Live Recap: Winnetka Bowling League at Lincoln Hall

This past Friday night, Winnetka Bowling League performed a sold out show at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, drawing in one of the largest crowds I’ve seen at this venue.

The band’s current tour is in celebration of their debut album Sha La La, which was just released on May 31st this year, so it was fitting that the setlist opened with the title track of the record. In the song, lead vocalist Matthew Koma sings about a string of past phases and simpler times that he misses like “our feed before it was political” and “the world before it was polluted with space cowboy billionaires,” so it was fitting that the stage was decked out with old box tv sets and nostalgic candy machines.

Before they got too far into the set, Koma took some time to address the crowd, saying how special Chicago is to them. “We don’t say that to all the girls, ok? It’s the first place that we came to on one of our first headlining tours, and it was our first show that we ever sold out. It made us think we should keep doing this,” he said, before dedicating the next song “On The 5” to their OG fans.

The setlist featured a lot of the material from their debut record, but similar to “On The 5,” the band sprinkled in plenty of other songs from the full WBL discography. In addition to plenty of music, the band also delivered a lot of laughs between songs, which was fitting because one of the opening acts was actually a stand up comedian named Caroline Baniewicz.

Ahead of playing “Come to the Beach” Koma told the audience about his experience with his BetterHelp therapist while he’s on the road. “We’ve been working on communication because I can communicate pretty well through songs, but in real life when it comes to confrontation I kind of take side streets, so we’ve been working on that. You wait for an opportunity in real life where you can apply what you’re talking about on BetterHelp. So a couple of weeks ago, there was this guy on Instagram who kept commenting on all our videos and kept kind of saying ‘fuck you.’ He said other stuff but every time I read it, it just said ‘fuck you.’ I thought I’m gonna come back with a quippy reply, and then I thought about my BetterHelp guy and how he wants me to be more direct. So Sam [Beresford] and I were driving to the airport and Sam found his home address and his phone number, and I said I’m just gonna call him and be like why ‘fuck you’? Then I fell back into the old habit and I signed him up for the US Army. Anyways, I think there’s a misconception that if you go to therapy, you have to stop being an asshole and I’m just here to say you can still be a piece of shit. That has absolutely nothing to do with this next song.”

The show continued with more great tunes and quips from Koma, including another story about a recent trip to CVS ahead of playing their song by the same name. After both of those stories, I definitely think that BetterHelp and CVS should sponsor the next WBL tour!

As the show began to wind down, the band played one of their newer singles called “This is Life,” which was a collaboration with Medium Build and Dawes that they released only a few weeks after Sha La La came out. Koma continues to be one of my favorite lyricists and the band flawlessly brought Winnetka Bowling League’s songs to life during the show at Lincoln Hall, so I hope they continue to consistently deliver new material and bring it to the stage.

If you get a chance to see the tour, don’t miss it. You can check out photos of the Chicago gig below, and see where you can catch the tour next here.

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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.

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Take the Moment and Taste It: A Live Recap of Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour at Ford Field

Picture this; you’re standing in a sold out stadium surrounded by sparkling and sequined-out Swifities, getting ready to watch Taylor Swift perform an over-3-hour show—*record scratch, freeze-frame* You’re probably wondering how we got here. Cut to Taylor Swift sitting at the piano, mid-Evermore set, telling the audience about the many albums she released since her last tour and during quarantine (Lover, Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights). “People were like ‘Are you sure you want to put all these albums out? You won’t be able to tour on the individual album and there’s so many albums you’ve made and you haven’t been able to tour’ and I was like, I have a plan. It’s called The Eras Tour,” she told the crowd, revealing the mastermind scheme behind her current tour that started March 17th in Glendale, AZ and will wrap up the U.S leg on August 9th in Los Angeles, CA.

Rewinding the clock back a few hours, it’s around 5 PM on Saturday, June 10th and I’ve just arrived at Ford Field in Motown (aka Detroit) following a road trip from Chicago, where the Eras Tour had just stopped the previous week for three sold out shows. As I make my way into the stadium, I’m surrounded by a sea of fellow fans ready to witness the second and final night of Swift’s shows in Detroit. While I trek through the massive venue to my seat, I observe all of the stunning and clever outfits that the audience is sporting; there’s everything from elaborate hand-sewn costumes modeled off of some of Taylor’s iconic Grammy Awards show looks to jewel-coloured sequins in every hue to funny shirts that say “It’s me, hi, I’m the husband, it’s me” (which were being rocked by several supportive Swiftie hubbies). There was a mix of excitement and anxiety in the air, like the entire crowd was holding their breath until the show they’d been anticipating for more than six months would finally kick off. While fans anxiously awaited for the support acts to warm up the stage, many were either standing in the (very long) merch lines throughout the venue, or watching some of the behind-the-scenes footage from music video shoots that was being played on the stage’s screen.

Around 6:25 PM, the stadium lights dimmed and singer-songwriter OWENN took the stage. OWENN started off his entertainment career as a dancer and choreographer working with many well-known artists, including none-other than Taylor Swift herself when he danced with her on the 1989 and Reputation tours and starred in the “Lover” music video. Regardless of his rich history with Swift, OWENN quickly won over the audience during his short-but-sweet set while he played a handful of his songs, including “Baby Girl,” “Show Me,” and “Rest Of My Life.” Fans showed their appreciation by holding up their cell-phone lights and swaying during some of the songs. Before he left the stage, OWENN made sure to thank Taylor for having him on the tour, saying, “She could've chose anyone, but she chose me. I’m so thankful to Taylor.”

After a very quick turnaround time, Norwegian musician Marie Ulven Ringheim, better known as Girl in Red, came in hot, opening up her set with the song “You Stupid Bitch.” Many of the audience members stood up from their seats and joined Girl in Red by dancing and singing the words to the upbeat song. Ringheim primed the crowd for the rest of her performance, saying, “I was here last night and what I witnessed [from Taylor] was fucking fantastic. I’m gonna give you the 1% that I can do of her show.” Girl in Red’s set length might have only been a sliver of the stage time that Swift had, but I’d say she gave it a whole lot more than 1%-- Ringheim completely captivated the stadium, running around the massive stage as she performed songs like “Bad Idea” and “Serotonin.” In the latter track, Ringheim sings “I'm running low on serotonin,” but that statement couldn’t have been less true for everyone in attendance, based on the beaming smiles I saw around me. “It’s been a pleasure. I’m Girl in Red, thank you to my band, crew, and Taylor. She is the coolest person in the world and I can’t wait to see her show again,” Ringheim told the crowd to wrap up her performance.

At this point, the room swelled with palpable anticipation. During the final changeover before the main event, fans hurried to top up their refreshments or take pictures in front of the Eras Tour backdrop on the stage. Finally, the song “Applause” by Lady Gaga rang out through the house speakers and the screen onstage began to display a countdown clock that started at 2 minutes and 23 seconds. The clock ticked down second by second, in a moment that both felt like a lifetime and a quick blink of an eye, and fans screamed along with the final ten seconds.

And just like that, right before 7:55 PM, Swift’s dancers appeared onstage carrying a bouquet of pastel-colored parachutes while an introductory medley of her catalog played through the speakers. Donning a glistening bodysuit and matching boots, the singer emerged from behind the parachutes to sing out the opening lines of “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince” as the start of her Lover portion of the show. Fittingly, the chorus of the track begins with the lyrics “It’s been a long time coming,” making it the perfect song to open a tour that’s been five years in the making. The set moved onto the hit “Cruel Summer” next, a song that everyone scream-sang along to– especially during the bridge. Leading up to that iconic moment of the song, Taylor told the audience, “Detroit, we have arrived! The very first bridge of the evening. Now what do we do when we arrive at a bridge such as this, Detroit? Oh, we scream it!” Throughout the show, Taylor’s musical performance was complemented by beautiful and often-complex visual aids that appeared both on the background screen and stage itself, but that wasn’t all that this show delivered. Taylor, as well as her dancing crew, often mixed in theatrical elements into the performance. A prime example of this was done before she performed the third song of the night, “The Man.” Swift told the audience that they were making her feel “very powerful” and like “I get to play a sold out show at Ford Field” as she kissed her biceps and slipped on a blazer, mimicking the power play that society often attributes towards men. In just these first few moments of the show, Swift’s movements were already creating a physical representation of her songwriting, a theme that continued throughout every era. During this first portion, fans also got to hear “You Need to Calm Down,” “The Archer,” and of course, the album’s title track. Before singing “Lover,” Swift gave a detailed thank you to her support acts, recalling her history with OWENN and telling everyone how much she loves Girl in Red’s last album. The additional details in her appreciation for the support is just one of the ways that Swift showcased the dedication and thoughtfulness she poured into this tour. While the tour dancers slow-danced around the stage, the audiences’ wristbands light up like glistening Christmas lights, almost like an homage to the song’s opening lyrics “We can leave the Christmas lights up til January.”

Taylor Swift performing “Lover” // Photo Credit: TAS Rights Management 

To signify the transition into the next era, the stage backdrop displayed a golden rain shower to get the audience feeling fearless. During this seamless transition, Swift quickly changed her outfit backstage to one that was reminiscent of her look during the original Fearless timeframe in 2008 (we of course got Taylor’s version of the record in 2021). Swift performed the album’s title track to kick off this portion, playing the song on a silver gem-bedazzled acoustic guitar that matched her dress. The stage itself also coordinated with this theme– the graphics displayed the image of an acoustic guitar in the center of the stage floor. The 3-song Fearless era of the show also contained “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story,” both of which had the crowd scream-singing along.

Next, the timeline jumped all the way to 2020 for Evermore, the second album that Taylor released that year as a sort of sister album to Folklore. To signify the whimsical, witchy nature of this record, the visual transition displayed images of a dark forest. Swift performed “'tis the damn season” wearing an orange and gold dress, eventually adding on a winter-green cloak for the second song of this set, “willow.” The woodsy visual effects evolved throughout the Evermore moment, at some points casting the illusion of fire and at other times displaying snow-covered trees. No matter what was happening on the screen behind Taylor and her crew, the production elements were so well done that it left little to the fans’ imaginations– we were all able to experience the scenes that Taylor paints for us with her words right there on the stage. Most of the songs that Swift performed from Evermore have a toned-down, folksy mood that meant fans were just regularly singing along (and not scream-singing along). That is, until we got to the bridge of “champagne problems,” one of the album’s singles that Swift performed on a custom-decorated piano that fits with the forest aesthetic. Before we got back to the scream-singing part of the set, Taylor took a break to talk to the audience again, letting us know she was recovering from a “tiny cold” and recalling the very first time she performed at Ford Field, back in 2006 when she sang the National Anthem before a Detroit Lions game. Despite still recovering from that cold, Swift’s vocals sounded strong and stunning throughout the show, even during the more vulnerable moments like her piano performances. Back to “champagne problems,” the audience gave the bridge of that song their all, yelling the lyrics “‘She would've made such a lovely bride/What a shame she's fucked in the head,’ they said” back to Taylor. The enthusiasm of the crowd in that moment didn’t go unnoticed; after finishing the song, Swift surveyed the room with tearful eyes filled with gratitude. The moment of gratitude was met with the audience chanting “Taylor!” to which the singer said “You guys are such nice people, thank you so much.”

Taylor Swift in her Evermore Era// Photo Credit: TAS Rights Management 

The Evermore set ended with a dramatic performance of the ballad “tolerate it” before moving into what I consider to be the most epic transition of the night. To signify the jump to 2017 for the Reputation album, flashes of a hissing snake appeared on the stage’s screen, while sounds of echoing high-heel clacks poured out of the speakers. Not only is Reputation a highly-adored album in the fanbase, but the shift into these songs also meant an uptick in the overall tempo of the music from the previous set, and you could feel the audience’s excitement to pick up the pace. The set kicked off with the album’s opening track “...Ready For It?” which the crowd loudly confirmed they were, in fact, ready for it with overbearing screams. Taylor launched into the quick-tempoed first verse of the song and the hype built up even more. Next up in this era, Swift performed one of my all-time favorites “Delicate.” It’s become a tradition for fans to yell “1,2,3 let’s go bitch!” right after the introduction of the song before the first main verse, and Taylor fed into that tradition by counting up to 3 with her hand ahead of the chant. Other highlights of the Rep set included the pinnacle of “Don’t Blame Me,” when Swift hits her signature high note (again, while being ill!) and the bridge of the ultimate revenge track “Look What You Made Me Do.”

“In my Reputation Era”/ Photo Credit: TAS Rights Management 

The high-energy bled into the quickest of all of the eras sets, Speak Now, which was solely represented by the song “Enchanted.” Despite being only one-song, this moment was still pivotal in the performance. The lyrics “This night is sparkling, don't you let it go” pretty much sum up the magic of this Eras tour. Also, Speak Now was originally released in 2010, but Taylor announced during her show in Nashville earlier in the tour that the Taylor’s Version of the record will be released on July 7, 2023, so there may be more of this album showcased during the last leg of the tour following the re-release.

Speaking of re-releases, the next segment of the show took us back to 2012 if we’re talking about the original…But if we’re talking Taylor’s Version, the timeline takes us to November of 2021, when Taylor blessed us with her special re-recorded version of Red, including a few “From The Vault” tracks. This era was introduced to us with one of the dancers entering a silent stage, breaking up the stillness by opening up a red box that played clips of the hits from Red that were not included in the set that followed. The main performance kicked off with Taylor, alongside her dancers, taking the stage wearing a top hat and sequin shirt that read “Who’s Taylor Swift Anyways? Ew.” to poke fun of some of the hate comments she’d received online during the Red timeframe. Another huge tradition of this Eras tour is that every night, Taylor’s team handpicks a lucky fan to stand at the end of the stage’s runway while she sings “22,” and at the end of the song, Swift kneels down to gift her hat to the chosen fan. For the performances of the hits “We Are Never Getting Back Together” and “I Knew You Were Trouble,” Swift also ditched the shirt to sport a red and black romper to coordinate with the album’s colors. The audiences’ wristbands also flashed red throughout these songs to tie into the color coordination. The pinnacle of this portion happened during the 10-minute version of “All To Well,” which was one of the “From The Vault” versions of the re-release. I’m not exaggerating when I say singing along to every single lyric of this song was just as cathartic as an hour-long therapy session. During “All Too Well,” confetti was shot into the stadium to represent the “Autumn leaves fallin' down like pieces into place” and “the first fall of snow,” which added a multi-sensory element to the theatrical touches of the performance.

The cathartic moment of “All Too Well” // Photo Credit: TAS Rights Management 

With everyone’s emotions still at a peak, the show journeyed into the Folklore phase, bringing us back to the first quarantine album that Taylor released in 2020. A spoken word version of the song “Seven” eased us into the cozy cabin that contains these songs (figuratively and literally because the new stage set up included a full-size A-frame cabin). Swift made her entrance to this portion laying on the roof of the aforementioned cabin, draped in an off- white, flowy gown to sing the album’s opening track “the 1,” a song that was co-written and produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner. Following the introductory song, Taylor moved into the cabin saying “we have brought the Folklore cabin to Detroit.” She further elaborated on the significance that the cabin plays in the world of these songs, saying, “I started writing Folklore about two days into the pandemic. Folklore was a state of mind for me. I could escape to this forest in the middle of the woods. It became this imaginary vacation spot.” This mental vacation also represented a departure from the very personal method that Taylor traditionally writes, as these songs saw her telling stories from the point of view of fictionalized characters…such as Betty, Inez and James from the song “Betty,” which was performed next.

With a total of seven songs from Folklore’s sixteen-song tracklist performed, that makes it one of the most represented albums on this tour. This era was also one of the most emotional of the night, with most of the songs performed in a dramatic and passionate fashion by both Taylor and the dancers. Just as the writing of these songs provided an escape from the quarantine-reality that Swift experienced, the performance of them breathed life into that concept of escapism and it truly felt like we dropped into a fictional world while experiencing songs like “my tears ricochet,” “august” and “cardigan.”

The Folklore forest /Photo by Rachel Zyzda

As sudden as a snap of fingers, the audience was transported into the world of 1989 (the album, not the year). Taylor and her dancers brought us back to the year 2014 when she transitioned into a more pop-centric sound with iconic hits such as “Style” and “Shake It Off.” Swift performed all of these songs while decked out in an orange, sparkling two piece set and matching booties. During “Blank Space,” her dancers acted out smashing a car that appeared on the stage screen with golf clubs, an homage to the song’s music video. During “Shake It Off,” there wasn’t a single person in the 60,000-capacity stadium not singing and shaking along.

Now, the 1989 set technically wrapped up with Taylor singing “Bad Blood,” but fans were graced with one final song from that album during the acoustic stint of the evening. At every show on this tour, Taylor sings two “surprise songs” that are not included in the main portion of the setlist, and she rotates the song selection every single night. Swift sings the first of the surprise songs on acoustic guitar, before moving over to a piano set up at the end of the stage’s catwalk, and the song performed on guitar ended up being “All You Had To Do Was Stay.” Taylor introduced the track from 1989 by saying “I really don’t think I’ve ever played this song acoustic, but I love this song so much. It’s interesting cause it has this like really loud, really high sound in it” before demonstrating the signature falsetto “stay” she sings in the chorus, which instantly caused the room to dissolve into deafening screams. For the second surprise song, Taylor dove into it without any warning or introduction, which caused my heart to leap into my throat with excitement because it was one of my top three favorite songs of her’s. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the full-body goosebumps I felt hearing her sing “Breathe” from her album Fearless, which is a song that single-handedly helped me survive my first ever heartbreak.

Taylor Swift performing “Breathe.” /Photo by Rachel Zyzda

I know I mentioned earlier that the Reputation era had the most iconic transition, but I have to amend that statement to say it tied with the next transition; As Taylor got up from the piano at the end of the stage, an opening appeared on the stage floor for her to dive into. After she dives, a graphic of her swimming up to the other end of the stage appears. When Taylor returns to the stage, she’s sporting a fuzzy lavender jacket in homage to “Lavender Haze,” the first track on her most recent album, Midnights. Unbelievably, we’ve reached the three-hour mark of the show at this point, and we’ve entered the final Era of the evening. The experience both felt like it had lasted ages and had gone by in a flash.

Last, but certainly not least, the Midnights era ended the evening on an all-time high– everything from the costumes, the production elements, the dancing, and Taylor’s singing were as dazzling as the jeweled-colored lights of the audiences’ wristbands during “Bejeweled.” Just about every song performed from Midnights saw Taylor making a swift (sorry, that was too cheesy) costume transition, including the switch into a midnight blue one-piece for “Midnight Rain” that Taylor changed into under the umbrellas of her dancers. In the ultimate bittersweet moment, the show concluded with the performance of “Karma,” which featured all of the performers draped in neon-colored, glittering fringe jackets dancing under a rainstorm of confetti. The grand finale also featured toned-down “fireworks” that were essentially sparkly pyrotechnics because Ford Field is an enclosed space (which means no real fireworks!)

“Lately, I’ve been dressing for revenge”// Photo Credit: TAS Rights Management 

At the end of the theatrical, emotional and extraordinary performance I felt an overwhelming sense of awe, quickly followed by a bout of exhaustion. So many concert-goers who have had the opportunity to witness this once-in-a-lifetime tour have said they felt “hungover” afterwards, despite not drinking. This shared sentiment from the attendees is enough to keep me forever astounded by Taylor Swift’s accomplishments as a musician and entertainer because she’s able to repeat this spectacle night after night. It’s obvious that a tour this massive has a huge team behind it; From the dancers, to the production crew, to the live band, there are countless people putting their blood, sweat and tears into this show, but Taylor Swift acts as the true North Star of the performance, anchoring each and every one of the moving pieces.

The albums and songs that make up the Eras Tour setlist have all acted as a soundtrack to my life during different chapters of it, and I’m so grateful that this concert is now another cherished memory that will perpetually be tied to these songs. As a society, I think we can tend to underestimate the value of pop music, but after the dedication and sheer athleticism that Taylor Swift has displayed throughout the course of this tour and her phenomenal performances, she continues to prove just how impactful pop music can be.

I will admit that I’m slightly biased as an established Swiftie, but I truly believe that the Eras Tour is the performance of the century– unless of course Taylor eventually tops herself.

Tune into the tour setlist below, and see where you can catch the Eras Tour next here.