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Filtering by Tag: The Vic

Live Recap: Wolf Alice Returns to The Vic Theatre

On Friday, September 26, British rock band Wolf Alice returned to perform at The Vic Theatre in Chicago, in honor of their fourth album The Clearing. The show fell just shy of four years since they last played the same venue in 2021, when they had toured for their previous record, Blue Weekend.

After a support set from Willy Mason, more and more fans filed into the venue, eagerly awaiting the main event. The stage was decked out with a silver tinsel backdrop, reminiscent of a high school prom—but the show we got was way better than any school dance. Cheers greeted the band members as they made their way to the stage, kicking off the setlist with the first song off The Clearing’s tracklist, entitled “Thorns.” Donning a shimmering bodysuit, belt, and knee-high boots, lead vocalist Ellie Rowsell’s stage outfit matched the one that she wore on the new album’s cover, which helped immerse the audience into the world of this new music.

The introductory track conjures up vibes of a 70’s ballad, with its sweeping strings and steady piano melody, but the lyrics perfectly tee up a live performance as the song ends with Rowsell singing the lines “The sun goes down, the curtain lifts, and I sing a song.” Next up, Rowsell grabbed her guitar to play “How Can I Make It Ok?'“ with the band, a track off their aforementioned third album that starts off slow and gradually builds up.

As the show carried on, Wolf Alice intricately sprinkled in more familiar favorites from earlier on in their discography with their newest material. The band also did a great job of juxtaposing delicate moments with gritty crescendos; for example, they followed up the bouncy piano-driven new tracks of “The Sofa” and “Bread Butter Tea Sugar” with the raucous “Yuk Foo” and “Play the Greatest Hits.” The former started off with a siren blaring through a megaphone, followed by squealing guitar riffs and Rowsell’s Riot Grrrl-esque vocals filtering through the megaphone—and the energy only amplified for the latter.

As an avid Wolf Alice listener, I’ve always admired Ellie Rowsell’s dynamic vocal range that can flawlessly transition from gracefully gentle to powerful intensity, and that ability was on full display throughout their live show. Another aspect of their show that I really admired was the just-enough stage production that enhanced the music without overpowering it—during parts of the show, the tinsel backdrop was lit up with projections of hearts or stars, and bubbles were pumped into the venue during the final song of the night, but these subtly flashy elements never took away from the band’s musicality and raw talent.

The main portion of the show wrapped up with the lead single from the new record, “Bloom Baby Bloom,” which kicks off with a whimsical piano melody. From unwavering falsettos to wailing growls, the track is a perfect showcase of Rowsell’s vocal talents wrapped up in 3 minutes and 47 seconds. In the song’s chorus, she sings “But I’ll bloom, baby, bloom” and those lyrics perfectly summarize how Wolf Alice has expanded their sound throughout their discography and continued to strengthen their stage presence. The night concluded with the beloved “Don’t Delete The Kisses" in a perfect send off into the weekend.

Check out photos of the show below, and see where you can catch the dazzling spectacle for yourself here.

Live Recap: Perfume Genius with Urika’s Bedroom at The Vic Theatre

Perfume Genius, the musical project of Michael Alden Hadreas, returned to Chicago on June 17th to play a stunning show at The Vic Theatre in honor of his new album Glory.

The night opened with Urika’s Bedroom performing a set that felt like stepping into a hazy, dreamy soundscape. Their music was delicate and ethereal, floating across the room in soft, shimmering layers. The light show added a subtle glow to their already atmospheric sound, making the room feel intimate and otherworldly — a beautiful, quiet beginning to the night.

Then came Perfume Genius, who transformed the stage into a strange, visceral, exhilarating performance space. From the start, the stage was framed by long, orange cords curled around like tendrils, hinting at the chaos to come. The set moved fluidly between tender, beautiful moments — like a lullaby rendition of “Me & Angel”, or a haunting cover of “Kanga Roo” by Big Star — to physical, kinetic displays that felt part modern dance, part raw impulse. During “It’s a Mirror,” Hadreas jumped on an exercise ball mid-song; in “No Front Teeth,” he spun wildly in a chair. At one point, during “Clean Heart,” he gathered the stage cables around himself, sat in a chair, and reached for the ball with his legs in a strange, tender moment of theatricality.

The choreography was wild and magnetic — moves like The Matrix during “Otherside”, chair dancing, leaping to the rail, then bouncing across the stage. The lighting played its part too: some songs like “Describe” glowed in eerie red, while others kept the singer backlit by towering, blinding lights, with smoke adding to the atmosphere. Perfume Genius created a show that felt entirely alive, unpredictable, and deeply human.

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

Live Recap: Faye Webster and Benét at The Vic

Following the first day of Lollapalooza 2024, Faye Webster performed an intimate aftershow at The Vic Theatre, with support from Benét.

After Benét and their band got the crowd warmed up with a mix of songs that had the audience both in their feels and dancing, the stage was set for Faye Webster and her band to close out the first day of the fest.

Faye’s appearance at Lolla took place in the midst of her “Underdressed at the Symphony” tour, aptly named after the title of Webster’s 2024 album. Right off the bat, I was impressed by the immersive stage production and design for this tour—lighting rigs in the form of washer and dryers illuminated the back of the stage and racks of clothing hung behind them. The real star of the stage design, however, was the giant t-shirt-shaped screen that projected different graphics and videos to accompany each song throughout the set. But wait, there’s more! During the fourth song of the night, “The Right Side of My Neck,” a bubble machine filled the venue with bubbles to give a fully immersive experience of being in a laundromat.

Webster occasionally addressed the audience between songs, taking time to say thank you for being there and sharing that her entire family was in attendance that night, but for the most part she and her band kept the show moving to deliver a polished and seamless musical performance. As the band performed many of the songs like “Thinking About You” and “Lego Rings” from the aforementioned Underdressed at the Symphony record alongside fan favorites from her previous albums, her band sometimes incorporated in a violin or saxophone, which gave a rich texture to the live versions of these songs. It also fit in with the “symphony” part of the tour!

Towards the end of the set, Faye also shared with the audience that it was her drummer Charles’ birthday and the audience chimed in to sing “Happy Birthday.” The show began to wind down with “He Loves Me Yeah!” before the band returned for a two-song encore. As we approached the wee hours of Friday morning, Webster’s show concluded with her dreamy single “Kingston.”

There are few things nowadays that will keep me out past midnight, but Faye Webster’s aftershow was most definitely worth it! Check out photos of the magical evening below and see where you can catch her on tour next here.

Live Recap: Jesse McCartney at The Vic Theatre

Jesse McCartney fans in Chicago got to kick off their weekend with a sold-out, nostalgia-packed performance from the singer-songwriter at The Vic on Friday, May 3rd.

Following a set from support act Just Seconds Apart, the stage lights dimmed in preparation for the main act. McCartney’s band members took their places first and began to play introductory music while the stage lights flashed to welcome Jesse to the stage. Starting off with “Silver Spoon” from his latest “All’s Well” EP (which is also the namesake of the current tour), McCartney donned a dazzling black sequin suit. He began the show atop a platform, but Jesse quickly ran down the stairs of the platform to come closer to the front of the stage and serenade the fans at the barricade while singing a mix of familiar favorites, like “She’s No You” from his 2004 debut album and the title track “Right Where You Want Me” from his 2006 record, intertwined with some of his newer material. The first part of the set finished with “Tie The Knot,” which McCartney dedicated to all the married people in the audience.

The show then transitioned into an acoustic section, where Jesse and his guitar player took the opportunity to strip down some of his songs while they sat on the stairs of the stage’s platform. The acoustic segment included a cover of “More Than Words” by Extreme, and it wrapped up with a performance of “Just So You Know",” which McCartney introduced saying “In 2006, I wrote this song on a tour bus in London.”

The full band rejoined Jesse onstage after the stripped-back break in the set, and they went full-speed ahead with “Wasted,” which had the crowd dancing along. Before playing “Party For Two,” Jesse took a few minutes to address the crowd about what would happen next in the show. “I want to tell you guys about the song I wrote for my engagement. It’s a very special song that I only got to write once, but thankfully, I get to perform it for the rest of my life. I thought tonight, maybe I’d sing it for one of you guys,” he said. The house lights turned on to illuminate the crowd, and McCartney ended up selecting a lucky fan named Nancy to serenade for the performance.

After the serenade, Jesse left the stage for a quick outfit change, returning in a more casual outfit than his sparkling suit. He performed a couple of songs at the piano next, including the song “Bleeding Love” that he actually wrote, but was performed and popularized by Leona Lewis. “This is a song I wrote back in 2007. This is a song that almost didn’t get written. We were feeling lazy and decided to put one hour in at the studio to see where it went. This didn’t end up on my album, but thankfully it was pitched to a female artist. And I’m so so happy she recorded it because it would become the biggest song of my writing career,” he shared with the crowd.

The show concluded on a high energy note, with hit after hit like “Body Language,” “Leavin’” and “Beautiful Soul” all stacked towards the end of the set. Prior to performing the latter, the band had left the stage, only to be quickly summoned back for an encore with chants of “Jesse!”

If you get the chance to see Jesse McCartney on the All’s Well Tour, don’t miss out on the opportunity to experience some of your favorite songs from your teen years live. You can check out photos from the Chicago concert below, and see where you can catch the tour next here.

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.


Live Recap: Foals with Inner Wave and Glove at The Vic

The Vic hosted two back-to-back shows from Foals, Inner Wave and Glove this past Friday and Saturday night.

I got to catch the second and final show of the two-night run on Saturday night, with the evening’s performances kicking off with Glove from Tampa, Florida. I had the chance to see Glove last year at The Hideout, but it was great to see them take their show to a bigger stage and crowd. Glove’s signature synth-heavy and edgy music was complemented by moody red and purple stage lighting. One thing that really sticks out about Glove on their recorded music is the fact that band members Rod Wendt, Brie Deux, Michelle Primiani and Justin Burn take turns on vocals, and that same rotation carried over into their live performance. Their setlist featured a majority of their debut album called Boom Nights, including tracks like “Glass” and “Pressure.”

Next up, LA’s Inner Wave continued to get the crowd warmed up with their mix of funk, psychedelic and surf rock sounds. Similarly to Glove, Inner Wave’s stage lighting complemented their music style— rainbow colored lights and hazy fog synced up to their trippy and bright tunes. It was a cold night in Chicago on Saturday, but it felt like Inner Wave brought their sunny energy to the room. The audience eagerly soaked all of it in, but they particularly seemed to love the song “Take 3” from the 2021 album Apoptosis.

Eventually, it was time for the main act of the night, Foals. The Vic had filled up, and the excitement of the room felt palpable as the intro music for Foals began to ring out into the room. The stage setup included an extensive lighting display in the background, and the lights strobed in time to a booming bass track that literally shook the room; it was like the physical manifestation of anticipation. Finally, Yannis Philippakis, Jack Bevan, and Jimmy Smith took the stage along with their touring bandmates and launched into the first song of the night “Wake Me Up” from their seventh album Life Is Yours.

Life Is Yours was just released in the summer of 2022, so the setlist definitely contained a lot of the newer tracks like “2001” and “(summer sky),” but Foals made sure to perform many songs from their earlier days as well, and the band didn’t keep the audience waiting for too long to revisit their roots. “We’re gonna play a couple of old tunes,” Yannis Philippakis told the audience before playing “Balloons” and “Olympic Airways” from their debut record Antidotes as the fifth and sixth songs of the evening.

No matter which era of their discography Foals was performing though, the band members continued to display a great sense of camaraderie that translated into them sounding exceptionally great. As great as Foals’ records are, there’s an extra layer of magic at their live gigs. Philippakis constantly kept the crowd engaged by pacing the stage, jumping around, and at points even venturing out into the audience himself with his guitar. He also took a short break from performing to quickly sign some vinyl for fans in the front of the crowd, showing his gratitude for the audience. Just before wrapping up the main part of their set, Philippakis told the fans “I don’t know about you guys but we had a fucking good time tonight.” It was clear from the overwhelming cheers that everyone in the room was in agreement with that statement.

The performance ended with a three-song encore featuring “Snake Oil,” “Inhaler,” and “Two Steps, Twice.” Make sure to check out photos from the Saturday show below, and see where you can catch Foals next here.

Live Recap: Kevin Morby with Coco at The Vic

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.

Live Recap: Fontaines D.C. and Just Mustard at The Vic

This past Friday night, Fontaines D.C. played their biggest show yet in Chicago, in honor of their new album Skinty Fia.

The evening kicked off with a support set from Just Mustard, who hail all the way from Dundalk, Ireland. While they were a long way from home, their name felt very fitting in Chicago, as we’re known for having just mustard on our Chicago-style hot dogs (shout out to Dan from Partisan Records for pointing this out in the box office line). The five-piece group, fronted by vocalist Katie Ball, had a similar sound to Fontaines D.C. and combined shoe-gaze with post-punk genres. Also like Fontaines D.C., Just Mustard is slated to have a new album out this year. The sophomore album called Heart Under will be out May 27th, and the band performed the single “I Am You” during their show, alongside some of their earlier material. Just Mustard’s songs had moody and emotive vibes to them, and the lighting during their set complemented those tones.

As the stage changed over for Fontaines D.C., a huge backdrop with the band’s name hung from the back of the stage and more and more fans buzzing with excitement packed into The Vic Theatre. I first saw Fontaines D.C. at SXSW Festival in 2019 and I remember them being my favorite new band during the fest, so I was eager to see them again now that they’ve got three albums under their belt— including their debut Dogrel and 2020’s A Hero’s Death. As the band burst out onto the stage, vocalist Grian Chatten came out swinging with a sense of urgent torment— he briskly paced the stage, slammed the microphone stand against the stage floor and frantically gestured for the crowd to put their hands up. The set began with some familiar favorites from their first two albums, like “A Lucid Dream” and “Hurricane Laughter” before mixing in some of the new material from Skinty Fia, like their single “Roman Holiday” and the record’s title track. While the new tour was definitely celebrating the latest album, the last time Fontaines was in Chicago had been the fall of 2019, so they made sure to also highlight some of the songs from their 2020 album that they never got to tour here.

As the set continued on, Chatten never lost his sense of urgency and intensity— at some points he slapped his own face, riled up the crowd and even stepped onto the barricade from the stage. The room was already filled with adrenaline but the band’s explosive stage presence made their show even more of a spectacle.
The first part of the set finished with “A Hero’s Death” and then the band left the stage to applause and immediate pleas for an encore. The break between the main set and encore seemed to take several minutes, but when Fontaines D.C. retuned, they were accompanied by several choir singers to perform “In ár gCroíthe go deo” with layered backing vocals. The encore then wrapped up with “Boys in the Better Land” and the single “Jackie Down The Line” from the new album. The song made for the perfect end to the night because it has a vintage post-punk feel yet it showcases a more polished and developed sound from the group.

Check out photos from the evening below, and see where you can catch Fontaines D.C. next here.

PHOTOS: Animal Collective at the Vic Theatre

Live Recap: Wolf Alice at The Vic

This past Monday night, Wolf Alice packed the Vic Theatre for a sold out gig in honor of the group’s third album Blue Weekend, which came out in June 2021. Though it’d been more than three years since the British quartet took the stage in Chicago, the rambunctious and eager fans greeted bandmates Ellie Rowsell, Joff Oddie, Joel Amey, and Theo Ellis with warm cheers. The reunion between Wolf Alice and all of their devoted fans felt like the kinship between old pals who can go years without seeing each other, yet they don’t miss a beat once they’re finally back together.

Going back to the earlier days of Wolf Alice, they’ve always exhibited an expansive and exploratory sound—particularly with vocalist and lyricist Ellie Rowsell’s dynamic range. For example, the hushed and melancholy tones of the title track on Wolf Alice’s 2013 "Blush” EP starkly contrast to the rowdy riffs and wailing vocals used in songs like “Fluffy” from their 2015 debut record My Love Is Cool. In their newest material, the band has honed in on that skillset and built upon their existing sound with nuanced maturity that elevated their already excellent live presence to another level.

The setlist on Monday night called back to the aforementioned debut album—including the wildly popular “Moaning Lisa Smile”— as well as 2017’s Visions Of A Life between the new songs. The perfectly crafted selection of songs allowed for fans to experience gentle and refined moments that juxtaposed moments of furious spontaneity. Wolf Alice has stated that Blue Weekend as a project is largely the product of Rowsell’s realization of the role of music in our lives, of the importance of the songs she writes. Seeing the crowd’s reaction at Wolf Alice’s live show demonstrated that importance of their music and Rowsell’s lyrics in a tangible and raw way.

If you missed out on the spectacle of Wolf Alice’s Chicago show, relive some of the magic with the photo gallery below, including the support artist Bria.

See where you can catch Wolf Alice perform next here, and pick up a copy of Blue Weekend here.