Panther Style at Reggie’s Rock Club – Chicago, IL – December 30, 2009
By Christy C. • Jan 6th, 2010 • Category: Features, OKR Articles
On December 30, 2009, Chicago-based Panther Style took the stage at Reggie’s Rock Club on S. State street as the second opening act for the self-proclaimed “Greatest Rock’n’Roll Band in the World”—The Supersuckers. Panther Style followed Coldcock Jones and the Shithawks, who got the crowd rockin’ with their own brand of in-your-face Southern rock. It was a tough act to follow, but everyone was in the mood for awesomeness, and Panther Style delivered!
Known as a great place for local and national acts, Reggie’s has superb acoustics with hardly a bad spot in the house. People steadily filled the club during the opening acts, and by the time Panther Style rocked its first chord, there were about 100 people packed on the floor and up in the balcony. Panther Style is a local concoction of Jeanne McClure on bass and lead vocals, Al Rodis on lead guitar, Melissa Koehl on guitar and backing vocals, and Dan Lutger on drums. About opening for The Supersuckers, Lutger said, “This was a pretty big gift for us. I can’t express how excited we were to open for them.”
Panther Style opened with the hard-hitting favorite “Seeing…Just Not Believing.” The crowd was intrigued. They roared through five more songs, including a few new ones, before ending on a screaming high note with “The Instrumental,”
which is not an instrumental. Jeanne shredded it up with all she had on that song. Al Rodis, dressed like a businessman in a tweed jacket, meant business on the guitar. Melissa looked fine and fresh with blond pigtails. Dan kept it together and super tight on the kit.
Admittedly nervous about their first performance in front of that large of a crowd, Panther Style’s stage presence was a little bit lacking, but they kept the smiles on their faces and the cracks between the songs. Tight and well-rehearsed, Panther Style delivered a great show. After the show, Dan showed his self-deprecating humor. “The crowd was wonderful and so polite. I’m just glad they didn’t throw beer bottles at us.” After the show, a concert-goer came up to them with a show poster and asked them all to sign it. “Now we’ve made it,” said Lutger, with a smile.
For more information on Panther Style go to:
Panther Style on Myspace
Panther Style on Facebook
Panther Style on Twitter
Christy C. is a part of our amazing staff at OKR.
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