This was one of the best shows I've seen.
The Slow Death were a surprise opener, and I was really excited. I love Pretty Boy Thorson & the Fallen Angels (their members' former act), and I saw the Slow Death a few weeks ago at Windy City Soundclash where they tore it up. They were just as tight, and played a really similar set. They started off with a "cover" of a Pretty Boy Thorson song, and went through a bunch of great songs. I remember hearing "Dirty Jokes" and they closed with "Phantom Limbs." I forgot the names of everything else they played. I love this band and they put on a great set. Kind of a bummer the rest of the crowd wasn't into them, although there were a few guys going nuts.
Up next was Dear Landlord, who introduced themselves as Banner Pilot. They opened with my favorite song, "Park Bench," and put on an all-around crazy set. I had five beers thrown on me while they played everything off of Dream Homes (I think, anyway--they played a pretty long set and nothing seemed to be missing). The crowd was really going crazy for them--lots of singing and stage dives. I wish they would have played "Heartbroken Handshakes," but overall it was a phenomenal set set from one of my favorite pop-punk bands.
The Arrivals took the stage after Dear Landlord, and even though I'm from here, I've never been able to make it to see the Arrivals since I started listening to them when Goodbye New World came out 10 years ago. I made my way up front, Old Style in hand and watched an amazing set by another one of my favorite bands. Most of their set came from Marvels of Industry plus a few new songs, as well as "-1:Hell Can Wait," and ended their set with "Tonight" off of Goodbye New World. They didn't play my request of "Zombie Raid," but they did find it funny that someone requested it, leading to some strange banter about the libido of the young people in the crowd. From where I was standing, the crowd was going nuts, and there was a surprising number of younger people up front singing along with the older dudes. I've gotta say, it was a fantastic set.
Last was Off with Their Heads, who absolutely killed it. As soon as they opened with "S.O.S." the crowd exploded. After that, they played "Drive," and even though In Desolation just came out, I'm pretty sure most of the people had all of the words memorized. Their set was filled with crazy, drunk sing-alongs as they played a lot of songs off of In Desolation. In the end, I think they played somewhere around seven or eight songs off of that album. They played an amazing set and the crowd was absolutely insane. I left the SubT covered in seven beers and with no voice, and as I walked out I saw a shirtless Ryan Young sitting on the curb saying "I'm too old for this shit." This was one of the best shows I've ever seen.