Chicago’s scene was remarkably inclusive and fun, there wasn’t the aggression that you’d find in other punk scenes, and the Fireside Bowl was its home. So you could see hardcore legends Los Crudos, pop-punkers Screeching Weasel, and a truly weird ska/metal/whatever band like the Blue Meanies on the same stage, sometimes on the same night. Part of what made going to shows at the Fireside so much fun was that they didn’t stick to only booking bands that had a certain sound. Of course, the best dive in the world wouldn’t get a reputation as a great venue if it wasn’t for the bands that called the place home, and Chicago’s punk scene was vibrant and eclectic in the ‘90s. It was at once both a disgusting punk dive of a club and the most beautiful place I’d ever been.

The ceiling tiles missing from above the stage, and, of course the infamous worst bathroom in the midwest (where I once saw some amorous skinheads going at it in a fit of passion/complete disregard or hygiene). The oven-level heat that assaulted you once you stepped inside. Hammer, the diminutive bartender with Mickey Mouse’s voice and an enormous fake gold anchor hanging from his neck, working the door. The dilapidated bowling pin sign above the door. At least it felt that way until I met some like-minded kids at school and made my first trip to the Fireside Bowl.Īll these years later I can’t remember the first show I went to at that Chicago landmark - there’s a very good chance that either Deals Gone Bad or the Arrivals were involved given the insane number of times I saw them there - but I remember everything about the place. I was 14 years old and was lifted out of the most liberal area of the country where my plaid pants and Dead Kennedys shirt never got a second glance and placed in a town that routinely stopped traffic to allow tractors and combines to drive over the narrow bridge. To call it culture shock would be a gross understatement. In 1994 my parents decided to move from the progressive East Bay of San Francisco to a farm town of 10,000 people in Illinois. And what would Punk Rock Week be without a little something about The Ramones. Now I reminisce about the place where I first found my love of punk rock - Chicago's Fireside Bowl - with some tattoos of the bands that made it so special. We bitched about how being a NOFX fan used to be fun and weird, but now it's just problematic. Nikki Swick’s checking account once revealed she spent more than $200 the night before.Īs players began rolling some warm-up rounds Tuesday night, the 38-year-old office manager explained she essentially lost a bet.Welcome to Tattoodo's Punk Rock Week! We're celebrating everything punk this week - from some scary dudes in New Jersey to heartbroken nerds from SoCal, and everything in between. “It attracts a different clientele,” Stewart said. Tuesday nights, of course, people like Mueller come to Rifle to participate in Fireside’s tattoo league, where rollers each week have chances to win a certificate to get a tattoo from a local parlor. “You get your spouse and another husband and wife or spouse combo together and basically go out there and have a good time,” he said. Leagues include Wednesday night men’s and Thursday night mixed. There’s a lot of entry-level leagues that you can join.” “Just get out there and go bowling with your friends and your family.

“Start getting out there and participating in what they call ‘open bowling,’” Stewart said. Which is why Stewart, a Rifle community banker, recently started a high school bowling team with players from Coal Ridge, Rifle and Yampa.įor prospective bowlers, meanwhile, Stewart encourages them to take to the lanes.Īsk people like Roy Munson, Ernie “Big Ern” McCracken, Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski or Theodore Donald “Donny” Kerabatsos, league night is a sacred night, and Rifle is the bowling mecca of Garfield County. “And if you compare it to skiing, it’s much more affordable.” “It definitely gets overlooked,” he said. Nikki Swick bowls with friends at league night at Rifle Fireside Lanes on Tuesday evening.

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