Ruckus Live: Birdmonster & La Rocca

Schuba's Tavern
October 26, 2006
(Click on pictures to enlarge.)

Take two bands that love to play good ole' fashioned rock and roll, pour them into a small venue, add seventeen liters of booze, stir, and what you get is a Birdmonster and La Rocca show. Good times were to be had last Thursday at Schuba's, it's just too bad everyone in the joint got too soused up to remember them. Fortunately for the liquor saturated Chicago crowd, I brought my camera.

Props and shout outs to the Walk from Chris Walker Versus for having his buddy, Torr, over at Filter Magazine, guest list me to this show. Word.

Los Abandoned, from Vapor Records (Neil Young's label), opened the show with their breed of indie, post-punk, Latin new wave; yeah, you heard me. They put on a pretty good set, as front woman, Lady P, is all over the place on stage. It definitely brought a different, but appreciated, sound to the evening's show--despite concern from the boys of La Rocca that the combined power of their names would draw an audience comprised of one hundred percent mariachi fans. Los Abandoned are going to be be the musical guest on Conan O'Brien this Thursday, Novemeber 2nd, so you should probably check that out.

Next up was La Rocca, whose uber-polished, Tony Hoffer produced, album transforms well into an amazing soundscape of gritty, barroom, piano rock when performed live. The Truth, the title track off of their 2006 Dangerbird Records album, is probably the best drunken sing-a-long that I've heard since Billy Joel's Piano Man. Even the most pretentious of the hipsters in attendance couldn't help but join in chorus with their PBR's hoisted high in the air. So, drop what you're doing and go buy The Truth right now, see La Rocca if they ever come to your town, and for fuck's sake, buy them a shot... they'll appreciate it, and so will you.















Closing up the show was San Fransisco's Birdmonster. I just want to say that nobody, and I mean nobody, rocks out harder on stage than Birdmonster. By the end of their set, they're so covered with alcohol flavored sweat, that even a seasoned drinker like Mel Gibson would would get hammered from just a mere sniff of their T-Shirts. If you don't believe me, check out the pictures. Or, better yet, check them out live... it seems like they're perpetually on tour with somebody.





















Conclusion

The Good:

• Libations liberate rock and roll.

The Bad:

• On weekdays, last call is at 1:30 in the AM.

The Ugly:

• Watching a homeless guy lick the stage after Birdmonster's set trying to get drunk.