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Thursday Nov. 2: Rancid plays the Riviera in Chicago. My punk rocking companion and I arrived at the show with much time to spare (at his strict insistence); however we ran into an unscheduled delay. As my friend attempted to slink his Mohawk-shaven cranium in the door he was dismissed to the car due to his spikes, chains and metal-plated leather straps by the quote, "Fascists at the door!" After a weight reducing strip down outside of my automobile he was finally given clearance and I snuck in behind.

Opening for Rancid were The Distillers and AFI. As I watched the heavily applied, flaming red lipstick drool from The Distillers’ lead singer’s mouth I was reminded of why these shows are not a common occurrence in my life. The heavily distorted barre chords and raspy vocals have never really found a place in my heart. My overly excited ally referred to the Distillers as quote, "Hardcore", whatever that means, but even he turned his head as AFI’s lead singer helplessly whirled around stage looking for which mike to scream into next.

After remaining stationed in a seemingly safe side view position for the first two bands I finally worked up the courage to mix into the middle for the real reason I was there: Rancid. The idea of trying to deflect reckless punksters in a moshpit and still maintain legible notes is a bit chaotic; so my note taking ability was reduced to jotting down a playlist whenever I recognized a song.

From my scribbles I was able to decipher this setlist: "Maxwell Murder," "Avenues & Alleyways," "Listed MIA," "Rejected," "Roots Radicals," "Time Bomb," "Rats in the Hallway," "You Don’t Care Nothin," "The War’s End," "Lock, Step & Gone," "The Ballad of Jimmy and Johnny," "Black Derby Jacket," "Hoover Street," "Journey to the End of the East Bay," and for an Encore "New Dress" and "Salvation".

Rancid is the sole reason why there is punk CD’s in my collection. Matt Freeman, Rancid’s Bass player, evidently has individually operating brains and cerebral systems in both his hands; this is the only logical explanation that his fingers could react so rapidly to the frets and strings of his instrument. It was a delight to see the band’s lead vocalists, Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederickson, pair their unique voices to create that authentic Rancid sound.