At the second ever Bloodshot show, the Old 97's, who we'd gotten to know from Rhett and Murray's stints in Killbilly, came up to Chicago and opened for Robbie Fulks, Moonshine Willy, and Freakwater, and left the crowd wondering: "Who were those Proclaimers look alikes and how could they be so good?" The crowds built from there, and the rest is an afterschool special about a band quitting their day jobs, going to the big city and striking it rich, more or less.
Call us homers, but we liked the 97's the best when they were on our label. Something about Lounge Ax and pitchers of beer added up to some of the best live shows we've ever seen. We guess they still rock, but can't get close enough to see with all those screaming teenagers in the way. Kudos to them for getting to play Nintendo on their tour bus.