By Kyle Decker
In the Loop
It will be hard to discuss this show without acknowledging upfront that Chicago’s own Shellac was originally scheduled to open before their frontman, the legendary musician and audio engineer Steve Albini, died on May 7th. I’d say “passed away” but the man was never one for euphemisms. Rest In Power, Steve. You are, and will forever be, missed.
That said, “LA punk band farewell tour” seems to be my week’s theme. I caught X on their farewell tour just this past Sunday (7/14/2024) and now I’m seeing OFF! for their last Chicago show at Lincoln Hall (7/18/2024). Morris’s memoir My Damage was also a primary source for my fiction work. So, yeah, a lot of recurring motifs this week.
While OFF! was founded in 2010, its members have been out and about and earning some clout for quite a while. Founding member Keith Morris is an OG LA punk, having been the original singer for Black Flag before forming the Circle Jerks. Other current members are Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides), Mario Rubalcaba (a.k.a. Ruby Mars) (Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes), and Autry Fulbright II (…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead), making the band a punk rock Traveling Wilburys of sorts. A “supergroup”, if you will. Even their session sax player, Bruce Lamont, is known for the Chicago-based jazz metal band Yakuza.
OFF!’s early stuff sounds like it was broadcast from an alternate timeline where Keith Morris never left Black Flag. Hell, the 2010 compilation of 7-inches is even called The First Four EPs which seems to be a nod to the Black Flag compilation The First Four Years, the first four tracks of which feature Morris on vocals. Raymond Pettibon even does both albums’ artwork.
Later albums saw the band incorporate elements of jazz and noise rock and their most recent album, 2022’s Free LSD, functions as the soundtrack for the movie of the same name starring Morris and directed by Coats. Unfortunately, I couldn’t catch the screening at The Music Box the night before the show.
FACS opened the night. And while I wasn’t familiar with them before hearing they were stepping in for Shellac, I liked what I heard. The three-piece’s sound is very much in the Chicago noise rock tradition. The audience cheered when they dedicated a song to Shellac. They’re very much up my alley and I’ll have to dive into their catalgoue and start paying attention to them. I suggest anyone who is a fan of noisy minimalism to do the same. Speaking of Shellac, between the band’s sets the venue played To All Trains, the newest Shellac album which release a mere ten days after Albini’s death. It was somber, sure. But that album “fucking slaps,” as the kids say.
Then, it was time for the main event.
With OFF! being a classically styled hardcore punk band, few of their songs crack the two-minute mark. So, naturally, the setlist was going to be massive. They had an hour slot to fill, after all. The crowd was already cheering as Keith Morris took to the stage to tape down the setlists, which looked more like scrolls. Between his signature hat and dreads and his stubble, he looked like some kind of punk rock wizard as he handled the long sheets of paper and posted them around the stage. Being up at the front as I was, I managed to glance at the setlist and it was clear that the band was going to be playing Free LSD front to back.
It’s worth noting that Autry Fulbright II is not the original bass player for OFF! That would be Steven Shane McDonald of Redd Kross (he’s also been with the Melvins since 2016). I only bring this up because a crowd member commented on it. Saying something like, “That’s not Shane McDonald!” at a volume Fulbright could hear. After a few minutes, Fulbright leaned up to the mic, grinned, and said, “Hi. I’m Steven Shane McDonald and I’ll be playing bass tonight.” It got a good laugh.
The show got off to a rocky start when Dimitri Coats’s guitar amp died during the first song. Was it awkward for a while? Sure. Nerve-wracking even? Maybe. An audience member momentarily broke the tension by shouting, “Acoustic set!” which got a laugh both from the band and the crowd. Look, I’m not the type of rock journalist who wants to build a name on acid-tongued criticism. I’m a storyteller, by nature, and the story here is: “Off! rocked so hard they blew amp on the first song.”
The rest of the band, including Lamont, played a little jazz session while Coats and the crew tried to fix and replace the amp. Morris even joined in with fingerbells. Which, honestly, made the experience unique. Like, how many people can say they saw this group of people do a ten to fifteen-minute jazz session? I went for a show. And I got a story.
“Shit,” Morris joked, “I shoulda’ gone and taken a piss.”
Thankfully a replacement amp was found and the band started from the top. I was leaning on stage and as the second song was starting Keith Morris reached down, grabbed my left hand, held my arm in the air like I’d just won a boxing match, and then aggressively tapped my watch. I was like, “What the hell is going on?” My buddy pointed to the setlist on the stage.
The next song was “Time Will Come.”
Oh, I thought, got it.
The rest of the set blazed through the set as if making up for lost time. A lot of Chicago venues have a hard 10:30 cut-off. Even under normal conditions punk doesn’t so much rock around the clock, as it races against it. OFF! had twenty-six songs to get through and a considerably reduced time to get through them. Songs this short played this fast can get a little disorienting. But the energy was high and the occasional mosh pit broke out. Those seemed to be in short bursts, though, given that much of the crowd appeared to be in their thirties and forties. So, y’know, my age. Lord knows I can’t slam like I used to, and I still have a scar on my cheek from a Viagra Boys pit last September. Also, I just wanted to absorb what was happening. When it’s your last chance to see a band, you should watch.
The song “Kill To Be Heard” certainly took on a deeper meaning given recent events and “these fucked up times we’re livin’ in” to paraphrase some of Morris’s stage banter. Granted all times are fucked up. But with attempted assassinations and a rise in political violence in the news along side the disturbingly typical violence of the randomized variety, the song seems an especially salient piece of art.
From listening to others in the crowd after the show, I got the impression that some would have preferred they played more of the early stuff. But I didn’t mind the focus on Free LSD so much. The album itself was a bit more experimental than the older ones, which were more straight foreward old school hardcore punk. Free LSD takes things in a more noise rock direction, which is really more in my wheelhouse lately both in what I’ve been listening to and have been trying to do with my own bands. I’m of the opinion that it’s their best stuff.
At the end of the show, Keith Morris thanked everyone for coming out and apologized again for the technical difficulties and was very gracious to the audience for their patience.
“This is the mid-west, sweetie,” a woman shouted back, “We ain’t got nothin’ but time.”
Setlist:
“Slice of the Pie” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Time Will Come” (Free LSD, 2022)
“War Above Los Angeles” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Black Widow Group” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Kill To Be Heard” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Ignored” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Smoking Gun” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Circuitry’s God” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Muddy the Waters” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Invisible Empire” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Behind the Shifts” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Worst is Yet to Come” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Suck the Bones Dry” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Murder Corporation” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Keep Your Mouth Shut” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Peace or Conquest” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Free LSD” (Free LSD, 2022)
“Void You Out” (Wasted Years, 2014)
“Red, White, and Black” (Wasted Years, 2014)
“Wiped Out” (Off!, 2012)
“Black Thoughts” (First Four EPs, 2010)
“Darkness” (First Four EPs, 2010)
“I Don’t Belong” (First Four EPs, 2010)
“Panic Attack” (First Four EPs, 2010)
“Upside Down” (First Four EPs, 2010)
“Poison City” (First Four EPs, 2010)
