Subhumans 4/22/06 at Logan Square Auditorium

Last night, Senor Citizen, Lady of 2, and I went to see Subhumans, Leftover Crack, Saint Catherines, and Siderunners at the Logan Square Auditorium. Senor and I got to the city and found Lady of 2 and proceeded to wait in the very very long line to get in the show. I was amazed at how many people turned out for this because not nearly as many did last fall when the Subhumans played at the same place. It turns out, this Leftover Crack band is quite popular with the kids and were a pretty big draw.

As the line finally got moving, we were pretty close to the front of the alley when some people working the show announced that if you were paying cash to step up, so Lady of 2 and Senor did just that. I was on the guest list thanks to generous accommodations from MP Shows so I had to wait in line some more. Not three minutes later, there was an announcement that the show sold out. The person who made the announcement was John B from MP Shows so I introduced myself and he brought me in and up to the show. The place was packed. In the few times I’ve been to that venue, it’s never been nearly that crowded. I could barely move through the place!

We were outside in line so long we completely missed the first band, Siderunners, so I can’t tell you what they were like. After enjoying some beer at the bar, I tried to make my way to find a place to shoot some photos. I managed to get up front near the stage and started unpacking my camera when a security guy noticed me and kindly offered to let me get behind him off to the side of the stage to take my photos. I thanked him for his kind offer and got back there and was allowed to take photos there safely for the rest of the show. That really made my night. Sadly despite what seemed like an adequate light rig, it was way too dark on stage to take really good photos without the use of a flash. I sure as hell tried. So I succumbed and popped the flash and got to work. I apologize ahead of time for these not being my best photos, but I think given my limited safe place to shoot from and the fact I had to use a flash, they turned out alright. If it wasn’t for them letting me in to shoot the photos safely from the side, I’d never have gotten any because the crowd was crazy!

Saint Catherines

Saint Catherines

Saint Catherines were the first band I saw. They were pretty good and they had like three guitar players on stage, it just seemed like a crazy amount of band members. They played for about a half hour or so and they left me with wondering how their records would sound because I was definitely interested. They were a rough yet melodic punk band that had just enough punch to hold my interest. In fact, someday I plan to buy their records unless they want to be kind enough to donate them to the vault.

In between bands I went back to join Senor and Lady of 2 at the bar for another round. While downing the serum a fellow tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if i was MXV of the Punk Vault site. I said I was and he introduced himself as Gantry, who is a fan of the site and has emailed me before. He proceeded to tell me he likes the site, asked if I was shooting photos of the show, and then handed me a beer that he got for me! That was totally generous and kind and also added to making my night! Thanks Gantry!

Leftover Crack

Leftover Crack

Leftover Crack were next. I took my place in order to shoot some photos right before they took the stage. I noticed the place seemed even more crowded if that was even possible. They came out and blasted right into their first song and the crowd went insane. They almost knocked over the light rig I was standing next to a few times! The security did their best to hold them at bay and they did a great job. Occasionally some kid would end up on stage only to be safely escorted off the side and back into the crowd. They started off sounding really great, energetic yet melodic punk rock, but as time wore on, they seemed like they were a band who couldn’t decide what band to be and played ska, nu-metal, etc in an effort to be everything to everyone. I started getting bored and they seemed like they played forever. When Senor noticed them doing Limp Bizkit imitations on stage, that pretty much ruined it for all three of us. Had they played about half as long and stuck to the formula they started with, I’d have found them to be quite cool and would have understood how they were such a big draw to the younger people in attendance.

Subhumans

Subhumans

After a bit of a break (and another couple of serums) The Subhumans finally took the stage. Having seen them just last fall, I knew that we were all in for good things. 25 years or so after they formed, they haven’t lost a step and are still extremely energetic and play those old songs with as much passion as they did back in the day. They played a lot of the hits and even busted out what sounded to me like a new tune if I heard Dick correctly between songs! Does this mean they are going to record? If so, I’m all for it, they are as great now as they were back then and the song sounded like any other Subhumans song in style, which is great. That band never put out a bad record in their lives. The crowd had thinned out some but it was still a pretty full room and everyone there seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Subhumans

Subhumans

I also noticed something else during The Subhumans set that really took me by surprise. There was an actual old style slam pit! I am talking no human bumper cars, no random violence, there was the counter-clockwise circle and people were doing it how it was supposed to be done. They weren’t bashing into the crowd on the outside of the pit who were just watching the show, it was amazing. I felt like a proud father when I witnessed this. How the crowd went from the chaos of the first two bands (where one kid told me in the bathroom that in the pit, someone gave him an atomic wedgie!), to this old school and proper pit was beyond me, but it was sure nice to see! The band played about 45 minutes and there wasn’t a dull moment. The closed with “Religious Wars” which was a great note to end the show on as it is one of their best songs.

After the show we hit the road for a late night breakfast and then head home. It was a really fun evening overall and I’d like to thank John and Brian of MP Shows for their accommodating me for this show, that was very kind and generous of them. And thanks to Senor, Lady of 2, and Gantry for the serums!

A few more photos after the jump.


Saint Catherines

Subhumans