It's only rock and bowl(ing), but I like it

The Family Values Tour rolled in and out of Chicago this past weekend. With a median age in the crowd of about 14, I was a bit out of my element, but I was looking forward to seeing my friend Steve Gillis play with Filter. While I've heard him on their latest CD, I was still having problems visualizing him doing such a heavy rock thing. It's not that I didn't think he could do it, but when you're used to seeing someone playing funk and acid jazz in a small club, rocking out in front of 16,000 screaming kids just provides a little cognitive dissonance.

Anyway, after an afternoon that had me scrambling to play a show in Geneva, IL in front of maybe five people and trying to figure out whether I could bring a guest to the show or not, I made it to the Venue Formerly Known As the Rosemont Horizon just in time to catch Staind, who were thoroughly okay. It just dawned on me that three of the five bands have problems with conventional spelling. Next up was Crystal Method, who might have been better in a smaller venue. And there's enough good dance and house music going on in Chicago to make them seem weak by comparison.

Those two were really the warm-up for the main events, which got underway with a short but powerful set from Korn. Their effect on the crowd was impressive, and set the tone for what would become a recurring theme in how I experienced the whole evening. Watching the band really resonate with the crowd was more captivating than trying to make sense of the muddy acoustics of the room. They just played with a lot of conviction and intensity, and the response was very much in kind. The only questionable move was the huge banner that dropped at the end of the set that trumpeted the upcoming release date of the band's next record. Filter, on the other hand, seemed to play just above the level of the crowd. While I'm somewhat predisposed to liking them, and Steve certainly held up his part of the bargain, I kept getting the feeling that frontman Richard Patrick and guitarist Geno Lenardo were trying a little to hard to look like rock stars. Overall, they executed their songs well, but never seemed to really connect with the audience. It seemed almost like a generation gap, as they were the oldest band on the bill, I think.

The final act, and the one that most of the kids came out to see, was Limp Bizkit. The plainest way I can put it is that they're the modern-day equivalent of Kiss. What I mean by that is that they're dumbing down a popular form of music, and lacing it with a ridiculous-looking stage setup, pyrotechnics, and almost Pavlovian appeals to their fans, exhorting them to scream, squeal and jump up and down almost on command. With Korn, it was as if the crowd was simply compelled to swell and surge with the music. Limp Bizkit came off as much more manipulative, pushing button after button of teen angst, but said teens loved it.

After about half a set of this, I headed to the backstage entrance to try to find Steve. Eventually, I saw him, and we went down to the main floor to look for some other friends once the show was over. I had bumped into Scott from Bomb Pop and Nicholas from Maita Maita after Filter's set, but they didn't stick around. Those of us who did headed out to get something to eat, but the time on the road seemed to dull Steve's sense of direction, so we gave up and went to the bowling alley that had been rented out for the post-show party. This was a pretty interesting scene, with band members, crew, friends, and fans who had secured VIP passes through undetermined means all milling about. I wish I could have eavesdropped on some conversations, as I haven't the foggiest what people would talk about at this sort of thing. Just bowling and pool doesn't sound like enough of a rock and roll story, but that's what went down, and everyone seemed to have a good time.