Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Show Review- The Quakes

The Quakes played Reggies in Chicago in an awesome show on May 9th. The opening bands were Boneyard Brawlers, Pearls Mahone and the One-Eyed Jacks, Curtains and Three Blue Teardrops, all out of Chicago. I didn't get there in time to see Boneyard Brawlers but I'm sure they were good as always. Pearls Mahone touches my heart with her amazing voice... I have no love for the Curtains but they seem to be improving.
Three Blue Teardrops is one of the better known Rockabilly bands out of Chicago and they were phenomenal. The guitar playing was unreal and the crowd really got into it.
The Quakes of course were the many reason most of us were there and they didn't disapoint. They played with incredible energy and stage presence and seemed to really be enjoying themselves, rather than just trying to use up their time on stage. I was very impressed with the drummer who put a lot of energy and charisma into the show, along with undeniable talent.
They played some new songs and old favorites. I was hoping for Throw it All Away and Living on Planet 9 but was very happy they played my favorite, and probably their best known song, USA Psychos. Probably the song they played the best was Send Me An Angel, which was amazing live.
It was definitely a show I would have been very sorry to have missed.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Show Review- Mad Sin

This is a show review for Mad Sin in Chicago on the 4th of May. First, the other bands that played were the Nuke Mutes, the Gravetones and the Boneyard Brawlers. Having seen all these bands before the only one I wanted to subject myself to again was Boneyard Brawlers so I stayed outside in the bar area of the Bottom Lounge and talked with friends until the Boneyard Brawlers went on. As usual, they kicked ass! It still amazes me that the drummer is also the singer. That takes talent. I was somewhat sad to see that they have a different bass player from the last time though. He is a great bass player but does not compare to their original bassist.
Finally it was time for Mad Sin (German Psychobilly) to play. Well we had a huge disappointment when it turned out that their singer had been hospitalized and would not be at the show. We were concerned and saddened because this meant that they could only do a handful of songs without him, and besides Koefte (the singer) literally adds a huge presence to the show. They still rocked it out and performed great. Wow what amazing musicians. The bass player blew me away and his voice was also way above average. I was happy to see that the crowd still got into it and there was a fair amount of wrecking going on.
After the show we talked briefly with the drummer who assured us that Koefte's condition was not life threatening but he would have to remain in the hospital at least one more night.
It was a great show but I feel like I didn't get to see the "real" Mad Sin so I'll definitely be looking out for them to play in this area again.