#The bomb at fireside bowl Patch
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It is replete with the swelling emotions that might be spurred on by locked away memories unearthed by a familiar scent or crack in the concrete, or the rush of warm apprehension when coming face to face with a lover left before the fire was close to going out. The again self-titled American Football finds the band with new material that takes them on a serendipitous detour down a familiar road. A quarter of a lifetime removed, and at times thousands of miles away from the house on the sleepy street in the middle of Illinois depicted on their debut album’s iconic cover, they found themselves playing to sold out crowds that numbered in the thousands in London, Tokyo, Barcelona and beyond. When American Football announced in 2014 that they would play live for the first time in 15 years, the built up appreciation for that eponymous LP physically manifested itself as they sold out 3 nights at Webster Hall in New York City in a matter of hours, and then went on to do the same at venues around the world. The record the only artifact left behind as a timeless snapshot of a group of individuals in transition, newly discovered each year by a fresh crop of music fans reaching a similar inflection point in their own lives.

To most everyone that found them after the fact, the band was no more than an apparition. Over time, the record went on to become one of Polyvinyl’s best selling releases to date, and ended up serving as “one of the single most influential rock records of its time” according to Noisey and many others.

Such an inauspicious turn of events made what followed all the more incredible. And I think I did.Not long after Polyvinyl Records released American Football’s self-titled debut album in 1999, the band called it quits, having only played a smattering of Champaign-Urbana college house parties and sets at small clubs like Chicago’s legendary Fireside Bowl. I felt like every show at the fireside I was witnessing history. I was at a Dillinger Escape Plan show where they tore down ceiling panels. I wish it was gone, or still as awesome as it used to be. I get kind of mad when I go by the fireside and it is still there. The show was great, but I never saw or heard from Andrew again. Why anyone would have sex in that bathroom is completely beyond me. I remember going to the bathroom and seeing a purple condom in the toilet. It was so hot and sweaty inside but nobody cared at all. I later became his stand-in for the mailing list, taking down people's email addresses to send them the weekly local show list. He was really into the fireside and promoting shows there and hanging out with people. His name is Bobby, and he went by the moniker JimBobLove. There was a guy there who I would later become great friends with who ran a mailing list, I can't remember the name of it though. When I walked through the bar to get to the show, a guy with a big neck tattoo offered to buy me a beer. I lied to my parents about who I was going with, and took the red line to Fullerton and then took the bus there. He told me he was going to see them at the Fireside Bowl and that I should meet him there.

#The bomb at fireside bowl Patch

I was taking classes at the Art Institute, and I met this guy Andrew who had a Lawrence Arms patch on his bag. It was the summer before my freshman year in high school, so that would make it summer of 2000.

March 9th, originally uploaded by rebecca ann rakstad.