10 Nov 11

Hey, blogspot readers, SouthSide's rockin' a long four-day weekend around town! She's busy hitting four local hot spots to cover exciting shows from the Rogers Park to Southside with other points in between ...and sleep definitely will not be an option for this roving party girl. Tonight, her first stop was at Empty Bottle for a free show (door cover if didn't rsvp-ed) that featured long time friend, The Reptoids opening for Mr. Gnome (OH) with Ornery Little Darlings.

Though it seemed the lead vocal was out of place compared to the hard-hitting flow of the music during the opening song, SouthSide's friend, The Reptoids rocked their Empty Bottle set full of boisterious guitar sound and momentum. Plenty of drama of shredded guitar riffs, crashing cymbals throughout the set as well as darker themes and tones in the songs than the last time she her rockin' friend. Plus SouthSide enjoyed hearing the raw feminine spite and fervor that sometimes accompanied the primal screamo vocals featured in a couple of Reptoids songs. She felt the thrilling rush of the crescendo rise amongst the furious flying chords which set off changes to elevate the rock experience for the audience. Heart-pounding ...thunderous razor sharp metal-tastic sound with a slight punk edge especially when performing their epic instrumental piece (though in this reviewer's humble opinion should be a little longer). SouthSide highly recommends snagging a Reptoids 3.0 Demo at their next show which contains two hot tracks - Fire In The Hole and Kitty III full of gritty guitars and hardcore sound for the ears. For more information about The Reptoids, visit http://www.reptoids.net.

SouthSide's no stranger to the offbeat and eclectic music acts and Ornery Little Darlings certainly fit inside that group. Not to be critically mean, blogspot readers, but this trio of musicians were certainly rockin' the stage outside of the "normal" genre box. This is the second time in On The Town history in which a band completely stumped the reviewer with their music. Was the music alternative/pop or punk/rock? Who truly knows except these Darlings. Ultimately, this local group rocked the stage and she recommends giving them a listen at their next show. Though the sound (off the bass) was a little distorted at times during their set, this reviewer enjoyed how the somewhat confusing mesh of genres, rhythms and sound pleasingly rocked her ears. The lyrics, at best if you can call them lyrics, were quite simplistic, short and blunt to the point nothing overly complicated especially during one song in which both vocalist furiously shouted "...so fuckin' lazy..." Yes, it was "childish" yet it came out strong amdist the music that accompanied such heated emotional spite. This reviewer enjoyed the retro/early rock-n-roll feel to one particular song before the Darlings moved into some shred-tastic guitar riffs to blow her mind away. For more information about Ornery Little Darlings, visit http://ornerylittledarlings.bandcamp.com.

Continuing where Ornery Little Darlings left off, the duo known as Mr. Gnome led the gathered crowd down the same primrose path of eclectic music and sound. SouthSide had no complaints about the music which rocked out tonight's lineup for she enjoyed the thunderous percussion sound that matched the intense guitar riffs. The music itself had its own distinct melodic tone and vibe that certainly sparked audience momentum at times. However, her only complaint was the vocals (by Nicole also on guitar) because her voice style didn't truly compliment the music at hand, blogspot readers. Mostly it was the reverb/echo mic fx used to highlight Nicole's soft chantenuse-like vocals which really didn't and SouthSide had a difficult time hearing the lyrics and voice where she observed the show. For example, during Mr. Gnome's second song, the dreamy electric riff somewhat overshadowed her voice until Nicole upped the vocal volume at the chorus or during the third song in which didn't call for that mic fx at all since she was totally drowned out by her own rockin' guitar riffs. Plus the vocal style, in SouthSide's honest opinion, was lacking volume and variation that it sometimes made the songs sound the same despite differing music rhythm and tone. Judging by the audience size gathered tonight, Mr. Gnome does have a solid fanbase here in Chicago but as hard as she tried, this reviewer wasn't feeling the music vibe from this band. For more information about Mr. Gnome, visit http://www.mrgnome.com.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide