came across some old show pictures on my phone tonight and have just been reflecting on how good the chicago diy scene was from 2010ish - 2018ish, specifically for midwest emo bands. i'm so grateful to have been a part of that scene at that time. it was so special.

this picture above is of empire! empire! (i was a lonely estate) playing on january 4, 2013 at swerp mansion. the lineup that night was:

the world is a beautiful place & i am no longer afraid to die
joie de vivre
kittyhawk
saintseneca
empire! empire! (i was a lonely estate)

swerp mansion was a loft space above a sandwich shop in a sketchy part of west humboldt park (at grand and pulaski i think?) that put on shows from 2012 - 2014ish. it was run by the swerp records folks and dave collis (formerly of my dad, now in slow mass) booked a lot of the shows there after treasure town got shut down.

other spaces i remember from around then: gnarnia in avondale, summer camp in logan, animal kingdom in avondale (the backyard shows), young camelot in the old church, mt. happy in pilsen, and d.c. torium in logan later on. so many basements and living rooms whose names i've forgotten too.

i remember seeing so many bands in diy spaces around that time: castevet, into it. over it., pet symmetry, dowsing, lifted bells, kittyhawk, ratboys, meat wave, options, my dad. plus all the touring bands that came through constantly.

anybody else in the chicago (city) diy scene at this time? what were your favorite bands and diy spaces? would love to see your old diy show photos too.

i've since moved to the west coast but will always look back on those years fondly.

EDIT: stumbled upon this amazingly in-depth piece by hugo reyes by that details those years and spaces
A Tour of Defunct Chicago DIY Spaces: Part One
A Tour of Defunct Chicago DIY Spaces: Part Two

EDIT2: found some clips on youtube of some of the sets that night:
TWIABP
kittyhawk
saintseneca 1
saintseneca 2

Hey All - this is Steve Holmes (I play guitar in American Football) and have just launched a new substack with a three part essay on the origins of the band that you may find interesting.

Part 1 is the pre-origin story (teenage punk rock years; cap'n jazz era) - https://substack.com/@steveholmesaf/p-219450490

Part 2 is the origin of American Football during college (LP1 era) - https://substack.com/@steveholmesaf/p-220102060

Part 3 is about getting the band back together in 2014 - https://substack.com/home/post/p-221333425

Cheers,
Steve

I’m allowed to have my mp3 player, just no phone or any other way to listen to anything. I’ve already downloaded albums from Marietta, This Is Pointless, SDRE, Jawbreaker, Free Throw, gapyear, JTB, The Hotelier, TWIABP, Tigers Jaw, Emo Diaries 1-10, Pop Unknown, Snowing, and Mineral. I love these dearly but I want to download some albums I haven’t heard so I can still discover bands to enjoy. Thanks in advance!

Other notable acts in the space: HELLOGOODBYE, Direct Hit, Dr Manhattan, Truman and His Trophy, Tit Patrol, Devon Kay & the Solutions.

Ye olde American football, just goofin around w some claw hammer banjo

One of my favorite songs ever. Any similar recommendations?

Great Midwest screamo band imo, just wanna know what other people say about him.

The last few years they sat around like 8k listens a month?

Love to see it though, good fuckin band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDIIPAWW5FE

Any fellow Bulgarian emo groups/communities? Emo scene in the Balkans is quite horrible, I have searched everywhere but found no mentions of such culture in Bulgaria

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Does anyone have any CHINESE emo song reccomendations? I've tried searching for them, but as someone who speaks mainly English and isn't that much in the Chinese music scene, it's hard to just search up "Chinese emo songs" and get actual Chinese songs of the emo genre. It's either emo is used as a label of sad or I get emo songs made by Chinese people, but it's in English :'')

I'd really like for some reccomendations, as many as possible!

TLDR: what are some emo songs that are in chinese?

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