Live!: The Action Blast at Beat Kitchen in Chicago

Inbetween watching hours upon hours of Dexter on my PS3 I’ve been trying to catch as many small venue shows as I can every week without going broke. I’ve been a fan of smaller venues since my first rock show at the Fireside Bowl when I was 15. It was a great show--not only cause one of the bands was awesome--but because 2 of the bands were fucking terrible. (One of them was called, The Fux--no joke.)

The show this weekend at the Beat Kitchen was something I decided to check out because of a band I saw the day after Christmas, The Action Blast. We’re doing an interview on them this upcoming week, and with little, to no information about them on the Internet, I decided it was best to see a second showing of them live. I’m sure like many other Beat Kitchen virgins, I had no idea what time to get there to make sure I saw the show. Naturally, I showed up at 5pm, right when the doors opened, and nursed $2 Blatz beers for the next four hours.

Onasis

It’s a tall order to open up at a small venue early in the earlier hours of the night for any band. Onasis had their work cut out for them, and with The FUX fresh in mind, I was almost sure I was going to have to retreat into the front half of Beat Kitchen to escape the noise, but I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. Onasis a great all around band that I think will be getting more attention as they spread the word. I grabbed a copy of their EP and have been listening to it all weekend. “We’re like Oasis, with an, ‘n,’ but pronounced Onaaasis.” Had a few laughs, and enjoyed the music too. My only advice to the guys is to put your track listing on the EP!

madeAVAIL

Solid all around band, and even had classic, “Hey!” chants with the audience--nothing gets me fist pumping faster. MadeAVAIL reminds me of a heavier version of Saves the Day--which is a major compliment. They’re also a band, “after my own heart.” They’ve started what they call their Resistance movement. An uphill battle as anyone involved with social movements knows--but an admirable mission no less. (Bonus points if you can name what movie I’m quoting above.)

Artifex Pereo

Anthony from The Action Blast spoke very highly of these guys, and I wish I would have been able to see them, but they had van troubles and couldn’t make it to the show. Word is they need some help paying off the damages to their road vehicle. Check them out and help ‘em out if ya can.

The Fireship

The Fireship brought the whole family to the show. Another solid local group that’s opening up for a local Chicago favorite Empires February 12th at Lincoln Hall. I’m already looking forward to it.

The Action Blast

One of my newest car-mix essential rock groups The Action Blast didn’t disappoint. I can’t help but think about a band from the past that also got started in Chicago that’s one of the most successful rock bands of late, Disturbed. Sprinkle in a bit of influence musically from what I think sounds a bit like mainstream favorites Coheed and Cambria and you have yourself a live rock show that we’ll be following closely here at Assault HQ. Same thing goes for you guys as the dudes from Onasis, write the tracklist on the EP! There’s one song I still can’t figure out the name of based on the MySpace.

Great show all around. Well worth the $8 bucks + $20 in Blatz beer, and another $20 on merch.

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About the Author

Tim is the co-owner of Assault, and is responsible for the creative direction of both Assault Shirts as well as AssaultBLOG. Follow him on twitter @assault
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