interpol15 | EMPIRES @ The Subterranean, 6.4.08, record release party

So, I finally managed to get myself down to Chicago and go see Empires. And holy shit was it awesome. EXCEPT FOR ALL THE DAMN TOLLS DRIVING.

Just a few tidbits before the review:

-Sean is a Packers fan and his dad is from Madison.
-It was Tomrads' sister's sweet sixteen.
-Ryan is really short, and drums like Animal from the Muppets.
-Max's parents were at the show, and are really nice
-Apparently I end up meeting the coolest people in line.
-Howl has been downloaded in Egypt and Kenya.
-there were 300 hard copies of Howl, and not all of them have been sold. Each are numbered.
-Australians also call a drinking fountain a "bubbler". Awesome.

This is the actual show review part. My tired ramblings will come after.

Jane Vinyl

-This was apparently the first show the band had played, but they've been together for a year and a half, so they were pretty good.
-I felt a definite Thursday vibe coming from them, so go check out their myspace.

Made in Hollywood

-I really, really like then. They kinda had a electro-rock vibe.
-Their singer wore all white, including the cap, and looks disturbingly like an asian Pete Wentz. He even moves like him on stage.

Chris Guittierez

-yes, this is Hey!Chris of Grenade Jumper fame.
-a little before he went on, it was discovered that Nick Scimeca was in attendance.
-he did this talking thing, which was mostly a shortened version of his coffeehouse rants and stuff where he urged everyone to do what makes them happy, and to not waste your life because you took the easy route.

EMPIRES

-before they took the stage, there was this old dude who writes poetry up there, and he read a poem about the band. I have no idea why.
-I ended up right in front of Tom Conrad and Al, with a pretty good view of Sean. Sadly Max and Ryan were mostly hidden by the crowd/bandmates.
-from what I remember, the setlist was; Spit the Dark, I want Blood, Modern Love, Valmont, All Night Long, My Poor Lover, Midnight Land and a few other songs that I can't remember for the life of me. That is the approximate order played.
-Tom is really quiet and reserved onstage, which is kinda strange. I think he never really looked straight at the audience.
-the entire band plays with their eyes closed, but Sean especially.
-we got to have the tambourine special on Midnight Land.
-Ryan is a fucking machine, wow. He did not fall off of his kit this time.

My personal experience (the fun stuff)

-while waiting in line, the guys kept walking up and down the streets by the club, and a couple of them would yell out to the people in line.
-I ended up meeting Natalie, who is from Sydney and is in the states wasting time until she starts working Warped. She ended up having a passing acquantince with Chris, Tom, and some other people.
-Sean was working the merch booth at the very beginning and we ended up chatting. This is how I found out he's a Packer fan.

trinity_clare, he made your cd right in front of me.
-Tom Conrad is one of the nicest people I have ever met. Nat and I hung around talking to Nick after the show, and then after we wandered out, ended up talking with Tom for a while because they had a good friend in in Australia doing a lot of album count stuff that couldn't make it. Somehow we ended up talking about how life isn't worth it if you don't have passion for things, and variations on sincerity, doing what makes you happy, and the band as more then just the five guys in it.
-Tom also gives directions via landmarks. Nat was staying at a hostel up past De Paul and we were trying to find a way for her to get their the quickest when he mentioned that if he had a car, he'd just drive her. That when I said I could drive, got like three hugs, and then ended up talking with a bunch of people about the best way to get there. And since I had become the girl who drove down from Wisconsin, he made sure I knew how to get back to the espressway. He also draws hearts by his name.
-Ryan was making funny faces at people who were getting their pics taken with the band.
-no one in the damn club had a sharpie. I'm bringing a bunch and handing them out Sunday.
-I was told that since I am not from another country, I have no excuse to not be seen at future shows.
-either Sean or Tom talked about how they liked doing the record by themselves, and will probably wait a while before signing to a label.
-the band was asked many times about a tour, and the answer was "hopefully soon".
-Nick is suprised and in awe that there are people outside of Chris and Tom reading his blog. As he said, "he knows theoretically, but never puts faces to the readers, so meeting one (Nat), was crazy for him". He then said that this was going on his blog.

I have to say that my favorite part of the show was just the looks on the guys faces when they were playing. They were all so into it, and seemed so happy and caught up in the music, sharing parts of themselves with the audience.