Ruckus Live: Margot and the Nuclear So & So's

The Abbey Pub
October 29, 2006
(Click on pictures to enlarge.)

Chicago, Halloween weekend, The Elected, Margot and the Nuclear So & So's, Whispertown 2000--a seemingly perfect formula for maximum ruckus, or, at the very least, an awesome edition of Ruckus Live. I was pretty excited for the drunken potential of this show, as The Abbey is just a short walk from my house. Further adding to the show's alcoholic intake was the fact that almost everyone in the joint was wearing their Halloween costumes. I mean, even Satan showed up in his costume ready to party (pictured above.) Satan's scary jack-o-lantern costume actually gave me a great idea for a new drink. A new and spectacular drink; as troublesome as it is festive.

So, ladies and gentlemen, without further adieu, I present to you:

The Jack-O-Latern:

• One half pint Pumpkin Ale (on special at almost any bar for the next month.)

• One shot Jack Daniels.

• Slam shot into pint glass, chug, you get the picture.

Hardly innovative, but damn is it delicious!

I digress, back to the music. The first band was Whispertown 2000. I don't know if I missed the line on this one, or what, but I'd never heard of Whispertown 2000 until I said, "Hey, awesome show... what's your guys' names? No, no, I mean your band's name..." Anyways, they play some pretty cool tunes, so, if you too have missed the line, check them out on Myspace. It's the type of music that will leave you standing there wondering to yourself, "Did she really just say, 'So stick your tongue in there and wiggle it around?'"



History seems to have a way of repeating itself, and as is usually the case when Jack Daniels shows up to a function, disaster struck. Early in Margot and the Nuclear So & So's amazing set, my camera's battery died because I forgot to charge it after the Birdmonster /La Rocca show on Thursday (Go me.) So, needless to say, there will be no pictures of The Elected. However, I will provide you with a picture of The Elected that I stole from Flickr.com and subsequently fixed by photoshopping Jenny Lewis into. Now before you get all uppity and start argueing that The Elected DOESN'T sound exactly like Rilo Kiley sans the Jenny Lewis charisma, I want you to answer me this... Why then, does The Elected sell Rilo Kiley CD's at their merch booth? Okay, thank you. If they're content with themselves living off of Rilo Kiley hype, you should be too.



Due to the fact that I didn't get the chance to take very many quality pictures before my camera went flaccid, I'm just going to haphazardly post the best ones with some random Margot highlights.

• "Hey, my dad drove all the way from Indianapolis to see the show tonight, everyone should give him a dollar!" - Richard Edwards

• Oh Where, Oh Where, Has my Dog Gone?

• The band's perpetual bumming of cigarettes from the crowd.

• Emily Watkins rocking the lead riff of Skeleton Key on the Melodica

• All the girls in the crowd "spring break style" screaming, "Whoooo!" every time Richard Edwards took a drink of PBR.

• Margot returning with Dirty on Purpose in a month and giving me a chance to take some better pictures.

Conclusion

The Good:

• Despite the fact that they didn't play Jen is Bringin' the Drugs, there were enough people who did, in fact, bring drugs that one of them was bound be named Jen.

The Bad:

• My awesome digital camera battery charging skills.

The Ugly:

• It's hard to tell what's actually ugly when everything's in its Halloween costume...