The concert was held in Mokena, Illinois at the ROL Recreation Center (i.e. a gymnasium) on Thursday, July 22. Considering the concert was held in a small gym on a small stage, the sound was very good. This part of the Last Laugh Tour featured Neophyte Standing, First Class, Mercury Radio Theater, Side Walk Slam and Calibretto.

Neophyte Standing opened the night after 20 minutes of testing their equipment and fixing sound problems. They are a Chicago five-piece punk ROCK band with unparalleled energy. Everyone in the band pounded their instruments ferociously and jumped around the stage continually. I was really impressed with their performance. You can hear some of their music and get some more information at www.neophytestanding.com.

The next band that played was First Class. They are a four-piece semi-pop punk band. They tried to get the audience involved by telling them to jump at certain times during their five (or six) song set. Sadly, the crowd wasn’t very energetic. Also, the guitarist would leap all the way across the stage at points throughout their set. You can hear some of their music, buy some of their merchandise and learn more about them at www.firstclassrocks.com.

Mercury Radio Theater followed. These guys are awesome. They are an unusual three-piece punk rock band from Philadelphia whose performance revolves around a story. They started out by turning off all the lights and playing an audio track that began the night’s story. Pictures were projected on the wall behind the band that corresponded with the story’s major events. Once the audio track ended, Mercury Radio Theater played short, fast, dark instrumental punk rock music. After the song was over, another audio track played while new pictures were projected on the stage. And yes, you guessed it, more instrumental punk rock music followed after the audio track. If you ever get a chance, see these guys live. Otherwise, go to their website (www.mercuryradioland.com) and buy some of their merchandise. You can also hear some music and read about the band (and get a much better explanation of how their performances work.)

Side Walk Slam played next. They are a powerful pop-punk band with three members. Their performance was one of the cleaner, more practiced ones of the night. During instrumental parts of the song, the bassist and guitarist would turn their backs to the crowd and play right in front of the amps. They played some of their older songs and also did a decent cover the Ramones “Judy Is A Punk.” Their website is www.sidewalkslam.net.

The last performance of the night was Calibretto. If you don’t know who they are, Calibretto is a three-piece punk-folk-uniquely different band. Their lyrics are obnoxiously true and Joe Whiteford’s vocals are so freakin’ cool. They played a long set that contained about 12 songs and took about an hour to play. Calibretto’s set was interrupted a couple of times by different musicians. The lead singer of Mercury Radio Theater, Buddy Mercury, disrupted the song “Sweet Little Grandma” when he got on stage and started asking Joe questions while their faces were creepishly close together. Another musician brought his drums on stage and started playing and singing with Joe’s guitar. Besides the slight interruptions, Calibretto’s set ran flawlessly in both music and offbeat commentary by Joe and Chris (the drummer if you don’t know.) If you would like more information about the band and their new project, Harley Poe, visit www.calibretto.com and www.standardrecording.com.

Calibretto’s almost exact set list: (but it is not in the correct order)
“My Mic Is On” “Why Can’t I Be On MTV?” “Get A Life” “Ballroom Blitz” “Hollywood Is Burning Down” “Cruisin’ The Strip” “Corrupting My Better Half” “When I Think About You” “Don’t Go Into The Woods” “Sheep Of The USA” “High 5” “Sweet Little Grandma”

The unbelievable performances from Calibretto, Mercury Radio Theater, Side Walk Slam, First Class and Neophyte Standing (no, the list is not in a ranked order) was worth the two hour drive to Mokena. And so I rate this concert a 10! And please check out and support these bands because you won’t be disappointed!