Hideout Block Party Day One
9/8/6
Chicago Illinois
I’ll be blogging about Day Two and Three to some extent. I have pictures of many of the second day bands up on my flickr account. Please feel free to check them out as I’ve already spent about ten hours editing them (not to mention all the running back and forth I did between stages)
I didn’t arrive on time to the festival unfortunately so I missed out on the first couple of bands. I did catch Girls Against Boys which I found to be calculated math rock that seems more likely to appeal to men perhaps. They played the entirety of Venus Luxure No 1 Baby from 1993. I found it to be very angular as well as jugular. Missing were any soft melodies and instead we were left with a harshness I just couldn’t appreciate. Now, I know this is showing my ignorance here but there are only so many bands and…well, forgive me but I sort of always thought Girls vs. Boys was a feminist punk rock band and that is what I had prepared myself for. This couldn’t be further from the case. I mean, why not just be The Boys? Oh, I guess that has probably been taken. Or how about The Boys Hung up on Women and Relationships? Too long?
Ted Leo was fantastic as always and I really love both the music behind his catchy and edgy rock songs and the lyrics. He always plays with a passion that is exciting to behold and I enjoyed hearing his songs as always. You can hear his songs by visiting his myspace page
Chk Chk Chk was very fun. On their myspace page they describe themselves as sounding like “rambo on the tambo” and that would be a fair description. The lead singer, Nic Offer, jumped off of the stage and into the audience several times. There was good interplay between the band members with great percussion (dual drum kits throughout the sets) and nice mini horn section. The songs live were so catchy and dancy. All around was a great sense of unpredictability. The band was also happy to be there for and on Touch and Go.
Nic Offer looked like he was having the time of his life as he danced withthe audience. I kept thinking if he was only born earlier…he should have been in Sat Night Fever. As with Offer’s other band Out Hud, the music comes off better in a live setting and under an open sky too!
September 14th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
Giggles… that show was so fun!
Great photos as always. The view from the front row & not the pit seemed to work for your advantage. WhoooHooo!!
September 14th, 2006 at 11:32 pm
Ah but Girls Against Boys couldn’t call themselves The Boys because The Boys were a great UK punk/power-pop band from the late ‘70s. And I still can’t believe that you didn’t watch Big Black and Shellac, though if you didn’t like Negative Approach (who would’ve been another highlight for me) or Scratch Acid (or Steve Albini), they may not be your thing. Incidentally, I saw Uzeda open for Shellac here a few weeks ago. Great show by both bands! Oh and your pictures are terrific. I really enjoyed reading your write-up. I really would’ve liked to be there, but posts like this one make me feel like I was there (well sort of).
September 14th, 2006 at 11:39 pm
hey Matt…thanks for your vote of appreciation! That makes me feel good. Those pictures were taken from the audience, without a photo pass so I really had to do some major work amongst a crowd of 10,000 other fans.
September 14th, 2006 at 11:40 pm
Gina I’m so glad we got to hang out all weekend
!