Chicago, IL – 19 Oct 2023
I’ve been eyeing T1 fest for a few years now. Every year, they sport a solid lineup, consisting of local (Chicago) and national (all over) acts. It’s a great cause, bringing awareness and generating support for people with Type 1 Diabetes. Past performers include: Smoking Popes, Methadones, The Lillingtons, Brendan Kelly, Tightwire, Dan Vapid and the Cheats, and many others. I don’t know if it’s the fact that it falls right after Riot Fest that I’ve missed it, or whether it’s too close to FEST (Gainesville), but I have had it on my radar, and never committed. Well, this year is different!! For one, TGEFM came through with passes for me and my wife. Two, the lineup this year is stacked: Teenage Bottlerocket, Methadones (so amped), Sack, The Raging Nathans, Flatfoot 56, Hospital Job, I could go on. Three, the fest takes place at Reggies, one of my favorite venues. Four, my wife and I like beer.
Day One:
It has been a long week. I know, “cry me a river,” but last night (Thursday night, the first night of T1) I needed a beer. I needed some punk rock. I needed to let off some steam. We all know that before you can drink, you gotta eat. So my wife and I grabbed some beer. Oops. Did I mess that up? Well we hit a brewery, Alulu, in the hopes of pairing our beer with dinner. Unfortunately, they had a gas leak and were not serving… food. They did serve us beer. To make matters more complicated, they gave us some freebies. I’m a sucker for Black IPAs, and they had two of them on. Our thirsts thoroughly slaked, we stumbled out of Alulu in search of food. Found a Tapas place close to Reggie’s, and grabbed a quick bite so we didn’t pass out by 9pm. Then we made our way over.
We entered as Space Age Zeros churned through their set. I didn’t know much about SAZ coming in, other than what I read on TGEFM, and I quickly picked up what they were putting down. They have the four-piece power pop punk with the Midwest flavoring that the kids adore. They keep em short and sweet. “On a Date with Suzi Moon” stood out as one of their catchier numbers. I’m thinking a date with Suzi Moon would involve a lot of stage diving.
Take the Reins took the stage next. Courtney Boyers, TTR’s lead singer, shared a touching story about how Type 1 Diabetes impacted her family. Her sister showed symptoms of it at a young age, Courtney diagnosed the possibility of T1 by perusing an old medical textbook she’d been dragging around. It wasn’t until her sister fell into a coma that people listened! You’ll be glad to know that her sister came out of it, has learned to live a happy life, and manage her T1. Aside from the great stories, TTR can lay down the cuts. Boyers popcorn personality and piercing pipes power every song. The rest of the crew buoy her along with pounding rhythm and razor-sharp riffs. Now, take notes kids, when you want to win over a festival audience, and you may not be the headliner; a well-timed cover will do wonders. TTR dropped into the staccato riff, and I instantly knew that I knew it, but it took a minute to register. “I don’t want to be an asshole anymore” by the Menzingers. That blew the roof off the joint.
Huntingtons. Now there’s ramonescore, and sound-exactly-fucking-like-the-Ramones. Huntingtons tend to the latter. The first time I heard “No Pool Party Tonight” I thought it was the Ramones. These guys played FEST one of the years we went, and I really wanted to catch them. For some reason, that didn’t happen. Last night made up for it. They have the whole Ramones shtick down, the “1,2,3,4,” the crooning Joey Ramone singing, the barre chords, and the hammering drumbeats. Don’t sleep on these guys, they carry the torch and put on a great show.
On top of chronicling punk rock escapades for my adoring public, I have a day job. Friday morning tugged at my shirt all Thursday night. I had to get home and get some sleep. Thus, I had to miss Flatfoot 56. I’ve seen them before, and I love their take on Celtic punk rock. Comparisons to Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly fly around when these guys come up. They’re a Midwest treasure and I know I’ll see them again soon. Shout out to Sex Dream who opened. I’ll keep my eye out for them as well. Look for my day two recap coming soon!!
