Andrew W.K. And Local H Perform As Part Of The 'Strange 90s' Benefit In Chicago - Photos And Review

Friday night in Chicago, musicians from across the city and throughout the country came together to pay forward the help they’ve received over nearly four decades from Jerry Bryant.

As host of Chicago-based JBTV, America’s longest running music program, Bryant rose from public access broadcasting, to UHF television, to a national presence on the NBC Nonstop Digital Network and Tuff TV, never changing his focus on promoting up-and-coming, cutting edge artists.

Bryant was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer in 2018 and, following months of chemotherapy, has been left with the resulting bills. Friday night at Chicago’s Metro, the “Strange 90s” benefit brought together Chicago artists like Naked Raygun, Local H, Kill Hannah, Tom Higgenson of Plain White T’s, drummer Matt Walker and more alongside Andrew W.K., Jimmy Gnecco of Ours and Lizzy Plapinger of MS MR.

“This is the first show I’ve been to at Metro where I wasn’t running the camera!” joked Bryant on stage, alongside Metro owner Joe Shanahan, who was diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2014 and donated his venue for Friday night’s event.

Recording concerts at Chicago clubs for later airing on JBTV was long a staple of the program before the shoots were moved in house in 2011. Bryant, despite hosting the show, could frequently be seen running the camera during the concerts. Friday night’s “Strange 90s” performances were all recorded for future airing but Bryant had the chance to sit back and enjoy himself upstairs in the Metro balcony.

“Give it up for Jerry!” said Shanahan. “JBTV has shaped a lot of ears and a lot of eyeballs,” he continued, noting Bryant’s role since 1984 as a tastemaker on stage in a club that’s served a similar role since opening with an R.E.M. concert in 1982.

“You’ve gotta stay positive! You can’t give up,” said Bryant repeatedly of his outlook. “What’s made my life better is all these bands.”

Covers were central to Friday night’s presentation and Jimmy Gnecco of Ours was an early highlight.

The powerhouse vocalist handled maracas on a terrific cover of Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android,” picking up the guitar later during Depeche Mode (“Walking in my Shoes”) and Soundgarden (“Blow Up the Outside World”).

Friday marked 25 years to the day since the release of a pair of seminal 90s albums: Soundgarden’s Superunknown and Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral. Both artists were accounted for Friday during “Strange 90s.”

“I feel very sincerely passionate about JBTV,” said Plapginer. “As far as I’m concerned, Jerry’s a national treasure.”

Plapinger, also known as LDX, was backed by a full band Friday night, including Morrissey drummer, and Chicagoan, Matt Walker. She tore through a set of covers by artists like Bikini Kill and Fiona Apple on International Women’s Day.

Higgenson, clad in a vintage Nirvana t-shirt for the occasion, opened with a solo take on the #1 Plain White T’s single “Hey There Delilah” before moving into full band takes on Weezer and more.

Chicago artists like Kill Hannah, featuring JBTV personality Greg Corner on bass, got back together for “Strange 90s,” opening with their biggest hit “I Wanna Be a Kennedy” before covering longtime mentors Smashing Pumpkins.

And Local H, one of rock’s best, most underrated duos, performed a rare full band set as a five-piece Friday at Metro.

The group got started with the Screaming Trees’ “Nearly Lost You” and moved through Oasis (“Supersonic”) en route to the most well known 90s Local H cut, “Bound for the Floor,” ultimately closing with Radiohead (“Creep”). It was a set which gave vocalist/guitarist Scott Lucas the chance to put down the guitar and embrace his role as frontman, mixing it up on the floor with the crowd as he sang.

“We love you, Jerry!” screamed Andrew W.K. while performing “Party Hard,” a theme which was front and center Friday night.

Chicago punks Naked Raygun closed things out, a band from the 80s trying their best to embrace the evening’s theme by opening with their take on the 90s Smoking Popes cut “Need You Around.”

“I saw this band play at Metro,” said Naked Raygun singer Jeff Pezzati of the Flaming Lips. “I really did!” he continued, setting up the group’s cover of “She Don’t Use Jelly.”

Higgenson, Lucas and more joined Naked Raygun for a rousing take on the David Bowie-penned 1972 Mott the Hoople hit “All the Young Dudes.”

“He’s just pure. He just is literally in it for nothing else but the music and to help promote these new, up-and-coming artists,” Higgenson told Forbes of Bryant last week. “And I think whenever something is that real and that pure, it connects with people. It’s just him. There’s something about him that’s so honest.”

*** For more information on the JBTV Health Awareness Initiative, or to support Jerry Bryant, visit https://www.jbtvmusic.com/