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PHOTOS: Bikini Kill with Ganser at Salt Shed
Fans flocked to The Salt Shed on Saturday, April 22nd to catch a show from Bikini Kill with support from Chicago’s own Ganser. If you missed the show, check out the photo gallery below and see where you can catch them on tour next here.
PHOTOS: Caroline Rose with Kairos Creature Club at Thalia Hall
Caroline Rose played a sold out show at Thalia Hall on Friday, April 21st with support from Kairos Creature Club. If you missed out on tickets, be sure to check out the photo gallery below and see where you can catch Caroline Rose on tour next here.
PHOTOS: Ibeyi and Kara Jackson at Thalia Hall
This past Sunday night, Ibeyi dazzled Thalia Hall with support from Kara Jackson. Check out photos from the show below, and see where you can catch the tour next here.
PHOTOS: Jawny with Wallice at Thalia Hall
Live Recap: Weyes Blood with Molly Lewis at The Riviera
On Saturday, March 11, The Riviera in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood brought the sensational Weyes Blood back to town for the first time in over three years to play a sold-out show in support of her latest LP In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow (her second for Sub Pop Records), which released in November of last year to critical acclaim. In support, Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering was joined by fellow Californian whistler Molly Lewis who played songs off her new EP “Mirage” (out on Jagjaguwar) accompanied by her pre-recorded music to a hushed and stunned audience. (In all truth, you could hear a pin drop during the entire duration of Lewis’ magical repertoire.)
Following Lewis came the main act: Mering’s five-piece band that filled out the stage among an array of shimmering and twinkling candelabras distributed between the instruments and gear, setting the appropriate tone for what would be a hauntingly elegant set. The band then took it away across 14 songs from both the new album and 2019’s acclaimed Titanic Rising, which includes fan favorites “Andromeda” and the endlessly danceable “Everyday.” Enveloping around these now-modern classics were tracks like the haunting “Grapevine” (named for the California’s I-5) to the seriously underrated “Children of the Empire” (This reviewers favorite.)
With these new songs, Mering has seemingly never felt more comfortable and alive on stage that she appears to be here with a lighting program that accompanies the tone of context of these songs perfectly. Mering’s presence, where she dances and twirls around like the ghost of an amateur ballerina, feels jubilant and earnest and is only helped by her new choice of stage costume. Gone is the smart white suit of the last few years of touring (a look featured on the cover of her third LP Front Row Seat to Earth) and in its place is a long white gown with a white cape and matching boots, casting Mering as a cross between a angelic religious figure and Princess Leia in the original Star Wars.
All of these elements combine into a transcendent alchemy during “God Turn Me Into a Flower” (from the new record) which finds Mering searching for a way to survive and finding that power in the idea of a resilient flexibility while also re-examing the Narcissus myth. Backlit by a single light, Mering slowly spun in and out of its rays which illuminated her cloak and dress to new heights, casting Mering as a spirit on the stage ready to ascend into the rafters and right out of the auditorium.
Later in the set, another ingenious touch of costume design came into play when, during “Twin Flame,” Mering’s chest lit up a bright reddish orange (“Hearts Aglow!”) commanding an audible gasp and then jubilant cheers from the audience. In addition to being a master songwriter and live performer, Mering’s showmanship and knack for creative spectacle are also now fully on display.
The evening eventually ended with a solo acoustic rendition of Titanic Rising’s closer “Picture Me Better,” a somber ballad about a lost friend. Making our way out of The Riv (select merch items in hand!) showgoers buzzed excitedly about what they had just seen against a thick Chicago snowfall that seemed perfectly timed to cap off the evening, it occurred to me: Across an evening of standing together in a dark room and sharing a communal cathartic experience we exactly conjured up the title of the new record— “In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow.”
PHOTOS: New Found Glory with Leanna Firestone at Thalia Hall
Nostalgia filled Thalia Hall on Saturday, March 11th when New Found Glory put on a sold-out show with Leanna Firestone. Check out photos from the evening below, and see where you can catch New Found Glory next here.
PHOTOS: Otoboke Beaver at Thalia Hall
On Sunday, February 26th, Otoboke Beaver played a rowdy, sold out show at Thalia Hall. If you missed it, see photos below and see where you can catch them next here.
