Live Recap: Kevin Morby's Back in Chicago and We're Feeling It
On Tuesday, June 2nd, Kevin Morby returned to Chicago to play a sold out show in support of his new album Little Wide Open. While he’s performed in the city many times in the past, this was his first time on the legendary Metro stage.
After an opening set from Chicago’s own Liam Kazar that got the crowd warmed up and feeling good, Morby and his bandmates made their way onto a stage that had been decked out in cheery sunflowers as a callback to the cover art for Little Wide Open. Amongst the live band members was Kazar, pulling double duty for not only this show, but the entirety of the tour. Kazar was joined by Cochemea Gastelum, Cole Berggren, Camellia Hartman and Dom Billet to bring Morby’s songs to life.
Donning glitter on his cheeks and a customized denim-on-denim ensemble that featured painted-on artwork related to the singer (like the sunflowers from the album cover or the Kansas City logo as a nod to his hometown), Morby launched into the set with “Natural Disaster” from his latest album. The first several songs on the setlist leaned heavily into the new material, including the singles “100,000” and “Die Young,” but Morby told the crowd that he and the band were going to play some classics before they transitioned into his earlier music.
After playing “This Is A Photograph,” Morby took some time to address the packed audience. “I’ve been hearing about this venue for so long. I’ve never been in this venue, never even seen a show here. I’ve always wanted to come—thank you all so much for coming tonight. It means the world! It’s an honor to be up here.” Sitting on one of the amps on stage, the singer started to riff the chorus to Djo’s “End of Beginning,” singing “And when I’m back in Chic—just kidding, this song is called ‘Five Easy Pieces'.’” The moment got a good chuckle from the crowd, but personally I’d love to hear a full cover of the tune by Kevin Morby! The momentum of the night only continued to soar during that song, with Morby meandering around the stage, sans guitar, and eventually making his way offstage and down to the barricade to sing face-to-face with fans in the front.
Throughout the night, we were treated to several extended jams of the songs being performed, allowing us to relish in the magnitude of talent of each of the musicians onstage. For example, Gastelum played the flute and saxophone on different songs, and Hartman played violin in addition to the keys and backing vocals, really giving a rich depth to the live performance of these songs.
The sold-out crowd was also delighted by a one-off rendition of Morby’s “Bittersweet, TN”—which was done as a duet with Erin Rae on the album. However, during his Metro show, Morby explained that he’s invited a friend from each city on the tour to perform a song with the band every night. “They’re one of my favorite songwriters ever, I’ve known this person for over 20 years and truly, one of my favorite songwriters in the world,” he said as he introduced Alynda Segarra from Hurray for the Riff Raff to join him for the live duet.
Another special Chicago-only moment during the show came just before the last (pre-encore) song of the night. Prior to playing “Coat Of Butterflies,” Morby told the audience that he got really into Jeff Buckley when working on his 2022 album This Is A Photograph, so it was only fitting that he dedicate a song to Buckley in the venue where Buckley’s “Live in Chicago” performance was filmed—way back in 1995. “I was writing in Memphis and I became obsessed with the man. I wrote this song about him, so we don’t usually play this one, but we’re gonna play it tonight! This one’s to Jeff Buckley,” he told the crowd.
The band left the stage after that song to demands for an encore, and we didn’t have to wait long for a return to the stage. The set officially concluded with a 2-song encore featuring “Beautiful Strangers” and “Dorothy.”
By the end of it, Morby and his bandmates played for over 90-minutes, and the Metro audience loved every second of it. Besides the sunflowers on stage, there really wasn’t any fancy production elements to the show, but Kevin Morby and his band are such talented musicians that they don’t need any bells and whistles to put on a phenomenal show. The tour continues throughout North America this month, before heading across the pond to Europe— grab your tickets here and see photos of the Metro performance below.
