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 Adam Ritchie and his band inside the DMZSteve Schmidt and Link Smith skating in DMZ parking lotSteve Schmidt, somewhere between the heights and downtownGrove Circle Punx - Andy Conrad, Utrillo, Bryan Spinas, Matthew Thompson, Jason White, Josh Bentley (92)
 added story to The Link Springs Forms Event The Link Springs Forms added story to New Wave Festival added story to DMZ opens added story to DMZ opens added story to New Wave Festival added story to Econochrist forms added story to Hatful Day plays their first show added story to Big Boss Line forms added story to Women's City Club Show  |
Das Yutes a Go-Go opens  John Pugh // This was the summer of 24/7 bands. Touring bands, local bands, spontaneous bands, hypothetically bands that fueled a whole night's discussion....Das Yutes was the venue for anyone and everyone at any time. The Riverfront Park scene was getting a little too popular (meaning more police attention) and the "Big On Little Rock" campaign was looking to reclaim the park from public use. The alternative was Das Yutes A Go Go; even more illegal and death-defying, but INDOORS away from prying ears. The place used to be a men's fashion boutique back in the early to mid eighties. The changing rooms were about the only still intact. The roof was a rain-warped sagging pile of tar and rotting wood that eventually caved-in in a few spots. The stairs to the upstairs were luckily non-existent so nobody knew about the roof. The walls however were encrusted with asbestos which was also embedded in the carpet. When people started dancing, a lung-searing cloud of asbestos dust would rise up, engulfing the crowd and band. Construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction was constant...and arbitrary. I remember pulling nails out of the walls and any random piece of wood I could find for hours. The race to ... (More) // I remember seeing At The Drive-In play this show. I don't remember who else played, but At The Drive-In were awesome. Of course this was when no one knew who they were, but when the band went on I remember their singer was all over the place. He was running around the room screaming in people's faces and bouncing off the walls. There were some of the changing rooms behind where the stage was and the singer goes into one of them and peers his head up left and right really quick comes out and continues going off. After the show he saw I was wearing my Minutemen shirt that I had on (What Makes A Man Start Fires?) and he commented on it and we talked for a few hours. He was a really cool guy and it really re-enforced the facts about how accessible this music was and even still is (to some degree). // Das Yutes was the brainchild of Victor Wiley and Staci Mackey. They envisioned a multi-media art space where bands could play and practice, artists could work and the homeless could hang out. The place was completely sustained by donations and lots of kids, and the homeless, chipped in to perform the physical construction. Das Yutes was only around for a year, but held hundreds of shows in its brief existence. I remember seeing the Make Up there with maybe 20 other people in the audience. Ian Sevonius grabbed me around the head and yelped at me for a minute mid-song. I'd seen the Make Up in Chicago with hundreds of kids in the audience and it was a far different experience. The completely DIY sense of the place really increased the intimacy of the show. If you'd contributed to Das Yutes in any way, you felt like YOU were hosting this band, and that's a far different experience than paying $8 at some club. Trouble submitting your story? E-mail towncraft@matsonfilms.com Matson Films reserves the right to edit all responses. Please be courteous to your community. |
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Chicago
Dave Wilkinson
