It’s summertime, and that means that there are a gajillion summer tours abound that kids and adults can flock to in hopes that they don’t have to sit through bands they hate while they wait patiently for the one they love. And the people behind me at the House of Blues in Chicago OBVIOUSLY were there to see Mr. Sexythang himself, Justin Warfiled of She Wants Revenge. From their remarks during The Virgins and Be Your Own Pet, they had absolutely zero interest in those bands (In their defense, they were like 40 something). Then when lead singer of Nashville’s Be Your Own Pet, Jemina Pearl, yelled out to the crowd, “If you’re gonna heckle us, you’re gonna have to do a better fucking job than that,” the old-timers behind me weren’t afraid to speak up.
But, what can you do? They were old and had a hankering for She Wants Revenge and weren’t interested in paying attention to what could’ve been their new favorite band. Once again, you can’t please everyone.
The crowd itself was just like most shows, which resembled an evolution chart, only with age. The youngest of the young were right up in front and the oldies were at the back by the bar, talking shit mostly. Classes could be taught about this kind of thing. Perhaps it was because the show started promptly at 6pm—poor Switches had to open—and most people actually have jobs and couldn’t exactly bust out the door Fred Flintstone style, slide down a dinosaur tail and fly into the 10-gallon-hat shaped venue in downtown Chicago. They showed up late and chilled in the back with a cocktail and a bad attitude.
As far as the bands were concerned, they all did their thing and it seemed like a solid group of fans were their to support each band, but Be Your Own Pet was the only one to incite a clap-along footstomp session for an encore, which had bassist Nathan Vasquez doing that throat-cut motion letting everyone know that it wasn’t gonna happen. Oh well.
The night concluded with headliners She Wants Revenge, who charged through songs from last year’s This Is Forever, including “What I Want,” “Replacement” and “Written In Blood,” and of course, “These Things,” “Sister,” “Tear You Apart” and “Out of Control” from their self-titled debut. And after seeing them two years ago out in Los Angeles, they have gotten exponentially better as a band, which was nice to see.
So like any other music tour, you can’t please everyone. So for fans of Switches who left right after they said “Thanks a lot,” to fans of SWR who had to sit through three bands they’ve never heard of, the NYLON Summer Music Tour definitely provided a little something for everyone—even if you’re a white trash 44-year-old lady guzzling down a cheap beer.
The NYLON Summer Music Tour here: http://www.nylonmag.com/summertour/tour-dates/
More on the bands on the Nylon Summer Music Tour:
http://www.shewantsrevenge.com
http://beyourownpet.net
http://www.switchesmusic.net
http://www.thevirgins.net
Download:
“Lay Down The Law” by Switches – [mp3]
Albums:
She Wants Revenge – This Is Forever is out now. Buy it NOW on Amazon!
Be Your Own Pet – Get Awkward is out now. Buy it NOW on Amazon!
The Virgins '07 is out now. Buy it NOW on Amazon!
Switches – Lay Down the Law is out now. Buy it NOW on Amazon!
