Sunday night Reggie’s played host to a hardcore extravaganza which was headlined by the long awaited return of DRI! This was also a marathon show and a late one featuring five bands, which meant it was going to be a long night.
Vicious Attack
Vicious Attack
Vicious Attack
Vicious Attack, a local band, opened the show as a steady stream of people were filing into the club. They were a speedy thrash band with some metal tinged guitars. Their songs were somewhat similar and they played one speed, full. There was some occasional guitar noodling going on too which added a little bit of spice to the songs. The band had a few fans in the crowd that were moshing and slamming into unsuspecting people in their general area. The band played about 30 minutes.
Chicago Thrash Ensemble
Chicago Thrash Ensemble
Chicago Thrash Ensemble
Chicago Thrash Ensemble
Chicago Thrash Ensemble
Another local band, Chicago Thrash Ensemble played second. They are made up of people from previous bands like Authority Abuse, Hewhocorrupts, and others. As you could probably guess from their name, they were a thrash band. The singer had a sort of high pitched scream voice and he paced around the stage the entire time while shrieking his vocals. The band were pretty tight too and they played their short blasts admirably and were a pretty enjoyable band.
The Muzzler
The Muzzler
The Muzzler were third and are another Chicago area band. They played metal hardcore. They had more tempo changes and a lower end than the previous two bands and were quite enjoyable. The singer had quite a yell in him as well. The club was really getting full by this point and it was looking like the show may be a sell out.
Diamond Plate
Diamond Plate
Keeping with a trend, the fourth band was also from Chicago and that band was Diamond Plate. This three piece band played really heavy thrash metal. They seemed to have really studied their old Metallica and Slayer albums because there was a very similar sound to their early albums. In fact one might have thought that these guys came out of a time machine from the late 1980s. They played a really tight and powerful set but that singer/bass player has no business playing without a shirt on! The crowd went absolutely nuts during their set too. If these guys stick with it and lift less riffs from some older bands they could really be onto something big.
DRI
DRI
After over a six year hiatus due to one of the members having a bout of cancer, DRI made their long awaited return to the Windy City. DRI is a hardcore institution and their first record, the Dirty Rotten EP is a hardcore masterpiece and went on to become one of the blueprints of 1980s hardcore that hundreds of bands that formed since have followed.
DRI
DRI
At this point the club was totally packed and people were excited to see the band play. There was a buzz about the entire room and you could feel the excitement in the air. As the band was walking onto the stage, some people even started a pit before the band played! Once the band started into their first song, the entire floor went nuts and were pushing, shoving, moshing, jumping, and any number of other crazy things all while singing along to the chorus of “Who Am I”.
DRI
DRI
They played a ton of songs from the first two records (ie: the best ones!) and some newer material too and the crowd never got tired of going crazy and knocking down everyone in their path. Nearly the entire floor was a sea of bodies bouncing around like pinballs which lead many people to flee for safety. People were singing along and there was even a couple attempts at stage diving. The band sounded great and if they had any rust from not playing in so long they must have worked it off before arriving here because they were spot-on! These hardcore legends may be up there in age as they are about to embark on their 30th anniversary as a band, but age has been kind to them as they can still deliver the goods.
Some additional photos from the show can be seen here.
