Bustin’ Caps

Sometimes a bad thing turns out good.

Such was the case on Sunday, when my boyfriend and I attempted to see Pink Spiders, a band whose music we consider a guilty pleasure. An absence of Spider schwag inside the Record Bar concerned me. After paying $15 a piece, we learned that the band had dropped off the bill due to a sick singer. That’s what touring the UK with Fall Out Boy gets you.

My disappointment didn’t get my $30 back but it did get us coveted spots on the list for the sold-out late show, which, headlined by Shiny Toy Guns, promised to be much more respectable, anyway.

After one drink, we left the kiddie crowd, but returned in time to catch early show headliner Kill Hannah’s entire glammed up set. The band’s guitars were outfitted with green laser lights. ‘Nuff said. Ultimately, I don’t mind bands spending half their income on hair products and eyeliner. Some heavily made up acts just sell it better than others. Unfortunately for Chicago’s Kill Hannah, there’s already this emo goth band from San Francisco called A.F.I., whose frontman sings so well I don’t care how melodramatic he gets. (I couldn’t stop thinking about A.F.I. the whole time Kill Hannah blasted through one of its own more successful songs, “Lips Like Morphine.”)