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Outdanced! @ Funky Buddha Lounge, Photos by Clayton Hauck, EveryoneisFamous.com

Toxic Avenger & Franki Chan, two IHeartComix gems, demanded focus. Off the bat, Franki Chan tore that crowd a new one. He spun a mix of Klaxons vs. Treasure Fingers- or at least that’s what registered for me- that killed. Ha, he even played Soulja Boy and got those kids moving, a feat I’d never think possible at that venue. Right afterwards, Toxic Avenger, one of the coolest DJs I’ve met on the circuit so far was more enthusiastic as anybody I’ve ever met regarding their music. Half way through his North American tour, he was stoked about his new material, speaking of a MSTRKRFT remix I wanna get ahold of as soon as possible. During his set, he also dropped a new track that clowned on the minimal scene- “You call it minimal, I call it simple!” Some of the speakers kicked out before his performance, which wasn’t his fault at all, but it is still a drag when you’ve been anticipating the set for a week or two. I hope next time he rolls through he rocks Smart Bar out- kind of how Boys Noize did a few weeks ago.

Justice & Midnight Juggernauts @ The Metro, Photos by Clayton Hauck, EveryoneisFamous.com

Wednesday, Justice & The Midnight Juggernauts performed at the Metro in a show I had been anticipating for a while now. The spot was jam packed, lot of youngsters because of the 18+ accessibility. And as expected, the Midnight Juggernauts were amazing. It’s hard to classify their sound. The dream-rock style played well to the crowd, leaving most careful study of their act, as they built more and more appreciation as time went on. You could tell that most of these kids didn’t know who they were, and probably didn’t know shit about dance music except for two Justice songs, but that’s alright. The Midnight Juggernauts released their first album only a little bit ago, and this was their first time in Chicago, much less America as a whole. Remember, a learning curve is designed to show you how developed your own skills are, not to judge other’s ignorance by. We all know how hype works in this city. I ran into Vincent from the Juggernauts and asked him if I could get a short interview, he said he was willing, but we’ll see if that pans out.

When Justice went on, game over. It was a thousand degrees in there, totally elbows to assholes in a gyrating and pulsating mob of screaming, dancing, frenzied masses. The show went as expected, a lot of the more epic classics that gained them so much praise within the past year and a couple of new remixes that I had yet to hear. Halfway through “We Are Your Friends” they cut the sound out and it was one giant campfire singalong, echoing everyone’s voices off the walls in one collective conscious. Pretty amazing. You don’t really ever get to see shows like this, and if you were there you should consider yourself lucky because there were a ton of people that wanted to be there in your stead. Right as the show came to a close, before the encore track came on I looked at a kid standing by and told him that I was kind of disappointed that they didn’t play the Soulwax “NY Excuse” remix of theirs. He thought for a second and agreed. “That track is killer” he replied. Moments later, Justice took the stage and played it. It was like a bad Twilight Zone episode.

Did you go? What’d you think about it?