Recap The Queers at Reggie's Rock Club

Giving the middle finger to The Queers is like giving the metal horns to Slayer—it’s an expression of appreciation. The cover of its 1994 release Beat Off is little more than a black and white picture of an entire audience flicking off the camera, and Saturday’s audience at Reggie's Rock Club followed suit. The first middle fingers shot up when The Queers took the stage at 9:30 p.m., and it didn’t come down until it was obvious the set was over.

The pop-punk mainstay opened with “Fuck The World,” and blasted through five songs before pausing to introduce the evening's line-up, which consists of Joe Queer on guitar and vocals, Dangerous Dave on bass, and Adam Woronoff of The Leftovers on drums. Joe Queer made his usual introduction, declaring, “I’m an alcoholic and drug addict,” before the band took off on another speedy trail of classics that included the anthemic “Live This Life” from Beat Off, and the boyish “Ursula Finally Has Tits” from its 1993 release, Love Songs For The Retarded.

Being an all-ages show, the crowd was a strange mix of aging rockers in ill-fitting leather jackets, awkward high school students, and disenchanted posers. Because most of Chicago was boozing all day in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, there was a lot of shit talking among the different cliques in the crowd. One group of drunks was talking about how bad they would like to beat the crusty, 1977-style-street-punks in the corner, while a threesome of girls clad in American Apparel was terrified of going anywhere near a group of girls with multiple facial piercing and neck tattoos. But as The Queers went through its set, everyone became more concerned with singing along than talking shit; except for one older guy, who slyly chucked a beer can at the head of a twentysomething girl, who was perched on her presumed boyfriend’s shoulders. The can missed by inches, and the older just shrugged his shoulders when everyone turned around and stared at him.

About halfway through the show, Wimpy Rutherford—an original member of the band who now fronts for The Drunken Cholos—came out to sing a handful of songs, starting with “We’d Have A Riot Doing Heroin.” While the rest of the band was sporting unassuming baseball caps and just standing around, Wimpy had the look of an ex-con and the stage presence of a caged animal, which helped add a sense of legitimacy to the raw, older songs like “I Want Cunt” and “Kicked out of the Webelos.” As Wimpy belched out songs, the circumference of the pit expanded and more middle fingers shot into the air. The crowd was into it, and, with Wipmy on vocals, the show seemed much more punk than pop.

After less than an hour, The Queers left the stage, and the crowd went back to giving the middle finger—there way of saying, “We want more.” A few minutes passed, and The Queers were back. The group paid tribute to Chicago-punk icon Ben Weasel with its aptly titled track “Ben Weasel,” and gave the audience one last chance to raise the middle finger as the group played “This Place Sucks” for a second time.

The night was exactly what you would expect from The Queers—a straight-to-the-point set covering 26 years worth of songs, lots of energy, and a few laughs. The show didn’t disappoint the audience, nor did it blow it away. Most of the crowd shuffled and stumbled out of Reggies before 11 p.m. with a carefree vibe that only The Queers could provide. Although, the crowd seemed more excited about having a few hours left to drink than about the show it just saw.