Falling Down With The Pros

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 17, 2006 2:15PM

We enjoy getting all fall down drunk just as much as the next guy, but we’re not so fond of doing it surrounded by a bunch of amateurs. This makes St. Patrick’s Day a bit of a conundrum since this evening seems to bring out an enormous number of idiots blaming their bad behavior on their “love o’ the Irish.” Luckily for us there is an annual option to embrace in lieu of sitting huddled in a corner, rocking back and forth, just waiting for the legions that can’t hold their liquor to finally pass out and sleep it off.

The Beer Nuts are a Chicago tradition. They play Double Door every St. Patrick’s Day. Their set list rarely varies. They’re kind of like the Blue Man Group in that if you stand near the stage you’re going to get covered in crap. Unlike the Blue Man Group that crap will likely make you drunker than you already are. Most importantly, they are not the sort of band to be embraced by any with a weak constitution anytime soon so their mixture of punk rock classics and their own riotous compositions remain a safe haven on this holiday boozehounds love to hate.

This year’s annual show kicks the energy up a notch, far beyond Emeril’s “Bam!” territory, with openers Muchacha. This punk rock power trio went on hiatus a few years ago and were written off as yet another in the long list of Chicago shoulda-coulda-weren’ts. Luckily for us the group decided to rev up the ol’ engines earlier this year with a couple low profile shows and even more luckily for Muchacha they didn’t suck. In fact, their jackhammer pop tunes have only grown tighter and stronger during the intervening years.

So celebrate St. Patrick’s Day tonight at Double Door the way it’s meant to be celebrated; covered in beer, with perforated eardrums and lots of sweat and smoke.