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7/3/05 Middle of Nowhere, IL-- It was the 4th of July weekend. There was a festival selling food on a stick and Urge Overkill was playing. How could we not go?

UO is Chicago-based band that was moderately successful back in the early 90s. A band I liked a lot back then. They released an album called "Saturation" that would have done a lot better and maybe made a lot more famous back in 1993 had a lady named Liz Phair not released another little album called "Exile in Guyville" that very same summer.

And I don't begrudge either band/artist their success only, that summer everyone in Chicago kind of expected UO to blow up. Then came Liz singing about getting wet between her legs and f*ck and run and such and so everyone kind of forgot about Urge Overkill.

So, Liz stole all their thunder that year, but Urge Overkill managed to keep the moxie up, taking photos while driving around in vintage convertibles, posing in Mod furniture, singing about Erica Kane and keeping their hip-than-thou attitude up in general.

I liked 'em anyway. Still do.

So they played this little festival over the 4th of July weekend, and they were great, and really not-rock-starry at all. Lead singer Nash Kato - who was known for being a little bratty back in the day - was a very nice Rock Star in the present as he played for the sparse suburban crowd and even though the sound was not so great, they all played their hearts out.

Which was funny in another way, because if Nash Kato and Urge Overkill thought Liz Phair was a problem back in 1993, forgetabout it. This weekend they were up against The Nuge. That is to say, at the very same time UO was on, they were up against Ted Nugent and his Cat-Scratch-Fever-Legacy on the festival's Main Stage.

So in the end, UO played balls-out in spite The Nuge and everything else. Which was nice.

It was a good time, but in the end it wound up being weirdly nostalgic and all which really freaked me out because at one point I was thinking, "Whoa, isn't this how your parents are supposed to feel when they see, like, The Beach Boys playing Summer Fest or something?"

But what was worse, the crowd was so small I managed to find a place right up front and the sound was really, really loud and I left with my ears ringing and hissing with tinnitus and I tell ya after all the rock shows I have seen in my life-- if my hearing went down after attending suburban festival--I was going to be flat-out-pissed-off.

After UO was done, The Nuge was just finishing up his night's set, and we could hear the big finale heating up. Concert-going-friend Jen had made a pit stop at the Port O John on our way out and she nearly tipped the thing over trying to escape so she could bust out and yell, "Oh my god, Cat Scratch Fever!"

So see, we really didn't miss a thing.

Photos:

Maps:

TALES FROM THE ROCK SHOW, KidGuide, popular places

Tags:

rock music , concerts , beer , restaurant , festivals , rock shows , chicago music , urge overkill , ribfest , cheap beer , ted nugent , port o john , liz phair , exile in guyville , chicago bands , food on a stick , saturation , cat scratch fever , fairs , fuck