There are five cds that remain in my music library from 1997. Two that I will admit to still listening to—one being, well two actually, Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The second being, . . .The Dandy Warhols Come Down.

I, along with many others, was instantly captivated by this Portland based group when I initially spied their “Not if you were the Last Junkie on Earth” music video on MTV’s long gone 120 Minutes. The video had satirically glamorized heroin abuse with dancing syringes as sexy man (at least to the 14-year old boy deprived version of Jodi) Courtney Taylor-Taylor deadpanning beat his guitar on the cartoony stairwell backed up by his additional Warhols; banging out catchy alternapop galore. I loved it immediately and picked up the disc which beheld additional gems like “Boys Better” and “Minnesoter.”

Although the 97 release was a staple in my cd wallet, I forgot about my alterna pals for a few years until college came and went and I was reacquainted with 2000’s Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia and 03’s Welcome to the Monkeyhouse. “Bohemian Like You” and “We Used to be Friends” blew up the advertising soundtrack background, as well as my portable cd player. Those kids just knew how to make some dancey kitsch pop rock noise.

Since I joined the adult world, however, I have once again lost touch with my Dandies. I know they came out with a record a few years back, Odditorium or Warlord of Mars, but admittedly, I’m still yet to check it, as well as their most current release,. . . Earth to the Dandy Warhols. Other than what I’ve spied on MySpace or Seeqpod, I guess I wasn’t really sure what was in for store this past Friday night. All I knew was I was going to revisit my favorite pack of Alt rockers from the late 90’s, but live for the first time. The reviews I read for the new record weren’t as promising as I had hoped, but I wasn’t going to let that lead me. I just hoped to hear some old gems, and was in the mood for the same open, guiltless fun I stumbled upon 11 years prior.

And needless to say, the D.W’s brought it full force to their sold out Chicago crowd, rocking the stage of the Vic Theatre with their incredible full sounds and illuminated background light show. Opening up the night were the Upside Down, who warmed up the pre-crowd with an interesting array of dark and subtle, 80’s goth rock vocal action backed up with tambourine shaking and guitar wail-off action. Next up to bat was Darker My Love, who I had never actually checked prior to Friday night. DML pumped out some slinky, midnight smoky pop rock with some catchy hooks and melodic guitar beats. The crowd ate it all up.

But really, as rad as The Upside Down and Darker My Love proved to be, the crowd was hungry for their Warhols, who finally took to the stage shortly after the 10 o’clock mark. The fearless foursome’s stage line-up was perfect for the show with their side by side front line set up. Equal attention was given to all four Warhols as was definitely deserved. I was at a loss of concentration for creating a track-by-track set list, but all arrays of sound were represented fully, the distorted psychedelic riffs, the upbeat pop dance anthems, the slower and seductive rock gems and of course, several tracks from the new record which I am now acquainting myself with as I type.

Highlights from the set include the second track played, “We Used to be Friends,” “You are the Last High,” “Bohemian like You,” “Good Morning,” and “Boys Better.” Only disappointment, if any, was that my old fave “Not if you were the Last Junkie on Earth” was painfully absent from the line-up, but since the group performed to younger and older fans alike for two hours, I don’t feel I have any grounds to complain. My roommate who had never heard a single song from the group still walked away thoroughly pleased—the Warhols put on a stellar show with solid stage presence, a lot of sweating, dancing and jumping in pleasure. Even keyboard player Zia McCabe commented that on the Friday night, sold out gig, it was a “really fun fuckin’ show.” Come back soon, Warhols, Chicago agrees.

Myspace: The Dandy Warhols