My good friend Scott came down this past weekend to hang out with the catalyst of our gathering being the Seven Mary Three show at the local pub and restaurant Austin’s in Libertyville.

I’ve been a huge fan of Seven Mary Three for years. They’re not, I would say, very popular anymore. They exploded onto the scene in the mid-90’s labeled as a “grunge” band, but that really isn’t who they are. They play rock n’ roll songs and the rage at the time was Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Sound Garden, and the Smashing Pumpkins, so they were lumped in with the rest of those guys as “alternative rockers”. It’s a shame; I think they might have done much better releasing their music today without the bias of the grunge colored glasses of the 90’s. Their music is powerful and gritty, and after a good friend of mine, Kurt Warner, introduced me to their music the rest is history, at least for me. I’ve had them on rotation for years and I probably listen to their full catalog at least once a week in between work and play. None the less since then they’ve retained a small but very loyal fan base. They release albums and tour when they can, and thankfully this time around we were able to catch them at a show, five minutes from home no less.

I have to commend Scott for putting up with my taste in music (and my crazy white man boogie and singing). Going to a show with a band your not familiar with can be a tough thing. It’s not like say, U2 or The Dave Matthews Band where if one were not a fan at least they might have heard a few songs here and there on the radio. It was a long night too. We were on our feet for a good five-six hours, after a full day of work, with bellies full of food and drink no less (and I’ll save a story for another time of another unique Jim and Scott dining experience…we’ll leave it why can’t two guy friends go to dinner without the restaurant thinking “they’re a couple”).

On to the show. There is something pretty cool about seeing one of your favorite acts up close and personal. There were maybe 300-400 people at Austin’s in a small intimate venue, you couldn’t help to become part of the music. One of the reasons I really fell in love with Seven Mary Three’s music is the lead singer’s (Jason Ross) voice, it’s pretty unique. If you’re familiar with 7M3 you’ll know what I’m talking about. The live act didn’t disappoint and I was impressed that he was able to maintain the grunts, growls and tone of the recorded songs throughout the entire live show. They audio crew had some issues to deal with for the first four or five songs or so, but they were able to work it out. I really couldn’t notice too much, just that they needed increase the microphone volume; it was hard to hear at first over the noise of the instruments. The only other snafu was a broken guitar string from the lead guitarist, but the roadies were able to get him up and running again with a spare in a few minutes.

I was also impressed with the set list. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but they played a great range of songs from all of their albums including a few new ones from a forth coming release. Maybe I was thinking they would play all new stuff in support of a new album, so I was presently surprised at the variety. They played my favorite stuff, including “Lucky”, “Times Like These”, “Devil Boy” (the highlight of the night) and one of personal favorites “Oven” to start the close of the show. They played 21 songs in about 2 ½ / 3 hours. I was very satisfied and impressed with the performance. It was a great night and a great show and I’m thankful that I finally had the opportunity to Seven Mary Three in the flesh.

The rest of the weekend hanging with Scott was great as well. We had good eats at the traditional breakfast joint of choice the next morning, “The Wild Berry”, had a chance to see “Blades of Glory” with Will Ferrell and even get some classic RP time in. I enjoyed just hanging out more than anything. It’s always good to visit with old friends. And kudus again to Scott for not only putting up with my music fetish but also for putting up with the stack of errands I had to do Saturday morning. I’m looking forward to the next time the entire crew can all hang out, though I’ll promise to not drag them to a concert or run mundane errands during our coveted “guy time”.