To say I was already enthralled with the Dollyrots before last night's show would be an understatement. Now, however, my heart is all aflutter to new levels. Others, it seems, feel the same way.
Walking down to the Beat Kitchen, Lisa and I were just saying how much we enjoyed live music (this to the background of some gawdawful jazz being piped out of a sidewalk cafe's sound system) and how great it is to be going to lots of concerts recently. The Beat Kitchen is the perfect proof to our supposition, being one of Chicago's best venues and nicely situated for a drunken stumble home.
Jonnie and Vincenzo met us there, and Vince mentioned to Jonnie that people seem to be drinking PBR at the sorts of bars she frequents; we took this as an opportunity to introduce him to the pleasures of a PBR tall can. During this, the opening band, The Brokedowns, played and we stayed up by the bar and missed them. We spotted Chris from Shot Baker, and as I was wearing a Shot Baker t-shirt, I texted Danny to remark (as he is an old friend of them).
We made our way close to the stage for the start of The Dollyrots and wound up standing next to Chris. Then Kelly, singer for the The Dollyrots, pointed at my shirt from stage and said, "Hey, we just played a show with Shot Baker! Those shirts and stickers seem to be following us everywhere." Swoon!
Lisa's cellphone photos didn't turn out great, but perhaps you'll be able to find better shots at flickr.
They opened their set with "My Best Friend's Hot" and "A Desperate S.O.S." I checked in with Vince and Jonnie, who had been unfamiliar with The Dollyrots, and they confirmed that this was some great, rockin' stuff. My friend Jack, of Bang! Bang!, was right at the stage, really bouncing to it and pumping his fist. He reported that The Dollyrots stayed at his house the night before. Jealous!
Other highlights included "17," "Watch Me Go (Kissed Me, Killed Me)," "Out of L.A.," "Fight Like Jackie Chan," and the amusing story Kelly told before playing "Brand New Key," about her friend's father, who used to hide his pot in his gravity boots.
The Methadones opened with "Say Goodbye to Your Generation," and didn't stop the assault for the rest of the set. Dan Vapid was clearly having fun, holding out the mic to the audience for the front row to sing the choruses. Jack and I were right up in there, bouncing and moshing along. For the last song, the band pulled up everyone onto the stage to sing along.
The evening was one of the best shows I've been to, and I commemorated by dropping a wad on some merch: Dollyrots shirt, pins, and sticker, and Methadones on vinyl.
erik 2:07 PM | permalink | yap