Chicago, IL – 21 Oct 2023
T1 Fest day three:
Saturday did not come together perfectly like Friday. My wife and I kicked around Chicago and it was just one of those days where there is some kind of annoying obstruction everywhere you go. For instance, we tried to go to the new Guinness brewery in the west loop. All good getting there, parking was scarce, but we found a spot. We finally get into the place and the hostess says they have a four hour wait! The line for beer ran out the back door and onto the patio. We bailed. At this point we made a slight blunder by heading into the city proper. We figured we’d have plenty of restaurants to choose from. We did, but every street moved at a crawl. I tried to maneuver us back out, but ended up getting stuck behind a truck that blocked the entire street so they could unload fencing for the “Arts in the Dark” Halloween parade. After fifteen minutes, the truck cleared and we got out of that area, we decided to hit Kuma’s Corner for a burger, basically backtracking to where we were. It all worked out, we got our burger and a couple of beers. That took the edge off of things, but it also set us back for T1 day three.
When we arrived at Reggie’s, Capgun Heroes had just left the stage. After obtaining some beers, we cruised up to the balcony to grab a seat. When I heard about the “Special Set” featuring Danny Vapid, Kody Templeman, Phil Hill and Keith Witt, I pictured it being a supergroup, and that they would all be up there together. That’s not how it worked out. It basically broke down into three sets, The Lillingtons, Riverdales, and Teen Idols. The Lillingtons came on first. They blazed through six songs, the audience got torched! They dropped “I Need Some Brain Damage” and “All I Hear is Static,” which got a circle pit started. “Lillington High” gave the crowd a chance to sing along, and they closed with “Black Hole in My Mind.”
Riverdales were up next. I don’t want to get too into the “complications” associated with this band, but it was originally a project with Danny Vapid and Ben Weasel. I don’t think that fence has been mended and obviously BW was not present. According to Setlist FM, prior to this set, Riverdales last played on 10/19/2010. Thirteen years almost to the day!! They gave some old standards like “I Don’t Want to Go to the Party” which Vapid said it took about five minutes to write. “Back to You,” a Ramones-esque crooner that got the crowd senior prom slow-dancing. “Riverdale Stomp” hammer and nailed the exclamation point on a special set at T1.
When Teen Idols took the stage, we returned to the balcony and carved out a small section of the couch. The couple sitting next to us appeared to be legit Chicago scenesters. They reminded me of the song “Suddenly Cool” because they had the leather jackets, black-framed glasses, and killer tattoos. On top of this, they had a strong attachment to Teen Idols. They sang and danced for the entire set. Full disclosure, I did some research into Teen Idols as somehow I missed the memo on them back in the day. Original members Keith Witt and Phil Hill set the wayback machine for 1995. Witt bounced around the stage like a 20-year old and his infectious enthusiasm roiled the crowd, especially the couple in the balcony.
It’s no surprise to me that the people who play and write punk music also have amazing careers outside of punk. You’ve got Greg Graffin who is a multi-phd evolutionary biologist. Milo Aukerman who spent time as a molecular biologist. Dexter Holland, Brendan Kelly, the list goes on and on. Well Chicago’s The Bollweevils have Daryl Wilson, who, when he’s not pogoing on stage, or spinning his dreads like a helicopter, trods the halls of a suburban hospital as a doctor of emergency medicine. You’d think that a doctor would have some concern for his physical well-being having seen many harrowing cases of a mosh pit gone wrong, not Daryl. He uses his time on stage to blow off some steam, and when he’s not flailing around on stage, you’ll find him singing in the middle of the pit! Bollweevils dropped a new album in May. They played a few songs off of it, including “Our Glass” and “Bottomless Pit.” The physician Daryl did have some advice for people that want to help those with Type One Diabetes, “Get vaccinated.”
I’ve been trying to catch The Methadones ever since they started doing these reunion shows. They played T1 last year and I couldn’t make it. When I saw them on the bill for this year, I had to be there. The last time I saw them, they played their final show at Reggies and Soviettes opened. My wife and I made our way up to the “Hawk’s Nest” which is a viewing area accessible only by VIPs (thanks TGEFM) just above the stage. Methadones came on and broke right into “Murmurs in the Dark.” They sounded super tight for a band that hasn’t played a ton in the last ten years. They broke out all the classics in a fifty or so minute set: “Falling Forward,” “Say Goodbye to your Generation,” and one of my faves “Already Gone.” Sensitive Pete handled bass, he was working overtime as he plays bass for the Bollweevils, and like five other Chicago bands. The Methadones sound ready to rip up FEST, which was their next gig this past weekend. Wish I could make it. They closed with a cover of Naked Raygun’s “Surf Combat,” which they also contributed to the Godspeed: A Tribute to Pierre Kezdy album, who tragically passed away in 2020.
We hung out in the Hawk’s nest for Teenage Bottlerocket. These guys have been touring for like ten years. They have their set locked down, and they have a blast up there hammering out the tunes and entertaining the crowd with their goofy antics. They opened with “Semi Truck,” “Don’t Wanna Go,” Bigger than Kiss,” and “Freak Out.” I say opened, because they played the songs at about twice the original tempo and took little time between. Ray wowed the audience with his drum riser jumps, Ray and Kody did a little ZZ Top synchronized guitar twist, and Miggy did his usual bass balance moves. Chewka slammed the skins and at one point engaged in a stick toss sequence with Ray and even caught a toss from the other side of the Hawk’s nest. Skin, guitar picks, sticks, spit, and who knows what else flew around as TB ran threw over 20 songs spanning their entire catalog. “Blood Bath at Burger King,” “They Call Me Steve,” “Radio,” “Rebound,” and “Fatso Goes Nutzoid” had the circle pit churning for the set’s duration. Oddly, they held “Skate or Die” until the end, every time we’ve seen them they play SOD early so the crowd gets amped quick. After over an hour, they closed out with “So Far Away.” They thanked the crowd and T1, and that was it. Three days went by in a blur.
Hopefully next year T1 will add a Sunday bill, or even a Sunday matinee, because you just don’t want it to end. We had a blast and it was an anniversary weekend we’ll never forget. So many stand out sets, I can’t even list them. Certainly Methadones stuck out for me, Teenage Bottlerocket, The Queers. Until next year, keep the beer cold and the volume cranked.
