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Street Dogs - State of Grace
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I was really looking forward to this show. I’ve been a fan of Yellowcard since PunkRocks.net turned me on to them last year, Allister is a long-standing hometown favorite, and HomeGrown is one of my favorite pop-punk bands.

Thanks to the wonderful Saturday night traffic on the north side of Chicago, we missed local pop-punkers Logans Loss who opened up the show. But, we made it just in time to see Yellowcard take the stage. They opened up with their rendition of the Star Wars theme music and then busted straight into some tracks off of their most recent album, One For the Kids (which I highly recommend for any pop-punk fans out there). These guys know how to entertain. You would have thought that their pants were on fire the way they were all jumping around on the stage. The crowd was even treated to a couple of back flips care of the violinist Sean. They sounded awesome, and the energy level was off the scale. What more could you ask for in a live performance? Periodically during the set, Yellowcard was joined by members of Allister and HomeGrown to help sing along. The new stuff they played sounded pretty good as well. No wonder why Capitol Records picked these guys up.

Next up was local heroes Allister. They immediately started to rock the place, charging right into a speedy version of Jimmy’s Dreamgirl. They then continued on to play both new and older material. Unfortunately, I was distracted from the show when a fight broke out in front of me. This one asshole was standing on the edge of the pit, pushing and punching people in the pit as they would go by (don’t you hate pricks like this?). I guess he pushed the wrong person. Both parties were kicked out of the show, but I hope that Mr. Pushy continued to get his ass beat outside. Anyways, I’ve seen Allister play 2 or 3 times in the past, but I never remember seeing them play with this much energy. All in all it was a pretty good set. They closed with a new song… didn’t get the title, but the chorus went something like “We like the radio playing all night long, because the radio is playing all our favorite songs”. Allister was pretty stoked, because they were receiving a ton of requests to play this song, yet they have never recorded it. It was a very good song, and it was so catchy that I am SURE that the song will get airplay when it is finally recorded, at least here in Chicago. If this is any indication of what their new album is going to sound like, then I am definitely going to pick it up. Again, members of the other bands came out and joined Allister during this song, which generated an awesome feeling that the crowd ate up.

Finally, HomeGrown took the stage. I must say that I was really disappointed. Granted I haven’t seen them live in around 4 years, but in my opinion they sounded like shit. Maybe it was because their guitarist was hammered…I don’t know. But, it just didn’t sound like the HomeGrown I remembered. The sound was way too distorted, and they were playing very sloppy. Even the songs off of Act Your Age (which is one of my favorite pop-punk albums) sounded bad. Since they now only have one guitarist, he was trying to play both the lead guitar parts and the rhythm guitar parts of the older songs, which simply did not work. In my opinion, they need to find a new guitarist… fast. They also sort of reminded me of the old Blink. In other words, they spent half of their set time telling shitty jokes, a quarter of their set time fucking off, and the other quarter actually playing something. They did play some stuff off of the upcoming album. I wasn’t too impressed. I’ll probably download it (they were actually telling us that it was on the net now and that we should download it) before buying it… just to be safe. I actually felt like leaving half way through the set I was so disappointed…. but I stuck it out hoping it would get better. I also noticed that the crowd had drastically shrunk since Allister’s set. I should have just left with the rest of them.

All in all, it was a fairly decent show. The great performances put on by Yellowcard and Allister greatly outweighed the disappointment of HomeGrown. However, the one thing that I really liked about this show was the camaraderie between bands. During each bands set, members from the other bands would come out and sing along. I feel that this really helped the crowd get into the show.






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    Posted by Drummadict on 2002-11-21 12:17:43
    My Score:

    Ur not serious about that, are u? I have a different view on both of those bands now! Dude, that is sick.
    Rob

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, June 1, 2002 at 2:24 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    I saw Homegrown with MXPX years ago. I went backstage and was alarmed to see the bands licking each others balls. It was insane. They're all a bunch of ball lickers.

    Posted by ltjskank324 on 2002-05-28 19:16:31
    My Score:

    i wish i could have gone to this show! but is hg really pop punk? i enjoyed the review.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 3:28 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    i was also at this show. my thoughts are here.

    geekburger.com

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 3:06 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    i saw homegrown open for millencolin in toronto. I must say they displayed a severe lack of rock during their set. Plus, they kept trying to talk french...were they trying to be asses or just plain stupid? Judging by the electrical-tape mustaches....stupid.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 3:02 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    i saw homegrown play a few months ago with yellowcard, finch, and sugarcult at HOB in anaheim, and i thought homegrown rocked it. I hadn't seen them in a few years, but i thought they sounded really good. They must have just had a shitty night or something....yellowcard always puts on a good show. Those guys are gonna blow up in the next year...

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 12:43 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    "Whose Vic Bondi?"

    the guy from Article of Faith?

    Posted by Geetarchick on 2002-05-24 17:52:43
    My Score:

    I went to this show.. for those who missed Logan's Loss, they did an excellent job as usual. I've seen them... like.. i dunno at least 8 times maybe and they don't disappoint me ever. They have tons of energy and they dance around with their guitars on stage, its really fun to watch them. Also, all of their cds are good. The first one, is actually more on the OK side, but Filling the Frame, their second one, is better; and the Riotlike EP shows a lot of their progression of sound as a band. I dont know if they sell the Rites of spring (their first album) anymore but I'm pretty sure they still sell Filling the Frame... I recommend all of their stuff if any of you can get your hands on them.
    As for the show, I was also extremely disappointed in Home Grown. At the Millencolin show last month, they were better... but not as good as I expected. And hey, I feel kind of gypped only because I saw YC the very first time they came to Chicago and they played the Star Wars thing then too... I wish they did something different aside from the backflips. And the crowd was much smaller at their first one and I personally think that show was much better. They still did a good job and I'm very happy for them that they are getting more exposure. As for Allister, I've seen them a gazillion of times, and that Radio song that you referred to up there.. oh man, they play that at all the recent (like in the past half a year) shows, and I like that song, and I know the words to most of it because I've seen them so many times. The one thing about Allister, is that they usually play the same songs in different order at all the shows. But I still love the energy they fill the Metro with.
    Ok, thats enough writing for me. I enjoyed most of the show, but I'll admit that during Home Grown, after like 200 people left, I went down to the floor (yes, I was in the balcony... I know, i know... I wish I was down in the crowd), and I was all the way stage right on the bar and I was yawning.. now, maybe that was because i used a lot of energy for YC, Allister and Logans loss, but I dunno... Home Grown is one of those bands that sound better on CD than live. And it sucks for me cause the only album I have from them is That's Business =P And they played like.. one song from there.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 5:08 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    if you insist... who's vic bondi?

    mwahahaha

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 4:20 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    That fuckin bass player in Allister got punched in the face by the manager for Laymen Terms at their Denver show. That's whatcha get for being a cry baby asshole. Allister is a disgrace to the punk lineage in Chicago. I hope Vic Bondi comes to one of their shows and kicks all their asses. Ok, you little shits - All together now - "Who's Vic Bondi"

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 2:47 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    hahaha, a pit at an allister show? hahahahahaha

    Posted by maverick on 2002-05-24 14:40:52
    My Score:

    To the guy 2 comments down, about why your Millencolin review didn't get posted:
    You didn't review the whole concert. You left before Millencolin even played - you didn't really review the whole concert. Sorry man, that's just kind of how it is.

    -Scott

    Posted by emocorepunkguy on 2002-05-24 14:07:27
    My Score:

    I've never seen Allister nor Yellowcard play live. Although I have heard their music and I enjoy it. I think HomeGrown was a better band back when they had the album Thats Business, when there was four of them. As of right now, they do suck. I saw them back in March with Millencolin and Bombshell Rocks. Both those bands were great live. HomeGrown could have been better. They told stupid jokes and shit like that when they played here also. I was disappointed when they didn't play Alternative girl. But yeah, they suck now.. and I agree, they need another guitarist. I'll see this summer if Allister and Yellowcard are all they're cracked up to be. Later. Oh.. and great review. Sounded very honest and non biast.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 1:58 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    woah... i wrote a review almost exctly like this, where homegrown played a shitty set and the crowd sucked about 2 months ago, when they played the metro with Bombshell Rocks and Millencolin... how come mine didnt get posted but this one did?

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 12:19 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Logan's Loss rocked the shit out of the Metro that night. Everyone should pick up their brand new EP "Riotlike"! They are hands down one of the up and coming bands in the Chicago scene, only time will tell how far this band can go. Pick up "Riotlike" you won't regret it!

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 10:29 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Allister Rocks hard. One of my favorite bands. Homegrown is "eh" and Yellowcard is also a bit "eh". I would have paid the money just to see Allister again. Saw them at Skate and Surf Fest and they fucking Ruled! Cant wait for their new album.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 7:10 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    yea, these bands fucking suck!!!!

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 24, 2002 at 6:34 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Someone actually suckered me into going to this show at fletchers in baltimore
    i had heard of all these guys ,but never their music,all i can say is that if this is what people call the future of punk ( and maybe they dont)this was horrible,boring,shite. -oldpunker-

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