nose and slept on the futon (change of venue always works) with the AC and fan blowing on me hardcore under 2 blankets, slept till 5 PM. Scored Ceasars 3 steak tacos right away and now its 324 am the next day. Ive got a OE in the fridge Im about to get into and some other things I just bought that im ‘consuming’ now.

The show was a success, needless to say.

–bigbossman

peep the pics from the afterparty….

Show #50: Brauerhouse, Hillside

Steve Brauer contacted me out of nowhere a long time ago. I didn’t even know who he was or what his club was. I blew it off and never responded and then he started doing the same thing again a while back. I contacted him back and he eventually gave me a date without even hearing our shit. The day before the show I’m hearing from everyone that we need to bring our own PA and there is not going to be any real sound at all. A couple problems with this, first of all, I need to be told of this in advnace. Second of all, if I bring shit then I know another band is going to want to use it and thats how my shit gets stolen, broken or lost. Well we got there and it was typical. I parked and saw a bunch of dudes in a circle in the parking lot. I knew they had to be one of the other bands. I approached them all crazy and said whats the deal with the sound. They told me there was some house sound, 2 large PA speakers. They just wanted to use my PA speakers for monitors and said they had a PA head that could power all of them. so i gave him the speakers and figured, nice, minimal committment. the dude said he would hook it all up and take care of everything. this is john, the singer for exit 31 by the way.

now i have to get deep. everywhere i go, all i ever hear is ‘williams, fix it’. i have to repair all the shit in the world it seems like. john and one of the guitarists from exit 31 were having some issues, they could only get 1 house speaker and 1 monitor working at once (and strangely enough, they were opposite sides working at the same time like right house and left monitor or vice versa). so then i looked at the set up and just said, everyone step aside. heres what i did.

i took all 3 mics (all 3 bands only needed 2 mics but johns idea (and not a bad one) was to mic the burbanks guitar amp since it was small) and hooked them into my PA head which i got from the ride. i hooked my PA speakers up to the head. then i took the line out of my head and put it into a channel (#10 if you give a fuck, i dont) and used that 2nd PA head to power the house speakers. this PA system worked great. no problems at all.

so me and hilger were there and john from exit 31 said he wanted to play 2nd. i had no problem with that and figured we had a chance to play first which is always prefered so i can get drunk as fuck and not worry about passing out and sucking on stage. we were stressing for rob to get there quick and set up before the burbanks did but the next thing i know they somehow very quickly set up and it was too late. heres the crazy part: me and hilger had been peeping this hot chick walking around with a short skirt and some high fucking socks. and you all should know that that is mine and hilgers fetish. we are always scoping for the tall socks as we call them. well what the fuck, that chick is the drummer for the burbanks! i did know they had a chick drummer but i didnt know she was it.

so me and hilger sparked up a game of pool and i bought a pack of newports in full party mode. i was really getting wild. i went to the bar and it was disgusting how this place had way more and better beers then the US beer company where we had played 2 nights before. i got a labatt blue and was living large. everyone was showing up: Cactus Matt, Hilger and the ladies, paul from smear camp, paul and cactus matt from smear camp hoser and joe, and rhyno from squared off.

so they played a quick set, they didnt fuck around and talk too long or anything or bullshit around, i definately have to show love for that. exit 31 got up there and they had tons of expensive equipment. me and hilger thought their singer was blowing lines in the bathroom but it was some kind of weird nose spray. he pulled a panty hose over his head and went crazy up there. both guitarists were working with the jacksons which you know i have mad love for. john told me his/their biggest influence was faith no more but they are way too heavy for that shit.

so ive been getting alot better about being anxious before shows. it used to crush me for many hours even before i left for the club. i honestly believe it because i started drinking a few before the show…only problem with that being like i said before, when you play last. but with this show it was a bit different. i was feeling good but exit 31 had the long epic metal songs, like 5 minutes each and they played mad songs for like an hour. plus i was sitting by the PA and shit the whole time to make sure it didnt fuck up so i had to watch them up close. i started getting anxious but like the old anxiety that didnt seem to have a particular cause, this was clearly because this band was evil and heavy and i take that as a threat, i have to take the stage and try to scare the audience more.

the DJ, his name is DJ Mugotu all night had been spinning lots of good tunes, played a bunch of old and new Misfits. he was crazy, smoking a big cigar in the DJ booth. i told him that we would play a misfits song for him and that we knew a million so what did he want to hear. of course he picks some real obscure ones, ‘theme for a jackyl’ and ‘walk among us’…finally i said, how about ‘vampira’. so we added that to our list and opened with it. the set was feeling alot better then US beer, even though i was getting real tired i felt alot better then i did there. we played our whole set and thru in chrimshrine ‘summertime’ for cactus matt. hilger was playing in just his underwear at this point and told matt to pull down his pants and we would play it. so i start with the guitar, im dragging it out and rob and hilger and just waiting for my cue. matt drops trou and even whipped out his dick and put it on my guitar. i later found out that no one else really saw that but me. at the end they yelled for more so we played that #1 crowd favorite, ‘folsom prison blues’ by johnny cash (RIP june carter). that still wasnt enough and hilger called out ‘solitaire’. as if on cue, me and rob yelled ‘no!’ at the same exact time back to him. i then recommended more misfits, so we played ghouls night out and horror hotel. i had no air whatsoever for that last one and i kept motioning rhyno from squared off to come and sing it into the mic as he was singing the words already from the audience. i was almost collapsing and pointing to him and then pointing to my mic but he didnt seem to get it. oh well.

everyone loved us and we gave out tons of stickers and cds, even a few shirts. steve brauer and me spoke later and squashed any hard feeling and he bought me a red bull vodka. then a random drunk from the crowd bought me another, then i demanded that my cousins girlfriend buy me yet another. me and john chilled a while and i left when the bar closed at 3 am. snapped a nice pic with myself and the guys from exit 31(except the bassist) and dodged a roadblock on south manheim road. probably wouldnt have gotten a DUI anyways, those 3 drinks must have been all that was not metabolised in my body after 4 hours and sweating balls for 45 minutes. excellent show, a fitting 50th show as well.

–satan165

Low Profile live at Brauerhouse in Hillside
Saturday May 24th.
with the Burbanks and Exit 31

This show was so much fun. I can’t get over it. I’m still feeling it, trust me. Trying to take the whole thing in. It’s all too much.
So this place is kinda weird to find. Or at least is the first time. And my mapquest was fucked up. It told me to turn on N Railroad and that street is a fucking dead end. So whatever, I found it.
So I got there right at 9. Walk in and go right up to Rhyno from Squared Off who is chillin at the bar. I offer to buy him a drink but he is not drinking and still recovering from his b-day. So Happy Birthday my man. I load in and then order a drink. Williams shows up and he loads in. Rob shows up and he loads in. Hoser and Joe from Squared Off showed up. And Hoser hooked us up with their new CD before the CD release show. What an honor. Great job on the CD guys. I listened to it on my way home. Cactus Matt and Paul from Smear Campaign showed up. Cactus Matt is fucking awesome. He made my night a lot funner so thanks Matt. Luv ya brotha.
So we chill. Play some pool. Williams sucks. So do I but I did good my first game and I haven’t played in like a yr. Then Joe kicked my ass. I still had like 5 balls to get in. Oh well. Nikki and Lynn show up. And Lynn is very mean everybody. She bit me and now I have a big bruise on my arm and it fucking hurts bad. I seemed to get many bruises last night and don’t remember any others besides that one. And Lynn kept stealing Rubb A Dubb Doggie from me. U crack whore! j/k.
The Burbanks r set up and gettin ready to start their set. This band was cool. 3 piece with a fine ass drummer chick who wore a lil skirt and some knee high socks so she kept my mouth watering all night. They were very fun and had cool songs. Oh and did I mention that the drummer chick is fucking hot????????? So Exit 31 set up next. They rocked the house for sure. And u know the Bossman got all excited to see both guitarists bust out Jacksons. I heard him from across the room yelling to them about how he plays Jacksons and they r the shit. I was laughing hysterically. They were loud and crazy. The insane singer dude wore a crazy getup but was a true frontman and was very entertaining. Williams was running the sound the whole time. He was having fun with it and he got some great pics.
So we play last. Hoser told us to turn up our amps but our shit isn’t as loud as y’alls shit my man. Sorry. Even if I turn my amp up to 10 it’ll sound like shit. I don’t have an 11. Wish I did. Oh well. We play with the bare necessities.
So Williams recommends we open with a Misfits song cuz the dj was jamming a lot of Fits all night. The DJ recommended we play Theme For a Jackyl but that is a pretty crazy song and we never learned that one. So we decided to open with Vampira. Our set was something like this:

Vampira (originally by the Misfits)
Zamboni
Figure It Out
Summertime (originally by Crimpshrine) for Cactus Matt
Low Pro pt 1
The Limitation
Walter Mander
Pathetic Individuals
Character Profile
In the Zone
Spreading Yourself Thin
King of the Hill
Folsom Prison Blues (originally by the man in black) RIP June
Ghouls Night Out (by the Misfits)
Horror Hotel (by the Misfits)

We added a few songs in there. All of the covers actually. I requested that we play Solitaire somewhere in there and both Rob and Williams yelled “NO” in unison. I was truly outvoted on that one.
It was a lot of fun. I was ruined after our set. And I played in my underwear. Cactus Matt said he’d take his pants off if we played Crimpshrine so we did and I ended up taking my shorts off and playing most of the show in my boxer briefs.
It was a wild set fo sho. After I put most of my shit away, I just had to sit down so I just sat on the floor. But that wasn’t good enough. I had to lay down. So I was laying on the dirty floor in my underwear with my bass case under my head and I got tackled and crushed by a bunch of people. It was fun. Like a big wrestling match. I was so out of it. Spent from the show. Well get this, we played a show on Thursday night, then I went to see Bigwig at Fireside on Friday night, we played again on Saturday night and I’m goin to see Squared Off play tonight. So my ears and voice r pretty ruined. And I didn’t sleep good in days and have partied a lot. Not that I’m complaining. Carpe Diem. Live for the day! Gotta have fun in life, right?
So, much love to everyone there last night. We had a blast and u all made it even more fun. The crazy patrons of the bar who weren’t there to see bands took it all in very well. This one guy was telling me he was 40 and has been playing guitar for 25 yrs really got into us. He walked up to me and says “just call me Jimi” and I was like why? and he went into how he plays guitar and hes so good and he wanted to play the star spangled banner and I told him he should have asked. Bossman would have let him use his guitar for sure to hear that one.
It was great. I listened to the Squared Off Cd on the way home. Thanks for hooking it up Hoser. The whole night was too much fun. If u missed it, u suck. But go to all the other up and coming shows at Braurehouse. This place is fun as hell and cool to play and hang out in. Thats all folks

-ERIK

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 #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 #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