Location: Cobra Lounge
Bands: Squared Off, The Wanderers, and Murphy's Law
Things I missed to be there: Radio Arte Benefit with Pkdores, Cubicky, Crather, and Condenada; Question, Black September, Demonslaught, and Securicor at La Casa Maldita; Aleks & the Drummer, A Tundra, and the Pussy Pirates at the Empty Bottle
Cost: Free
Reason I went: My girlfriend was already backstage, I had to make sure I got there before she was seduced by skinheads
"I'd like you to meet our new drummer, that's right we got a new drummer. I swear by the time I'm 70, each and every one of youse will have a chanca ta play in Murphy's Law." - Jimmy, Murphy's Law
It's not very often I make it out to a big time punk show, at a place where the doorman gets paid with a band that brings out all the old heads. It maybe happens once or twice a year (the last three were Naked Raygun, the Subhumans, and MDC). It's nice, though, after months and months of DIY shows, where the bands talk politics between every song, to just go to a bar and see some old meathead hardcore that reminds you of high school.
I have this tremendous luck, where whenever I go see Murphy's Law, I've got a friend who gets me backstage. The last time was five years ago at The House of Blues, with Secret Agent Bill and The Tossers, and Jimmy's chihuahua running around all over the place. This time I got there late, just as Squared Off was finishing their set and long after my friends the Wanderers had left the stage. My girlfriend intercepted me at the door and whisked me up to the green room. It wasn't furnished by Disney money but it was still pretty dope, just a sparsely decorated apartment on the third floor with a fridge full of beer and a radio that only got the classic rock station. We listened to Thin Lizzy and drank Bud Dry with the Wanderers and their friends, who are a fun mix of Chicago zinesters, fat dudes from Indiana, and these immaculate rockabillians.
As I've said before, the Cobra Lounge is kind of weird. We were told we had to vacate before Murphy's Law set up so we all went downstairs, and the DJ was playing Murphy's Law! They were playing "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight" (which was actually the song that Murphy's closed with). It was weird enough that they were playing a song by the band that was about to play, but even weirder when they cut the song early and played another track from Back With a Bong. It took a few moments, until Jimmy made an impromptu "Chicago" remark, that we realized that this was actually the band playing, piped in from the other room.
The band is still making new music but they've been touring forever and came out ready to give the fans what they want, which was basically, the shit they knew. They played "Care Bear", "Secret Agent S.K.I.N.", "Panty Raid", and "Cavity Creeps". They didn't have Fishbone to provide horns for "The Ska Song" like they did in the old days but they did have their new drummer wailing on a Jaeger bottle solo. On "The Beer Song" they brought out Herb from the Beer Nuts. The song still had a kick to it but, maybe because I spend so much time in the aforementioned overly political part of the scene, it was a bit shocking to hear the line "What are you, a bunch a fuckin queers?" I wonder if the Descendents would still play "I'm Not A Loser" if they were to tour again. I can't remember if they did when I saw them ten years ago (which is so long ago it doesn't even count)
The definition of Murphy's law (the theory) is anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. With this is mind, it's amazing how well the show went. There was only one fight, which didn't end in hospitalization; they never ran out of beer and Jaggermeister to give to greedy punks in the crowd; and for a 20-plus years old punk band, they were tight. Real tight, which is why we couldn't tell the difference between them playing live and a track from the cd.
You should go to Murphy's Law's website. It has animated .gifs!
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