Live Recap: Parquet Courts with Mdou Moctar at The Riviera
This past Saturday night, fans packed into The Riviera to see Parquet Courts, in honor of their new album Sympathy for Life.
The evening’s show began with a performance from songwriter and musician Mdou Moctar, alongside his band. Moctar comes from Agadez, Niger, but he and his bandmates seemed to be right at home onstage at The Riviera. Audience members in the front of the crowd seemed to be just as big of fans of Moctar’s as they were of the show’s headliners, as they bopped their heads along and watched in awe throughout Moctar’s intricate jams that mix bluesy and psychedelic rock. Mdou Moctar’s set consisted mostly of songs from 2021’s album Afrique Victime, but the band threw in some newer material as well. Their set ended with a standing ovation from the balcony attendees and raucous cheering from the entire audience. The last time I had seen Moctar was at Lincoln Hall last year, but his band easily captivated a much larger venue this time around.
Next up, fans prepared to be equally as enthralled by New York’s Parquet Courts. The band has performed in Chicago many times, but this show was their first time back since 2019, and fans eagerly welcomed them back to hear some of their familiar favorites mixed in with the new songs from 2021’s Sympathy for Life album. The members of Parquet Courts took their places on a dimly lit stage that cast colorful shadows on the stage’s backdrop, setting the tone for an immersive experience as they kicked off with “Application/Apparatus.”
Aside from being a highly anticipated return to Chicago for Parquet Courts, the audience at The Riviera got to celebrate another special occasion with the band—it was drummer Max Savage’s 30th birthday. Everyone honored Max by singing “Happy Birthday” before Mdou Moctar returned to the stage to play guitar on “Walking at a Downtown Pace” alongside the band, which is the first track on Sympathy for Life. Moctar shredded on his guitar riffs, and the members of Parquet Courts made sure to call that out by joking “he assured us he wouldn’t solo over us, but he did anyways!” Parquet Courts kept that high energy up by following that song with the trippy and mesmerizing track “Plant Life,” which transitioned seamlessly into the boisterous “Light Up Gold, Pt. 2,” a song that’s reminiscent of Ramones-era punk. Parquet Courts’ performance at the Riviera really showcased the dynamic nature and style of their music, and they presented it in a way that blurred many individual songs into one cohesive collection.
If you missed out on the show, check out our photo recap of the evening below, and see where you can catch Parquet Courts on tour next here.
