Dying Scene

DS Show Review & Gallery: Off With Their Heads, The Bollweevils, and Lost Legion – Chicago (12.10.2023)

It is often forgotten that activism is an essential element of punk culture. While, yes, we enjoy complaining about the system and bringing awareness to personal and social injustices, actively doing something to address them is what this is all about. On the second Sunday of December, Chicago’s legendary Liar’s Club hosted a sold-out show […]

It is often forgotten that activism is an essential element of punk culture. While, yes, we enjoy complaining about the system and bringing awareness to personal and social injustices, actively doing something to address them is what this is all about.

On the second Sunday of December, Chicago’s legendary Liar’s Club hosted a sold-out show to raise funds for KT’s Kids, a Chicago non-profit that specializes in providing kids and youths with disabilities with fun and enriching activities such as field trips, camps, and holiday parties throughout the year. You can learn more about how to support KT’s Kids by checking out their website. 

During this particularly warm(ish) winter evening, people were waiting outside before the sold-out event even started. Some had their tickets ready, others were waiting in case a spot opened up to get in.

The first band opening that evening was Lost Legion. These guys were not playing around; they were loud, aggressive, and put on one hell of a show. The lead singer kept the crowd engaged and fired up, while the rest of the band had us all headbanging to some great tunes. Had it not been early, you would have thought they were a headliner band.

The next band needed no introduction as everyone at the venue seemed to either know them personally or at the very least of them. The Bollweevils made their way onto the stage and the crowd immediately knew it was time to party. In between the in-band bickering over the set list order and friendly banter with the spectators, The Bollweevils delivered a performance that proved that these experienced punks still got it. 

Frontman and birthday boy of the evening, Daryl ‘The Doc’, showed us that you do not need to be in your twenties to jump around and keep up with punk music’s fast tempo. Showing off some strong knees, Daryl kept the crowd entertained by jumping off the stage into the pit to give the chance to the fans to join him singing some of their classic songs. The rest of the band kept up as well, delivering a great and memorable performance.

The Bollweevils have been nominated for “Best Punk Band of Chicago” as well as “Best Local Album Of The Year” by The Chicago Reader. If you enjoy their music, you can support them (as well as other artists and venues) by voting in the poll.

The last band of the evening, Off With Their Heads, swiftly took over the venue and made it their own for the rest of the evening. The gruff-punk trio originally from Minnesota truly put on a great show; no wonder they have been able to do this for over two decades. 

Lead singer and guitarist Ryan Young as well as the rest of the punk power trio put on a solid performance going through songs from their extensive repertoire including songs from their album Home, which is one of those punk albums everyone should give a listen through at least once in their lives.

Head below to check out the full gallery of the evening, and do not forget to support KT’s Kids.

  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • Lost Legion
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • The Bollweevils
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
  • Off With Their Heads
by Staff Writer Andral
Tags: 
Liar's Club nervous passenger Off With Their Heads owth Punk

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tours: Ignite announce spring tour (EU and UK)


news

Ignite have announced tour dates for Europe and the UK for this spring. The band released their self-titled album in 2022. Check out the dates below.

Festivals & Events: Descendents, Alkaline Trio, Less Than Jake, more to play BrakRock Festival 2024


news

BrakRock Festival has announced its lineup for 2024. Descendents, Alkaline Trio, Less Than Jake, Zebrahead, Strung Out, Ignite, Mustard Plug, A Wilhelm Scream, Talco, The Dwarves, The Casualties, Belvedere, The Toasters, This Is Hell, Smoking Popes, Chaser, The Drowns, Lower Class Brats, Union 13, Love Equals Death, CF98, Pkew Pkew Pkew, The Generators, Death By Stereo, School Drugs, and Rich Widows will be playing the festival. BrakRock will take place August 2-3 at Park Terelst in Duffel, Belgium.

Festivals & Events: Blondie, Jeff Rosenstock, Sprints, more to play Mallorca Live Festival 2024


news

Mallorca Live Festival has announced its lineup for 2024. Blondie, Jeff Rosenstock, Shame, Sprints, Pet Shop Boys, Underworld, Aitana, Arde Bogota, Belle and Sebastian, Dani Fernandez, Lori Meyers, Love of Lesbian, Rels B, Sleaford Mods, Chancha via Circuit B2B El Buho, Derby Motorola’s Burrito Kachimba, La Elite, Funzo and Baby Loud, _Juno, The K’s, Maria Jose Llergo, Nickodemus, Nina Polaca, No Te Va Gustar, Omar Souleyman, Pepe Y Vizio, Rodrigo Ceuvas, Sonido Gallo Negro, Aina Losange, Habla De Mi En Presente, Johnny Garso, Margarita Quebrada, Maria Hein, Ninos Luchando, Paula Cendejas, Las Odio, Rocio Saiz, Sandre, Serial Killerz, Sila Lua, Vangoura, Bum Motion Club, Cabron, El Cairo, Caspary, Danio, Enamorados, Groovert, Guille Wheel and The Waves, Negre, The Ripples, and Ultraviolet will be playing the festival. Mallorca Live Festival will take place June 13-15 at Cami Cala Figuera in Mallorca, Spain.

For I Am Join Pee Records Family!


News

<p>Proud to announce that Belgian melodic punk rock fivesome For I Am join the PEE RECORDS family today, for the release of their new album “The Righteous & The Wicked”!! We can’t wait for you all to hear this album, it’s an absolute gem! We’re proud to be onboard with label legends Bearded Punk Records and SBÄM, and want to get this record on as many Aussie turntables as possible early 2024Welcome to the family For I Am!</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://peerecords.com/for-i-am-join-pee-records-family/">For I Am Join Pee Records Family!</a> first appeared on <a href="https://peerecords.com">Pee Records</a>.</p>

DS Photo Gallery: Samiam return (finally!) to the Boston area with Cape Crush and Me In Capris (12/7/23)

For a variety of reasons, Samiam‘s trips this far up the Eastern seaboard for the last couple of decades are a bit of a Halley’s Comet situation. Thankfully, 2023 brought with it the release of Stowaway, the band’s first new album in a dozen years (editor’s note: we haven’t finished our year-end Best Of… list […]

For a variety of reasons, Samiam‘s trips this far up the Eastern seaboard for the last couple of decades are a bit of a Halley’s Comet situation. Thankfully, 2023 brought with it the release of Stowaway, the band’s first new album in a dozen years (editor’s note: we haven’t finished our year-end Best Of… list yet, but we can assure you that Stowaway is #1. Here’s our review from back in March.) which of course meant a new batch of tour dates that would reach the greater Boston area.

I say greater Boston area, because the ongoing lack of available small-cap club space in Boston proper meant Samiam playing yet another new venue outside the city limits – 2019’s local stop was at Crystal Ballroom in Somerville – the brand-spankin’-new Deep Cuts in Medford, of all places. It’s a super cool space that is not only a 240-capacity live music venue but it’s got a brewery and a pretty great sandwich counter and a small record store and a couple of pinball games; in short, it’s exactly the kind of place that this area needs more of, and the fact that it exists close enough to my house that I don’t even need to get on the highway is pretty almost perfect. Anyway, shoutout to Deep Cuts.

Cape Crush were the first band out of the proverbial chute on this evening. They are a comparatively new band but they’re comprised of a group of long-time area scene vets Ali Lipman (vox/guitar), James Christopher (lead guitar), Jake Letizia (bass) and Cody Rico (drums) so even though they really only started playing together last year as a unit, it just feels like they’ve been around for years. The four-piece blazed through a half hour set of their self-described “power emo” goodness (that featured Christopher playing lead guitar with a cast on his picking hand due to a recent hockey injury) that featured my personal favorite of their tracks, “Sandwich Wars.” Look for that on my year-end playlist soon!

Occupying the primary support role was none other than Boston and/or New Hampshire’s own Me In Capris depending on where you draw the line. Somehow, I hadn’t yet seen Me In Capris, a fact that I chalk up mostly to being a Big Dummy. What a super fun band. I guess you’d call them a power pop band, but that seems to not quite fit. Maybe if a band like The Replacements or The Hold Steady – especially Killer Parties-era Hold Steady – were as melody-driven and emo-adjacent as Smoking Popes? But also were very much from the greater Boston area? Does that make sense? It doesn’t, does it. I dunno – listen to “Cookout” and maybe it’ll make sense. Anyway, they’re super fun live and if you’ve skipped them because you’re also a Big Dummy – knock it off.

That of course brings us to Samiam’s long-awaited sushit-fueled return to the local stage. As has been the trend lately, the band ripped directly into “80 West” from their triumphant 2011 album Trips. The song might specifically refer to sights and sounds in the Bay Area, but the message about being away from an old familiar stomping grounds after a long time away is sentimentally pitch-perfect for such an occasion. “80 West” lead directly into the long-time crowd favorite “Sunshine” from 2000’s Astray, the first of what would become an evening full of good, old-fashioned singalongs.

Frontman Jason Beebout, possessor of one of yours truly’s favorite voices in the broad panacea that is rock music, expressed early in the show that he’d been feeling the effects of “some sort of RSV bullshit” but from here, he sounded no worse for the proverbial wear. It seems crazy to think that a band that’s halfway through its fourth decade as a unit – particularly given their status as a part-time band – could be as tight as ever, but it’s undoubtedly true. Sean Kennerly’s rhythms guitar duties and vocal harmonies add a little stability, allowing Sergie Loobkoff’s iconic, trademark swirling guitar leads to soar and divebomb with reckless abandon. I think a lot of the band’s cohesion can be chalked up to the comparatively new rhythm section of Chad Darby (bass) and Colin Brooks, the latter of whom plays with a level of tenacity and aplomb that make him probably my favorite drummer in the game.

I really, really wish that Samiam were more of a full-time touring band, because immediately once the show was over, I kept thinking that I wanted to see them again soon. Thankfully, I took a bunch of pictures so those will tide me – and all of us – over. Or maybe I’ll just go to Europe next year… Check out each band’s photo gallery below!

Samiam Slideshow

Me In Capris Slideshow

Cape Crush Slideshow

by Staff Writer jaystone

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Festivals & Events: Ben Quad, Sign Language, Blind Equation, more to play Burn Bright MKE 2024


news

Wisconsin-based music festival Burn Bright MKE has announced the lineup for its inaugural event. Ben Quad, Carly Cosgrove, Charmer, Heart To Gold, Saturdays At Your Place, Stars Hollow, Sign Language, Blind Equation, Equipment, Prize Horse, Arcadia Grey, Hey, ILY, Liquid Mike, and TRSH will be playing the festival. Burn Bright MKE will take place at X-Ray Arcade in Cudahy, Wisconsin from February 24-25.

Tours: Meth. announce US tour


news

Meth. have announced that they will be touring the US in February. Deaf Club, SeeYou Next Tuesday, Blackwater Sniper, and The Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir will be joining them on select dates. Meth. will be releasing their new album SHAME on February 2 and released Mother of Red Light in 2019. Check out the dates below.

Bad Moves: "New Year's Reprieve"


news

Bad Moves have released a new holiday song. It is called “New Year’s Reprieve” and is available digitally now via Don Giovanni Records. Bad Moves released their album Untenable in 2020. Check out the song below.