Stab City, Toys that Kill and Pu$$y Cow at Juanita's in Highland Park, a January Tuesday night

Stab City. This band plays one crazy set. The lead guitarist just wouldn’t stop moving around. He was constantly in motion, either swinging away at the lights above or seeing what strange sounds might result from pressing his guitar against the corner of the wall. In regards to the drummer, I’m not sure if he’s playing the drums or dancing around the drums. He spent time standing atop his drum set, slamming away at it and then taking part of his set with him while jumping to the stage front. When he decided to go back to his seat, he left what he took behind. A couple friends decided to help him by bringing the missing piece back onto the stage. I noticed the drummer yelling, “Leave it there.” They didn’t hear him saying that so I just have to leave it up to my imagination in regards to what might have come next.

Pu$$y Cow. Someone spilled some beer on the stage. I think it was the lead singer, Joe. Joe had to come off the stage while the Juanita staff went looking for a mop. The Juanita staff came back with the mop and began mopping up in the middle of a song. Flaco the bass player helped out a little, taking the mop for a brief while. With one hand on the bass and the other on the mop, his skills at mopping didn’t come through properly. They ended their set with a loose cover of “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye).” They had some CDs for sale. They had sticker prices at $0.25 and upwards. Random prices. I don’t think anyone paid the sticker price. FYI: This is the band that wears the hats, slightly beaten from mosh pit encounters.

Toys that Kill. I couldn’t even really get any solid photos of this band – to the side is a photo, which I just don’t feel captures the band’s stage presence. There was a crush of fans right up against the stage the whole time. I saw one photographer squeeze in for a brief while. I personally found myself immediately slammed to the side as a mini-mosh pit formed. This is an interesting band where two of the guys look like they’re just over the age of twenty-one while the other two look like they might be in their early thirties. This is just an observation, because it shouldn’t matter. This band had the crowd going. They let the drummer have the small stage to himself while the two guitarist and one bassist played in front of the stage. This made for an intimate mosh pit setting – that sounds a bit awkward.

Juanita’s. So this was my first time at Juanita’s – as well as a number of other friends. Cheers to Pu$$y Cow for getting us out there. This show was initially supposed to be at Mr. T’s, but was shifted due to the fact that Mr. T’s is closed for a couple weeks or so. I’ve driven by Juanita’s a few times and often noticed people hanging outside of it. It has a nice area with a patio in the back. One thing to remember if you plan to live in Highland Park, don’t live next door to Juanita’s unless you’re a type that stays up till 2 a.m. – on a work night. As I was walking to my car, one of the bands was playing and I could hear the music loud and clear.