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It's the Subhumans. I've been looking forward to this since the news first broke. I've had my ticket for well over a month, and it's been haunting me. The day arrived, and what a day it was. 6:45, Cabaret Metro, The Subhumans, The Enemies, and the Tossers.

I leave my house at 5:00 to pick up my friend who was going with me. After a lengthy drive, I knock on his door, and he appears. Apparently, he has the flu. He's not coming, and he hands me his ticket. I panic. I start driving home, and call people to come with me. Lady luck is on my side, and someone's willing. Why not, it's a free show. So I drive home (another 30 minutes down the drain) and pick him up. By this time, it's past 6:00, and lots has gone wrong. We hop in the car, blast up the Dead Boys, and haul ass to the train station. We get there, fumble around to find the stops, and hop on the L. Time goes by. We transfer down to the subway. It's now 7:00. Finally, our stop comes up. Running to the Metro, we get in the doors at 7:30.

We walk up the stairs, just as the Tossers are starting. The Enemies were missed, and I was peeved, but still thankful I was there. My opinion on The Tossers was already set. Hometown boys playing Irish music isn't my cup of tea. They played almost exactly the same set as last month opening for The Bosstones. Not exciting in the least. The guy was drunk enough to screw up a song not once, but twice, so he eventually stopped. They closed out with an ode to the city, which was nice. Thier time was up.

I move in to the floor area, and tensly wait. The 20 Years of Dischord box set was playing, and some nice kids were around, so the down time really didn't seem all that long. When no one's paying attention, Dick walks on stage, followed by the rest. No one notices at first, until Dick's unmistakable voice comes over the amps. The crowd roars. I'm ready, and so is everyone else.

The band was on the dot for every single second they were on the stage. Fuck being a "reunion," they would blow any current band away. They rip through classics like "Apathy," "Drugs of Youth," "Parasite," and "Joe Public" with ease. They graced us with a new song called "This Year's War" which was definatly a highlight. An hour of presicion later, they exit stage left. The house lights and sound don't come on. It was obvious an encore was on the way, and I was happier than a pig in shit.

After what seemed like a gratutitously long time (probably wasn't) our heros retake the stage. The crowd explodes. For the encore, they run through "Subvert," "Religious Wars," and "Mickey Mouse is Dead" amongst others. Twenty minutes later, they again exit, this time for good. I mosey my way to the merch booth, and buy up a T-shirt, an Enemies 7", and an authorized bootleg from July 2001 for the low low price of 5 dollars. Amazing is the word that comes to mind.

The train ride home is worth a mention too. A very proud Mexican American took out his wallet, showed us all pictures of his grandaughter, and told us about her exploits in the army. For the next 20 minutes, we're serenaded with his stories from 'Nam, about how he was "The best boxer in the world" back in East LA, why he liked to start fights, and repeated "you disrespect me, I (punches air) fuck you up." I lost counts of how many times he called me a hillbilly and shook my hand. My favorite quote from this man went "I only respect Mexicans. No one else. No Negros, with them big lips, or jews, with thier big noses. Or hillbillies like you." Just thinking I'll never see him again brings a tear to my eye.

All in all, this ranked as one of the most interesting days of my recent past. One hell of a show, and a nice story to tell as well. I'm content.



People who liked this also liked:
The Replacements - Pleased to Meet MeThe Copyrights - Button Smasher [7 inch]The Queers - Love Songs for the Retarded [reissue]Discharge - Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing [reissue]Screeching Weasel - Anthem For A New TomorrowThe Stooges - Fun HouseThe Phenoms - Home Brain Surgery KitMinor Threat - Complete DiscographyAdolescents - Adolescents7 Seconds - The Crew



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    Posted by skankin_in_the_pit on 2005-12-13 10:00:27

    That wasn't supposed to go there. I was looking through all the Subhumans reviews when I got that link and got confused. Jesus I'm dumb.

    Posted by skankin_in_the_pit on 2005-12-13 09:53:31
    My Score:

    http://www.punknews.org/article.php?sid=10538&mode=&order=&thold =

    I guess Anchors opinion of the Subhumans has changed in the last year. I remember making a mental note to have a petty grudge toward him after reading those comments. Sorta like how everyone hates Tate. Good review though.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 5, 2003 at 11:02 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    thats the sadest story i have ever heard.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 5, 2003 at 6:22 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    One time I was going into an electronics boutique to buy a used wrasslin game for the 64, and some kid with a leather jacket that featured soem drawing of the subhumans on the back started makign fun of me to his friends. Damn he was so punk rock just hanging out at the mall making fun of those less punk than him. Oh well.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 3, 2003 at 11:27 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    This score is for blasting up the Dead Boys.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 3, 2003 at 8:59 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    yeah it was

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 2, 2003 at 1:25 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    it wasn't the fat crew taping the show.

    Posted by TheOneTrueBill on 2003-05-01 15:18:08
    My Score:

    I don't know about the Live in a Dive part, but there were at least 4 video cameras taping it. Hopefully it'll be released one day.

    Posted by moldy on 2003-05-01 01:38:14
    My Score:

    goddamnit i wanted to go to this or the br show and missed both due to being whipped. oh well at least i got free booze and play out of it. anybody know when the live cd is coming out.

    Posted by lieutenant on 2003-04-30 22:19:21
    My Score:

    This review was a great. I'd die if the show came to my town, because the impact would know me out. And I'd love every second of it.

    Fun anecdote from your trip home, though this guy sounds like an ass. I'd waste him Tom Berenger style, as if he was Dafoe with that gritty grin on his face.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 at 8:45 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Was this the show being recorded for Fat's "Live In A Dive" record?

    Posted by FortyMinutesWest on 2003-04-30 19:22:25
    My Score:

    " i asked phil how he got a cut above his eye. his reponse: "rock and roll." "

    That's great, I'm stealing that line.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 at 7:10 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    saw subhumans in philly and then twice in nyc. absolutely unbelievable. body still hurts a week and a half later. shows at the knitting factory were great since it is so small. different set each night - amazed to hear them play "from the cradle to the grave." i thought i would never get the chance to hear it live. ran into phil (bass subhumans/guitar citizen fish) and jasper (bass citizen fish) at 4:30AM in new york and hung out for a while. i asked phil how he got a cut above his eye. his reponse: "rock and roll." jasper later told me he was drunk and fell face first onto the sidewalk. hope it doesn't take another 5 years before they come back to town.

    --franc yak

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 at 4:45 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    "The oil company is Halliburton"

    Thanks, I was drawing a complete blank and didn't feel like looking it up.

    Posted by FortyMinutesWest on 2003-04-30 15:57:51
    My Score:

    The oil company is Halliburton.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 at 2:23 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    the review was good but the beginning was stupid. we dont care about you panicking about not wanting to go by yourself.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 at 1:00 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    id just like to say that this review was fucken brilliant. it was a good read!

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 at 12:03 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    While the war (police action whatever) in Iraq may not be ONLY about oil this is a big issue. Bush, Cheney and much of their inner circle are oilmen. Cheney's company (or the at least the one where he is on the board - drawing a blank on the co.'s name) have already negotiated to be a major player in all oil development / exporting in the post-Saddam Iraq. There are a small group of business men in the US who stand to gain a significant amount of money / power as Iraq is re-built. To ignore the influence that such factors have had on recent US foreign policy decisions is uninformed.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 at 10:33 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    I would rather of seen The Bad Religion/Casualities show, but tickets for that were sold out.

    Anyway, I missed the Enemies as well. But that was more of a choice.

    The Tossers rock. I am not going to start up the old "who is the best irish rock band, flogging molly, or tossrs, or swingin utters, or Dropkick. It's just a very talented band, and I encourage everyoen to listen to them.

    The Subhumans, oh man. Now I remeber. I live 80s intelligent rock, about social issues, like Bad Religion. Then this dumb fuck starts talking about how all this war is for oil.

    Whether your ANTI-War, or you think war is nessicary, the war in Iraq was NOT for oil.

    Unoriginal sound, but hey, I guess if they do it well, people well like them.

    Good musicians, but i'd be nice to add some truth, for future reference.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 at 9:45 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Yeah, i was at this show! I sure do love the Tossers. In my opionion, They might have been alittle to drunk, but that only makes there set funner to watch. The Sunhumans also rocked hardcore.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 at 4:38 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Awesome show. I got inside right when AAA started playing and they were great as well. Subhumans were amazing.

    Posted by TheOneTrueBill on 2003-04-29 15:24:01
    My Score:

    "Bad Religion was in Chicago the same night as this show. Talk about a tough choice for an old punk rocker."

    Definatly. The way I made the choice was that I've seen Bad Religion twice already, and with the Subhumans it was most likely going to be a one time deal. There's always future tours with BR, that's a given. With the Subhumans, that certainty wasn't there.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 at 3:22 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    who are the subhumans? do they sound like good charlotte?

    -not serious jake

    Posted by cactussac on 2003-04-29 14:50:08
    My Score:

    this show was fucking amazing. best 10$ i've ever spent on a show. Bad Religion / Casualties were playing just down the street the same night for 20$. I turned down that show and went to this one.. and there were no regrets at all of it.

    Tossers are amazing live.. and i find going to their shows really fun for some reason. Something about irish folk music while a bunch of punks beat the fuck out of another is really soothing to me. Their sets speed up and slow down just enough to keep the pit going so kids have energy.

    Subhumans set was amazing though.. and yes you are correct, the downtime before their encore was incredibly long.

    Don't worry about the enemies, they played for 20 minutes and there were like 20 kids there, no pitting, no one really seemed to dig them that was there.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 at 12:02 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    I was there and thought the Tossers kicked ass. Subhumans tore shit up. great show all around.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 at 10:56 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    The Tossers cd's I won are incredible. I think I actually like them a little more than Flogging Molly. Half of their songs I remember my grandmother singing when I was a little kid....weird...

    -sickboi

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 at 10:20 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    About the Enemies, you didn't miss much. They were really boring when I saw them. Given the choice of paying attention to the music or watching the Evil Dead movie played on the monitors while they were playing, I chose the latter, and I have no regrets.

    Posted by Strewtho on 2003-04-29 08:20:55
    My Score:

    That's a good review, well done.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 at 7:31 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Scott-I know what you mean...I was torn between the two, but, the Bad Religion show was cancelled here, though, so got to see the Subhumans anyway...And they were great. -w/Molotov Cocktail, no Tossers.
    -Janelle

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 at 7:21 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    i saw the show in cleveland, and the tossers didnt show up, but still an excellent performance by subhumans

    Posted by maverick on 2003-04-29 01:29:13
    My Score:

    Bad Religion was in Chicago the same night as this show. Talk about a tough choice for an old punk rocker.

    -Scott

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