Rarely am I excited for an opening band. The Vicelords took to the stage and just blasted off. Their energy and momentum ricocheted throughout the club through funny banter (I'm paraphrasing here, but if you have a cat in heat take the eraser end of a pencil and insert it into the cat's vagina) and stage behavior (rubbing and complimenting a patron's hair). This was also the first time I'd ever seen a singer sing an entire song from the floor amongst the crowd. I would love to hear a complete record and recommend to you all to check out a Vicelords show.
Second to take the stage was the Arrivals. As unfamiliar to their music as I am with the rest of the opening acts, I could not connect to the Arrivals. The music they played was great. They went out to play a straight show, as unenthusiastic as I was.
When Trash Talk took the stage I was in the middle of texting a friend back home. The floor erupted with fire as it opened up to a larger-than-normal space for moshing. I nearly lost my phone as I was thrashed forward and pounded to the side of the stage, my PBR can left crippled. To my blind eye, the crowd acted so as if Trash Talk were the date's headliner. The band put on a riotous performance, Continuously the lead singer flipped in the air, barely moving a couple inches onto the front row. I could only imagine this being the rebirth of early `80s hardcore shows.
When the Bronx walked out on to the stage to mariachi music -- hopefully from their anticipated album as El Bronx -- Matt Caughthran wore the biggest smile. His excitement leveled my own. Joby J. Ford, Jorma Vik, Ken Horne and Brad Magers played brilliantly. They moved from song to song ranging from all three full-lengths. Between-song banter was kept to a minimum, Matt only stopped to comment on the conviction of Phil Spector and untimely death of Marilyn Chambers before dedicating White Guilt in her memory. As Matt played around, clearly stoked on playing a show in Chicago, not having to cancel due to a recent sickness, he moved from mic to mic to mic to mic. His original mic may have come unplugged after he first jumped into the crowd. He moved to a spare on the side of the stage for half the show, limited by the tightness of the cord. When the response of that mic failed, he moved to another. By the end of the night he had used all four mics on stage, two of them reserved for backup vocals but weren't used. But the crowd sang along to each song, leaving that unnecessary. I was disappointed at the lack of an encore, but I believe the band played through the awkward period where the crowd has to chant loud and long enough back to the stage.