I am an unrepentant Screeching Weasel fan. I know how a lot of people feel about Ben Weasel, and much like the man himself, I don’t care. I’m not going to judge the man’s entire life by one poor decision made in anger. He’s one of my favorite musicians, not my role model. I suspect he relishes the role of the heel anyway. I also acknowledge that the current version of Screeching Weasel is not very authentic. Since Dan Vapid quit after the Austin incident, it’s basically been Ben and a bunch of hired guns. Fortunately, they happen to be an exceptional batch of hired guns. That’s why I made the three hour drive to Chicago on Friday, November 4th to see the Screeching Weasel 30th anniversary show at the Concorde Music Hall.

Our short trip to Chicago was made more interesting by the fact that the longsuffering Cubs had won their first World Series title in 108 years two days earlier. The victory parade was at 11 am, and when we showed up in the afternoon there were still drunk Cubs fans everywhere. The weather was beautiful for early November, so we were happy to join the revelers for an Old Style or two at Reggies rooftop bar. The only real inconvenience was that the trains were packed. Getting to the show was a little on the uncomfortable side and we didn’t have time for our traditional meal of deep dish pizza.

Speaking of bands with one original member, The Ataris opened the show. Kris Roe and his young cohorts played a half hour of melodic 90’s alt-punk. It was an early, all ages show and the room was only half full at the time. For every catchy, upbeat song there was a long, slow, dull one. The highlights were their version of Jawbreaker’s “Boxcar” and their big hit cover of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer”. The Deadhead sticker that became a Black Flag sticker this time became a Weasel sticker. They’re not really my thing, but they were OK.

Bowling For Soup was the pleasant surprise of the evening. The room was starting to fill up now, and it was obvious that a lot of folks were there to see BFS. I once regularly listened to Drunk Enough To Dance (2002) and A Hangover You Don’t Deserve (2004), but hadn’t really thought about the band in a decade. I must admit, I enjoyed every second of their 45 minute set. It was fun from the first note of their pre-recorded intro “Here Come Bowling For Soup”, to the last chorus of “Girl All the Bad Guys Want”. It was part rock concert, part sketch comedy show. There were goofy sing alongs, snappy one liners and choreographed bits.

Singer/guitarist Jaret Reddick was the ringleader, and bassist Erik Chandler was his straight man. Guitarist Chris Burney was so large that our eyes were drawn to him like gravitational pull. He was even wearing an enormous Ryne Sandberg jersey. He also kept doing this cool trick where he tossed and caught his pick. These rowdy Texans used to play Grand Rapids fairly regularly in their heyday, but this was my first time seeing them. I caught myself singing along with the majority of the songs. Bowling For Soup’s portion of the show was genuinely funny and thoroughly entertaining.

Bowling For Soup’s setlist:

Almost

High School Never Ends

Ohio (Come Back to Texas)

Today is Gonna Be a Great Day (Phineas and Ferb Theme Song)

Stacy’s Mom

Hey Diane

The Last Rock Show

Punk Rock 101

1985

Girl All the Bad Guys Want

Screeching Weasel came out with guns blazing. They must have played six or eight songs in rapid succession before Ben even took a minute to acknowledge the crowd. The band sounded awesome and was extremely tight. I was almost shocked by how fast they played. That’s the great paradox of Screeching Weasel in 2016, they’re better live now than when they were a real band. Guitarist Mike Hunchback is especially entertaining. The former Night Bird plays with reckless abandon. The circle pit was much more ferocious than you’re accustomed to seeing at ‘pop-punk’ shows. The older the song, the rougher it got. We just tried not to dump our $7 beers on ourselves.

For the Most part, SW stuck to their tried and true material. The majority of the songs came from Boogadaboogadaboogada (1988) and My Brain Hurts (1991). They also played a couple from Wiggle (1993), an album that will always hold a special place in my heart. Much to everyone’s relief, there were only a couple of post-Jughead songs. Ben had previously hinted that there might be some surprises or special guests, but there were none. Despite this being a homecoming of sorts, it was nearly identical to other recent shows. The coolest thing was seeing Ben’s young kids rock out on the side of the stage. He said it was the first time that all three of them were able to watch him play.

Despite my previously confessed love of Screeching Weasel, this was only my second time seeing them. The club is not that big and I was able to get up close and personal. It was a really solid show and I had a very good time, but I suppose that there was no way it could have lived up to my expectations. I had hoped that it would be a transcendent experience. The songs were there and even the performance was there, but I didn’t feel any magic. It ended up being just another cool punk show. I guess you really never can go back.

Screeching Weasel’s setlist:

I’m Gonna Strangle You

Slogans

Ashtray

I Wanna Be With You Tonight

Supermarket Fantasy

Queen Kong

99

Don’t Turn Out the Lights

Hey Suburbia

I Wrote Holden Caulfield

Second Floor East

Totally

Guest List

What We Hate

Dingbat

So Long, Mojo

Veronica Hates Me

First day of Summer

This Ain’t Hawaii

The Science of Myth

Encore:

Cindy’s on Methadone

My Brain Hurts

I Can See Clearly Now

Joanie Loves Johnny

My Right

Cool Kids