Blackout
Weather can have an effect on shows. You know it because those outdoor shows have “RAIN OR SHINE” printed on them, but for lightning they will stop. If you told me tonight that the show at the Nile would have a delay because of a blackout for a couple blocks, I wouldn’t have believed you. However, that was just what happened as we lost power during a rain storm. The good news was that after an hour, the power came back and the bands played on until the end.
The band with the best story to tell from the night would be Ass Wipe Junkies. These guys with the get-up-and-go set of music were the ones to have it cut short about two thirds through. This was a shame, because they play a great set and had a circle pit get moving. On the bright side, the Ass Wipe Junkies can now tell everyone that they play so well that they turned out the lights.
After about an hour, and almost a venue change, the show resumed with the up and coming Kill Your TV. These guys come to rock. Full of enthusiasm and vigor they play a great set of music. It was the jolt everyone wanted after sitting around for that bit. They have a great harmony underneath that hard punk sound. Kill Your TV keep getting better and tighter every time I see them.
They were followed by the guys of Corky’s Leather Jacket. I don’t know what it was, maybe it was the venues I’ve seen them at before, but they came out with a harder punk sound than I recall. It was awesome to hear with that ferocious singing into the microphone. The other weird thought came about when they played the song about how horrible it was a court let a guy off of clear rape charges. It is nothing to celebrate to, but the song itself has the energy to make you want to mosh around to it. Certainly educational at times, but always a great time seeing Corky’s Leather Jacket perform.
Next up is a band readers of this site are certainly familiar with, Skull Drug. They were the next in line of what was turning out to be all hard punk rock. Skull Drug is one of my favorite local bands to catch play. Tonight was special because, if you haven’t already noticed, I have an actual camera to shoot shows. I was able to take some of the sharpest images of them yet. Given how expressive they are as performers, it’s a treat. The set itself slightly shortened, but they managed to squeeze in a good amount of their songs and the crowd ate it up. These dudes are awesome, and get my usual Every Show Joe seal of approval for tonight’s set.
Last of the night was Union 13, which I had only heard in name and was told play a great cover of Rancid’s “Roots Radicals.” They have a long lineage of performing over two decades, so this is more on me having not seen them perform until tonight. Let us just say that this crowd and the band came to jump around. They had some of the craziest, most excited people moving around in that pit. Fans were jumping up on stage singing along with their lead vocalist and sometimes on their own into the microphones. In addition, yes, they play an awesome cover of “Roots Radicals” with some of the lyrics in Spanish. What a night of events, and great music as Union 13 played a freaking killer set.
