The Privates Pilot Their Local-Rock Time Machine Back to 2008

The Spin rolled up to The Privates’ reunion show at The Basement late on Saturday night.

Just kidding. During the local indie-rock band’s heyday, the team behind the Scene’s live-review column was not known for its promptness. But in the decade-and-a-half since then, The Spin, like much of Saturday night’s crowd, has gotten a little older, a little grayer, a little more punctual. Despite the weekend’s nonstop rain and a post-election sense of malaise that just won’t seem to wash away, The Spin arrived right on time for the release party celebrating the long-awaited first vinyl album from your favorite local band’s favorite local band.

The evening’s first dose of nostalgia came courtesy of Matt and the Watt Gives, the new project from former Features frontman Matt Pelham. Pelham — whose fellow former Feature, Privates drummer Rollum Haas, was also part of the ensemble — spent much of the set seated behind a Wurlitzer. But that didn’t stop him from belting out tunes like “Strange Devotion” in the gravelly, high-power voice that fans came to know well during The Features’ two-decade dance with regional stardom and major label flirtation. Some songs were peppered with occasional blasts of Sgt. Pepper-y trumpet, while others — like the choogling debut single “Cutting Ties” — were hard-charging thumpers with shades of Dire Straits. 

“It took us about 11 years, but we’re ready,” said Privates frontman and principal songwriter Dave Paulson just a few minutes later, looking out at a roomful of familiar faces transported straight from the local rock scene circa 2008. Though The Privates technically never officially called it quits, it has indeed been just over a decade since the group’s last show — another one-off at the since-shuttered Stone Fox in 2013. But the foursome locked in quickly with power-pop bangers like the 20-year-old “Karate and Explosions.” That song, 11 other classics and a pair of newly recorded tunes are all featured on We Are Really Rocking Now, Haven’t We?, the August release from longtime scene-booster Michael Eades’ august YK Records. 

The two new songs, “Don’t Take It Out on Me” and “Old Times,” both slipped in seamlessly among The Privates’ vintage numbers on Saturday night. But two older songs in particular — “I’ll Be Honest” and “You Never Take Me Dancing,” a pair of nervy, off-kilter punk-pop offerings — showed perhaps better than any others just how well The Privates’ individual pieces snap together when everyone is firing on all cylinders. From behind a Bronson-esque mustache, Haas offered his impossibly athletic beats, while polymath Ryan Norris (now a Chicago resident) bounced between keys and guitar, and Keith Lowen stayed locked in at stage left, grounding it all with his melodic bass lines. 

Set highlights included a playfully grumpy spat between Haas and Paulson over tempos, a cameo from local multi-instrumentalist Dan Sommers on trumpet, and lots of new-to-us Privates lore provided by an effusive Paulson. (For instance: He lifted the title “You Never Take Me Dancing” from a billboard advertising Travis Tritt’s 2007 song of the same name.) The band closed its main set with the explosive “Pocari Sweat” before Paulson told us they were going to just slip straight into their encore since, of course, there’s no backstage to sneak off to in a packed and sweaty Basement.

The boys encored with “Song 2” — no, not that “Song 2,” but rather their own “Song 2” from 2005’s Louder Than Lightning. That transitioned into a cover of “Song 2” — yes, that “Song 2” — the sort of meta, funny but genuinely rad surprise The Privates have been known to pull. (We can’t say for certain that the Blur song has been played by Paulson’s prolific ’90s cover ensemble My So-Called Band at some point over the years, but we wouldn’t be surprised.)

There was a lot of lingering near the merch table post-show. Some of that was due to folks waiting out the rain, giving side-hugs to old friends and commiserating about the state of American politics — or perhaps just getting their money’s worth from the babysitter before the clock struck midnight. Even though Paulson says there are no current plans to extend the reunion past the release show, it was a feel-good ending to a feel-bad week, and the sort of treat we hope we don’t have to wait another 11 years to experience again.

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