El Protoolio wrote:

DregsInTheCrowd wrote:

NerblyBear wrote:Wonder why Riley wasn't present.

I don't. Big Black parted (from what I understand) amicably with Pezzati, but that was not the case with Riley.

I don't know anything about that but I do know that Riley got very sick in the 1990's and never fully recovered so he wouldn't have been available, amicable split or not.

Now that I hadn't heard. Which means I probably shouldn't have spoken without knowing all the facts - who am I to presume to know the reasons for his absence? So, my apologies. That said, my favorite Big Black records were always the ones with Riley (though I have a real soft spot for Racer-X).

Highlights: (in chronological order)

1. Tim and Andy...holy moses was that intense.

2. The Ex...they will never ever cease to blow my mind.

3. my shit eating grin during Killdozer's entire set.

4. Negative Approach. (Especially how the bass player thumbed out Rapeman's "Inki's Butt Crack" bassline before the encore).

5. Watching Jon Langford's kid give Tim from the Hideout the middle finger. While his dad and Kat Ex played.

5 1/2. Watching Sally Timms and fighting the urge to flirt.

6. Being 2 feet from the stage as Scratch Acid opened with "She Said" and nearly crying.

7. Big Black. Big Black. Big Black. Big Black.

8. Bob Weston claiming that "Shakes The Clown" was one of his favorite comedies.

9. Shellac playing "Be Prepared" and a stirring "Billiard Player Song." Easily, one of the best Shellac sets I've seen.

10. Meeting MATT BESSER of the Upright Citizens Brigade...the only time I encountered an entertainer this week where I was shaking.

11. All of the above being peppered in between being around great friends in and out of the touch & go family, and gazing at gorgeous women.

Thank you T&G/Hideout...you made me go to a festival.

I got back into Milwaukee a couple hours ago, and i still haven't been able to really mentally process everything that happened this weekend into one coherent narrative.

I would like to say that i hadn't thought it would be possible that the single most amazing musical weekend of my life would happen this long after my college years. My god!

-Girls Against Boys set the bar very high for the other bands on Friday, in my book. When the Hideout Announcer Guy said, "These guys recorded a little record called Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby back in 1993, and they're going to play it in its entirety for us tonight," choppy and i completely lost our shit. Fucking stellar! And then Alexis dedicated "Kill the Sexplayer" to Timmy Taylor and i got a little misty.

-Ted Leo's songs were great, and he was really energetic and fun, but what's up with his drummer not being able to hold down a consistent tempo?

-Tim and Andy, if i may address you personally, i would like to say that while i don't know anyone from your band personally, i was moved to near-tears by your epic, haunting, moving, and completely fucking beautiful performance. Many people around me were crying at the end, and i would like to thank you personally for one of the most moving musical moments i have ever experienced. SALUT.

-Was it just me, or did Pegboy not look that into playing? I remember them being at least a little more energetic than that.

-The Ex! So much blood! My god! So great!

-Killdozer! Fucking motherloving goddamn KILLDOZER! I could not believe how fucking incredible they performed and sounded. The cover of "La Grange" was so incredibly perfect.

-To see my friend Timebomb Tom Smith, legendary Green Bay promoter/troublemaker get thrown out during Killdozer's last song, only to sneak back in 5 minutes later, bumrush Yale and me and bearhug us for 10 minutes while explaining to us that he "didn't do a goddamn thing" and "loved us so fucking much," only to then dart across the grounds to see the Didjits, and then get thrown out AGAIN in handcuffs (which i like to think happened after i heard Rick Sims say "It sure is great to see so many drunk people from Green Bay today"), really elevated the experience of the Killdozer set into art for me. It couldn't have been any more perfect.

-For me, Man or Astroman? was the best band of the whole fucking weekend. They attacked their songs with such excited abandon and performed with such giddy intensity that i was left praying and dreaming of a full-time reunion. And my friend Chuck got one of Birdstuff's cymbals as he distributed his entire kit amongst the audience (three of us fought off some other kids for that cymbal. it was a fantastic team effort! Salut, us!).

-Big Black were totally worth all the buildup, even though Steve said during the set, "at this point you all are probably thinking to yourself, 'what was the big fucking deal?' Trust me, this was really impressive back in the '80s." Firecrackers!

-I was digging Shellac but was too far back to really feel the energy coming from the guys, and i'll see them much closer-up in Milwaukee on Monday, with way better questions, so we started to leave, but managed to stick around long enough to go, "They're playing PRAYER TO GOD? Holy fuck!"

-The band of the day for me today (Sunday) was easily Arcwelder. Just completely fucking excellent and vicious.

-The Monorchid's set was a trainwreck of three blown bass amps, unplugged pedals, and unplugged mics, but it was my kind of trainwreck--glorious to behold in its chaos. Seriously, that festival was going too damn smoothly. Someone needed to pay.

-Enon were fantastic as always, and then we had to leave and recover our equipment from Bear Claw's practice space and head back to Milwaukee while listening to my beloved Packers take it in the ass from the Bears to the tune of 26-0. Gonna be a looooong season.

Touch & Go, you have given me three days i will keep in my head and in my heart until i expire from this earth. Thank you so so fucking much.

242sumner wrote:Who`s the guy playing the bass??

The guy in this picture here

after shipping news, i said to myself "well, terrainasaur, you just saw the best thing you're ever gonna see." by the time the ex played i had decided to stop trying to compare the sets, due to the transcending greatness.

tjo and brokaw together played some of the most invincable guitar i've heard, and i've spent a lot of time in front of a record player.

too much other great musics to get started.

i met only one forum member, due to my shyness (fear of social encounters is a common trait where i come from) and the one i met was mr jay ryan, who was very nice. i walked by kerble about seventeen thousand times.

the coffee tasted like water and i probably drank enough of it to kill a small population of lesser beings. two dollars for water was shit.

there was this guy, he had a hitler stash and a sort of mowhawk. anybody see that guy? is he one of you? anyways, i looked over and we met eyes. he gave me the most terrifying grin, which i, of course, returned. later we crossed paths and shared the same grin. then he looked away and looked back a second later and gave me that same damn grin. i don't if it was the grin that scared me or the part of me that enjoyed the grin. it was a chilling grin, let me tell you.

some great watching of people there, which a big thing for me. love watching people, fear the shit out of them.

hung out with bloodjet and segerandpriest, which needed to happen in that setting.

salut, best concert ever attended by one young terrainasaur! sorry, mission of burma, you've been bumped to second.

Did anyone see Cocorosie? NOW do you see why I love them so much?
Wonderful set. They even smoked a joint on stage, I say bravo ladies.

Missed Quasi and Arcwelder. The lady and I got to sexin' on the way out the door and well, sexin' takes precedent.

Enon was really good.
Black Heart Procession was really good.
Tara Jane was alright I guess for that kinda shit.
Three Mile Pilot suck a hard cock with their boring old fart light rock bullshit.
Monorchid was loud and noisy and whatever.
Seam was Seam.
Brick Layer Cake was a definite highlight of the weekend. I saw Steve watching from the side, why not jump on them drums?
Pinback I care not for as is the case with Calexico.
Cocorosie was the greatest. I am deeply, deeply in love with those girls.

The vegan ice cream was delicious as were the mini burgers and jambalaya from Goose Island.

What a great fucking weekend. Good fucking times, man.

DregsInTheCrowd wrote:

El Protoolio wrote:

DregsInTheCrowd wrote:

NerblyBear wrote:Wonder why Riley wasn't present.

I don't. Big Black parted (from what I understand) amicably with Pezzati, but that was not the case with Riley.

I don't know anything about that but I do know that Riley got very sick in the 1990's and never fully recovered so he wouldn't have been available, amicable split or not.

Now that I hadn't heard. Which means I probably shouldn't have spoken without knowing all the facts - who am I to presume to know the reasons for his absence? So, my apologies. That said, my favorite Big Black records were always the ones with Riley (though I have a real soft spot for Racer-X).

In 1993 he had a stroke. Edit: blog.

This was a great experience. I've never been amongst so many nice people, and so much good music.It was very much worth the 1300 miles my wife and I travelled to see this, and the great city of Chicago. It was great.

How is Dave Riley doing?
Has he fully recovered after stroke?

What I loved, almost as much as the show, was positioning myself next to old guys between bands so I could hear their crazy stories about the bands from "back in the day". I don't mean that as an asshole or anything, I was honestly mesmerized by their stories and was glad they were all there. Especially when the other option is a bunch of dudes that look like chicks.