A soccer concert comes to life
A Soccer Concert Comes to Life
On a Friday night in February, in a cozy little theater tucked away under an El stop, it felt a little less frozen for the Chicago Red Stars community who are waiting for their beloved soccer season to start.
It’s been several months since the last Chicago Red Stars home game and the last visible soccer memory that resonates so loudly for so many within the Red Stars community is of one of unified harmony.
The 2019 Chicago Red Stars gave their supporters, fans, and casual followers, a long awaited semifinal victory at home back in October. In return, the teams’ faithful gave them a loud final minutes, with post-match scenes to last a lifetime.
As 2020 rang in and the NWSL off season took shape— often in the form of trades, new signings, and the NWSL draft— that can sometimes mean a new era for certain teams and players. For some it may have meant saying goodbye. Closing one chapter to begin another, while not forgetting to say thank you.
So for those left behind, how should we measure our time? The aged old revelation that Friday night gave us was to create new memories.
Let’s Go Chicago
I remain firm in the belief that the events that took place on Friday evening could only happen in this place, in this city, with these people. Supporters group Chicago Local 134 have been around since the beginning of Women’s Professional Soccer in Chicago— and have only gotten bigger, better, and more badass since their inception.
The group and their many moving parts over the last several months helped bring to life what we here at Southside Trap Podcast have been referring to as: A Soccer Concert.
A collaboration that connected Red Stars forward Yuki Nagasato, Japanese international, World Cup champion, and a member of BBB (Bruised and Broken Band) with Scout Ripley—a musical project featuring Southside Trap co-host Claire Watkins— all together on one night to unite so many in harmony once again.
But even the best-laid plans go awry, for this event, it arrived in the form of a minor sore throat for Claire. She’s preparing her voice with the help of “Throat Coat” for the evening’s event when I meet at her apartment before heading over to the Jackalope theater. The herbal blend that will aid her with a numbing effect for her opening act.
Claire and her bandmate, Ian Young, load up our just arrived Lyft with all their gear for the night and we’re off to meet Local 134, Nagasato and BBB.
Finding words that sound good together
Local 134 had informed us earlier that Nagasato and BBB would be at the theater running a sound check at 4pm, upon our arrival Yuki’s instagram famous drums are set up along with microphones, and various instruments. Including the keyboard Nagasato will also be playing later on.
Local 134 and their new clothing partner RAYGUN are there setting up tons of merch for those attending to purchase. BBB is relaxing, having a bit to eat as we all exchange hellos, greetings, and enthusiasm. As Scout Ripley begins their sound check, Nagasato admires the merch table with me, she especially is intrigued by the table featuring stickers from Local 134, before she mentions to me “I would like to sell some art.”
Everyone within the area agrees, as Nagasato retrieves her two framed pieces to be sold. The pink bunny that is rocks out has become a symbol of BBB, one of the pieces has the japanese kanji for Harmony over a microphone that looks like a burger. Nagasato undervalues them, but that gets rectified thanks to two wonderful fans later on who placed bids on the art later.The doors don’t open till 7:30, and it allows me to have a conversation with Jon RodriQuez, bass and vocal front man for BBB. We discuss the journey of BBB and how Nagasato’s arrival to Chicago changed the trajectory of the band a bit as the two of them began to date almost 2 years ago.
Jon works in physical therapy and recalls how assisting Nagasato through a cramp led to a series of unique nicknames for him and ultimately her renaming of the band, which at the time just consisted of himself and their guitarist Matt.
She affectionately referred to Jon as “Banana Beef Boy” after asking him advice on how to deal with cramps, and after he wore a chinese zodiac bracelet of an OX on date once.
“Matt and I [were] together a little over a year before I met Yuki and we never had a name,” says Jon. “So, whenever she was traveling or whatever, I was always jamming with Matt, and she would say ‘I want to play with you guys, you guys need a name, you are now Banana Beef Band! BBB. ”
Initially, Nagasato didn’t play drums with Jon and Matt, but keyboard. Classically trained since she was 4 years old, after playing for Jon and Matt, the duo felt “Not Worthy” and the newly formed trio wrote their first song together, “Rosie.”
Their jam sessions all occured before Nagasato departed to Australia to play in W-League, and in between them all there was still discussion of the band name. Jon remenices how when he first met Yuki he had ACL reconstruction while Nagasato dealt with hamstring issues, and as she played in Brisbane, Matt injured his hand— hence the band being rebranded as Bruised and Broken.
“I met her and we had an awesome summer together for like 3 or 4 months and then she left for like half a year and that's when my songs became, like, really fucking sad because it was just me and Matt by myself!” says Jon. “But that was actually when we wrote a big chunk of our songs. She came back and immediately bought a drum set and we just started working there.”
The band currently has 30 songs in their bank that need polishing, and they added a lead singer as well in their front woman, Gina. As Jon and I wrap up our conversation by the merch table, Nagasato joins in with her camera, documenting the conversation. She’s right to do so, the moment is special. It’s BBB’s first ever public performance. They have only ever played private performances for their close friends and teammates in their finished basement in what has been known as a “Basement Bash.”
Nagasato is in this moment though, embracing it, saying “I cannot believe it. I'm excited. I've been playing drums for like 11 months, almost a year. So, I still cannot believe that I'm going to play in front of people in public!”
Prior to that infamous 2019 semifinal, Nagasato and I sat together to speak about her time in Chicago and being in a band while learning a new instrument, she predicted then that with more practice the band would be ready to play publicly this year. Jon agrees that Nagasato being a soccer player aided her in becoming a better drummer. Nagasato agrees as well, and believes the two things are now inseparable for her.
“I always combine between playing soccer and drums, because the logic is the same for growing or developing.”
Reconcile the Good Things
The theater fills up rather quickly as the doors open. The event was sold out the day tickets were made available, and as seats become occupied, plenty of people are ecstatic to be part of what eventually becomes standing room only.
Local 134’s leader, Maggie Dziubek, kicks off the show by welcoming all those in attendance, which includes some of Nagasato’s Red Stars teammates who came out to support. Dziubek leads the room in a Red Stars chant, because even while this soccer concert is going on, Local 134 is still putting in work, recording the chants for their website as an aid for those looking to join in on chants during game days.
The sound fills the room, and sets the moment for what it is, a representative moment of support built up by a community outside of the soccer pitch that they call home. As Maggie hands the floor over to Claire and Ian, and Scout Ripley proceeds to cement this historic Chicago Soccer Community moment by sealing it with sound.
They open with “Step and a Leap,” a song Claire has so selflessly shared with Southside Trap Podcast, that within the first few beats a number of audience members recognize it. The duration of the set, the audience did what they do best. Support. Even when a banner previously set up during sound check begins to slowly fall in the background, the crowd and Scout Ripley worked through all that together.
Whether it was the familiar sounds of Step and a Leap, or the whimsical violin change that captivated the crowd during “All of Them Witches,” it all became very clear what was happening on this night. An event months in the making was coming to life all thanks to a collaborative breath against a frozen window pane where someone drew a heart on and wrote “Chicago” inside.
As Scout Ripley closed out their set and a small break took place for people to mingle, buy merch, or wisely use the bathroom, everyone eventually reconvened for the closing act of the night, BBB.
Just Another Fish in the Sea
As BBB took the stage, they did so to a roaring Yuki Nagasato supporters chant. Nagasato, dressed in full traditional Japanese Yukata, took her seat behind the drums, and BBB began to perform their first ever public show.
The audience remained engaged and captivated, including Nagasato’s teammates, Morgan Brian, Danielle Colaprico, and Casey Short— who all looked upon Nagasato like proud parents reveling in the joy of a child’s first steps.
Bruised and Broken Band delighted the crowd with their fun style and mixed playlist of various covers and original songs—and in between those, jokes and small anecdotes. Their enthusiasm for the night was infectious, and was rewarded with mutual admiration from those in attendance. At one point, Claire Watkins still playing the role of original composer— instructed the audience to get on their feet, as BBB transitioned into a cover of Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock n Roll.”
Whether it was performing their first ever original song in “Rosie,” or a cover of Jimmy Eat World “The Middle,” BBB gave of themselves the way Red Stars supporters would give on a game day, wholy and loudly.
Nagasato played both percussion and piano on this night, and at its conclusion, she was presented with the 2019 Supporters Player of the Year award, which will be rotated annually, and a commemorative photo for her to keep in recognition of her winning the award— the iconic image of her celebrating a post-semifinal victory with fans.
Exit Song
Friday night was the culmination of long laid plans. Seeds planted early, nurtured, perhaps repotted, before finally blooming brightly.
There are no easy roads. Only long ones, that if lucky, feel like bountiful journeys with the right people in tow, and functions best when we can all work together. It was the spirit of team and community that was the true headliner to break out of the event.
What transpired on Friday night was just a glimpse of what Red Stars soccer community truly is at its core. Compact and loud. Rooted and growing. Here and present. This is a culture where outsiders find themselves wanting to be a part of and perhaps wish they could claim. A culture that exists within the Chicago soccer scene that is uniquely its own. Built through lean and leaner years on the shoulders of Chicago’s kin, by daughters and sons both native and adopted, who do not wilt in winters, but would rather thrive in them.
We at this Podcast have said numerous times how lucky we feel to play a small part within this community. Chicago doesn’t love casually, Chicago loves hard. And it is in these moments that feel like movements where it is truly an honor to be embraced by it.