Beware the Harvey Danger bandit
It couldn't have been them—Harvey Danger was at the Art Institute.
A.V. Club film editor Scott Tobias and I were just walking in the heart of the Loop—near State and Wacker—when a man on a bike, wearing a Touch And Go Records T-shirt, approached us. “Do you like indie rock?” he said, which I found very slightly insulting and yet comforting. He was holding some CDs that looked like they had the highly recognizable Schubas calendar tucked inside of them.
“I’m in this band, we’re playing in town this weekend, and I’m just out here from the studio blowing off some steam. Maybe you’ve heard of us, Harvey Danger.” At this point, I was 99.9 percent sure this guy was not in Harvey Danger. I’ve met two of the dudes in Harvey Danger, and he was neither. One of the other two is Asian, and this guy wasn’t.
I said something about his T-shirt, and he said, “I used to be on Touch And Go. But now we’re in town recording and album with Bob and Steve—you know, Steve Albini.” We have both heard of Steve Albini, so we’re tight bros. Then he goes in for the kill and says, “We’re out here bringing the music right to the people, just asking for donations.” So, umm, a band that had a huge hit way back when, reduced to selling CD-Rs on the streets of Chicago? No, I didn’t think so, either.
And yeah, I probably should have started quizzing him about his bandmates’ names, but instead I told him that if I had 50 cents, I might give it to him for a CD. But that I didn’t have 50 cents. He took that as an insult and sped down the block, only to approach the next group of young-ish men and ask, “Do you like indie rock?”
It’s a pretty limited line, don’t you think? What if they just say no? What if they’ve never heard of Harvey Danger? Is he coming up with a different band for each person, based on what they look like? And if that’s the case, should Scott and I be offended that we look like Harvey Danger fans? For the record, I like ‘em. I guess I should head to Schubas on Saturday and see if this guy is some kind of ringer, but sadly, I don’t think he is. Just a weird dude in the big city, running a scam that seems oddly misguided.
