The thing about Cincinnati is that while, yes, it might be somewhat of a major city and there’s plenty of cool venues to see shows at, there’s something about getting out of a rocking concert at 9:30 and the city you’re in has no intention of closing down any time soon despite it being a Thursday night. You’re on too much of an emotional high to even dream of going home anytime soon. You just want to use your adrenaline to go exploring and gush about what an awesome night you had.

This was my Thursday night after seeing Mindless Self Indulgence in Chicago at the House of Blues.

We had driven up from Cincinnati in the morning and relaxed with a bit of lunch after getting in, checked into the hotel, napped, and took a train to the venue to begin our night. Normally, this wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but the show started at 5:30 local time for some odd reason. That was a bit weird. Because of this, we missed the first opening band, VentanA. We did, however, make it in time to check out the entire Hyro da Hero setlist, something I am extremely thankful for. While, yes, they do have a pretty big Rage Against The Machine vibe to them, something that was pointed out to me several times, they weren’t afraid to rock the house down, performing in a fearless manner, letting the music do all of their talking and ensuring everyone had a good time. They didn’t care about spreading a political message or starting the movement. They just wanted to have fun and it showed.

While I was quite disappointed that I didn’t get to see Morningwood open for MSI, I’m kinda glad that, in hindsight, we saw Hyro da Hero instead; they left us energized and prepared for one hell of a show (For those going to Warped Tour, Hyro da Hero will be a part of it June 16th to July 15th and I highly recommend going). As for the main attraction, they didn’t disappoint. The band’s, specifically lead singer Jimmy Urine’s, antics between songs were nothing short of hilarious, whether it was him proclaiming to be the next Doctor Who or ensuring that the crowd was a member of the greatest syndicate in the Pokemon world, Team Rocket. While I was a little sad that “Clarissa” and “I Hate Jimmy Page” weren’t played, their setlist was clearly a fan favorite. Whether it was opening with “Shut Me Up,” the crowd in perfect synergy with Jimmy during “Stupid MF,” nailing every drop with perfect timing during the chorus, the acapella cover of Method Man’s ”Bring the Pain,” or the fantastic sing-a-longs for “Faggot” and “Bitches,” Mindless Self Indulgence was a band on a mission: entertain and have fun. I’ll safely say that I’ll never again see a band demand a professional encore by asking the crowd to chant “Uncle Buck! Uncle Buck! Uncle Buck!” simply because John Candy is very funny, which he is. By the time we walked out of House of Blues and into downtown Chicago at nighttime, munching on some deep dish pizza and sporting our tour t-shirts, me and my friend looked at each other and made an agreement: next time MSI is on tour, we’re seeing them, no questions asked.