This was a gig I'd been looking forward to for months. As soon as I heard that Jets To Brazil were playing at the Underworld I bought my ticket. I didn't even know whether I would still be here then. I was being a little short-sighted and my heart was set on being elsewhere. But alas, I’m still here and the show was still there for me. I loved Orange Rhyming Dictionary ever since I bought it in New York in March. It was the first thing I ever heard by Blake Schwarzenbach and it surprised me at first as not being what I expected. The first song was even kind of..... funky! But there were heartbreakers on there... Starry Configurations, Sea Anemone, I Typed For Miles. After that I discovered Jawbreaker and truly fell in love.

So tonight was the first time I saw Blake live. I'd seen the pictures. The severely intense pictures and didn't really know what to expect. What I got was a kind of homecoming without the hometown....(ie. A special show!!) But first the rest of the evening.

I met Steve and Lloyd in the Firkin about 6ish and Nick and Val arrived shortly after. It was a pleasant and fairly quiet evening in there which seemed to liven up a little more once we moved on to the Wetherspoons. Various people I'd seen before but never really spoken to were in there and I felt like a pissed up out of place fool as per usual. I get dissuaded from this socalledscene sometimes because it just seems so pointlessly foolish and I don’t know why I bother. Sure, the shows are good but there’s so much hard work and so much putting yourself on the line. I’d rather just stay in bed (or maybe that’s just the alcohol talking).

But because of the show I saw things were good again. We missed Sunfactor which was a shame but caught Euphone. I saw most of this with Val down the front and we traded remarks on how much of a Chicago band they were. Tortoise was my theory mixed with a little Trans Am. Trans Am's first album blew me away completely but I’ve never heard anything by them since. Maybe I have some catching up to do. One of their songs fills me with utter dread for some reason and I have no real rational thing to base it on. It makes me shiver and yet I want to listen to it for days.

Euphone... were good I think personally. And they fit perfectly into tonight's lineup. But I certainly wouldn't buy their record. Doesn't fill me with passion. Just makes me want to create rhythm. Nothing more.

Jets To Brazil filled me with awe. The band was totally self-effacing and without pretension;. "We're going to play some fast songs for you tonight" said Blake and then promptly opened with a driving Morning New Disease. That's just what I wanted. From the LP they played that one, Resistance Is Futile (I think), Chinatown, Sea Anemone (which moved me close to tears but which the dorks behind me almost ruined half of by singing along like it was Song 2 by Blur), Lemon Yellow Black, I Typed For Miles, King Medicine, Sweet Avenue - most of it really. Plus some new songs that really makes me confident and excited for the future of this band. I sang the first part of Starry Configurations (ie. the title ;-) which made the drummer, Chris Daly, smile but they didn't play it. He did come over and say hello at the end though which was nice.

The whole band seemed to be really into this show. Bryan Myransky had his eyes closed and was rocking back and forth all night; Jeremy Chatelain was nodding and pounding his bass hard, Chris’ drums were full and clear and Blake seemed to have a fixed grin. At the end he said that it was an amazing show and it sounded like he genuinely meant it too. No encore unfortunately but Chris told me afterwards that it was the club that said they couldn’t play any longer.

So to finish - what a great show! I wish I could see them every night for the rest of my life, to be honest! But without the morning afters in between. The journey home sucked but that’s a part of life. Some pretty crazy things were going on last night and the show just seemed to amplify the drama and the fucking teen angst flying around. Or maybe this is all in my head. Maybe I should get involved less. All I wanted was a show, some good friends, lots of beer and maybe a good fucking dance. I got most of that but so much more too.

(and I count disasters on my free hand now)

--Chris