The Fireside was starting to hit its stride. Peterson and Eaves were booking shows several nights a week. “I could always get the vocals up over the band at the Fireside.”īy the summer of 1994, the Fireside started to become known more as a music venue than a bowling alley. “For me, the Fireside was easy because it had that sort of a more dead sound…because it has acoustical tile ceiling… wood paneling walls,” he said. Though a bowling alley might not seem like an ideal spot for a decent sounding live music experience, Elliot Dicks – who oversaw sound at the Fireside – said it wasn’t as bad as you might think. RakstadĪs things started to take off, Peterson realized he needed staff - including live sound engineers and people to work the door - to keep shows running. All the bands delivered their share of musical strikes with few spares during the evening.‘Sound man extraordinaire’ Elliot Dicks was one of several live sound engineers who kept shows running at the Fireside. The Juliana Theory's set was just a little over an hour and could have been longer but the songs they did play were all pretty quality.Īs a whole the show was very good. The shining moment of the concert was when The Stryder's drummer Scottie got on stage during The Juliana Theory's set to provide the screaming vocal part of "Is Patience Still Waiting?" It was perfect and TJT, member of The Stryder and the audience laughed and rocked along. They were a little easier to understand lyrically and talked to the fans. Notaword was good but their energy didn't quite match The Stryder's. They did have an excellent stage presence that included moments when the entire band jumped and landed in sync. The Stryder's sound was good but the vocals were marred by excessive amount of guitar volume. Opening two bands "The Stryder" and "Notaword" were both a little better than average. ![]() Near the end of the set he treated the fans to a lovely hip swinging go-go move that the audience went crazy for. Many of the ladies in the audience swooned over Brett. He played guitar on about one-third of the tunes and ran around the little open areas of the stage with the mic for the other songs. Lead singer Brett Detar shined in the spotlight. The band admitted to not being too good about being able to fill dead space but tried to entertain the fans by talking to them and joking around. Guitarist Josh Kosker had some guitar/amp problems and this held up the show for a few minutes twice. He displayed mad guitar pick flicking techniques (flipping to himself and into his mouth on multiple occasions) and 80s guitar moves that lead him to jamming from the ground. Lead guitarist, Josh Fielder, hammered away at his guitar and laughed and smiled through the set. Most of the songs TJT played off of their first album were happy feeling songs with jumpy beats and catchy lyrics superb for dancing to and singing with. There was much rejoicing and singing-a-long taking place. TJT then started a trend of alternating every other song from the last album, "Understand This is a Dream" with ones from their newest release. Once the gear was up and running the band launched into one of the instrumentals with the same name as the new album, "Emotion is Dead." Suprisingly enough the track was partially prerecorded and after the music faded they launched into "To The Tune of 5,000 Screaming Fans." It was an excellent version and the crowd seemed really into the show with most of the fans doing some self-concious dancing (dancing where they nod their head and possible shake their bodies and tap their feet to the rhythm). TJT wanted the mics as loud as they could be without feedback. ![]() The guys took a little while to set up and toyed around with some microphone technicalities. On the first day of November The Juliana Theory jumped on this stage and proved my point that despite a picturesque image and location, the place really jumps. It is old and trashy but this worn experience is what makes Fireside so attractive. As a whole the venue has a certain nasty charm to it. The ceiling above the stage is old and rotten and cracked and the stage is about 8 feet by 12 feet. ![]() The bar is to the right and jammed to your left is a stage about a foot off the ground. When you walk through the front entrance there is about 10-15 beaten down and age worn lanes in front of you. and some newer games like the most recent spin off of the arcade classic NBA JAM. The venue has a bar for patron over 21 years of age, some old school video games like Donkey Kong Jr. ![]() Stop by and you may see a beer-bowling league on Monday night and then a world traveled punk act the next evening. The Fireside Bowl in Chicago is actually an old bowling alley just west of downtown. The Juliana Theory, November 1, 2000, Chicago Illinois, Fireside Bowl
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