Filtering by Tag: Lolla
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.
PHOTOS: Taylor Janzen and Orville Peck at Thalia Hall
This past Wednesday night, Lollapalooza weekend kicked off early with a show from the festival’s performers Taylor Janzen and Orville Peck at Thalia Hall. Check out photos from the sold out show below, and take a look at more upcoming shows at Thalia Hall here.
LIVE: Frenship at Park West 8.3.2017
LA duo James Sunderland and Brett Hite, AKA Frenship, and their live band hit the stage at Park West this past Thursday evening just after 11PM, as part of an official Lollapalooza aftershow with Tegan and Sara. Despite the late start of the show and the fact that some of the crowd had been watching music all day across Chicago's massive Grant Park, the room still buzzed with excited energy when the opening notes of Frenship's "Run Wild" rang out. The energy only amplified as the band performed some of their popular tunes like "Carpet" and "Knives," which featured Hite and Sunderland showing off some of their signature dance moves. As the set progressed, the duo worked the entire stage, quickly winning over the crowd at the intimate Lincoln Park venue. Towards the end of the set, the energy peaked when the keyboardist, Celeste, took center stage to sing Emily Warren's part of the band's viral song, "Capsize." The crowd sang along to its melodic and addictive track, remaining hooked as Frenship performed the final song of the evening, "1000 Nights."
Frenship will be on a headlining tour in select cities this fall--check out all of their upcoming shows here, and listen to their debut EP below.
LIVE: Temples and Declan McKenna 8.2.2017
The British invaded Lincoln Hall on Wednesday, August 2nd for an evening of pure talent, charisma, and rock'n'roll. Kicking off the Wednesday night "after" show, which actually took place before this year's 4-day Lollapalooza, Declan McKenna and his band played in celebration of both his first Lolla performance and the release of his debut album What Do You Think About the Car? As McKenna played through crowd favorites like his debut single "Paracetamol" and his latest, "Humongous," he and his band jammed cohesively, feeding off one another's energy. His 45 minute set concluded with the high energy single "Brazil," with its impossible-to-get-out-of-your-head chorus.
After a quick stage changeover, fellow Brits Temples took the stage to deliver a smooth and polished performance for the next 90 minutes. Combining a solid variety of songs from their debut LP Sun Structures and 2017's Volcano, the set flowed from start to finish with extensive jams and additions to songs that added layers to the live performance. The band's frontman James Edward Bagshaw sauntered around the small stage at the Lincoln Park venue, energy surging through not only Bagshaw and his bandmates, but the crowd and the band as well. A magnetic presence filled the concert hall as the crisp and perfected sound soared through the room during songs like "Certainty" and "Shelter Song." A lighting rig composted of chameleon, color-changing diamonds added another depth to the already enthralling performance from Temples. It's a rare feat when a band can develop such an engaging and evolved live show while still managing to sound flawless and in sync, but Temples made it look easy with their Wednesday night show.
If you missed both Temples' shows at Lincoln Hall and Lollapalooza, check out their remaining tour dates here.
PHOTOS: Blaenavon at Schubas on 6.4.17
The Set List:
1. Take Care
2. Let's Pray
3. My Bark Is Your Bite
4. Into The Night
5. Orthodox Man
6. I Will Be The World
7. Prague '99
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