Sooooooo... Last Saturday, I went to the Beat Kitchen in Chicago to see Cobra Skulls, Broadway Calls, Dear Landlord and 2 bands that I missed: The Reganomics and American War. I had a cancer fundraiser to go to prior, and the last time I saw the Reganomics, I was not really that into them, so it all worked out.
To start off, the Beat Kitchen is this little bar/restaurant that has shows in the back. Typically, really badass shows. The bar area is small, with some booths, good prices on drinks and good food. They are really good about keeping underage kids from the show out of the bar area too. The band area is just a large room in the back with a stage at the back end and a little bar/merch area on the side that goes into the main bar.
The show was awesome. I got there just as Reganomics was finishing up. The room was pretty full, but I had no problem getting up into the crowd and ended up getting to talk to Toby Jeg from Red Scare Industries, who just happen to be the Cobra Skulls label and was hosting the show. Toby is a super cool guy and seems to be kind of surprised that the label and what not have taken off like they have. Even gave me a high five for saying I liked what they were doing. You should check out Toby and Brendan Kelly's show on JBTV called Static Age
Dear Landlord went up and completely torn it up. They went from song to song with pretty much no stops and really impressed the whole crowd. They are somewhat of a supergroup with guys from Rivethead and The Copyrights and they music akin to Polar Bear Club, Hot Water Music...kind of a poppy-er sound at times. You can definitely hear the influences from each band. If you ever get a chance to watch this band, take it.
Broadway Calls were next. They actually acknowledged that following Dear Landlord was a tough band to top. Alot of the crowd went out of the band area before they started playing and did not really come back before they started. However, once they got a few songs in, their strong songs and super catchy choruses drew a HUGE crowd back in. I think a lot of people were unfamiliar with their songs, but that whole room was moving with them by the last half of their set. That was quite a feat considering the room was probably over 85 degrees at this time, pushing close to 90. I love Broadway Calls, i have seen them a few times by now, they have never disappointed.
By the time Cobra Skulls went on stage the place was PACKED. Brendan Kelly, Chris McCaughan and Neil Hennessy from the Lawrence Arms were all there, and they are all super nice dudes.
For those of you that have never heard Cobra Skulls, my brainchild explanation at 1:30 am on the way home was that they are almost like Against Me! and Tiger Army had a baby. High energy, galloping beats, bouncy bass lines, jangly guitars and somewhat gruff vocals. It was a blast, even some '80s covers made their way into the set.
I need to start remembering to bring my camera.
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