Reborn SCREECHING WEASEL Rocks Reggie's

by Patrick Mitchell

SCREECHING WEASEL – Reggie's Rock Club, Chicago – October 29, 2011

Heading north from Indianapolis to Chicago to see Ben Foster and his Revolving Door of Weasels play at Reggie's has become a sort of annual tradition for me as of late. Yet the show last night stands to be one of Ben's most important to date. This is obviously Screeching Weasel's first show back since the infamous SXSW incident, so needless to say, Ben had quite a lot to prove. It came as quite a shock to me to see that not only had Ben recruited an entirely new band from scratch, but had in fact written and recorded a new album to boot. Pile on to that the fact that this new and improved lineup is one of the most technically sound lineups Screeching Weasel has seen in quite some time and you have the makings of quite the impressive turnaround for Mr. Weasel.

Upon arriving at the venue I noticed Seething Coast loading in; I took that as my cue to turn around and crush beers in the Jeep. After some legit conversation and emptying PBR's into my tummy, I ventured inside just in time to catch Screeching Weasel setting up. Ben Weasel really did his homework, because the backing band he constructed would make even the most bitter ex-Weasel fan grin. Consisting of two fresh faces and two familiar players, they are not nearly as proficient as the former SXSW lineup, but still incredibly tight musically. Especially given the length of time they had to prepare for this show, it was rather impressive. Fellow horror nerd and overall good dude Mike Hunchback (currently in Night Birds) is on second guitar; Zac Damon, who played guitar on "Television City Dreams," is on lead guitar; and Dave Klein and Pierre Marche round out the lineup on bass and drums respectively.

The set list spanned 20+ years worth of material covering everything from "BoogadaX3" to new songs included on both 2011 LPs and everything in between. Classic older songs flowed effortlessly into newer jams and vice versa. It was an incredibly solid choice of songs served up to one of the most passive audiences I've ever been a part of. While the utter lack of enthusisasm was certainly a damper to my goodtime buzz, it didn't take away from the band's performance whatsoever. If you weren't at all familiar with Sceeching Weasel, you would have sworn that this lineup had been playing together for years. Mike Hunchback and Zac Damon are a welcome surprise to the ever-growing family that is Weasel musicians past and present. Extra kudos to Zac for pulling off the solo on "Totem Pole", a Drew Jetty original that I never thought I'd hear live. The band managed to also perform two songs out of the Weasel repertoire never before played live, "Hey Asshole" which was dedicated to the original source of lyrical inspiration, Larry Livermore, and "Count to Three". I might be biased, but any set consisting of "99" and "It's All in My Head" is an automatic favorite for me.

Music aside though, I could have done without a lot of the stage banter. Ben's inability to express sincerity and/or remorse is just bothersome, especially given the situation he most recently was a part of. Although I suppose Ben himself put it best last night when he said, "I tried to take the high road, but I realized I'm much better at taking the middle to low road instead". Admittedly, that's his shtick and it's been so for nearly their entire career, but to throw certain parties under the bus in some lame attempt to further your own gains is just disheartening to watch. Not unlike a grizzled stand up comedian, Ben's "list of people" he has an axe to grind with is ever-growing which was made ever-apparent last night. While the Rise Against bit was genuinely hilarious, I could have done without the inclusion of Ben's once close friends and former bandmates being "roasted". I mean, calling out Kody Lillington too, really? It was obvious that the show last night - specifically in conjunction with the release of their new EP - serves as therapy for Ben Weasel. To come back after the events of SXSW and sell out a Chicago show must have felt pretty good for the down-but-never-out frontman. It will be interesting to see where they go from here as the clock ticks down on this current lineup. I would whole-heartedly suggest seeing them if the opportunity presents itself at a venue near you, because they certainly know their chops. Drama aside, it was a surprisingly great comeback set for a band that most people thought was all but done for.


Set List (courtesy of Owen Murphy):
Strangle You
Slogans
Dingbat
Carnival Of Schadenfreude
First Day of Summer
Friday Night Nation
My Right
Holden Caufield
__________________________
You’re The Enemy
Pauline
Frankegirl
Hey Poop Chute
Talk To Me Summer
99
Supermarket Fantasy
My Brain Hurts
Count To Three
Toten Pole
Totally
Creepy Crawl
Muscle Mary
I Wanna Be With You Tonight
Science of Myth
Joannie Love Johnny
________________________
Ashtray
Cindy’s On Methadone
Speed of Mutation
What We Hate
_________________________
It’s All In My Head
Acknowledge
This Ain’t Hawaii
Cool Kids