Dig my new look: Chargers Street Gang at Pat\'s In The Flats

Chargers Street Gang were some of the most charismatic young guys on the scene in Cleveland in the late 1990s. I’ve written about the Chargers, recording and “producing” their early singles at the Invisible City, yadda yadda.

Read my spiel here

That was long in the past by the time this event happened.

In the early ’00s, the band shed the rudimentary (but economical and great) garage rock thing and became a much more sophisticated ensemble, mainly due to the addition of Matt Fish on drums.

Matt later founded the Melt chain of Northeast Ohio restaurants (they of the Jake Kelly murals—the one in Lakewood even depicts Tony Erba and U.S. Rocker). I really know nothing about the dude, as I left town 2/3rds of the way through 2002. But I do know that Fish is one fucking amazing drummer! I mean he totally elevated the Chargers. There is no doubt.

At this show at Pat’s In The Flats—which I think was in early 2002—the band was just so powerful and musical. They finally had the rhythmic oomph to articulate what they were trying to do, i.e. rock the audience and party up transcendently.

Nice upgrade, guys.

If you have any video / audio / images / information from this event, please reach out. I’d love to hear about it!

Chargers Street Gang Joe Holzheimer Chris Kulscar Lachlan Mackinnon Matt Fish Sean Carnage Pat's In The Flats 2002

Chargers Street Gang (Joe Holzheimer, Chris Kulscar, Lachlan Mackinnon, Chris Rood, Matt Fish) photographed by Sean Carnage at Pat’s In The Flats, 2002-ish.