Tooth and Nail tour - featuring MxPx Entertainment Art House of Blues Chicago, Ill. June 5, 2007

Being an all age’s show I knew there would be a fair amount of younger kids at the show but truly did not expect to see the place dominated with teenagers. Many of them looked to be high school freshman or possibly even a bit younger and I saw quite a few confused parents in the crowd as well.

The first band to take the stage was a local group called The Sullivan. They had more than enough energy to have kept the whole tour going and it was possible that many of the audience simply wasn’t getting into their vibe because they had the unfortunate duty of being the opening act. Their lead singer danced and posed onstage like a mix between a fashion model and a preacher.

Immediately following The Sullivan was a really great band called The Classic Crime. Now for having a name as dangerous as that it was a fairly big surprise when I found out that most of their songs were not only catchy tunes but really quite happy. Over half their songs seemed to include hand synchronized clapping and a lot of cheerleader looking girls seemed to show up for their set in particular. It was at this point that I realized that my definition of punk and everyone else’s has changed through the years.

The Fold, while a good band, we’re relatively forgettable in a tour that size. Fortunately for the members of the The Fold by the time they took the stage audience was finally starting to loosen up and move to the music. Lately I have found that less and less people are dancing at rock concerts and I cannot figure out why. It seems like they are afraid to dance or perhaps simply lack the effort or ability.

All that changed when Project 86 went on. Up until now the music had been what I would classify as popular punk. Popular punk is the kind of music you would hear on the WB in the middle of one of its teen drama shows. It is normal punk with a tremendous dose of emo mixed into it. The standard punk that I am used to is much more independent and has an overwhelming sense of determination and chaos. Project 86 encompasses that idea perfectly with music so loud, so full of anarchy and rebellion that he caused a mosh pit to erupt in the middle of the House of Blues. Project 86 was a total shift from what had appeared so far on the stage this evening. Front man Andrew Schwab would scream into the microphone lyrics that I found barely comprehensible yet oddly enjoyable.

Not everyone agreed, as I mentioned before the shift from popular punk to standard was a fairly big one and it created a major gap within the audience. Since the main band hadn’t gone on yet the audience was forced to stick around through bands they might not otherwise listen to. But Project 86 caused a major rift in the crowd. Members of the bar area starting yelling at him and profusely letting the band know how much they sucked. Upon closer inspection I noticed that those doing the heckling seemed to be with model like girlfriends and dressed in the nicest clothes around. It was popular punk versus standard punk at this point.

Project 86 took it in stride as the hecklers continued throughout the second half of their 45 minute performance. Though defiantly not one of the greatest thrash punk bands out there Project 86 brought some much needed life to the tour and got the crowd pumped just enough to go nuts for the main headliner MxPx.

After watching four other bands take the stage over the course of a nearly four hour period I had seen varying degrees of rock intensity and skill. So watching MxPx was a treat by the time the fifth hour of the tour rolled along. A well known and experienced band, MxPx took the stage and immediately owned the room. This was the band everyone had come to see and they knew it. Playing such favorites as “G.S.F.” and “Punk Rock Show” the band made a point of catering to the audience and created a real one-on-one relationship with them.

After playing a longer then usual set, the band came back once more to do two encores and tell the fans just how much they appreciate them. Even though the mosh pits had left some people injured no one seemed all the angry about it. The tour had left on a happy, joyful note that would last the audience for the rest of the night. MxPx truly is one of the nicest punk rock bands around and I can’t wait to see them again, though hopefully for a longer set and with less waiting.

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