Monday, November 5, 2012

27 Oct 12

Good evening, ghostly ghouls and goblins, it's that festive time of the year again! And this fashionably costumed reviewer doesn't mean that jolly guy in a red suit either. nope, creatures of the night, it was time to celebrate with a frosty mug of your favorite witch's brew at the 16th Annual Halloween Bash. Held at Double Door, local bands like Panther Style, Hessler and AM Taxi got decked out in their costumes performing as legendary rock bands such as The Cult, Iron Maiden and The Replacements in which fans heard classic hits and B sides. Yet, it wasn't just the bands and fans dressing for the holiday spirit, some of the Double Door staff were in their finest attire including an Alice Cooper-looking DJ spinning tunes to get the growing crowd in the mood for tonight's show. Creativity was the word of the night as many fans went above and beyond this year. SouthSide noted many pirates in the audience as well as an "Audrey Hepburn" from Breakfast In Tiffany's with her "Johnny Depp" Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas escorting her to a "Mitt Romney" and Mad Hatters with a few Alices. The one costume that stole the entire show was person who dressed as Satan. He stood towering over people (due to stilts) with his staff and fierce red makeup paint. There were some notable "dead" rock stars at the Double Door too like Jerry Garcia and Amy Winehouse. Now, on with the show...

"...we're The Cult and you better like it..."

Kicking off this Halloween Bash was The Cult (aka local rockers Panther Style) in which they destroyed the stage with thundering excitement and heart-pounding electric classic punk riffs especially during the second song, Fire Woman. This reviewer enjoyed how Panther brought some kick-arse sound to the venue coupled nicely with twitterpating riffs that some heads banging to the beat. Other songs performed wereWild Flower, Lil Devil and Love Removal, The Cult's hit. Meanwhile, dressed in matching red jackets, Beck (aka The Sweeps) made a rare appearance on the Double Door stage, blogspot readers, performing their selection of hits which included Where It's At, Gamma Ray and Loser. Also the band brought the crowd back to its 2001 days during the performance of Golden Age yet it was the song Loser in which the crowd truly came to life when singing along with the band. Rockin' the stage next was Social Distortion (aka Blackbox) and the band's lead singer did a kind gesture by passing out roses to a few lucky ladies near and around the stage before kicking off the set with Mommy's Little Monster. "...Just trying to see if the all of the kittens are noticing me..." quipped the singer in between songs that featured a punk verion of Rolling Stones' Under My Thumb and a spirited version of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire besides others like I Was Wrong and Story of My Life.

Halfway through this rockin' Halloween party, blogspot readers ...and oh look, it's Tom Petty (aka Ryan Powers) with his Heartbreakers appearing on stage! Immediately this crowd took to the task of singing along with Tom and his band to hit tunes like Refugee, Runnin' Down  A Dream, Won't Back Down and Last Dance With Mary Jane. You could really hear people singing during Free Fallin' and American Girl which closed out the set. Following after Tom Petty was the heavy metal gods, Iron Maiden (aka Hessler)! Though needing more umph in the vocals to really the crowd into the headbanging zone, this performance was truly for the Maiden fans in attendance, blogspot readers, not for SouthSide.  She felt there was something missing from the performance even though there was energy generated from the epic songs, screaming metal riffs and thundering rhythms to delight any metalhead. Featuring songs like Run To The Hills and Number of the Beast, Maiden did thrill the crowd with the appearance of the Iron Maiden  to close out the set. Next to appear on stage, The Replacements (aka AM Taxi) rocked the stage with their hits like Alex Chilton and Unsatisfied as well as their no nonsense approach to the set. For this particular Chicago appearance, the band performed straight through without breaking between songs which this reviewer can only suppose they didn't want to lose the crowd's momentum and energy especially during this late hour. And closing out this festive party was "...I'm Billy fuckin' Idol..."! Yes, blogspot readers, that bad boy from the UK, Billy Idol (aka The Last Vegas) made another rare Chicago appearance to perform his hits like Dancing With Myself, Cradle of Love and White Wedding. There was a lot of fist pumping excitement ...and what's a Canadian flag doing here? Who knows. The late night crowd really came to life during Billy's rock anthemy song - Rebel Yell as they rocked, danced and sang along with him.
*whew*

What a night, blogspot readers!

Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide

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