Shrug off all the fan bitchiness of the last few Metro shows and get ready to ROCK. That seemed to be the silent consensus in the Metro on May 25th.
       For an opening band Iffy won over a good deal of the then-sparse crowd.. Die Symphony, however, were a different story. On a night when the lineup for the show has been changed about ten times, it's a good idea to state who you are. It took me about five songs to realize they were Die Symphony but only ten seconds to realize how much they suck.
       Ego Static...Welllll...I saw them at Rock the Fox and perhaps it was those bad cow-pasture vibes but they seemed to have been in MUCH better form tonight.They've had a few months to practice, I suppose :). Around 8:40 they knocked it off, and who else was left but KH?
       The biggest change of the night came form the crowd - whereas at past shows there's been a problem with, well, NO ONE MOVING AN INCH DURING KILL HANNAH'S SET, the fans tonight got straight down to business. There was a lot of dancing, even some crowd surfing to keep things interesting. The band really seemed to appreciate the newfound enthusiasm. The first confusion of the night was the blue thong hanging from the microphone, but Mat disposed of it by chucking it into the crowd not long after taking the stage.
       Mat also took the time to acknowledge, somewhat humorously, the under-appreciated members of the band, Dan Wiese and Garrett Hammond. The latter cut off his hair and no longer looks like a cocker spaniel, may I add. That could be a good thing.
       "Ten More Minutes with You," a version of which aired on Local 101 a few weeks ago, has been received extremely well by the fans. For those of you who haven't heard it yet...What's wrong with you?
       Another cool addition to the show was the encore of "Stunt Pilots,' the only Here are the Young Moderns song of the show. It shows that while new KH songs may be drifting toward a more radio-friendly sound, even their old songs can get the crowd moving (and are just pretty damn good in the first place!). It's really surprising why they're not signed yet, seeing how they can pack the Metro with their fans alone on nights when they're not even headlining (April 27th). Something big is on the horizon for them. If not now, then when?
       And Mat, thank you very much for bestowing upon me the title of Poet Laureate of Illinois. For those of you who haven't read it, here is my Die Symphony haiku:

Water-soaked britches.
You evil goth-spitting sons
of St. Louis moms.
(Someone in their band soaked me with water.
That's where it all comes from.)

Le Setlist:
   I Wanna be a Kennedy
   Sick Boy
   Crybaby
   Ten More Minutes with You (the new song)
   Boys and Girls
   Nerve Gas
   Big Shot
   American Jet Set
   Welcome to Chicago
   -----------------------------
   Stunt Pilots


Review by Julia Kaye