My Chemical Freak: My Chemical Romance All The Time

By Elise

“We are our revolution…”: LeATHERMOUTH w/ Reggie & the Full Effect@ the House of Blues, Chicago, IL; September 3, 2008
A Concert Review: Elise!

It is rare to see a line of eyeliner-wearing, crowd-surfing, banner-waving, hardcore rock fans waiting outside of the House of Blues in Chicago for up to 9 hours in the rain. However, that was the scene at the HOB on September 3rd. We were all there to see a show of epic proportions: Reggie & The Full Effect with LeATHERMOUTH, David Costa is Dead, Warship, and MC Chris. This show was one of 22 shows on Reggie’s farewell tour, LeATHERMOUTH’s first tour ever, a return to Chicago for MC Chris, and Warship’s first performance in the Windy City.

LeATHERMOUTH (commonly written as “L//M”) is based on the idea that you are the karma in your own life and the best way to make your life work is to take matters into your own hands. The popularity of the band is drawn from many arenas, from Frank Iero (frontman for L//M and rhythm guitarist for My Chemical Romance) fans to Skeleton Crew (L//M’s record label) promoters and street teamers to The Champagne Charade listeners to the everyday post-hardcore punk rock kids. On the other hand, Reggie & The Full Effect draws in a wide range of listeners, many who have been loyal to the band since their first album, “Greatest Hits 1984-1987,” released in 1998 under the Second Nature Recordings label. In addition, many have discovered Reggie’s act through James Dewees’ involvement in other musical acts (keyboardist: The Get Up Kids, New Found Glory, My Chemical Romance; drummer: Coalesce, LeATHERMOUTH). David Costa is Dead (DCID) is a widely popular hip-hop artist (from Indiana) backed by a rock band (mostly from Chicago) and represented by the Skeleton Crew label. MC Chris, a Chicago native that currently lives in Long Island, NY, is not only a rap artist but also lends his voice to TV cartoons, including the hit “Teen Aqua Hunger Force” series. Warship is a hard rock band that began in Long Island, NY, after the breakup of the band From Autumn to Ashes on June 9, 2008. Everything, from the band’s name to its lyrics, draws deeper meanings from everyday thoughts and occurrences. The combination of these different musical forces collided in a marvelous musical spectacle that night at the House of Blues.

The show opened with DCID’s set, and fans screamed as the opening notes of Costa’s music pierced the air of the music hall. The band was truly thrilled to be performing, as was evident by their energy and enthusiasm. Costa remarked that he had seen the crowd at the House of Blues before, in a dream for his future that he had as a smalltime musician in Indiana, referring to his experience as a performer in the music industry for over 10 years before becoming world-famous. The cheers of the crowd doubled in magnitude as Frank Iero of L//M came out on stage to back Costa during one song.

Warship performed the next set. While this was Warship’s first Chicago performance and the first time many of the people in the crowd had heard of the band, most of the crowd was quite receptive to Warship’s sound. The band put on an excellent performance, considering they have only been together since June and had only 2 months to practice before embarking on this tour, the first for the band as a whole.

After Warship, the stage belonged to LeATHERMOUTH. They certainly took control of the space and the crowd and delivered an electrifying performance to rival that of any headlining band. L//M played both old favorites (“5th Period Massacre,” “Sunsets are for Muggings,” “Murder Was the Case that they Gave Me”) and relatively new releases (“This Song Is About Being Attacked By Monsters,” “I’m Going to Kill the President of the United States of America,” “Catch Me If You Can”). The crowd laughed and cheered as, after the first song, Frank Iero remarked that he wondered how the fans were all singing along like they knew his songs, even though L//M hasn’t released their album yet. The closest Iero came to the crowd was as he bent down to check the amps and as he noticed the mustaches the Chicago MCRmy had drawn on themselves as a tribute to Iero’s newly grown facial hair, to which he remarked, “Nice…” As the demanding vocals of the performance began to tire Iero, he told the crowd that “this frontman stuff” wasn’t for him, but many in the crowd responded by yelling out encouraging words and cheering even louder. For this tour, James Dewees played drums for L//M. Costa came out from backstage to lend supporting vocals to L//M’s performance as well.

MC Chris’ set was more entertaining than I had expected. While some of his songs are offensive, his performance was honest and well-arranged.

Reggie’s entire performance was absolutely the cherry on top of a fabulous lineup. James Dewees came on stage wearing regular clothes and promptly began to strip off his pants and shirts until he was left in a Hannah Montana shirt, slippers, and pink jersey capris, and hot pink short shorts with “MC Chris Ownz” on the backside. And then, of course, he made it even more fabulous by putting on a small, scruffy brown wig for the first half of the set! R&TFE performed a variety of songs that represented a collection of old favorites and new hits. James gave a shout-out to his parents, who traveled from St. Louis, MO, to Chicago to see the Reggie show and who watched from the balcony on the side of the stage. For this tour, Frank Iero from L//M played bass for Reggie.

While Reggie’s most recently released album has a more serious tone and arrangement than previous releases, the band’s live performance has retained the entertaining mid-set dialogue and energetic performance that it has become known for. All of the band members except for Dewees left the stage for the encore performance. On past Reggie albums, Dewees created his alter-egos of “Fluxuation,” a British Europop techno star, and “Klaus,” the frontman of a Finish metal band called Common Denominator. During the encore performance at the House of Blues, Dewees performed songs from Reggie’s past, including alter-ego song performances with Dewees in full character. Dewees also made an important announcement at the Chicago show: The Get Up Kids, for which Dewees played keyboards, will be reuniting and touring at the completion of the current Reggie tour. Dewees also mentioned that his alter-ego, Fluxuation, will be releasing a full-length album next spring. Reggie’s last song was performed by the members of L//M, Warship, and Reggie, who all came on stage wearing flannel shirts, army shorts/pants, and ridiculous wigs!

The show drew Skeleton Crew reps and MCRmy (the official street team for My Chemical Romance) members of all ages from Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Illinois. Many band members from local Chicago rock acts were also present at the House of Blues that night. Even Bob Bryar, drummer for My Chemical Romance and a Chicago resident, stopped by the HOB for the L//M, MC Chris, and Reggie sets. He remained backstage for most of the show except for a quick dash on stage to wipe up a spilled bottle of water during the L//M set. Frank Iero left with Bryar immediately after the show, much to the chagrin of the fans waiting outside of the House of Blues. Many of the other band members stayed to chat with fans and street team members, and most of those band members retreated to the bowling alley across the street from the House of Blues for some post-show midnight bowling afterward!

Why should you be interested in all of these performers? While they may sometimes bring harsh lyrics and raw sound to the stage, each band also represents the idea of creating a revolution in the ways we think and live in order to make your life a more livable place. Frank Iero of L//M often posts realistic suggestions for increasing your personal level of sustainable living on the Skeleton Crew web pages. From reducing carbon emissions to easy ways to go vegetarian, the Skeleton Crew community (L//M band and family members included) works to represent artists and visionaries while making changes in their own lives to live in more ecological ways. James Dewees encourages fans to have a healthy sense of humor and often interacts with fans both before and during shows. David Costa is Dead, who began their collective journey to fame less than a year ago, encourages fans to achieve their dreams and works tirelessly to promote the Skeleton Crew label.

DCID’s first album is available through www. skeletoncrewonline. com. L//M will release their first album upon the completion of their current tour. Their first album will not be released on the Skeleton Crew label, but a future Skeleton Crew-produced album is “not out of the question.” Reggie’s recently released and final album, “Last Stop: Crappy Town,” can be found in stores now. You can check out Reggie & The Full Effect at http://www. myspace. com/reggieandthefulleffect.

LeATHERMOUTH can be found at www. leathermouth. com and http://www. myspace.comm/leathermouthlives.

The Milwaukee Chapter of Skeleton Crew’s fabulous page is http://www. myspace.com/skeletoncrewmilwaukee.

MC Chris can be found at http://www. myspace. com/mcchris.

Warship docks at http://www. myspace. com/warship.

Finally, David Costa is Dead lives at http://www. myspace. com/davidcostaisdead.