The Giraffes
I discovered this band as an opener at another show and was completely blown away. Easily the best live band I have ever seen, and they probably would have made it bigger if they had ever cared, or didn't piss off people everywhere they went. Most of their live performances would end up with beer flying into the crowd or other ridiculous antics being done on stage.
They broke up in 2011, but I don't think they played the Chicago area since 2008 or 2009. They're re-uniting for a one-off show in Brooklyn in September that the wife and I are strongly considering going to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lypFd6-Sh0The article below talks about a show I saw them at. The lead singer has this sort of "pace-maker" thing implanted because of a serious heart condition, and I guess it ended up going off during their performance. They still finished the show, but nobody would have have ever realized something was wrong.
Quote:
...The Giraffes released eight albums and became known as one of the most exciting and dangerous live acts in New York. And in January of 2005, Lazar died. Twice.
The medical term for the successive heart attacks that Youngstown, Ohio native Lazar suffered within a matter of hours at the age of 27 is “sudden cardiac death.” The survival rate for one such attack is 2%. But Lazar made a miraculous recovery, and an ICD, a battery-powered device that shocks his heart should his pulse rise above a certain level, was implanted in his chest in hopes of preventing future incidents.
Lazar returned to performing and, after a few tentative shows, his fabled recklessness returned. But a mere three months after the initial cardiac event, during a raucous sold-out show in Chicago, Lazar’s ICD sprung to life, shocking his heart and sending him to the ground. Remarkably, he finished the show, but afterwards, headed straight to the hospital, where doctors advised him to slow down.
I got to see them a few times at the Liar's Club the last couple times they rolled through town. I'm pretty certain they were the only place that would consider having them due ridiculous shit that ensued at other venues I caught them at. Herb would walk around and just pass out free PBR tall-boys at the end of the night, and the shows were just incredible.
I saw them at The Beat Kitchen once and they were pouring shots from a bottle of jack into people's mouths from the stage. The venue didn't take too kindly to that considering it was an all-ages show, and most of the people in the front were minors. Some chick also fell down the stairs going to the restroom in a drunken stupor. After the show, they nearly came to blows with the management there.
I caught them another time at The Empty Bottle, and they brought some guy on stage who proceeded to do the worm while they were playing. When he's finished, he decides to stage-dive into the crowd backwards. There was only about 50 people in the room, so he just dove backwards into the floor and landed on his back.
Fuck it. With all this nostalgia, I really should head to Brooklyn to see them in September.
_________________
Juice's Lecture Notes wrote:
I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?