Goldfinger Joins the Crowd

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Goldfinger Join the Crowd

Date: June 2, 2003

Venue: House of Blues - Chicago

Bands: New Empire, Silence, Story of the Year, Goldfinger

Unfortunately, I missed the opening act New Empire. They started at 6:15 p.m. and I was still waiting for my press credentials. Not that it mattered, because my pictures turned out like crap.

I made it up in time to see Silence perform. Silence is an extremely energetic band from southern California. According to Silence's lead vocalist, the hardcore scene in So. Cal. is extremely popular. With a sound similar to the Used and enough energy to jumpstart a Ford Excursion, Silence seem to be heavyweight contenders in its field.

Thick piercing screams mixed with quick punk drums and metal guitar riffs make Silence an exploding warhead. The lead vocalist was constantly spinning his mic around like an airplane prop while the guitarists stood on the speaker monitors and jumped off with demanding authority.

They made strong attempts to get the seemingly uninterested crowd into their performance, but they kids just weren't ready for the ferocity of Silence. After the show I spoke with the Silence lead vocalist and he said he could tell the crowd was into a different [music] scene. He also said he was sick and took the stage in a bad mood. That accounts for his swearing at the audience. Keep an eye out for Silence. With a little John Feldmann backing, who knows what can happen.

Story of the Year (SOTY) is a punk rock circus without a tight rope or a man eating lion. The phenomenal stage acrobatics are still present in SOTY's set complete with over-and-under jumps and summersaults. Similar to Silence, SOTY jumped on and off the speaker cabinets and bounced around the stage.

Last time I saw SOTY they were Big Blue Monkey. In chatting with the band after the show, they told me they dropped the old name due to label disputes and simply because of not liking it anymore. With a new name came a slightly different style. Before, they were a little more punk, with a dash of emo. Now they're a hardcore/emo entree with a peppering of punk.

They used interesting effects and distortions throughout their set, giving them a unique individuality for the night. SOTY emitted strong screams mixed with poppy punk singing.

The guitarists put down their grinding guitars at the end of the set and did simultaneous back flips before diving into the crowd with brut force.

Goldfinger took the stage and frontman John Feldmann was dressed to kill, wearing a black suit, a white shirt and a black tie. Goldfinger erupted into "Question" and the crowd went nuts! Even Feldmann was surprised by the attendance and energy of the crowd, being it was a Monday night. Goldfinger went on with its energetic set and played "Here in Your Bedroom" while jumping in unison. They apologized for being a bit rusty. It was the first show of the tour and the band claims they don't practice. If anyone noticed any faults, they didn't care.

At one point Feldmann walked on the crowd's hands to the middle of the pit and energized everyone even more. Goldfinger brought out a Story of the Year guitarist to help out on "Open Your Eyes," and everyone on the stage was smiling.

Halfway through the set Goldfinger's drummer, Darrin Pfeiffer took the stage alone, announcing that he cheated on his wife with none other than Wayne Gretzky. From there he sang his Wayne Gretzky song, proclaiming him the only man he'd ever have sex with. Not only did Darrin sing his solo song, but he had a sweet treat for an audience member. It's a ritual at most Goldfinger shows that one lucky fan gets to eat a Twinkie out of Darrin's extremely hairy butt crack. Before the band was able to finish announcing what would happen, one eager fan was already halfway to the stage ready to eat! And boy did he bury his face in that... uh-hem, Twinkie. He got a drum head signed by the band for his efforts.

From there Goldfinger sang "Mable" and had a quarter of the crowd on stage helping them. They tore through "FTN" (Fuck Ted Nugent) and "Superman," then got help from Nick, drummer of Mest to play "Going Home."

Goldfinger closed its set with "Miles Away," but came back to do an encore with guitarist Brian Arthur juggling lemons. They did a cover of "Real" by Duran Duran and during the encore a mosher was injured and needed medical assistance. Goldfinger was seemingly oblivious to the fan being hoisted out of the crowd on a stretcher, but the downed punk went out in glory sporting the metal sign. Goldfinger marched off stage in a unison stomp and the night was complete.

Once again, Goldfiner was responsible for one of the most energetic sets I've ever seen. Everyone should see Goldfinger live at least once!

By: Adam K. Zakroczymski III - Senior Editor / CEO

June 10, 2003