Square Roots 2026

I saw Scott for about 2 seconds and only exchanged texts with Bill - so I was here almost entirely solo.

Riot Fest at Douglass Park

Stiff Little Fingers at Metro

Ricky Warwick opened. Apparently he's the singer for Thin Lizzy now. Anyway, he played a solo acoustic set. Bill described him as an Irish Billy Bragg. Which was pretty accurate, but he wasn't nearly that political (if at all). He closed with Ace of Spades, so that was cool.

Stiff Little Fingers killed it. Were they old? Yes. Did they play loud and fast? Yes and yes. Opener Suspect Device set the tone. I think they played their songs faster live (which seems normal for young bands - but this was no young band).

I had stabbing pains in the abdomen which finally overcame me halfway through Barbed Wire Love (which opened the encore). I heard that and closer Alternative Ulster gripping the railing trying to remain upright by the bathroom downstairs. It sounded good anyway. Was it just brutal gas? Kidney Stones? Something more nefarious? Only time will tell.

I eschewed the lakefront ride, and biked straight home. The sky opened up five minutes after I got in, so I guess I made the right call.

Evil Twin at the Bookclub

Riina's band!  It was hot.  Weird to be at a show with a bunch of kids who I saw grow up.

Altars 'headlined,' but Amy and I didn't stick around.  I think most everyone else did.  Jo said they were great.  Amy left the Spark on, AC running, for the entire show.  I guess that's an 'advantage' of an electric car.

Cafe Tacuba at Concord Music Hall

Riot Fest at Douglass Park

Eddie Palmieri at Millenium Park

A perfectly pleasant evening picnicking downtown.  I picked up banh mi for Amy and I on my bike ride down.  I got to bike over that crazy windy "new" bridge.  Amy and i also strolled over it to gawk at the climbing wall.  I also showed her where i broke Jonah.  Oh, there was some salsa music too (we even saw folks, mostly old or young, dancing).

Cafe Tacuba at the Portage Theater

I hadn't heard Cafe Tacuba before this.  I'm not entirely certain i had even heard OF Cafe Tacuba before this.  Ingrid talked me into going.  Well, she asked if i wanted to go and i said yes...

Anyway, the show was unbelievable.  The wait for them to start was interminable, but once they went on ... boyoboy.  Crazy costumes, crazy lights and a crazy mix of musical genres.

I'm now a fan.

Dropkick Murphys, Naked Raygun at the Congress

I had forgotten all about this show until Ingrid reminded me that we all went and she actually drove us.

Memory now jogged, i do remember driving around looking for parking, Raygun (especially Pezzati) seeming a bit stiff to start the show, and i think this was the show i saw the Murphys cover the Clash (Guns of Brixton).  I liked it; it left Johno a little cold.

The internet tells me that the Parkington Sisters joined the Dropkick Murphys, and that does sound familiar.

[EDIT - oh yeah - this is the show that Emmett was supposed to come with, but was too sick.  I seem to remember him not being that sick, but Amy does.  At any rate, him not being there really saddened me.]