Filtering by Tag: The Empty Bottle
LIVE: Homeshake, Divino Niño, and Pixel Grip Incite Déjà Vu to Past Generations of Music at The Empty Bottle
The Empty Bottle was a low-fi circus of sound Thursday night that showcased energy plucked from the musical influence of past eras — and a little of the future.
Pixel Grip’s debut at The Empty Bottle lived up to the darkwave disco hype with a sound crystallized somewhere between Sylvan Esso and LCD Soundsystem. Lead singer Rita Lukea gained confidence as the set progressed, doing away with the mic stand and commanding the space in towering white platform boots with razor-sharp black eyeliner and undercut to match. At her side, John Freund steered the synth ship through waves of 80s bubble-pop and sinister crunch, and Tyler Ommen joined the duo to hammer out drums.
Lukea’s syrupy sweet vocals and doll-like movements offset the sassy, backhanded lyrics of songs like new single “Right Side"; “You’re always so right, right /Always on the right, on the right side /I’m on the wrong side then, feeling left-minded.” And when the singer started quasi-rapping in French, the already-writhing crowd lost its shit. For their first show at the Bottle, Pixel Grip did more than hold their own in a star-studded lineup.
It was the second set, though, that stole the damn show. A Chicago favorite, Divino Niño lingers between the pop sound of a hip, Latino version of The Four Seasons and a seductive, psychedelic garage band.
The entire set felt like a dreamy island vacation, perhaps a wink at lead singer and guitarist Camilo Medina’s thigh tattoo, a little line-drawing of a sunset/palm tree on the ocean, that peeked out from his tiny, denim cutoffs. Medina’s a whammy master with a warm honey voice who romanced the crowd by pairing some seriously sexed-up hip manipulation with a quick thumb’s up and thank you after each song. Not to mention the English to Spanish and back again lyrics that oozed heartache and nostalgia.
The swaying harmonies from Medina, bassist Javier Forero and guitarist Guillermo Rodriguez on songs like “Uruguay” and “Tell Me” could heat up the prom slow-dance scenes of any cult classic in the best way. And the percussion was intricate to say the least, with the quartet’s drummer, Pierce Codina, flanked by two guests — one of which was Paul Cherry. Divino Niño’s sonic nod to the 60's that they refer to on their Facebook as “bootleg-ass-pop” felt more like floating on a cloud.
Just before midnight, the lights went down and the crowd fell in love all over again when Homeshake took the stage. As a bucket-hatted Peter Sagar began his synthy serenade of “Every Single Thing”, the packed space took on a collective groove. The former guitarist for Mac DeMarco definitely shares a sound with the artist, but adds his own low-fi spin with effects like warping his voice — even when talking to the crowd he sounded like a cartoon kitten or an anonymous source on Gangland. Sagar’s playful this way in his interaction with the crowd between songs, jumping from thanking to shushing them and met with laughter.
The Montreal-based quartet poured a thick molasses over the crowd with the R&B tropes found in latest release Fresh Air and stoner synths of previous works “Midnight Snack” and “In the Shower”. The sensual energy only intensified as what seemed like the entire crowd sang lyrics “kissing hugging making love and waking up and getting high” while head-bobbing in unison.
While each act incited definite déjà vu to past generations of music, they successfully — and seamlessly — spun exciting new webs of sound to encapsulate the crowd.
Thumbnail Photo Credit: Salina Ladha
Listen to Homeshake's latest album Fresh Air in full below.
PHOTOS: Flagship at Empty Bottle 7.18.17
Flagship hit the stage at The Empty Bottle last week, as one of their first stops on a two month tour with their label mates In The Valley Below. If you missed out on the show, check out the full gallery of Flagship's set below.
Flagship will be on tour throughout August. Check out all of the tour dates here, and listen to their latest album The Electric Man below!
PHOTOS: WEST FEST 2017
Undoubtedly the best Chicago street fest line up of the summer, the Empty Bottle Presents stage at West Fest hosted a wide variety of musicians over the course of the July 7th-9th weekend. Although the stage's lineup also included more established acts like Har Mar Superstar and Local H, our favorite sets included Chicagoans Post Animal and DEHD. If you couldn't attend the festival, get a glimpse of what you missed with our photo gallery featuring both of the aforementioned bands as well as Woods and Palehound!
PHOTOS: Hinds at The Empty Bottle 5.25.17
The crowd loved the infectious energy radiated by Hinds this past Thursday night. The four piece from Madrid headlined the show put on by Red Bull Sound Select, and their extended set included some brand new music and a surprise appearance from Chicago's own Twin Peaks. Check out the full gallery of the show below!
Listen to Hind's 2016 album Leave Me Alone below.
PHOTOS: Kirin J Callinan at The Empty Bottle 5.3.17
Photo Gallery of Kirin J Callinan at The Empty Bottle 5.3.17
PHOTOS: POND at The Empty Bottle on 5.3.17
A Thursday Trifecta With Jude Shuma, Molly Burch, and Tim Darcy
Kicking off a night of three incredible sets, Chicago’s own Jude Shuma took The Empty Bottle stage around 9:30 on Thursday evening. His 30 minute set kicked off with his most played track “Float,” (which--shameless plug--you can hear on the CW's new show Riverdale). After playing some older, familiar tunes, like “Subterranean Feelings,” Jude tested out some new songs from his upcoming album, Sugar Mountain. The new songs already sounded incredible live, and they went over well with the crowd.
Molly Burch captivated the crowd next, hooking them in with her 1950’s-style crooning and a refreshingly retro sound. The seven-song set started with the title track of Molly’s debut album Please Be Mine, the crowd slowly swaying along to the hauntingly beautiful chorus. The next song, “Fool,” picked up the pace, with Molly adding a powerful edge to her alluring vocals. As Molly and her band completely enchanted the crowd with more songs from the album, like “Wrong For You” and “Try,” the music translated incredibly well from the album to the live sense. The fact that Molly recorded the album in a live setting in just a couple days kept the album so authentic and added a real vulnerability to the music. That same sense of sincerity and vulnerability came across in Molly’s stage performance, as well.
Ought-frontman Tim Darcy and his extremely talented two-women band took the stage next just after 11PM, playing a set mostly comprised of songs from his debut solo album Saturday Night. Tim got the crowd moving right away with the up-tempo, building tune “Tall Glass of Water,” immediately following with “Still Waking Up.” About half way through the set, Tim mentioned his album and thanked the audience, pointing out how wonderful Chicago crowds are all of the time. “New York is good 80% of the time,” Tim continued before moving into the instrumental track “First Final Days.” As the night of good vibes and great jams continued, Tim also mentioned that he and his band had been on tour for 5 weeks with Molly Burch, shouting out her, his band members, and his crew. The set drew to a close with a brand new song that Tim recently wrote while on this tour. Introducing the new song, called “Sledgehammer and The Rose,” Tim says he wrote it about an experience in Toronto, when some guy spit in his face when he was already having a bad day. The set wrapped up with the mellow “What’d You Release,” before the band left and returned for an encore.
If you missed this night filled with genuine talent and incredible musicianship, make sure you stay in the loop with all three artists! Check here for any updates from Jude Shuma on his new record and upcoming shows. Molly Burch returns to Chicago as soon as April 7th, supporting Sallie Ford at Schubas, and you can grab tickets for that show here. Lastly, keep up with Tim Darcy's latest tour dates here, and listen to his album below!
NE-HI Record Release @ Empty Bottle 2/24
Heads up! Chicago natives NE-HI will be hosting a record release show later this month on 2/24, in support of their upcoming release OffeRS. The show kicks off at 9PM at the legendary Empty Bottle, with tickets starting $10. Grab your tickets here and get ready for the gig by watching the video for "Stay Young"
You can also pre-order an exclusive version of the record from our faves Shuga Records. Check it out here.
January 26th Doubleheader: Public Access T.V and The Lemon Twigs
We’ve all been there…one of your favorite bands announces a show, and at first, you’re ecstatic and start making plans to get tickets. Then you go to put the show in your calendar and you realize…you’ve already got plans to see another band that night (dun dun dunnnnnn). I know, I know, it’s a very “first world problem" to have when living in a major city that most tours travel through, but deciding between shows can be a total nightmare. That’s why last night I did away with the FOMO and decided to race from Schubas to The Empty Bottle to catch a doubleheader from Public Access T.V and The Lemon Twigs.
The jam-packed evening started off catching PATV’s main support and ANCHR interview alumni Splashh, who kicked off their set at 9PM with “See Through You.” For the next 40 minutes, Splashh won over the small-but-mighty crowd as they performed a set composed of songs from their debut Comfort, as well as a few new ones, like “Rings” and the title track from their upcoming album, “Waiting A Lifetime.”
Splashh at Schubas 1/26/17
Proving themselves as a live band, the “cheeky boys from Australia” (as Public Access T.V called them) delivered an added facet to each of their songs that you can only experience in the live setting…going beyond bringing their album to life. They incorporated everything from extended jam sessions to building up an enchanting beat that left the crowd in a trance. The energy level from the fans and the band amplified during the last song, “Need It,” with everyone moving along in time to the song, especially the front row. Longtime fan Annie Ruzga said she’d been waiting to see them for forever, after discovering their music years ago on Spotify.
Annie Ruzga with her sign made from Splashh song titles
After a quick changeover, headliners Public Access T.V took the stage around 9:50 saying, “We’re called the Feds and we’re from Washington D.C.,” referencing Donald Trump’s threat to send the feds to Chicago. From the beginning chords of “In Our Blood” the crowd was hooked, but things really got moving when lead singer John Eatherly sang the opening lines of “In Love and Alone.” John mentioned in our interview a few weeks back that this track is one of their oldest, which came across from the sense of ease that overtook the stage during this song.
PATV at Schubas 1/26/17
Throughout most of their set, the band kept up their cool and collected attitude, effortlessly playing crowd favorites like “End of an Era” and “Evil Disco.” On a couple of occasions, the band members got a little out of sync and seemed to be confused on song order, but it appeared to be because they didn’t have setlists on the stage. Despite the slight setlist slipups, the energy never faltered, both on stage and in the crowd, and the fast paced set flew by. PATV thanked the audience and bid their goodbyes around 10:30. Both bands stuck around to sell merch and meet fans.
I had a quick chat with a few band members, then made my way over to The Empty Bottle to catch The Lemon Twigs. I unfortunately missed the equally awesome retro-inspired rockers Savoy Motel, but made it right on time for The Lemon Twigs’ 11:20PM start time. “Keep that Bee Gees song going,” co-frontman and eldest brother Brian D’Addario instructed as the four band members made their way on stage. As the younger brother, 17 year old Michael D’Addario, took his place behind the drum kit, I can’t help but notice the “x” on each band member’s hand. For any touring band, coming to a new city and selling out a venue should be considered a feat, but especially for a band as young as The Lemon Twigs. The band hooked the crowd members by opening with their popular track “I Wanna Prove To You,” immediately displaying raw talent and electrifying stage presence. After playing “Haroomata,” another track from their debut album, Brian introduced the next song “Why Didn’t You Say That” as part of their upcoming EP to be released this year.
Michael D'Addario leading the band. The Lemon Twigs at The Empty Bottle 1/26/17.
As the set moved on and the crowd remained hooked, Brian displayed incredible showmanship under pressure when Michael’s bass drum pedal went out right before “These Words.” Instead of stalling or pausing the show, Brian skipped ahead to perform another new song as a solo performance. By the end of the song, the drums were back in working order and they were able to perform the crowd favorite “These Words.” For the remaining half of the set, Brian and Michael switched places, with Michael taking center stage to sing the remaining songs. Standout moments from the rest of the set included a cover by Alex Chilton, “All of the Time” and Michael’s signature high kicks. The night concluded around 12:35AM, with a two song encore featuring “Queen of my School.”