Spitalfield’s “Remember Right Now 10 Year Anniversary Tour” – REVIEW

We had the grand pleasure of attending the Chicago date of Spitalfield’s “Remember Right Now 10 Year Anniversary Tour” at the Bottom Lounge. You can check out our review of the night’s festivities, after the break.

I was thirteen years old when I first got a Victory Records sampler CD with Spitalfield’s “Those Days You Felt Alive” on it. Needless to say I was hooked ever since, the bass tone… I mean come on! Possibly one of the best bass tones I have ever heard to date. Sorry about that, I just had to fan boy, it’s been one of the biggest reasons I play bass, but anyways. Spitalfield are the epitome on early/mid 2000’s Chicago (and the country’s) music scene and in my honest opinion the best band to come out of Chicago during that period. They may not have been “the biggest” but certainly the most talented overall. They stayed just big enough to have a cult following and best of all, they disbanded before selling out like many other bands who have sullied their name in doing so, which solidifies them as a great band. So in the grand scheme of things, as bad as it sounds, for the music and sake of their art, it was a good thing that Victory Records tanked Spitalfield and all the various other bands that use to be on their label. The ones who got out, they made a good living, but the ones that stayed, they were sucked into a vacuous black hole of shit and barely held onto the dream of playing music. Spitalfield died young (metaphorically) but damn, can they rise again for one hell of a (second) comeback.

Jon Walker, honestly I had never heard of him, but I can understand why he was opening for the show. He’s an acoustic artist, very mellow voice and essentially someone who Mark Rose would play with in his day to day gig as solo artist/musician. Honestly it is what it is, he was good for what he was and as far as opener, he wasn’t that bad. I can get that they wanted to have good friends tour, and it doesn’t hurt that Jon is the drummer for Shane Henderson and The Future Perfect (the second band of the night). The chatter was constant in the crowd and it was great background music while the crowd slowly shuffled in and slowly started to get more and more intoxicated.

Continuing the night was another band that honestly, was in my mind, kind of forgettable. The only thing keeping me interested was the fact that the lead singer physically and vocally reminded me of someone and I just couldn’t figure it out. Then I had it! There were a few vocal que’s that gave it away; Shane Henderson was (is) the lead singer of Valencia. Which 30 seconds after I had figured that out, they announced the fact that he and the other guitarist were in fact from the band Valencia. Another blast from the past, I was 16 years old and I had seen Valencia at The Elk Grove VFW circa 2005. I remember being packed in like sardines in the hot, humid and sweaty second floor as Shane got in my face and I sang back every single word to “The Space Between”. Those were the good old days, VFW’s, KOC’s and St. Paul’s School of Rock, they don’t throw local shows like they use to… too many break downs and not enough originality. Shane Henderson and The Future Perfect were a good leeway into Spitalfield bringing back the memories of my teen years.

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Literally three seconds into “Those Days You Felt Alive” I was being thrown around and smashed side to side. The only thoughts going through my head were “I hope my camera doesn’t get fucked up”, “When was the last time I was in a pit?” and “I’m too old for this shit”. But despite all this going on in my head, subconsciously and unknowingly, I was simultaneously snapping off shots and singing along with every single word that came out of Mark’s mouth. Before I knew it they were three songs deep into one of my favorite albums of all time. The banter was witty in-between songs (which helped me change lenses and make sure my gear wasn’t broken), just like at Mark’s solo shows. I was most impressed with TJ’s stage presence, he was all over the place, his hair was all over the place and he was still dropping the killer bass riffs that I use to try and play along to when I was younger. This show was panning out to be one of the best of the year so far. I remember when I was 14 years old and whenever there was a Spitalfield show, it was the main event, the best thing to happen that month; it was essentially the super bowl of shows. This show brought me some huge nostalgia points, and this time I’d get to take photos and I had more than a $15 per week allowance, so I could actually buy merch, because I’m a damn adult now… On that note, thanks Mom for supplementing my early years of going to shows and not beating me to death because I’d be out all hours of the night watching bands like Spitalfield. By the end of the show I was putting my arms around other fans, singing my lungs out and just enjoying the fact that we were all family that night, thanks to the rad guys in Spitalfield. After the last note rang out, I was fully satisfied, but pretty bummed at the same time because it was over. I know that they’ll have more shows in the future, but damn, I don’t think any other show I see them play can surmount to how perfect this night was. One of my favorite all time albums performed by one of my favorite all time bands. I couldn’t ask for more.

Information about the review…
Tour: Spitalfield’s Remember Right Now 10 Year Anniversary Tour
Bands: Spitalfield, Shane Henderson and The Future Perfect, Jon Walker
Reviewer: Jim Vondruska
Photographer: Jim Vondruska
Date: June 7, 2013
Venue: Bottom Lounge in Chicago, IL

Did you enjoy this review? Did you go out to any dates of this tour? Let us know in the comments below!