Category Archives: Show Debriefing

Impressions of our live shows, venues, setlists

Ultra Lounge – Dec 5, 2012

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Four people shot and wounded each other at Ultra Lounge, early in the morning hours of the day Fight Nice played. Our headliner that night, the great trip-hop/rock band 8mm, already had bad luck with this showcase: the singer for their local opening band, I:Scintilla, came down with a cruddy case of cold which zapped her voice, and I:S unfortunately had to cancel the day before the show. I:Scintilla are friends of mine, and I had already planned on going to the show, so despite my disappointment I volunteered Fight Nice when they asked if any band could fill in. It’s nice that Fight Nice is a small band that practices regularly. We are ready to play a show any time.

That morning, Brian forwarded a Chi Trib article about the shooting to us, with a simple but appropriate response from Tim: “What the hell?”. It was not clear whether the show would continue, or if Ultra Lounge would even be open. After scrambling for a bit amid some confusion, we got confirmation that the show must go on, and so we all piled in our cars and departed for the venue.

As I pulled up, the first thing I noticed was the cop cars parked around, and then the four or so cops inside the venue. I lingered on the sidewalk for a bit, pretending to make phone calls as I waited for someone musical or promoter-like to show up. To my surprise the first person to show up was Brian Graupner from The Gothsicles. He came to play that night in the middle performing group, The Dead Room. So we chatted for a bit, then entered the venue, which by this time was abuzz with band loading activity.

Ultra Lounge is divided into 2 areas. You enter the bar, which is separated from the side venue by a set of glass double doors. The atmosphere is comfortable, kind of a glowy dark thing, although there are no seats or bar stools in the venue area apart from one poofy bench in the back.

We went though setup and soundcheck without a hitch, and enjoyed meeting and conversing with the other musicians and staff. All was set for our opening set as I followed the guys onto stage. We stood ready as we looked to the sound man for the queue to start. And… stood staring for a bit longer. Finally we finally asked over the mic if we should start, which of course we should have. So a chuckle later and blammo, we did.

I’m sure my bass was too loud — it was a bit tricky since we couldn’t run the bass through the monitors — but we adjusted levels, broke some strings, retuned, and played though a rockin’ set. Our rock was a little out of place in the lineup, being followed by an electronic set, then a bluesy trip-hop/rock set, but we had a fun time playing, and would definitely play Ultra again.

Oshkosh Titan Underground

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It’s early in the morning, late after our show in Oshkosh. But despite 6 hours of driving 340 miles, every second in the rain, I’m still amped on 5-hour Energy, so I’ve got a debriefing in the works here.

First off, thank you to the Living Statues for lining us up with the gig, and putting us in touch with Calvin from the Reeve Union’s Local Music Night, who treated us very well and had his shit well in hand. And give it up for TCFOF, for playing an entertaining set and lending us their drumset for the evening. Plus a special thanks to my bandmates for putting up with my iPod in the car; I know there’s some weird stuff on there.

We were very excited about this show from the beginning. We’ve always thought our music has great potential with a college crowd, who are open to exploring and discovering new music, claiming it as their own in a time of life when they are growing and defining themselves. Plus Tim and I have strong connections with the area, he having grown up near there, his sister went to UW Oshkosh, my sister went to Ripon, and I went to school up in Appleton.

After a speedy drive and minimal consternation around Milwaukee, we rolled easily into town and spotted the union, then drove seemingly to BumbleFuck getting to the rear entrance. But we loaded-in quickly, parked (after driving back from BF), and our equipment was onstage in no time. We met and chatted with the sound guys (everyone is so friendly!), then — boom boom boom — soundcheck goes so smooth it hardly even seemed to officially start. All the levels were good almost instantly. And we could play gloriously LOUD, yet the levels were so proper that as I listened to other band, the sound was still under control and energizing, rather than grating as in many other venues.

We had a blast playing, and were glad folks got into it. We received a couple new email signups (thanks!) but I think we really excelled in the sticker department. I’ve always suspected that a sticker that says “Fight Nice” is a pretty good meme, and damn, y’all almost cleared us out! Gotta call the sticker guy again. In return, we snagged a couple posters from the event, and whatever other swag from the union with our name on it that we could find ;)

Tonic Room photos, 19 June 2012

Gallery

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Red Line Tap, Elbo Room, Melody Inn

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We had 3 shows in the last week. If we were marketing gurus, we’d call that a mini-tour. As a musician, I managed to send an email, practice my parts, and work on some new recordings. But the show themselves went great, characterized by us opening for some great bands.

The Melody Inn of Indianapolis is one of our favorite venues because it supports original music, and has a friendly crowd. We bumbled though our “soundcheck,” but got our levels and warmed into some rockin songs. The follow-up bands, Buster Eagle, and Human Lights, had mad skills and rockin riffs. There was supposed to be another Chicago band, but they were a no-show. Turns out they booked a Chicago show that night. Very bad form :(

We returned to Chicago and the Elbo Room, which is always a joy to play. Great sound and organization there. The surprise of the evening was the final band, which has a killer jazz ensemble with some hot soloists. I haven’t seen jazz that good in years.

I think The Red Line Tap sometimes gets an unfair rap. It ranks at one of my favorite places to play because the sound and soundman are excellent, and the staff has been friendly to us. The only downside I see is their outdoor (but secure) gear area and loading situation out back. Otherwise, like I said, the sound is good, they keep the show running smoothly, good beer selection, and it has foot traffic, so enjoy!

We debuted a new song, Leavin’, at these shows, worked out the kinks, so we have a new rocker for you. We always have a different setlist, so come see something new at our next show.

The Ace Bar, Tuesday June 5

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It’s a good feeling when your band is invited to play somewhere. It’s also great to play in a lineup that suits your band’s sound. Alex of Cold Blue Kid made us feel welcome in both cases as we opened for them at The Ace Bar on Tuesday.

Load-in and parking at Ace Bar was surprisingly easy, considering its Lincoln Park location. After stowing my gear, I had some very friendly conversations with the staff and CBK members as they filtered in. We’ve had a few similar experiences and musical influences, so it was great commiserating with some kindred spirits. I could tell that Tim, especially, would have some interesting conversations with Alex.

Unfortunately traffic was bad that evening and held us up from doing a full soundcheck, but Soundman was laid back about it and kept us relaxed. But as we took the stage, we did have problems hearing ourselves and our balance, and I could tell there was something wrong with the bass frequencies on stage. That bass issue carried through to the other bands as well, so I’m thinking maybe the Ace Bar’s stage needs some acoustic treatment.

I enjoyed CBK’s set, but I had to jet home right after. Tim and Brian said they enjoyed both other bands, and hope to be in touch. It’s refreshing to have that connection with another group and feel like part of something. We’ve played a lot of shows where we feel like interlopers, so stepping into a scene that is welcoming, interested, and interesting, is a joy that we’d surely like to repeat.

The Horseshoe

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We haven’t wanted to say much about our shows at the Horseshoe, other than it could be a good venue. But it’s not. We like its location. We like the sound men we’ve worked with. We like its cover charge (free!). We even liked chatting with the owner. And once we start playing, we always love playing. However, something just isn’t right.

Our first show there was fine, although the collapsible mic stands are held up with gaffers tape, so they have a tendency to be, well, spontaneously collapsible. We showed up the evening of our second show there, and no one at the venue knew there was a show that night. So we went home. We showed up the evening of our third show — a Friday night — and guess what: no one at the venue knew there was a show that night. But the sound man was in the area, and we ended up playing. But to no one. There was no one in that place on a Friday night, in a decent area, with no cover. Also, the draft beer tasted old, and they had only one pour of Scotch in the whole place. After we finished playing, and were chatting over some complimentary beer, we noticed the owner gave the sound man a decibel meter, which as we’ve experienced, can be a bad sign. We would have stayed later, but got kicked out at 11:30 as they were closing the place (again, on a Friday night). So twice now, I’ve had people show up there to see us, only to have the place closed.

The quality of equipment and booze, and even the scheduling mishaps could easily be forgiven if the place was welcoming and loving of music and people. But it’s not. I get the feeling that the staff would prefer it if we all went home and watched TV, and not bother them with a possible sound-violation fine from the city. I hope things change there, because it could be made into a nice place to see music.

Live in Abbotsford- A Marathon in Marathon County

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May 19 was the night Fight Nice consummated our Abbotsford experience by playing a show in the town that inspired our tune of the same name.  Thanks to everybody who supported us and made the night possible.  We are grateful to the Corral Bar and Grille for having us, for the kind folks who came out to listen to us, and to all of our friends and family who supported us that night.  It was an overwhelming experience you could say.  The sound carried well in that room, let me tell you.  We were caught in a tight space of being “too loud” and at the same time “we can’t hear your vocals”.  This is a near catch-22 for the band, so we played through it all with good cheer.  The drums were “overpowering”, and I heard that the best sound was achieved by going outside of the bar in the cool night air and enjoying the music from there.  That’s cool with me.
We played a marathon, two set, twenty song warhorse of a show as were were supposed to do.  It was by far the longest concert we have ever played, and it is asking a lot of any audience to absorb 20 of your original tunes without any well-known covers thrown in for familiarity’s sake.  But that’s what we did.  I was very happy with how we played, Dean and Brian played great, and we marched through the songs with confidence.  Brian’s drums may have blown people away, but that’s how our band is supposed to come across.  We tried to make sure that was ok up front!  It was a real thrill seeing the faces of our Abbotsford pals, and my relatives come special just to see our group.  Then we shared a beer at the hotel and laughed about the good times.  I get tired just trying to write about that night- thanks everybody for putting up with us.  It was an experience.  Photos to come soon.