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Live Recap: Beabadoobee with Lowertown at The Riviera

December 03, 2022  /  Malik Moore

This past Tuesday night, The Riviera Theatre hosted a loud and exciting show from Lowertown and Beabadoobee in the most recent show of the Beatopia Tour.

The evening began with the talented, New York-based duo Olivia Osby and Avshalom (AKA Avsha) Weinberg of Lowertown. I’ve been a fan of these two since 2019 and I was so excited when I saw they were coming to open for Beabadoobee in Chicago. They absolutely blew away the audience and definitely gained a lot of new fans while performing songs of their latest project entitled I Love to Lie (which is one of my favorite albums from this year.) Olivia and Avsha performed as if they’ve been on the stage a hundred times with their respective turns performing. The song that got the biggest applause was the 2020 single “Best Person You Know.” It sealed the dynamic pair’s amazing set and they couldn’t have chosen a better song.

With the stage warmed up and the crowd ready, Beabadoobee was up next to take the stage. With her arrival came an uproar so loud my ears were ringing after. She broke out into “10:36,” which the audience caught onto immediately. There wasn’t a single song the crowd didn’t latch onto within seconds. That’s something i haven’t seen a lot of so I knew her fans were not casual. While I enjoyed her opening song, I just can’t go without mentioning her performance of “Apple Cider.” That song evoked a reaction out of me I haven’t felt since I saw Saba at the Aragon Ballroom in May. The performance was even better than the recording on Spotify. I don’t know what she did to compete with herself but I was delighted to see how much fun she was having on stage while the audience roared along with her. 

Lowertown and Beabadoobee were the perfect pairing for this show, from the mosh pits that formed while Lowertown killed their time on stage to the girls I saw absolutely dying when Beabadoobee introduced herself. Everyone in the theatre was having the time of their lives, especially me.

I can’t wait to see these talented artists take the stage again in Chicago because after this show, I am a bigger fan than I already was. Check out photos from the show below, and see where you can catch the tour next here.

categories / Gigs, Music, Photos, Reviews
tags / Beabadoobee, Lowertown, The Riviera Theatre, The Riv, Live Recap, Live Show, Photo recap, Photo Set

Live Recap: Dayglow with Ritt Momney at The Riviera

November 07, 2022  /  Rachel Zyzda

ANCHR kicked off the weekend with a sold out show from Dayglow and Ritt Momney at The Riviera Theatre.

The musical project of Jack Rutter, better known by his alias Ritt Momney, and his bandmates took the stage at the Uptown venue at 7:30 to an already-packed crowd. As the band performed songs like “HEADSTART” and “Sometime” from their 2021 album Sunny Boy, the audience members listened attentively and often sang along. When it came time for Ritt Momney to perform their well-known cover of “Put Your Records On” by Corinne Bailey Rae towards the end of their set, everyone cheered loudly and even more people joined in on singing along.

Next, the stage was set for Dayglow and the energy buzzing around the Riviera was palpable. The stage design had a sleek, minimalist feel to it, and a screen in the background remained blank until the headliner’s set began. Similarly to Ritt Momney, Dayglow is the project of a solo singer-songwriter, backed by a full band. Founded by Sloan Christian Struble, the Dayglow project began releasing music in 2017 with the debut album Fuzzybrain. Since then, Struble has released three studio albums under the moniker Dayglow, with the most recent being People In Motion, which was just released in early October and contains the tracks “Radio” and “Then It All Goes Away”—which were the first songs performed on Friday night.

As soon as the first note rang out, there was a sense of mutual joy that flowed back and forth between the band members and the audience— the crowd loudly echoed the lyrics that Struble sang through his wide grin, and the floor shook with the weight of a sold-out room dancing. Colorful lights and visuals swirled across the screen onstage, and the audience mirrored that by donning glowstick jewelry and bouncing bright balloons around the room.

Struble’s gratitude for the special evening shined across his face as he performed, but he also made sure to vocalize his appreciation several times throughout the night, first by saying “Tonight sold out, so that’s pretty cool. I love Chicago so much, and I’m so thankful for you being here” after the first few songs of the setlist.

The positive party vibes continued throughout the set, particularly when Dayglow covered the classic “Funkytown” by Lipps, Inc., which Struble introduced by saying “alright Chicago, let’s keep dancing!” The audience greeted that sentiment with loud cheers, and they kept up their part of the bargain by dancing nonstop. The setlist featured another couple of covers, including “Robot Rock” by Daft Punk and “You Can Call Me Al” by Paul Simon, but the crowd seemed the happiest when they heard their favorite Dayglow songs. Struble and his bandmates did a wonderful job of curating songs from their full discography, making sure to go back to the early days. “When I was 17 years old, I made an album in my bedroom called Fuzzybrain,” Struble said before performing the record’s title track. Another fan favorite of the evening was “Can I Call You Tonight?” from that same record, which also happens to be Dayglow’s most streamed single.

All in all, the night was jam-packed with positive energy and the performance embraced the entire audience with an evening of escapism. I left the show as a bigger fan of Dayglow than when the show started, all thanks to the captivating nature of Struble’s on-stage demeanor.

Do yourself a favor and get tickets to Dayglow’s next show in your area—tour dates here— and take a look at the gallery from Friday’s show below.



categories / Gigs, Music, Photos, Reviews
tags / Dayglow, Ritt Momney, Riviera Theatre, Photo Set, Live Music, Live Show, Photos, New Music, Tour

PHOTOS: Alex G and Hatchie at Thalia Hall

November 05, 2022  /  Rachel Zyzda

This week, Thalia Hall hosted two sold-out shows from Alex G and Hatchie, in honor of Alex G’s new album God Save The Animals. If you missed the shows, check out photos from the second night below, and see where you can catch the tour next here.

categories / Photos, Gigs, Music
tags / Alex G, Hatchie, Thalia Hall, Live Music, Photo Set, Photography

Live Recap: Kevin Morby with Coco at The Vic

November 03, 2022  /  Rachel Zyzda

The Vic Theatre hosted a Halloween party with Kevin Morby and Coco this past Monday night.

Kicking off the evening, the members of Coco (Maia Friedman, Dan Molad, and Oliver Hill) took the stage with make up that paid homage to Día de Muertos. The project of Coco began in 2019 when Friedman, Molad, and Hill came together as friends to start collaborating on music, after having played in other bands separately. That same collaborative spirit carried over to their live performance, as the bandmates continued to swap instruments and rotate around the stage during their 45 minute set. Coco’s performance started off with very mellow vibes, but the energy remained dynamic and intensified towards the end. The band also shared that this was their first real tour, saying “We’re about half way through our tour opening up for Kevin Morby and it’s our first time in Chicago.” Monday’s show was my first experience with Coco, but I can’t wait to hear more from them and see what’s next.

Next up, Kevin Morby and his bandmates hit the stage to a backdrop stating “This Is A Photograph,” which is the title of Morby’s latest studio album released earlier this year. Fittingly, the first song performed was the title track of that new album, followed closely by several other tracks off the same record, like “Bittersweet, TN” and “Rock Bottom.” Between performing the newer songs, Morby took the time to share his gratitude with the crowd for showing up on such a busy night, saying, “We know there’s a lot going on tonight. It’s like a choose your own adventure, so thank you for choosing this adventure.”

The bandmates sharing the stage with Morby did a phenomenal job of breathing life into the songs, filling in the live arrangements with backing vocals as well as the flute and saxophone in addition to more traditional instruments. Morby made sure to keep the crowd not only sonically captivated, but visually captivated as he glided around the entire stage donning a gold fringe jacket and glitter face paint. During the performance of “Five Easy Pieces,” Morby made his way right to the front of the stage to closely connect with the audience, but one of his most memorable interactions of the night was when he twirled around a set of nunchucks and then proceeded to toss some candy out to the crowd in honor of Halloween.

While the setlist leaned heavy with new material for the first half, Morby made sure to sprinkle in bits of older material— such as “No Halo” from 2019’s Oh My God, which he introduced by inviting the crowd to participate in by clapping along to the beat. Another all-time fan favorite was of course “City Music,” which Morby dedicated to Chicago, saying “this is one of my favorite cities.” Speaking of Chicago and music, Morby and his bandmates concluded the main part of the set with a performance of “Goodbye to Good Times” with a guest appearance from Chicago musician Colin Croom. The evening concluded with an encore of “Beautiful Strangers” and “Harlem River.”

See where you can catch Kevin Morby on tour next here, and check out the photo recap of the evening below.

categories / Gigs, Photos, Music, Reviews
tags / Kevin Morby, Coco, The Vic, Live Show, Live Review, Live Recap, This Is A Photograph, Photo Set, Chicago bands

Live Recap: Young the Giant with Danielle Ponder at Aragon Ballroom

October 30, 2022  /  Rachel Zyzda

This past Thursday night, the Aragon Ballroom hosted a feel-good show from Young The Giant and Danielle Ponder as part of the American Bollywood Tour.

The night kicked off with singer-songwriter Danielle Ponder from Rochester, New York. I had listened to Ponder a bit on Spotify and already couldn’t wait to see her perform live, but her powerhouse vocals absolutely blew me (and everyone else at the venue) away. Right from the jump, Ponder filled the ballroom with her rich, soulful voice and poetic lyricism. Ponder also had a sense a humor and introduced her song “Someone Like You” by asking all the singles in the crowd to make some noise while sharing her frustration with the dating app Hinge (I think most singles can relate to that sentiment). Later on in the set, Ponder shared that she used to be a public defender, but I’m so glad she’s now able to share her musical talent with us all. In addition to her own songs, Ponder performed a chilled out cover of “Creep” by Radiohead. “Being on a stage like this means everything to me,” she told the audience, but I would bet this won’t be her biggest stage—soon she’ll be headlining even larger rooms.

Next up, the stage was set for headliners Young the Giant, with risers placed on both sides of the stage. The band entered the stage to a backdrop of hazy blue lighting, before launching into their song “American Bollywood,” which is the namesake of their tour and the title of their four-part album that has been released in increments this year. Similarly to the structure of the new album, the live performance was broken up into different acts for different clusters of songs, and between each act, the house speakers played different audio interludes to break them up.

Young the Giant performed the majority of the American Bollywood songs like “Cult of Personality” and “Dancing in the Rain” interlaced with other fan favorites from their earlier discography. Most notably, “Cough Syrup” elicited an immediate response of enthusiastic screams after the first few chords rang out. I feel like very few songs evoke that kind of immediate response, so it was incredible to witness that moment, and something that makes live music continue to be such a beautiful experience.

No matter what song the band was playing throughout the night, lead vocalist Sameer Gadhia remained captivating as he made sure to wander to both ends of the stage and connect with fans in the front, and the entire band occasionally rotated their placement on stage, which kept their performance dynamic and engaging.

Another fan favorite, “My Body” closed out the last act before the three-song encore, hinting that the show was winding down but there was still more to come in the encore. The final three songs consisted of “Superposition,” “Mind Over Matter,” and “Silvertongue.”

If you get the chance, don’t miss out on the American Bollywood tour—see the remaining dates here, and check out the photo recap below.

categories / Gigs, Music, Photos, Reviews
tags / Live Recap, Young the Giant, Danielle Ponder, Aragon Ballroom, Live Music, American Bollywood, Photo Set, New Music, Live Nation

Live Recap: Father John Misty at Riverside Theater

October 07, 2022  /  Scott Teresi

On Monday October 3rd, Father John Misty made his grand return to Milwaukee for his first show there since June of 2019 (then at the BMO Harris Pavilion) and his first indoor show there since he played The Pabst back in September of 2018. Taking the stage of the Riverside Theater for the first time on a chilly early October night the seasonal winds of change not only brought Josh Tillman and his band back sounding better than ever, but also with a setlist filled with surprises and some rarely played gems among the 22-song set. Among these songs were six new “fake-jazz” (his words) tracks from his new album Chloë and the Next 20th Century, which he reminded us was music made during the pandemic and songs he never thought would be tour-able. Among these tracks were opener “Q4,” the breezy “Goodbye Mr. Blue,” the lush, old-Hollywood “Funny Girl” and the 20’s rag-time bop “Chloë.”

Throughout the evening many classic Father John Misty favorites were on display, from the crowd-pleasing “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” and up-tempo “Total Entertainment Forever” to the soaring and feels-inducing “Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins).” Also on display was the distinctive stage presence Josh Tillman is known for as he bantered with the audience, at one point asking if anyone had recently lost a pet. After an audience member gave a brief remembrance of their departed, Tillman dead-panned, “well, I can empathize. I too recently lost a fictional cat…” in reference to the narrative of “Mr. Blue.”

As the band settled into the stage and with the audience fully along for the ride, the night started to take some surprising turns. Early on, for example, the infrequently played “The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apt.” made a welcome appearance. Then midway through the set, Tillman proclaimed, “this is going well, I think. Now let’s do something very misguided and reckless and derail the evening” as the band started to play somber rarity “The Memo” from 2017’s Pure Comedy to this reviewer’s pure delight. The surprises didn’t end there however as late in the set we got a half-title track “The Next 20th Century” (sparingly played so far on this leg of the tour) which brought a completely different flavor to the repertoire, which its verbose spoken-word verses over sparse instrumentation interrupted by a thunderous, wall-of-sound interlude set against a stark black-and-white stage. This stunner was then followed up with another: the magnificent, soaring and cathartic “In Twenty Years or So.”

This was one of those nights that serves to remind us why we love live music. From the buoyant presence of an immense talent on stage to the marvelous sound of a room like the Riverside Theatre to the unexpected appearances of deep-cuts and rarities, this is one of those shows that just HIT on every level, with artist and audience fully engaged and feeding off each other. Upon taking the stage again for his four-song encore, Tillman remarked, “after playing for weeks with a very well-tuned and tight set, we decided to change it up a bit tonight. We knew you could handle it.” The buzz and excitement in the lobby after the show confirmed it.

Check out photos of the evening below, and see where you can catch the tour next here.


categories / Gigs, Music, Photos, Reviews
tags / Father John Misty, Live Recap, Photo recap, Photo Set, Live Music, Riverside Theater, Milwaukee

PHOTO RECAP: Riot Fest 2022- Sunday

September 25, 2022  /  Rachel Zyzda

ANCHR spent the last weekend at Riot Fest checking out a mix of old favorites and new discoveries. Check out the Sunday photo gallery recap, featuring Chastity, Concrete Castles, Coolio, Ice Cube, Jimmy Eat World, Kid Sistr, Moon Kissed, Real Friends, Renforshort, Save Face, The Academy Is, Weathers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Zola Jesus.

Be sure to also check out the recaps of Day 1 and Day 2.

categories / Music, Festival, Gigs, Photos
tags / Riot Fest, Chastity, Concrete Castles, Coolio, Ice Cube, Jimmy Eat World, Kid Sistr, Moon Kissed, Real Friends, Renforshort, Save Face, The Academy Is, Weathers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Zola Jesus, Music Festival, Live shows, Photo Set, Photo recap, Photo Gallery

PHOTO RECAP: Riot Fest 2022- Saturday

September 24, 2022  /  Rachel Zyzda

ANCHR spent the last weekend at Riot Fest checking out a mix of old favorites and new discoveries. Check out the Saturday photo gallery recap, featuring Bridge City Sinners, Bully, Cumgirl8, Gwar, Madball, Mannequin Pussy, No Trigger, Surfbort, Thick, War on Women, Yungblud, and Yellowcard.

Stay tuned for more coverage of the rest of the weekend.

categories / Festival, Gigs, Music, Photos
tags / Bridge City Sinners, Bully, Cumgirl8, Gwar, Madball, Mannequin Pussy, No Trigger, Surfbort, Thick, War on Women, Yungblud, Yellowcard, Riot Fest, Live Music, Chicago, Fesitval, Music Festival, Photo Set, Photo Gallery, Photo recap

Live Recap: Fleet Foxes and Uwade at Salt Shed

August 06, 2022  /  Rachel Zyzda

Fleet Foxes and Uwade performed to a huge crowd this past Wednesday night during the Salt Shed’s inaugural week.

The show was part of Salt Shed’s “Outside the Shed” series— a string of outdoor shows taking place around the venue while the indoor space continues to be revamped. The forecast had been calling for potential thunderstorms all evening, but the musical and weather gods blessed us with a clear forecast aside from a few sprinkles of rain here and there.

Uwade kicked off the evening with a solo support set, warming up the crowd with her stunning songwriting and friendly banter. Her show opened up with her song “Nostalgia,” which the singer shared was the first song she wrote. Uwade also introduced her next song “The Man Who Sees Tomorrow” by dedicating it to her father and sharing an anecdote about him and the creation of the song. Uwade also performed her newest single “Do You See The Light Around Me?,” which was released this year by Sylvan Esso’s record label Psychic Hotline.

The crowd attentively basked in the beauty of Uwade’s original music, and fortunately her set wasn’t the only time we saw her that evening— she returned to the stage at the start of Fleet Foxe’s set to perform “Wading In Waist-Hight Water” with the band. The track from 2020’s Shore features the collaboration between the singer and Fleet Foxes, so it was incredible to hear the song brought to life as the opening tune of their show.

Fleet Foxes’ set took place as the sun began to set, casting a hazy glow on the city’s skyline while the band provided the perfect soundtrack. Fleet Foxes’ frontman Robin Pecknold took the opportunity to share his appreciation for the evening several times throughout the night, but in the very beginning of the show, he told the audience how great it was to be at the venue for the opening week and called out that the weather cooperating.

Pecknold also engaged the crowd in banter between songs, asking “did everyone get a free popsicle?” in reference to the giveaway from Salt Shed, in partnership with Pretty Cool Ice Cream. While the set weaved through fan favorites like “Can I Believe You,” “White Winter Hymnal,” and “Third of May / Ōdaigahara,” Fleet Foxes also incorporated a few covers into the mix, including “Phoenix” by Big Red Machine and “The Kiss” by Judee Sill. Before playing the latter, Pecknold performed the song “If You Need To, Keep Time on Me” on acoustic guitar, accompanied only by Casey Westcott on piano while the rest of the band took a breather. The quieter moment provided juxtaposition against the full band that played for most of the show and included everything from trumpets, trombones and tambourines alongside the more traditional guitar, bass and piano.

The Chicago audience sadly missed out on the performance of Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing in the Name,” which a fan in the front had requested after seeing them cover it earlier this tour. Pecknold joked with the audience that they couldn’t perform the song because Christian [Wargo]’s mom was in attendance that night.

The evening wrapped up with an encore that once again featured the vocals of Uwade, providing a full circle moment to a wonderful night.

See photos of the show below, and see where you can catch Fleet Foxes on tour next here.

categories / Gigs, Photos, Reviews, Music
tags / Uwade, Fleet Foxes, Salt Shed, Live Recap, Live Music, Concerts, Photography, Photo Set, Photo Gallery

Live Recap: Third Eye Blind with Taking Back Sunday

July 11, 2022  /  Rachel Zyzda

ANCHR kicked off the weekend with a nostalgia-packed night at Northerly Island for Taking Back Sunday and Third Eye Blind. As I walked into the pavilion at the start of the evening, I saw a good ratio of fans sporting shirts for each band, signifying we had a blend of both fan bases in the house. 

After an opening set from Australia’s Hockey Dad, Taking Back Sunday took the stage just as the sun began to set. They launched into their show with the song “Tidal Wave,” which is the title track of their 2016 album. From there, their setlist featured a good mix of the band’s discography, but it heavily featured many of their older cuts, which personally made me reminisce about my high school days. Particularly when they played songs like “MakeDamnSure” and “Cute Without the 'E' (Cut From the Team)”— which were staples in my rotation back in those days. Between songs, lead singer Adam Lazzara commented about the beautiful setting of the show, saying, “This is fantastic. It’s beautiful. There’s a nice breeze. All you beautiful people are here.” It really was the perfect breeze coming off the lake that night, and members of the audience all shared a sense of camaraderie and excitement. In addition to the throwbacks, the band performed their newest single “Just Us Two,” which they just dropped last month with Steve Aoki. 

Next up, the stage got set for headliners Third Eye Blind. Their set up included risers with instruments and mic stands set up on the different levels, which the band used to shuffle around the stage during their set.  The tour was in honor of the band’s 25th anniversary from their self-titled debut record. 

The music began with a blend of old and new, with the beginning of the set featuring “Thanks a Lot” from their debut as well as “Dust Storm” from their 2021 record. The rest of the night journeyed through their expansive catalog, while heavily highlighting the songs from Third Eye Blind. The good vibes between the audience members continued to radiate and were highly encouraged by frontman Stephan Jenkins. He asked the crowd to acquaint themselves with the people next to them, saying, “Everyone from the front to the back, turn around and tell someone you don’t know that you’re glad they’re here.” 

Jenkins continued to encourage friendly vibes amongst audience members before they played the song “Shipboard Cook,” which Jenkins introduced as a song he wrote to “be sung by drunk people in a pub. It’s a song for someone who got dumped and is being consoled by loving friends.” Towards the bottom half of the show from Third Eye Blind, fans were also treated to a solo acoustic performance of “The Background” by Jenkins, as well as a cover of “Funeral Singers” by Califone from the whole band.

Before the concert came to a close, we of course also heard the massive hits “Jumper,” “Semi-Charmed Life,” and “How’s It Going to Be.” The audience was full of long-time fans excited to be reunited with their favorite artist, alongside new fans or people getting to experience Third Eye Blind for the first time. It was great to see a mix of generations across the venue, and the gratitude from the crowd was also shared by Jenkins in the band. Jenkins made sure to vocalize that appreciation by saying, “Do you all have any idea how much we’ve been looking forward to tonight? We don’t take any of this for granted.”

There’s something really special about seeing songs that are ten, twenty years old and still hold up. I love seeing new bands, but being able to experience a whole venue full of people singing songs you grew up with is something even more spectacular. 

Check out photos of the evening below, and see where you can catch Third Eye Blind on the rest of their tour here.

categories / Reviews, Music, Photos, Gigs
tags / Live Nation, Live Recap, Northerly Island, Live Review, Live Music, Third Eye Blind, Taking Back Sunday