Punks at the Metro

Madcap performing at the Metro in Chicago

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Date: April 12, 2003

Venue: The Metro - Chicago, Illinois

Bands: Stole Your Woman, Count the Stars, Madcap, River City Rebels, Catch 22

Below: Count the Stars slam through its set.

Going into this show I expected a straight punk rock concert. Forgetting that Catch 22 leaned toward ska, not knowing who Count the Stars was, never hearing of Stole Your Woman or River City Rebels and only being familiar with Madcap, I was in for a bit of a surprise.

I concluded that "punk" is an overused term. Perhaps now merely a way of life rather than a specific musical genre. Punk as a genre has subsets and each of the bands on the bill fell into a subset.

The show was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., so after arriving at 6:15 p.m., I was surprised to hear music as I entered the Metro. Stole Your Woman opened the show at 6:00 p.m. and luckily, I was able to catch most of its set.

A crowd of only about 15 people gathered in front of the stage as Stole Your Woman flew through its set, asking each other what song to play next. As they stumbled through their adolescent sounding pop-punk, I felt as though I was watching a local band at a small town church venue. Nevertheless, these California punks were happy to be on tour. They smiled and jumped around as they sped through their songs with a garage band love for what they were doing.

Count the Stars hit the stage with the energy of a Jack Russell Terrier puppy. They swirled their bodies and instruments around and around, while performing their radio worthy songs. Performing a mixture of emoesque (yes, I made that word up) vocals and MTV punk, I was forced to buy Count the Stars' CD three days later.

Below: Count the Stars Bassist,

Clark Foley stands on his speaker

cabinets, towering high above the drums.

Not only did the crowd get a great musical performance but it got circus acrobatics as well. Bassist Clark Foley, by far the most animated of the band, jumped twice from the top of his speaker set up and countless times from his amps.

For safety concerns moshing and crowd surfing are looked down upon, but people were still going crazy. One male teenager was torn down from crowd surfing by a burly security guard and escorted off the premises. Vocalist Chris Kasarjian made a comment in the middle of the song, during the chorus, that he'd better not get kicked out. But he did and the band said he'd get a free T-shirt.

Below: Count the Stars darting around on the stage.

At the conclusion of its set, Count the Stars announced it would be doing a lot of touring in the near future. Fans can soon see them with Taking Back Sunday, and during the summer on the Warped Tour. Surely, Count the Stars is a band no one should miss when they come around again.

I was surprised that Madcap wasn't headlining the show and played third in a line-up of of five bands. And yes, the boys of Madcap are still paying their dues by setting up their own equipment.

Below: Johnny from Madcap singing.

Madcap took the stage to a roar from the crowd and began its sweat producing set with a classic sound reminiscent of the Clash. Madcap's blend of old school punk and a dash of today's pop, shows kids there is more to music than just what we hear on the radio and see on MTV.

While Madcap may not of been headlining it was one of the crowd's favorite bands of the night. They sang along on songs like "Hometown" and "Parental Advisory," and moshed with glee. Lead vocalist "Johnny Madcap" got the crowd to clap melodically and encouraged crowd participation. Madcap humbly closed its set with "Bright Lights, Big City."

Because of an interview I was doing with Johnny of Madcap, I only caught the last five minutes of River City Rebels' set. They had enough people on the stage to field a football team. Like Madcap, River City Rebels' music has a classic punk feeling but with a dose of ska.

They finished their set with a fury of excitement. The trombone player smashed his instrument into the stage like an 80's hair-metal band smashing its guitars. I later saw a girl exiting the Metro with part of the trombone. Aside from the instrument smashing at the end of the set, River City Rebels appeared to have put on a good set and gained the crowd's approval.

Below: Catch 22 energizes the fans at the Metro

By the time Catch 22 hit the stage, the floor of the Metro was a sea of sweaty teenagers still thriving for more action. I've never seen so many people move in unison than I did during the moshing and pushing that took place during Catch 22.

Catch 22 presented themselves with the hilarious "laugh at us" image that ska sometimes employs. Some of the band members had beards that made them look like they belonged in a folk band, while the bass player, who doesn't look old enough to buy cigarettes, wore a red cape for half the set.

Talk about crowd involvement: People were "skanking" in areas that seemed impossible to even turn around in. Pushing caused the entire audience on the floor to wave back in forth, looking like ocean waves moving back and forth on a beach.

Some of Catch 22's songs had vocals that sped along as fast as the drum beats and each song was fairly short. The speed at which the drummer and bassist played their instruments was amazing. The drummer didn't stop moving during the entire set. Some part of his body was always going. Even though the set was seemingly rushed, (because of show following theirs) it was extremely enjoyable. I don't know if it was the trumpet, saxophone and trombone but even the adults seemed to be into it.

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