Live Recap: Snail Mail with Joy Again at The Riviera
This past Thursday night, Lindsey Jordan, AKA Snail Mail, made a highly anticipated return to Chicago in honor of the sophomore album Valentine.
The night kicked off with a set from Philadelphia’s Joy Again, who got the crowd warmed up with their mix of indie pop and surf rock sound. A highlight of their set was when they performed their single “Looking Out for You,” which has been popularized on Tik Tok and garnered millions of streams. If you haven’t checked out Joy Again yet, I’d recommend if you like The Frights, Vundabar, and Surf Curse.
Next up, it was time for Snail Mail to hit the stage here for the first time since their Pitchfork Festival performance and Pitchfork after show in 2019. It’s always a special moment to take in the energy and excitement of fans being reunited with their favorite artists for the first time post-Covid, and the reunion between Jordan and the eager fans in the front row surged the venue with contagious joy. As Jordan and her bandmates took their places on a stage decked out with flowers and Cupid statues to coordinate with the second album’s title, a huge grin lit up her face while she began to sing the album’s title track “Valentine.” The show continued on with a few new songs from the 2021 album, marking the live debut in Chicago for “Ben Franklin” and “Glory” before Jordan and her band began to weave in fan favorites from her 2019 debut Lush as well. During some songs, the crowd was singing along so loudly that I could hear their singing over Jordan’s own vocals.
The setlist also contained some deeper cuts, like “Thinning” from the 2016 “Habits” EP, but no matter what they were playing, Jordan exuded a sense of comfort being back on stage and she radiated happiness to be playing music with her bandmates. During the performance of “Light Blue,” the bandmates left the stage and Jordan performed the track solo on acoustic guitar, bringing a gentle sense of calm to the room. The show was jam-packed with a lot of music, so Jordan didn’t spend too much time bantering between sets, but she did take a moment to soak in the aesthetics of The Riviera Theatre. “This is a beautiful venue. Even soundchecking in here was a great honor,” she said. The energy continued to amp back up as the band performed a cover of The Smashing Pumpkins “Tonight, Tonight,” which felt especially fitting for this show since we were in The Pumpkins’ hometown.
If you missed out on the concert, check out our photo recap of the evening below, and see where you can catch Snail Mail next here.
