After having dinner with Ali, I headed out to The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) later on. When I arrived, Blue Spark and Flame was just finishing their set. They sounded great: loud and powerful, like rock should be. I didn't realize, but Handsome Jack was on the bill too. Their set was very good, but the last time I saw them, I liked them better — the chemistry just wasn't perfect in the whole thing tonight.

Finishing up was Monotonix who blew everything away. They opened up with a flaming drum kit (paper, lighter fluid, and flames, that is). The lead singer Ami started running around and even did a bit of crowd surfing. He grabbed my half-full beer out of my hand before I realized that was where he was getting all the beer I got sprayed with minutes earlier. The guitarist stayed mostly out of the blast radius, but the drummer had his kit moved around by Ami during songs. Half-an-hour in, there's this guy who pops into the fray, moshing with his pants around his ankles. It wasn't long before he was streaking in his socks and being molested by the singer using the microphone cord.

Now that's a show not to miss.