Last night, Evil said he would be looking for a review from me on here, so here it is. Hope you like it.

I was hoping this would be an illustrated review but, apparently, Target can't find the film I dropped off earlier, so I guess not. They think that they might have sent my pics of last night's show home with the wrong family. I only wish I could be a fly on the wall when whatever suburban Long Island family who did wind up with my pictures opens up the envelope expecting to find pics of little Gina's first communion and instead finds pics of Evil flipping the bird with both hands and Willy with fake blood dripping down his face. Hopefully, they'll return them to Target instead of tossing them in the fireplace.

Last night's show took place at Ding Batz in Clifton, New Jersey, same place I last saw the band almost exactly a year before. Same band, similiar setlist, different show.

I have seen the Independents play at least one show on every US tour they've been on since their fall 2004 tour and a show or two before then. They haven't played a show this good in my presence in a while and one of the best shows of theirs I've seen overall. The only thing that could have made it better was if the stage at Dingbatz had been low enough for Evil to get off the stage and harass audience members. However, he did  do plenty of this from the stage, so all was not lost in that department either.

Adding to the energy from the stage was the fact that Evil was cold sober, allowing him the resassurance that he would only fall on his ass if he tripped over the microphone cord or Willy's and/or Phil's foot. He took advantage of this new security and was wonderfully goofy in his movements around the stage. His verbal goofiness was also very enjoyable and he delivered the songs much better than he did on the same stage last year. Because Evil has begun losing all his alcohol-related weight, he's also easier on the eyes.

Evil was not the only one who did a good job onstage. Willy, as usual, blasted my ears out with his guitar. I enjoyed every deafening second. Same with Ian's drumming. I've never been disappointed by Willy's guitar or Ian's drums, but along with Phil's bass, they both sounded a lot better than I remembered them sounding last year. It seemed like everyone was in a better mood than they'd been in a while...at least at shows I've been to.

The addition of a bubble machine and the delightful butchering of Van Halen's "Jump" helped add to the overall lighthearted mood.

I started the set very annoyed because I had sobered up from the beer I had alloted myself and did not feel comfortable drinking any more because I had to drive home that night. By the end of the set, I had forgotten about all of this until Willy was thoughtful enough to ask me if I was okay to drive home. Willy, if you're reading this, thank you for caring enough to ask and apologizes to you for mentioning the fact that I was trying to do that balancing act in the first place.

Thank you to everyone for making me forget my bitchy mood and giving me the best night I've had in a while. I can't wait to see you again whenever you're in the area again (since i work now, following you guys to Pennsylvania again is out of the question...I was still in school when I did that).

The Independents still have a few more dates left on their 2007 Day of the Dead Tour if anyone wants to go see them:

Oct 21 2007 8:00P	Mill Street Brews	Southbridge, Massachusetts
Oct 22 2007 8:00P	Backstage Enterprises	Kingston, Pennsylvania
Oct 24 2007 8:00P	The Star Bar	Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 25 2007 8:00P	Pegasus Lounge	Tampa, Florida
Oct 26 2007 8:00P	Churchills	Miami, Florida
Oct 27 2007 8:00P	Pastimes Pub	Sarasota, Florida
Oct 28 2007 8:00P	Cruisers	Stuart, Florida
Oct 29 2007 8:00P	1982s	Gainsville, Florida
Oct 30 2007 8:00P	Corbetts Halloween Bash! @ Legends	Greenwood, South Carolina
Oct 31 2007 8:00P	Ground Zero Halloween Bash! w/ WED 13 and Agent Orange * we will be filming this show !	Spartanburg, So