As the countdown to Riot Fest begins (it is in October), the fine folks behind the annual punk rock goodness decided they were going to host a few secret shows here and the first one was last week. People who bought tickets in advance for the Riot Fest shows were randomly invited to a secret location in Chicago for a special 88 Fingers Louie reunion show. A small little warehouse was converted into a makeshift club that actually looked nicer than some places I’ve been to over the years.
Why Intercept?
Why Intercept?
Why Intercept?
Why Intercept? was the first of the three bands this evening. They were an indie rock band with a pretty diverse sound in their various songs. Some were mellow, some slow and building, some a bit more powerful, but the singing was always melodic. They were pretty interesting and their half hour set seemed to be over very quickly which meant they easily held my interest the entire time. If they had any vinyl for sale, I’d have bought it for sure.
Thrillage
Thrillage
Thrillage
Thrillage set up their gear and started playing in near record time. They played punchy melodic rock with hard edged guitars. They weren’t bad but too many of their songs sounded similar to me. I think they are a fairly new band so maybe with time that will work itself out. Still, they weren’t bad and their thirty minute set wasn’t a bad way to kill the half hour.
88 Fingers Louie
88 Fingers Louie
As the room suddenly got very full, 88 Fingers Louie took the stage. They were sporting a new bass player who they introduced to the crowd right before they started their set. This was the first time they’ve played a show in ten years since the band broke up. I can’t believe ten years has passed already, proving that time really does fly by.
88 Fingers Louie
88 Fingers Louie
When the band started playing, the crowd started moving quickly. Pretty soon a large pit emerged and I was getting knocked all over the place. I fled for safer territory in an effort to protect my aging body and more importantly my camera gear! The band played a variety of songs from their records and the crowd ate it up like candy. The show had more of an atmosphere of a band playing for a bunch of their friends than it did a proper show which made the evening feel a little more special. The band played pretty close to an hour and there wasn’t a dull moment in the entire set. In between songs there was plenty of talking going on mostly from Dennis and Mr. Precision.
88 Fingers Louie
88 Fingers Louie
88 Fingers Louie
The first secret Riot Fest show was a really fun experience and I look forward to whatever they have in store for future ones leading up to the biggest Riot Fest yet in October!
