Filtering by Tag: Live Show
Live Recap: The Veronicas at House of Blues
“I know you guys thought this was a rock show but it’s actually a fucking disco,” Jess Origliasso, AKA one half of the twin sister-duo The Veronicas, told a packed House of Blues this past Sunday night in Chicago.
While there was ample opportunity to dance just like at a disco, The Veronicas also delivered rock ‘n’ roll flair and heartfelt nostalgic vibes throughout their highly-anticipated comeback tour. As someone who repeatedly listened to the duo’s debut album The Secret Life of... on physical CD format, it healed my inner child to hear songs “When It All Falls Apart” and “Everything I’m Not” in the first few moments of the set. The Veronicas kept their throwback songs fresh by weaving in mashups of other hit songs—for example, Jess played the iconic riff of “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes while Lisa sang the introduction to “When It All Falls Apart.” Later in the show, the pair weaved in bits of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Icona Pop’s “I Love It” during the performance of “Hook Me Up,” which was the title track of their 2007 album.
Just as I was reveling in familiar comfort that these songs provided, I also took in my fellow audience members experiencing sheer joy and camaraderie. The euphoric bliss wasn’t just coming from the audience though— Jess and Lisa made sure to tell the crowd many times how grateful they were to be back and playing music in America. Their appreciative comments included everything from “You’re making two Capricorns very emotional” to “The fact that you guys are coming to these shows is the biggest fuck you to everyone who didn’t believe in us.” At one point, they even brought out a copy of their very first CD as “Jessica and Lisa” (prior to being named “The Veronicas”) entitled Double Trouble, that one of their long-time fans had brought to the show in hopes of getting it signed, and Jess and Lisa joked that it might be their dad selling those old CDs on eBay.
The show was really like an emotional journey sandwiched between two dance parties— it started with Jess and Lisa taking the stage donning sunglasses and performing choreographed dance moves to “Take Me on the Floor” while the floor of the theater shook from the audience dancing, then it traveled to the land of the feels with songs like “Ribcage” and “You Ruin Me” before it ended on an explosive high note with “4ever” and “Untouched,” which the pair introduced saying “Please stand for the National Anthem.”
It may have been awhile since The Veronicas last toured here, but this show served as a reminder that from vulnerable ballads to rock riffs and dance anthems, there’s nothing Jess and Lisa Origliasso can’t do. If you get a chance to catch their show, don’t miss it. See where The Veronicas are touring next here and check out photos from the Chicago gig below.
Live Recap: Mitski and Julia Jacklin at Auditorium Theatre
This past Sunday night, Mitski and Julia Jacklin closed out a sold-out, four-night run at the historic Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.
Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin took the stage at 8PM sharp to perform for the packed house. The past times I’ve seen Julia, she usually had a full band, but this run was just her and her guitar as she opened her set with “Comfort” from her 2019 album Crushing. Jacklin took a pause to address the crowd, telling us she’d had a wonderful time these past few nights in Chicago, adding “I haven’t seen anything except downtown, and it’s been really cold, but I’ve had a good time because I get to open for one of the greatest rock legends of our lives, Mitski”— which was followed by lots of cheers. As Jacklin continued her performance, I admired her commanding stage presence and ability to keep the audience completely hooked. Towards to end of the show, the singer told the theatre “I’m gonna sing a song A capella. It’s very rare that I get to sing in halls like this, so I have to take advantage” before she sang “Too In Love To Die” from her 2022 album Pre Pleasure. During that entire song, the audience remained utterly silent, soaking up Jacklin’s beautiful vocals in absolute awe. To close out her short, but sweet set, Jacklin performed a fan favorite “Pressure to Party.”
Next up, the stage was set for Mitski and her band to close it all out. The audience greeted the artist with earsplitting applause and cheers and she sauntered her way over to a dim corner of the stage. After a quick greeting, Mitski disappeared behind a giant red curtain in the center of the stage, with only her silhouette in view while she sang “Everyone”—until the curtain dropped at the end of the song.
It was fitting that this particular tour stopped at the Auditorium Theatre instead of a GA-style concert venue because Mitski’s performance was more like an orchestral broadway musical than concert. From her intricate choreography that was mapped out to every single beat to her dramatic expressions and the extraordinary lighting production, this show was a true spectacle from start to finish. Everything flowed seamlessly in the production of the performance, and Mitski let the music take care of the transitions, barely taking time to speak in between the songs on the setlist, which heavily featured songs from her 2023 album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We. A favorite moment of mine was during the performance of the very popular “My Love Mine All Mine,” Mitski stood center-stage on a platform, while strings of shimmery, butterfly-like objects dropped down from the ceiling around her— picture a mobile you’d hang above a baby’s crib… but way taller.
The entire performance was magical from start to finish, and if Mitski ever had a broadway show, I’d be there in an instant. This show proved she’s a theatrical triple threat with acting, singing and dancing chops.
See photos of the final night in Chicago below, and see where you can catch the tour next here.
Photos: To Kill a King and Fours at The Garage
This past Saturday night, To Kill a King made their return to the stage in London to perform their debut album Cannibals With Cutlery in full. The performance also marked the 10-year anniversary of the band’s first album. Check out photos of the sold-out special occasion at The Garage, with support from Fours below.
Live Recap: Local Natives and Chartreuse at The Riviera
Local Natives returned to Chicago on Friday, September 8th to kick off a new leg of their tour, with support from Chartreuse.
Hailing from Birmingham, England, Chartreuse is composed of Mike Wagstaff, Hattie Wilson, Perry Lovering and Rory Wagstaff, and together the quartet got the crowd primed and ready for Local Natives. Mike and Hattie switched off on vocal duties throughout their set, and their harmonies along with the synths and programing that the band used kind of gave me hints of Sylvan Esso or The Xx. Mike’s vocals also reminded me slightly of Grian Chatten from Fontaines D.C., but overall their sound channels a combination of folk, ambient and electro-pop genres. Chartreuse’s setlist included their songs “Deep Fat” and “Feed Be Fed” from their 2021 EP Is it Autumn Already?, among a few others.
The members of Local Natives made their way onto a dim stage, with giant balloons of the initials “L” and “N” planted in the background of the stage. The show commenced with Taylor Rice, Kelcey Ayer, and Ryan Hahn all huddled around a microphone near the front of the stage to perform an acoustic introduction with the title track of their latest album “Time Will Wait For No One.” (Spoiler alert- this wouldn’t be the only time that night they’d be huddled together near the front of the stage, but more on that later).
Since the tour was in honor of their most recent record, the band fittingly performed a few other newer tracks right off the jump, including “Just Before The Morning” and “Empty Mansions,” which was the live debut of that song. While other tunes from Time Will Wait For No One were sprinkled in throughout the rest of the setlist, we also heard some familiar favorites like the 2017 single “I Saw You Close Your Eyes” and “Coins” from 2016’s Sunlit Youth. The band’s first attempt at the latter was cut short by the PA temporarily blowing out, so the band passed the time with a fully acoustic and unplugged performance of “Who Knows, Who Cares” at the front of the stage, which required the crowd to quiet down.
With the PA back up and running, we got a proper redo of “Coins” before the show continued on. Before performing the Strokes-esque tune “NYE,” Rice took the time to tell the audience the backstory of the song. “Local Natives has a tradition that if one us gets married, we get to be each others’ wedding band. Ryan got married while making this album. We were playing Oasis, The Bee Gees, and this really fast Strokes song. After watching us, he kind of brought this next song to the table and we all jammed it out in the studio in two days, and that’s how ‘NYE’ came to be,” he said.
Following the song’s performance, Rice then took some time to talk about the recent 10 year anniversary of their album Hummingbird, and the band played a few songs from that album, including “Ceilings” and “Columbia.”
For the rest of the night, the energy only continued to escalate, with Rice leaving the stage to join the crowd during “Featherweight.” Fans also went wild during the performance of “Dark Days” which saw Rice and Ayer swapping places on the stage. Before the main part of the set wrapped up, Rice asked the crowd “Do you guys mind if we play ‘Who Knows Who Cares’ one more time?” and we got another full, plugged in performance of that song.
Local Natives kept the good vibes going with a three-song encore. Before performing their second to last song, “Sun Hands,” the band asked everyone to stand up and clap along, which is the least the audience could do during such an uplifting song. Speaking of uplifting, Rice ended up diving into the audience to crowd surf, which has become an epic tradition at their shows over the years. The show wrapped up with another full-house dance party to “When Am I Gonna Lose You.”
If you missed out on all the fun, check out the photo recap below, and see where you can catch Local Natives on tour next here.
Live Recap: Yoke Lore with Girlhouse at Metro
This past Tuesday night, Yoke Lore returned to Chicago to play his biggest headline show here yet—with a sold out gig at the iconic Metro.
girlhouse, the project of musician and songwriter Lauren Luiz, warmed up the crowd first. Luiz was joined by a full live band, and she told the audience she’d released four EPs this last year, so she had plenty of material to perform during her thirty-minute set. Early on in the set, a fan in the front asked if she’d be playing her single “the fatalist,” and Luiz coyly responded they’d have to wait and see. Towards the end of the set, the song was delivered and the singer told the fan “that was just for you.” girlhouse’s set wrapped up with “concussion,” which is a favorite of mine and has racked up over 10 million streams. I’d recommend adding girlhouse to your playlists if you’re a fan of Wallice, Samia, or Annie DiRusso.
Next up, the scene was set for Yoke Lore, the moniker of musician Adrian Galvin. Galvin and his band had been in Chicago earlier this year to open for Goth Babe at Salt Shed, but it was great to see him as the main event this time. All around the stage, lamps and light bulbs added a cozy vibe, which was fitting because Yoke Lore songs have such a comforting feeling about them. These light bulbs would end up changing colors and setting the tone throughout the night, adding different auras to different songs.
Galvin played through his first few songs, alternating between his signature banjo and acoustic guitar, but after performing his 2019 single “Chin Up,” Galvin took a break to speak to the crowd with a poetic introduction. He told the crowd “Hi, I’m Yoke Lore. I want to tell you what that means.” Galvin then defined the mission behind his musical project, ending the introductory speech by saying, “And music is how I use the personal to conjure the infinite.”
Galvin addressed the crowd in a similar style a few times throughout the evening, which really added a special touch to the live performance in between the songs. In addition to some of his tried and true material and fan favorites, like “Seeds” and his cover of “Truly Madly Deeply,” Galvin sprinkled in some newer music. The new songs included singles like “Hallucinate” and “Shake,” which were both released this year, as well as some unreleased songs from his upcoming debut album Toward A Never Ending New Beginning, which will be released this month. The new music had more of an electronic backbone to it, and Galvin took some time to show off his dance moves in those moments.
The main part of Yoke Lore’s set wrapped with his hit “Beige,” which was truly a beautiful moment. Galvin began standing at the edge of the stage playing the banjo, with the crowd kicking off the song in a choir-like fashion before he eventually moved back to the microphone to join them in singing.
After a very loud demand for an encore, Yoke Lore returned to the stage to perform Tom Robbins, which Galvin told the crowd is a song he only performs live and was inspired by his favorite book. The evening wrapped up with another full-venue singalong to “Goodpain.”
As I left the Metro that night, I found out the Cubs had a massive win, as I was greeted by “Go Cubs Go” cheers from Wrigley Field down the block. The victorious chants matched the euphoric energy I felt leaving the Yoke Lore show.
Check out photos from the evening below and see where you can catch Yoke Lore next here.
Live Recap: Horsegirl with Lifeguard at Thalia Hall
A fellow photographer told me on August 13 that it was the most crowded he’d ever seen Thalia Hall for an all-ages event. The turnout for Horsegirl and Lifeguard’s final show of their tour was impressive, especially for a Sunday, but it made sense—both bands hail from Chicago, and many of their friends are finishing up summer break from high school or college close to home. The members of Lifeguard would soon be starting fall semester at Jones College Prep, which Horsegirl also attended.
“We love Horsegirl,” guitarist and vocalist Kai Slater said at the start of Lifeguard’s set. “It’s been amazing to tour with our best friends.”
Lifeguard’s opening set at Thalia Hall was high-energy, complete with explosive solos, raging vocals and full-body movement across the stage. The band’s setlist interwove recognizable hits with newer tracks, including several from an EP released just over a month ago. Several songs in, the band invited Horsegirl’s drummer Gigi Reece onstage.
“We’re going to play a Wipers cover, and Gigi’s going to solve a Rubik’s cube before it ends,” Slater addressed the audience. “It’s a minute and a half long. If they don’t finish in time, Horsegirl doesn’t get to play.”
Reece bopped from side to side and tinkered with the Rubik’s cube as Lifeguard surged through “Telepathic Love.” They held up the finished puzzle just as the band finished playing. Lifeguard had Reece stay on stage for the next song, “Fifty Seven,” to play maraca.
After Lifeguard’s set, Slater walked to the front of the stage and bent over to toss a couple sheets of notebook paper into the audience. His setlist fluttered into the audience, where a couple of fans snatched it and read with eager eyes.
Then Horsegirl came on stage to set up.
“I love you, Nora!” A voice shouted from the audience. The guitarist-vocalist smiled and waved.
Horsegirl brought more of a quiet brooding tone than Lifeguard. The band opened with “Bog Bog 1,” a slow and shoegazey instrumental from its 2022 album Versions of Modern Performance. The trio played a number of other hits from the LP, but they also introduced a number of new songs, including a catchy power ballad they penned in recent months. Horsegirl is in the midst of recording its next album, and the group’s set at Thalia Hall reflected more uptempo influences than those for their post-pandemic debut.
Horsegirl brought Lifeguard on stage at the end of their set for a joint encore.
“We came up with this idea yesterday,” bassist/guitarist and vocalist Penelope Lowenstein announced.
The idea was to cover “I Wanna Be Adored,” and It was hard to believe the groups hadn’t been rehearsing their performance for weeks. Nora Cheng’s voice was velvety and full, and the thick layers of guitar and bass reverberated perfectly over spacious drum lines. Concert-goers of all ages left the venue beaming.
See the full photo gallery of the show below, and see where you can catch Horsegirl next here.
Live Recap: Noah Kahan and Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners at The Vic
On the eve of Lollapalooza, I headed to The Vic Theatre to see a Lolla “after” show from Noah Kahan and Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners. Even though some of them take place ahead of the festival, Lolla aftershows are a great chance to catch artists from the festival’s lineup in a much more intimate environment than their fest sets, or even their own tour sets in most cases. Noah Kahan easily could have sold out The Aragon Ballroom or The Salt Shed, but we lucked out seeing him play the smaller Vic Theatre.
Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners warmed up the sold out crowd first with their folk-rock sound that complemented Kahan’s sound very well. The group was also slated to perform at Lolla over the weekend, and the lead singer Mitch Cutts told the crowd this was their first time in Chicago. Cutts also mentioned the band had just moved to Seattle from Montana, which is very fitting because their sounds feels heavily influenced by nature and would make for a great hiking soundtrack. Fan favorites from the 45-minute setlist included “Evergreen,” which has become very popular on Tik Tok and Cutts’ described as being “a large part of the reason we’re here,” as well as “Lake Missoula,” which has a version that features Mt.Joy.
After a quick changeover, it was nearly time for Noah Kahan and his bandmates to take the stage, and the venue was packed to the brim with eager fans. His bandmates entered the stage first, taking their places on stage and beginning to play before Kahan ran onstage himself to a greeting of excited cheers. As the band launched into “All My Love” from Kahan’s 2022 album Stick Season, it sounded as if Kahan had hired a choir with a built-in surround sound system because everyone instantly began to sing along. At every concert there’s usually one or two hits where every single person knows the words, but it’s incredibly special when there’s an artist that has an entire set of sing-along songs. The fact that The Vic reverberated with fans singing Kahan’s lyrics back to him is a testament to his songwriting craft—he can not only do an excellent job at storytelling, but his stories are so compelling that they resonate with so many people.
At his Lollapalooza aftershow, Kahan was just a few days out from having to cancel his appearance at Newport Folk Festival the weekend prior due to being ill and vocal strain, but the energy he put into the show wasn’t indicative of a recent illness at all. He not only sounded incredible, but he ran and jumped around the stage, displaying great camaraderie with his bandmates and reciprocating the energy that the audience was radiating.
Singing along to Kahan’s songs is definitely therapeutic in its own way, but the singer also took some time to tell the audience about his own experience with going to therapy between his songs. Before performing “Growing Sideways,” he talked about his first experiences with therapy, saying he used to lie in therapy to try to convince the people around him and himself that he was feeling better. “It wasn’t until I was in my 20’s—I’m only 26, and I know I look like I’ve been divorced— but I’m 26 years old and when I was 23 I started telling the truth and now I’m happier. I wrote a song about the years I spent lying, and it’s called "‘Growing Sideways’” he added. I think it takes a lot of courage to be honest with yourself about your feelings and therapy, but Kahan has been able to share part of his journey with the world and inspire others to continue to take care of their own mental health, which is even more admirable.
As I mentioned, the remainder of the set continued to be sing-along after sing-along, but there were a few moments, during the performance of “Northern Attitude” for example, where the venue literally shook from everyone clapping and singing along. Other highlights of the set included “Dial Drunk” and “Homesick,” which have been all over Tik Tok in the last year. The main part of the set wrapped with the latter, before Kahan and the band returned to play a 3-song encore that ended with the title track from his last album Stick Season.
If you get the chance to see Noah Kahan on tour this year, don’t miss it. It’s good for the soul.
Check out photos of the Lollapalooza aftershow below, and see where you can catch Noah on tour next here.
Live Recap: Regina Spektor's Return to London at Royal Festival Hall
It’s around 8PM on Saturday night, July 15th and singer-songwriter Regina Spektor has just taken the stage at the pristine Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre. A seated auditorium sitting just along the River Thames, the venue had a stern air of formality about it, but Spektor quickly lightened up the mood by asking the audience “Can we just pretend we’re at a basement pub and chill the fuck out?”
I wasn’t quite sure what type of energy to expect from the musician playing a solo show (her first show in London in six years), but her opening statement quickly lightened the mood and set up a tone for a relaxed show as she began to play her song “Folding Chair” to follow up her introductory performance of “Shalom Aleichem” (a song centered around the Hebrew greeting meaning "peace be upon you.”)
Early on in the set, Spektor also let the audience know that she’d recently suffered a back injury, but a friend of hers had helped her recover from the injury enough to push on with the shows. Considering she was injured and carrying out these shows with just herself, a microphone and her piano, I figured the show might lean on the shorter side, but Spektor dazzled the audience with a nearly two-hour performance that featured songs from across her long discography.
Spektor’s stage presence was a beautiful balance of a rehearsed performance mixed with the casual nature of friends jamming together—similar to the laidback vibes of a basement pub gig. When she messed up a part of the piano (to be honest, I wouldn’t have even noticed the slip if she hadn’t called it out), Spektor told the crowd “I practiced! The hotel people are probably mad at me [from practicing so much]. We’ll just skip that part!” She also told the audience she was going to try her song “Somedays” even though she wasn’t confident in it, but she managed to play it successfully. Afterwards, Spektor joked that she felt like a “kindergartner with a finger painting.”
While she may have jokingly minimized her craft, Spektor continued to enchant the audience with her sweeping vocal performance and dynamic manner of playing the piano; there were times her vocals were theatrical and times that she’d hammer on the top of the piano or clap to add a percussive element to her melodies. The crowd joined in on the clapping for those moments when makeshift drums were needed.
Speaking of crowd participation, around half way through the show, Spektor told the audience that standing up and squatting made her back feel better, asking everyone, “Will you guys get mad if I do three squats?” She invited the crowd to join her, and myself and the majority of the audience stood up to squat along with the singer. “I think the pub became a gym,” Spektor joked.
To give herself a break from sitting at the piano, Spektor stood up to perform a couple of light-hearted A capella songs “Reginasaurus” and “Silly Eye-Color Generalizations.” Another non-piano moment included a surprise guest appearance from musician and producer Leo Abrahams, who joined Spektor to play a few songs on guitar.
Eventually, Spektor wrapped up the main part of her show with her huge hit “Fidelity,” which she introduced saying “This one I should know in theory, but theory and practice are different.” That may be true, but she knocked the performance of the song out of the park, earning a standing ovation from the entire auditorium at the end of the song.
Spektor returned for a single-song encore of her song “Samson,” also on her 2006 album Begin to Hope.
If you missed out on the show, check out photos from the performance below, and see where you can catch Regina Spektor on tour near you here.
Live Recap: Counting Crows with Dashboard Confessional at Ravinia Festival
The Counting Crows and Dashboard Confessional kicked off the weekend with an incredible show at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park on Friday, June 23rd.
Prior to the music kicking off with Dashboard Confessional around 7PM, music fans arrived to the Ravinia site as early as 5PM to settle in and have a pre-concert picnic on the lawn. Before Chris Carrabba and his five band members began their set, Adam Duritz of Counting Crows took the stage to tell everyone to “get off the lawn” and come join them in the pavilion for the main event. The audience continued to trickle in as Dashboard Confessional started their set with a throwback to 2006’s “Don’t Wait.” During performances of their songs, Carrabba’s fun-spirited stage presence shone through in the way he sang and carried himself, but it was during the between-song banter that his personality really came across. Before playing their third song of the night entitled “Belong,” Carrabba told the crowd that he had the opportunity to wander around the lawn earlier in the evening and meet some people, including one young girl named Emma. Carrabba pointed out Emily in the crowd, and shared that this was her first concert ever before dedicating the song to her.
Throughout the rest of the set, Carrabba weaved in anecdotes about the songs that the band was about to play, including a story about kissing a girl from Chicago under the Williamsburg Bridge before “Remember to Breathe” and telling the crowd that he’d seen the new Spider-Man movie before playing “Vindicated” since that song was used in Spider-Man 2. Most of the set was well-received by the audience, but everyone seemed particularly excited about the performance of “Stolen” and the hit “Hands Down,” the latter of which closed out the show. Dashboard Confessional’s set was a perfect and nostalgic start to the evening; I remember being in high school and listening to some of these songs and it was incredible to get the chance to form new memories with these songs at this concert.
Next up, Counting Crows took the stage to a completely packed pavilion, beginning their set with “Sullivan Street” off their debut album August and Everything After. From there, they jumped to perform “If I Could Give All My Love -or- Richard Manuel Is Dead” from their 2002 album Hard Candy before turning up the heat by playing their massive hit “Mr. Jones” as the third song of the night. Most bands wait to play their biggest hits until the end of their set, but I admired the bolder move and appreciated the electrifying energy of the audience dancing and singing along to the tune.
With so many great songs under their belt, it really felt like the entire setlist was just hit after hit, but there were definitely more mellow moments over the evening. For example, the very next song after “Mr. Jones” was the ballad “Colorblind,” which is still a favorite of mine, but features a dramatic piano-driven melody that starkly contrasts with the swingy, upbeat tempo of the previous song.
Similarly to Carrabba, Adam Duritz’s stage presence and between-song banter showed off his dynamic personality. Duritz would sometimes illustrate the lyrics of his songs with hand motions and body movements, essentially like an interpretive dance to help contextualize the words— for example he shrugged when he sang the line “I don’t know” in “Round Here” and he reached his arm out when he sang “I’m covered in skin” during “Colorblind.” There was also a frequent change up in the vocal cadence or inflictions of Duritz’s live performance, in comparison to the recorded versions of these songs, that added more texture to the live show. Then of course, Duritz’s sense of humor was on display whenever he took a moment to speak to the audience—whether it was the tale he told about “getting to crazy from crazy” when he was waiting for the muse behind “Washington Square” to write him back, or the way he mimicked a Chicago accent to describe how the audience sounded singing certain parts back to him.
To wrap up the main part of the set, Duritz performed (yet another hit) “A Long December” from the piano. The band quickly returned for an encore that began with “Hanginaround,” which featured a guest appearance from the entirety of Dashboard Confessional. The energy really soared with the epic, big band moment of having everyone onstage together. “Time and Time” again had been on the evening’s setlist, but it got unfortunately got cut and the encore ended with “Holiday in Spain,” which Duritz deemed as “our lullaby to you.”
Overall, the concert was filled with a lot of nostalgia, but all of the timeless hits made for a night of new memories you can’t forget.
Check out photos of the evening below, and see where you can catch the tour next here.
