Lightning Bolt In Chicago This Saturday !
How many of you all, will be dead ????

a friend and I drove in from champaign to see this show. we got there at about 5pm and there was already about 30 people sitting outside the doors of cobb. so instead of walking around we decided just to sit and wait. while waiting we got to meet a whole cast of characters of that ran the entire spectrum of annoying. we met Chris the 19 year old high school drop out that wanted to wax intellectual about everything, but seemed to know nothing but names and isims. he was also making sure to let everyone know that he was "soooo wasted on vodka and took some rad mushrooms." we had the kids that thought they were bad ass because they snuck down some beer. many many oh so ironic fashion hipsters. we also got to witness a conversation on Coltrane where they went on and on about how "lame" he was, but they could not even name an album of his.
so after waiting two hours in this (7pm), we were informed that the entire line (which had grown pretty big by now) had to go wait outside, thus causing us to lose our good place in line. once outside the line was immediately informed that "opps, we need everyone to go back inside."
at this point we decided to leave and just go see Burning Star Core.
the end.

Come on, somebody here had to have seen this show. Let's hear about it!

I was among those turned away-- and had expected that this would happen. The cops appeared to really enjoy observing the crowd. I was planning to stand around and listen to the show from outside, but the urge to have some drinks combined with my aversion of the opening band led me to depart.

One of the radio station idiots said that the show info had been posted on Pitchfork. I'm sure the organizers will be tempted to blame this whole fiasco on Pitchfork (which would be very fashionable) when in fact people were going to be bummed about not getting in, no matter what.

I'm a radio station idiot who wasn't involved in the show (I couldn't even stay to hear them, unfortunately), but I feel really badly about how irresponsibly this was done, and so do a good number of the people who were running it.
The place wasn't filled anywhere near to capacity, and the venue was basically too small. From what I hear, the band was also pissed about how few people got in, though they DID request a small venue.
I just don't understand how this was ever assumed to be workable, though. Honestly, nobody was expecting this not to be packed, and I get the clear impression that somebody must have willingly decided beforehand that hundreds of fans would get turned away. Which is obviously bullshit.
This also feels like a total failure for the station, because it would've been a real oppotunity to get people to actually listen, and to get more bands to play here in the future. Instead, it just directly alienated people.

I hear it was good, though. Maybe I can still make it to Omaha in the next five hours...

gadji beri wrote:The place wasn't filled anywhere near to capacity

hundreds of fans would get turned away.

Which is obviously bullshit.

What exactly was going on at the door if people were outside when there was acceptable space inside? Can you elaborate? Was some message passed to door personnel to halt admission?

Honestly, I'm not really in a position to say, since I wasn't there.
I can only assume that all of this chaos is the result of people in charge being overly cautious.

Hi everyone, I stumbled across this and figured it might be good to chime in.
I'm a WHPK dj who was placed in the unfortunate position of being one of the goons for the show, but couldn't affect policy or anything. I may get in trouble for this but who gives a shit. The 150 people thing was complete bullshit, turning people away was ridiculous and aggravating, my fellow peons and I felt like absolute shit about the whole thing and at numerous points i had to suppress the urge to just start letting people in the back because I would get fired and shitlisted if caught/ it wasn't possible. The chaos of the whole thing apparently happened because Lightning Bolt wanted a "small" show, maybe the station took that too far, but originally there were going to be other shows in chicago. That's still no excuse for what happened though. I don't know if it is my place to apologize, but to everyone who couldn't get in I'm sorry your night was fucked up.

clocker bob wrote:

gadji beri wrote:The place wasn't filled anywhere near to capacity

hundreds of fans would get turned away.

Which is obviously bullshit.

What exactly was going on at the door if people were outside when there was acceptable space inside? Can you elaborate? Was some message passed to door personnel to halt admission?

They weren't letting people into the room until 9 and prompty upon letting people into the hallway the police freaked out and drove everyone else away.

It was a free show in a too-small venue. The problem just seems to be that the station didn't realize it was responsible for hosting a real show, and the band should've played more than once in Chicago.
Anyway, I'll shut up, because I don't have enough information to make any sort of legitimate analysis.

Who did get in, though? Was it worthwhile?

Am I the only one who finds it more than a little amusing that *Lightning Bolt*, of all bands, has generated a hip scenester following? This is a band that used to play in parking lots, on the back of a truck with a generator, and in that guy's kitchen in Lubbock, Texas.

I also can't imagine a band who is less concerned with projecting a "hip" image than Lightning Bolt. These cats dig Dungeons and Dragons, progressive rock and Lord of the Rings, for Christ's sakes.

With that said, they are amazing people and an amazing band, and they deserve all of the success they've received.