Kirstiecat | Blog

7/27/6
Beat Kitchen in Chicago

(pictures taken by Kirstiecat. Review written up by Cinchel, who also helped shield my camera and I from the onslaught of moshing bodies.)

I was excited all week for this show. The chance to see legendary punk band The Germs (albeit 3/4th of it, Shane West fills in for the late Darby Crash) made me giddy. They played 2 shows here in Chicago, one at the Double Door the night before and tonight’s show. I opted for this show because previous reports in other cities hinted that the show would have been better at a small club. I also thought that being all-ages the younger crowd would bring more energy to the floor area, which they did. Running around and moshing with reckless abandon, the intensity of the playing was absorbed easily. I think this backfired, though, and gave the Germs a sense they were doing better then they were. As the Dead Milkmen sang: “You’ll dance to anything.”

My only exposure to the Germs is the Complete Anthology collection which, minus a few live bootlegs, is really all the recorded output of the band. Those early recordings have a snap and bite to them that the band has lost somewhere. Maybe its because of road weariness or age but the playing unfortunately came off as sloppy. At times, Pat Smear seemed to be a beat off from the drums while the bass became one murky pulse. I know they are not really known as a great live band, with an early history of throwing up and being generally incoherent on stage. That would bave been interesting and to that regard it was like they were holding back from really being that out of control.

The only thing that really translated well off the stage was the fun they were having doing it. (You can’t fault a band too much I guess if they are truly enjoying themselves, smiling at each other and the audience.) What I also thought was nice was that Pat and Don Bolles were easliy approachable. Many of the kids were talking with Pat before the show. Bolles stood in the audience during the first band’s set and helped entertain the crowd turning the microphone cord into a jump rope at times. Still, it was interesting to see for the perspective as this band has helped shape music over time, specifically the punk and hardcore movement.

Setlist:

Secret
Commie Eyes
Land of Treason
Strange Notes
Richie Dagger
Mammal
Our Way
Bleed
Media Blitz
Dragon Lady
Slave
Caught in my Eye
Lion’s Share
Tunnel
Out of Time

Click for more pictures:

above: Don Bolles hams it up between sets with the audience up front.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 28th, 2006 at 12:26 am and is filed under music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.