Last Friday Lunchbox, Beth, and I went to see Number Nine at Champs Rock Room in Burbank, IL. Number Nine is a punk rock band from the Chicago area that dates back to the mid 1980’s. They appeared on a cassette compilation I released back around 1987 but I never got the chance to see them play back then. I wasn’t even aware they were still playing occasionally until Lunchbox told me a couple weeks ago about it. I was glad to finally get a chance to see them play.
Cenobites
Cenobites
Cenobites
After solidly beating the ladies in mini-golf (I won by two strokes!), we made the short journey over to the show with plenty of time to spare before the first band played. I was talking to various people until Cenobites got up on stage and started playing. They were pretty standard fare, old-school influenced hardcore. I found them to be pretty good overall and in time they’ll probably get a lot tighter and better.
Spare Change
Spare Change
Spare Change
Spare Change
Spare Change
Spare Change played second. They were also a very old-school sounding hardcore band with short and fast songs. Their songs reminded me of the stuff I went crazy for in high school. They had two singers, one of them was very large in stature and quite ominous looking. The other one spent half the time singing from the floor in the small audience that was in attendance that night.
Number Nine
Number Nine
Number Nine
Number Nine
Number Nine
Number Nine
After a little delay, Number Nine stumbled on stage. I say this because they had been drinking the entire night and thought they were going to be playing earlier on the bill. Despite the inebriation, they put on an entertaining set of their old material that is part hardcore, part crossover. It was a light-hearted set that made you feel like you were just hanging out with a bunch of friends drinking and three of them just so happen to play music. I enjoyed them despite the fact that at that point of the evening I was seriously running out of steam and on the ride home was fearful of drifting off to sleep while driving. I obviously survived it though, and it was worth the exhaustion for a fun night of hanging out and some entertaining bands.
