Rocket From the Crypt at Metro, Chicago (October 17, 2026)
- Middle
- Born in ’69
- On a Rope
- Young Livers
- Drop Out
- Misbeaten
- Fat Lip
- Suit City
- Ball Lightning
- Burnt Alive
- Straight American Slave
- Carne Voodoo
- White Belt
- Heart of a Rat
- Savoir Faire
- Spitting
- My Arrow’s Aim
- I’m Not Invisible
- Bring Us Bullets
- I Know
- Panic Scam
- Made for You
- Come See, Come Saw
- 10/24 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
- 11/7 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
San Diego post-punk and rock ‘n’ roll band formed in 1990 and led by John Reis (aka Speedo), also of Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes. Debuted with Paint as a Fragrance in 1991 and broke through with the 1995 Interscope release Scream, Dracula, Scream!. Reunited in 2013 and has played sporadically since, including an annual Halloween show
1995 was a banner year for post-punk legends Rocket From the Crypt. After a short hiatus in 1994, they returned with a flurry of recording sessions that would yield an EP, two albums, and three (unrelated) vinyl singles. Every time I visited Cheapo on Snelling, it seemed like there was something new to grab: a year of consistently great surprises that cemented them as my favorite band.
But even more unreleased material from that period has recently come to light. RFTC front man John Reis keeps an eye on auctions, looking for artifacts from his own career, because a lot of his band’s work ended up lost, stolen, or seized by banks from failing recording studios. Earlier this year, he went through the process of restoring tapes that turned out to contain early versions of songs from their breakthrough Scream, Dracula, Scream! (the second of those two 1995 albums, but their major label debut). Encouraged to release the rough material, the band decided to make it available – but only at a handful of shows across the country.
So that’s how I found myself on a plane to O’Hare, with a ticket to the Metro, and no real firm plans for the weekend outside of “buy a record”. Insane, I know, but: I was far from alone. In line to buy that record, I met two other people who had also embarked on their pilgrimage from Minneapolis. From the stage, John Reis would remark, “we love you, Chicago,” adding “…and we know a lot of people came from very far away to be here tonight, too”. (He couldn’t help adding “but we came from even further away, so: we beat you.”)
That merch line would snake up all three flights of Metro’s stairs, making me wonder if I’d have my record and be in place by the time openers The Get Up Kids took the stage an hour later. I’d seen The Get Up Kids in August 1998, theoretically “opening” for RFTC, whose bus had broken down. Here in 2026, though, I would make it back just in time (merchandise secured) for their energized, emo-tinged set, which included a couple songs they’d played 28 years earlier. Lead duo Matt Pryor and Jim Suptic were obviously stoked to be playing with RTFC again, all smiles through 45 minutes of career highlights. New material from them features Dustin Kinsey on guitar, not synths, for a three-guitars attack that sounded great from the balcony.
But it was RFTC’s night in Chicago, having not played here since Riot Fest in 2022. As promised, they served up 10 of Scream, Dracula, Scream!‘s 14 tracks, including a couple that hadn’t really been played in RFTC’s heyday. (“And we’re about to show you why,” smirked Reis.) That would give way to some material from 2001’s Group Sounds and 2002’s Live From Camp X-Ray. The crowd responded to all of it, though, if you’re a fan dating back to this era, you should talk to your doctor about turning 50, because you just did. There was more swaying and nodding than dancing or jumping, and that’s understandable. A kid with a delightful Chicago moustache tapped my shoulder and pointed at my LP: “is that what the merch line is about?” Yeah, man. “That’s sick.”
Metro’s sound stage came short of fully delivering RFTC’s enormous sound, but those six guys do so much, they’re hard to capture, even on record. The horns got a little buried in the mix, and background vocals were a little tough to pick out, turning them more into textures than studio-perfect separation we’re all used to. No matter: the energy and theatrics of the show (the winking rock-star posing, the matching, sequined outfits, the tiniest bit of choreography) created a party atmosphere that wouldn’t fit acoustic perfection. Reis felt the same way, apparently, rejecting the show-biz advice of “leave them wanting more”. “No. Why? So you can go home and listen to some other band? We want you leaving this show saying ‘that was perfect – I never want to listen to music again. Only podcasts.'”
The band would leave the stage, returning to play some selection from 1998’s RFTC, but wrapping up with the Scream, Dracula, Scream! cut that has become a vamping-but-tight setlist mainstay: “Come See, Come Saw”. Leaving the club, I saw the merch line pick back up, full of record-seeking fans who truly might be ruined for other music forever.
Rocket From the Crypt at Metro, Chicago (October 17, 2026)
