Alright now on to what I REALLY did this summer. (TA-RAH!) CHICAGO -- third weekend in August found me at Cubby Bear's watching NAKED RAYGUN and RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED. Drinking age there is 21, so there were two shows, over and underage. The underage show was absolutely incredible. You would have to have been there to believe it. There were less than 100 people, yet I saw more stage diving off a foot-and-a-half high stage than at the Dead Kennedys last year at the Concert Hall. Imagine a kid who is maybe 10 or 12 years old and squeaks in at four feet. Got that? Okay, NOW imagine him being HURLED offstage by someone much larger, but purely in fun. Okay. NOW imagine this kid flying through the air over the heads of those at the front, being caught by those farther back and being set gently on his feet, unhurt. This hardly created a stir in the audience. I couldn't believe what I saw. Lots of fun, lots of action, but no violence.

The overage show? Well, I might as well have been back in Toronto, lots of people sitting around drinking with their backs to the stage. Very blasé. NO ENTHUSIASM. ULTRACORE BOREDOM TO THE MULTI. VERY LAME. The bands? See them if you get the chance. Buy their records when you see them. NAKED RAYGUN have an album out, (that was their album release party/gig that I was at). They're a 4-piece with sax added on some tunes. When the guitarist plays sax, the singer plays guitar. Older, melodic, fastich (new word I just made up), well worth the few bucks. RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED are very young, (how does a 15-year-old drummer grab you?) Great, I repeat, GREAT, stage presence, lots of people on stage singing along, they're even technically proficient (means they can play). Vinyl out on VERSION SOUND (AoF's latest label, aussi), buy it today.

BUMMER OF THE MONTH definitely goes to the shows that never came off on Sunday night in Chi-town, (what a quaint expression). IRON CROSS and DIE KREUZEN had, according to the notice at Cubby's, both broken up. Not so, as we were to find out. Stay tuned. IRON CROSS were sans drummer, but have since picked up a new one. (See NEW YORK article.) Herman quit DIE KREUZEN, but hopefully this is only temporary. They'd been on tour at the time of his leaving for something like three months, a long time to spend in a van by anyone's standards. KILLING CHILDREN (?) were there from Columbus, Indiana, but had no place to play. Also cancelled that evening were the REPLACEMENTS at Exit. Grrrr.