Blink and you’ll miss it. Reggie’s Music Joint sits quietly on South State Street, away from the bustling downtown of Chicago. Inside is a traditional bar and stools, a few cozy booths and a small intimate stage nestled in the rear. The walls are exposed brick and adorned with various concert photos and posters. A classic neighborhood bar. A Chicago bar.
Reggie’s is unapologetically spartan and straightforward. So is Model Citizen, the band consisting of Matt Patton (vocals and guitar), Jay Gonzalez (keys and vocals), Mike Gaut (drums) and Craig Gates (bass and vocals). There’s no glitz and glamour. Eschewing the modern traps to to identify themselves by any particular new wave post-pop indie alternative garage subgenre of rock, Model Citizen opted instead for a proven formula written long ago: plug it in, turn it on and in the immortal words of the MC5’s Rob Tyner, “kick out the jams…” Well, you know the rest.
Simply put, Model Citizen plays good ol’ fashioned rock music. And as they proved at Reggie’s, they do it oh so well. Supporting their latest album, Live at Dial Back Sound, which you can find here, Model Citizen charged through a nearly 45-minute high-energy set of nine songs, including such scorchers as “See The Pages Turn,” “See You Lose,” “10 O’Clock,” “Little Dummy,” and “Empty Room.”
Given the setting and the sound, particularly Patton’s vocal resemblance to Joey Ramone, one could have imagined this show occurring in the late 1970s at another small club known as CBGBs. But it didn’t. Because as Model Citizen proved at Reggie’s, rock music is not only timeless, it’s alive and kicking.
A few Model Citizen shows still remain in August before Patton and Gonzalez hit the road again for an extended tour with The Drive-By Truckers. For more information on those dates, click here. You can also check out Model Citizen’s 2006 release, Save It For the Campfire, on most streaming platforms.
All images: © Derek Smith / High Voltage Concert Photography for American Blues Scene
