This wasn't the first time I'd heard one of the members of KoL talk about Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The guys had mentioned in several interviews they really liked BRMC's music and had toured with them and really enjoyed them overall. After seeing that photo I decided I probably needed to listen to this band so I went ahead and got their latest album at the time Baby 81 their fourth studio effort. Loved it, loved the sound, loved the hard rockness of it, loved it all. I kept two in heavy rotation All You Do Is Talk and 666 Conducer.
It wasn't until revisiting the whole album on my first trip from Detroit to Chicago that I decided this was a band I needed to see live! Lucky for me they had a show coming up in Chicago. Being quite eager about this show I purchased a ticket on my own though my roommates were interested and debating going. The night of the show I decided I wasn't going to go super early since this was a small club venue and all the tickets were GA. I also didn't want to go early because I was going solo (can we say I'm a pro at solo shows now)and I didn't want to hang around by myself plus the opening acts weren't that alluring for me.
I showed up about 30 minutes before the main event. The second opener Band of Skulls was ending their set and I didn't hear enough to even form an opinion. Another reason this show was different is because I didn't have a lot of prior knowledge about the band's lineup or catalog. I checked the BRMC wikipedia entry so I knew their had been lineup shake ups and I knew there had been quite a few albums prior to the current Beat The Devil's Tattoo which I had just downloaded from iTunes earlier that day. I was quite excited for all the unknown though.
The lights went down and the band came out and they went right to work. There wasn't a ton of interaction with the crowd from the three piece and their light show was far from extravagant. The show was great and felt like nothing was lacking. I felt the setlist could have flowed a little better but there was a great mix of songs I knew from the last two records and well as previous I wasn't familiar with.
I had a decent view of the stage from house-right but for future reference I would definitely go with house left (AKA Matt's side). The people around me were mostly cool except for the obligatory drunk girls who thought square dancing and falling all over everyone was appropriate. NOT! All in all I had a great time! The band was on fire and I got that feeling that I had been missing...that God, I LOVE a rock show feeling.
I encourage you to go see Black Rebel if they come to a city near you they don't disappoint!
