Catch 22 / River City Rebels / Madcap

live in Chicago (2003)

Chuck Fat

Alright so this show was at the Metro in Chicago, IL. In my opinion i think the Metro is possibly the best place ever for a show, its always packed, and always a good atmosphere, and of course, no exceptions on this night.

Now before when i had seen bands, like RCR and C22, they played smaller clubs like, The Fireside, and so on, but on a night like this, and on a tour , that hailed 4 victory records bands, it was obvious a larger venue was needed.

So im from springfield, and its quite a drive to windy chicago, so we left very early in the morning, and when we got their, to the metro, to our misfortune, there was a Cubs baseball game, so in otherwords, we had to pay 15 bucks to park somewhere for the day, luckily it was only about 15 mins walking from the metro, however, this was the first time i ever actually had to pay for parking, but whatever.

So we kill some time in Chicago, going to all the lousy places to buy shit in the are, like the Alley, aka: Big Hot Topic. Anyways.

We head back to the Metro around showtime, and of course bands are already there loading in and everything, and i noticed the sign on the metro, you know the one with the letters of bands playing, had changed, apparently another band was added, 10 mins before the show. And all i could think was that the times for sets would be cut short, but whatever.

Doors open, and we leave the crowded streets of Chicago and head in to the venues, where of the course the first stop is always merch, because if youve ever been there you know the merch stand is right by the front doors. Sp we buy a lot of merch, and head up to the balcony area, you know, to conserve energy for the headliners.

Fortunately, we didnt have to worry about conserving our energy during the first band, Stole Your Woman, they were one of those Pop Punk/Emo bands, a dime a dozen in Chicago, the only exceptional things to mention were the drummer and their cover of "Henry the VIII".

Next up was Count The Stars, another one of those typical victory bands, making $ off the popularity of the bands they sound like, who did it before them, and have built a fanbase, obviously you can tell im not a fan, of this nu-metal, emo garbage, and in my small town of springfield, it was always a "no-no" to push emo kids around at a emo show, cause they'd get hurt and cry about it, so i figured since it was the Metro it would be fun, and i's show these fucks was the soringfield kids were made of. So right after the first note, it was mayhem, well, as chaotic as it could be, for lousy metal-emo blends and about 50 kids watching. So anyways, i wasn't impressed with the first 2 openers.

Next up we had, all the way from sunny California, Madcap. Now i hadn't heard much from these guys, disk wise, but i saw them the first time they played warped, and on the last Mest tour, with catch 22, but i had no idea, their fanbase was so huge in chicago, it seemed like everyone had packed in the room, even before the headliners, so i knew i was in for some fun. And I couldnt have been more so right. It was a good time, you could tell everyone enjoyed them. Might i add, they are now signed on Victory records.

Alright, now next up was the slice of pie i originally came for, River City Rebels, apparently these guys were huge in chicago now too, which is very weird because, everytime i had seen them before it was in some small club, somewhere with 10-15 kids, so needless to say i was excited for them, they were playing a packed house at the metro, and on top of that they were filming for a video that night, so they must have figured the show was gonna go off as big as it did. Lights dim, crowd gets antsy, then they blast out on stage, and start rocking with their usual one minute opener, called "as the bend breaks" and from there forward is was chaos, they played all the classics, such as "6am" "daddy was a drunk" and "small town pride" off their 2nd cd, "playin' to live, livin' to play" and played way older ones like "hate" "millitary attitude" and closed with "thats the way" off their first cd "racsism, religion and war" and of course to promote the new cd "no good, no time, no pride" they played what i'd now call "crowd pleaseres" "no good" "aborted" and "lifes a drag" which ironically is the song they were shooting the video for, and they also pulled off the cover of Johnny Thunders "Chinese Rocks". If you dont like what you hear from them on cd's i suggest going to a live show, their energy and emotion into the music, will make you put them at the top of your list, for live shows, and as is the night could night get any better, Brandon the horn player smashed his trombone, how rock n roll, is that? Sure all the real punk smash their guitars and drums, but, only the band geeks smash their trombones. Rcr fucking rules, if you dont know about them, go see them live, and bring your energy.

Next up was Catch 22, now of course, if you throw 2 really rocking bands in right before the headliner, the crowd is kinda dead, not the case here though. Catch 22, is by far one of my favorite bands, but ive always though, their live show lagged, however the playing ability impressed me this time, but as always the energy is extremely lacking, its funny how i see pictures of these guys on the website and they are jumping around and shit, yet i never seem to catch them doing that live. So if nothing else about catch 22 tonight, they proved ska was on its way back into the hearts of its fans, after playing some of their new material, and suprisingly, playing a different song other then 1,2,3,4 for an encore, thats a first for me, and this has been my review.

Stole Your Woman - 4

Count The Stars - 5

Madcap - 9

River City Rebels - 10

Catch 22 - 9