REVIVAL TOUR 2012 REVISITED

Felipe M

In anticipation for The Revival Tour date in Chicago tomorrow, we take a fond look back at last year's date in Chicago.  

For those that don't know what The Revival Tour is, it's basically the Warped Tour of folk-punk/acoustic music.  There is no time slots for bands.  There are no headliners.  Best of all, there are no stops; once one act is finish, another one immediately follows, and there's plenty of collaborations and group songs on stage.  

The last time I went to this event was back on October, 25, 2009 at Reggie's Rock Club.  I thought I was there to see a Chuck Ragan show, but instead, was surprised to see the format that was being used.  I felt like I was part of a campfire event or a spontaneous hoedown that broke out in the middle of the city.  It was such a fun time and Chuck Ragan finally appearing solo for about 5-6 songs was the best part of the night.  He was so strong and energetic.  He definitely was the show-stopper.  But he then gave way to Jim Ward (former At the Drive-In guitarist) and he wasn't as loud or as forceful as Ragan, but his soft crooning was pretty captivating in itself as it really felt we were back in his hometown of El Paso, TX sitting beneath a dark open sky with a huge bonfire providing the only light in the darkness.  

That night, Ragan had announced that after the show, the rest of the group would make their way to the adjacent Reggie's Music Joint, which is the bar and grill wing of the concert venue and continue to play there for the rest of the night, taking requests, and having audience members sing along on the tiny stage at the bar.  Jim Ward was still playing well after 11PM and if I were to believe Ragan, they must have been jamming at the bar well past after midnight.  According to the schedule, they were due in Minnesota the next day as well so kudos to them for finding extra time to play in Chicago after their show.  Unfortunately for me, it was a Sunday and I had to go to work the next day, but that must have been pretty awesome. 

The participants in the 2009, Chicago stop of the tour were as follow:

• Ragan
• Ward
• Austin Lucas
• Bob Lucas
• Audra Mae
• Haywood Yards

So fast-forward to 2012 and I now know the difference between a Chuck Ragan show and The Revival Tour show and now I know what to expect.  Well, what happened next was beyond my wildest expectations:

April 9, 2012: THE REVIVAL TOUR, The Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL

Devon, Ricardo, and I were there really early.  Too early.  We arrived little before 6:30PM, supposedly the start time of the show.  Knowing what I know about this show, I made a concerted effort to arrive early for this gig.  We must have waited for 45 minutes, standing and staring at the stage and looking at nothing but acoustic guitars, microphones and their stands, and no people.  The crowd would scream out in anticipation and then the yells would die down as we collectively waited for the show to start.

Finally, after the long wait, all the musicians that were to perform that night came out and did a couple of songs together.  The musicians at this show were:

• Chuck Ragan (with Jon Gaunt and Joe Ginsberg)
• Dan Andriano
• Cory Branan
• Austin Lucas (special guest)
• Nathaniel Rateliff
• Surprise guest, Tim McIlrath

There was another "surprised guest" at this show, but I don't remember his name.  He was a lanky guy who played his guitar sitting on a stool. He was the only guy  who did that throughout the show.  He played fast-paced songs with a light, soft, high-pitched voice.  Andriano seemed to have been a huge fan of his.  If I remember correctly, he would reappear later that night in support of Andriano, singing the Alkaline Trio song, "Blue Carolina" from the album Good Mourning.  I guess I'll never find out who that dude was.

Austin Lucas was fun to watch.  He was running all over the place.  When Ragan went on stage to sing "Let It Rain," Lucas bolted from backstage and grabbed a mic, barely making it on time to sing the chorus of that song.  But his solo performance was good as well, with his honest songs of introspection.  He seemed to have the most fun interacting with people that night.  

Conversely, Rateliff was putting us to sleep with his stage presence (or lack thereof), and his slow and quiet, songs to match his inconspicuous delivery.  I was falling asleep on his set.  Every song was predictable, starting off very tranquil and every song finished with a short, abrupt, yelling of lyrics.  Tried giving this guy another chance by listening to his songs online, but got the same result.  He's just a bit boring for my taste.  

From my viewpoint, McIlrath looked awkward on stage.  He performed 3-4 songs, mostly new songs from his band Rise Against.  The awkwardness came in the fact that he looked like he felt like an intruder instead of being a guest on stage.  Even when all the musicians gathered on stage to perform collectively to finish the night, McIlrath seemed like he didn't want to be there.  He had to be coaxed on stage in order for him to be a part of the final couple of numbers. Not because he was being arrogant, rather because he felt like he was receiving undeserved spotlight.  McIlrath is a cool, classy guy, but too humble to a fault. His body language seemed to have dictate that all of the other acts had been touring and performing hard for months and he might have felt that they deserved all the attention and applause.  Tim is a big name in the punk scene, especially here in Chicago, so I guess he did not want to take anything away from the other performers, but the other performers, through an unspoken bond, made sure to let Tim know he was just as important to the Tour, even if he was just there for one stop.  They made sure to include him in every group song to finish off the show.  

And that's what this Tour is all about: friendship, camaraderie, unity, peace, and harmony through music.  Lucas, like McIlrath, was there as a guest and he wholeheartedly thanked Ragan throughout the night for letting him be a part of the Tour before and echoed the sentiments of the spirit of The Revival Tour.  It was a common theme throughout the night.  Nobody best exemplified this theme better than Andriano.

Dan Andriano, I believe, was making his final stop of the tour.  He admitted on stage how bittersweet it was to be home again and finally getting to see his family, but got really emotional when he explained that he was leaving the tour as well.  He couldn't praise the tour and Ragan enough.  He also might have been a bit drunk on his solo set as well.  But his set was genuinely heartfelt as he sang every song with much emotion, knowing this was the last time he would be sharing the stage with everybody involved.  

I've mentioned before how in 2009, Ragan was the show-stopper of the Chicago tour date.  Well, that title was rightfully earned by Cory Branan.  Ragan, appropriately enough, introduced him by saying, "If you don't know who this next act is, you will definitely know him by the end of the night."  His was the most energetic, extravagant, aggressive, and animated solo performance of all that night. He was cracking jokes with the audience and he performed with much gusto.  He was a lot of fun to watch as a lot of his songs had the most upfront and overt lyrics.  To my surprise, the album versions of his songs don't carry that same energy.  But if he ever comes to town, I'd highly recommend for anyone to check him out live. 

In the past, Chuck Ragan has talked about how he would like to see the Tour continue its future excursions even without him.  Although that would be the ultimate in success if a Tour can continue on without its star founder, The Revival Tour without Ragan would just not be the same.  He is The Revival Tour!  Regardless, we look forward to another installment tomorrow night at the Chicago House of Blues. 

More music is available here. 

Check out Chuck Ragan's website.

Check out The Revival Tour website.  

2010 SHOW OF THE YEAR

Felipe M.

In what seemed to be taking forever, we finally close out the 2010 Pathological Hate Concert Calendar by counting down towards the much anticipated "SHOW OF THE YEAR." My original goal was to attend at least one show per month. Needless to say, that goal was not directly met, however, I was able to attend THIRTEEN concerts last year averaging to about ONE show per MONTH. I do not know if I would be able to do it again in 2011, especially with so many shows to attend, but little money or time to attend them all, 2011 is off to a rocky start, but let's go back one more time to last year as I rank my least favorite shows and quickly work my way to my favorite show of last year.

13. January 9--Battery (Metallica tribute band) and Skulls (Misfits tribute band) @ Reggie's Rock Club: Devon, Ricardo, and my old college buddy, Mike saw two mediocre local bands and a Misfits cover band with a chick for a bassist. The Misfits cover band played old favorites, but were either super-nervous or inexperienced as there were more instrument malfunctions than at a second-hand music store. What they lacked in musicianship they made up in soul as it was clear that the band enjoyed playing these punk rock staples. On the other hand, Battery played Metallica songs, old and new, note for note, chord for chord, and word for word. Unfortunately, they did all this a little too well as the songs became too boring to listen to and the band, at times, looked liked robots on stage.


12. March 26--Unearth @ House of Blues: I came back from San Diego on this same day to catch this band perform live for the first time ever. I was exhausted from the flight and the long train ride to downtown Chicago so maybe this show was not the best thing for me, theretofore. I was pleasantly surprised that the majority of their setlist contained songs from my favorite album The Oncoming Storm. However, the crowd was terrible and seeing the band "beg" the audience to raise the energy level was just plain sad.


11. July 3--Against Me! @ JBTV Studios: A band that I almost lost all interest in coming into the year performed a short, but solid set in front of a live, but small studio audience for the taping of an episode of JBTV. Unfortunately, the crowd was as stiff as statues as even old favorites such as "Pints of Guiness Makes You Stronger" did nothing to get the crowd going. The new songs from the album White Crosses were surprisingly good enough for me to buy the album that same week. It was later reported that the band was no longer signed to their major label, a great sign for all Against Me! fans everywhere.


10. July 10--Silverstein, Emery, and We Came as Romans @ The Metro: We Came as Romans sounded like every band that has broke out on the national scene in the last 3 years and their set did nothing to leave an impression on me except to refer to them as The Devil Wears Prada-lite. Emery, without question, was the best band of the night. Even though most of their setlist consisted of songs from their latest album, ...In Shallow Seas We Sail, their set was more varied and extremely intense and full of energy and the crowd was solid considering that Emery is a band that is attempting to garner a diverse following. Silverstein, the headlining band, did not impress much and their sets are starting to become very predictable. The new songs, for the most part were dull live and Shane Told's voice sounded horrible, especially the clean vocals, but in his defense, all the bands' clean vocals sounded awful and the blame has to go to The Metro on that one.


9. March 21--Bad Religion @ House of Blues San Diego: The second night and final night of my Bad Religion trek to San Diego ended relatively subpar as I was still hurting from the previous show (stay tuned). I came in late, probably missed a few songs and decided to take a backseat and not get too involved with the crowd, but overall a solid night nonetheless.


8. September 4--A Wilhelm Scream and Counterpunch @ Reggie's Rock Club: Local band Counterpunch gave a monumental performance as they performed a mixture of their old, pop-punk songs with what seemed to be their newer, more technical and politically charged songs. A Wilhelm Scream completed another consistent show, but seeing this band twice before, I have seen them do better. A lot of old favorites were cut out to make room for the very successful self-titled EP that came out last year, but to me, the wrong songs from the EP were performed. Nevertheless, the band's discography is comparable to a basketball team with a deep bench as any track they play live will sound amazing. Also, the band was able to host a bigger crowd, but again, I've seen better crowds attend their shows.


7. July 2--Streetlight Manifesto @ The Metro: It was blazing at The Metro that night--literally it was hot as hell with so many people in the mosh pit area jamming to the band's music. I decided to stand on the sidelines for this one and I could still feel the heat. The setlist was solid and full of the ska-punk band's classics. The ranking is a little low for a show of this caliber, considering that it passes every parameter needed to make a great show, but I think what's holding this show back is the fact that I wasn't too involved with the crowd and I didn't get a chance to see any other bands. Then again, I'm not a big fan of ska music so maybe it was for the best that I didn't see any other bands that night. Unless of course it's Streetlight Manifesto.
6. January 16--88 Fingers Louis, The Boll Weevils, and Agent Orange @ Reggie's: The reason this show had a higher ranking was due to the quantity of bands that played that night. Not mentioned on the list was the first band Ricardo and I saw, She Likes Todd who was pretty decent. But ultimately, this show kicked off our concert calendar back into course with the return of 88 Fingers Louie AND Agent Orange, both bands could be considered as significant to the genre. Agent Orange was simply the best band of the night showing that they still had enough to blow the roof out of venues. Boll Weevils were simply, extremely aggressive and fun to watch. And seeing 88 Fingers Louie back together again was a treat as they are a very important band for the Chicago punk rock scene. This show felt like a history museum and that's not being disrespectful, rather it's a metaphor on how honored I was to be able to attend.

5. June 12--Thrice @ House of Blues: 4th time seeing this band live and they did not disappoint. Thrice mostly played songs from their awesome release Beggars and from their most recent releases, such as The Alchemy Index and Vheissu. But the real highlight of the night came when they played a song I thought I would never see them play live in my lifetime, "To Awake and Avenge the Dead." Without a doubt, one of the most single, thrilling concert moments in my life.

4. March 20--Bad Religion @ House of Blues, San Diego: The thing that stood out the most at this show was just how crazy the crowd was--and how big and overweight the people of San Diego are. I was getting tossed around like a rag doll at this show and it wasn't bad enough that I had one bad left knee, but this one kid kept hitting my right knee with his--in the same song! I went to the hotel beaten, bruised, but satisfied as the band went deep into their 30 years worth of music catalog and put on a fantastic show.
3. October 8--Bad Religion, The Lawrence Arms, Circle Jerks, and Bouncing Souls @ The Congress Theatre: The Chicago crowd was a lot tamer than the one in San Diego, but not by that much as Bad Religion shined brightest with a much larger crowd for RiotFest 2010. Also, the bands that played beforehand could have gone on a tour of their own and would have sold out a lot smaller venues with hometown heroes Lawrence Arms, punk rock legends Circle Jerks, and one of the few tolerable groups of people to ever come out of New Jersey, The Bouncing Souls as even a toe injury to their lead singer couldn't stop them from sounding amazing.

The top 2 shows of last year happened very early in 2010 and a lot of mulling, discussions, and arguments between Devon, Ricardo, and I have led me with more questions than answers. On the one hand, Between the Buried Me, the crowd was absolutely superb as they fed the band energy and encouragement throughout their very long set. However, The Dillinger Escape Plan brought the show to the audience as band members walked on top of the audience, guitarists were playing on top of the bar, and the bassist hung from the venue's rafters only to ultimately fall face down into his own near death. For the majority of the year, Between the Buried and Me had the edge at #1, but after 12 months the show that stood out and that we still talk about is The Dillinger Escape Plan.
2. January 24--Between the Buried and Me @ House of Blues: It is amazing how this band can play their 10+ minute songs to perfection live. The wave of sound that comes out of this band must be experienced for any music lover in general. Most of the band's setlist was from the uber-phenomenal album The Great Misdirect climaxing with the epic "Disease, Injury, Madness." If that wasn't enough, the band also performed fan favorites "Alaska" and "Ants of the Sky." The show must have lasted about an hour and a half, a lot of time given to an indie band of this caliber to do what they do best and that's rock the house out.
1. April 2--The Dillinger Escape Plan and Darkest Hour @ Reggie's Rock Club: I must preface this by saying that for the entire show, my friends and I were standing all the way back by the bar as we were content to watch the show from a distance. Plus it was packed at Reggie's. Already a very small venue, I have never seen this place this full to the brim before. Darkest Hour was great playing a great mix of old and new songs alike and I even got to talk to vocalist John Henry after the show. However, the band that stole the show, hell even the year went to The Dillinger Escape Plan as they took the show to the crowd--not begging the audience to get into the music, but basically just punching us in the throat unexpectedly and holding our attention until they were done with us. Never have I seen a band make the audience move from the front row all the way to the back where we were by the bar--hell, I was dancing to their songs and I know I wasn't the only one. Never could I imagine dancing along to complex, jazz-influenced, odd time signatures before, but it happened! If that wasn't enough, the light show that complemented the band was astonishing. I really don't care much for the lighting of these shows, but the work done that night was so appropriate and simply unforgettable.
One of the shows that we are going to is Deftones at the Riv in Chicago and opening up for them is The Dillinger Escape Plan and admitedly, I'm more excited about seeing The Dillinger Escape Plan at this show than the headlining Deftones. And Deftones put on amazing shows as well so that already will be a front runner for the 2011 Show of the Year.
Venue of the Year, without a doubt, was Reggie's Rock Club on State St. near the "Happiest Place on Earth," Chinatown. The bar next door has the same aesthetics as the concert hall, but with a million TVs, it is a sports fans' paradise. Drinks are relatively cheap considering the location of the place and the venue is very intimate and with a sloping mosh pit, it is damn near impossible to not get a good view of the stage.
I definitely look forward to more shows in 2011 and have already seen Thursday perform their album Full Collapse in its entirety and will get my second dose of Streetlight Manifesto after Valentine's Day. Feel free to share your favorite concert going experience of last year.