Filtering by Category: Gigs
Live Recap: Wolf Alice with Charlie Hickey at The Club at Stage AE
How do you spend a great Friday night? The Wolf Alice show with opener Charlie Hickey, that’s how.
First up singer/songwriter Charlie Hickey. A fantastic voice and great vibe this is another example of why you don’t want to skip the opener. Fresh off his appearances in SXSW this year, Hickey has booked a few dates on the Wolf Alice tour. He’s got a debut album called Nervous At Night due out in May too, which you can pre-order here.
Headliners Wolf Alice were up next. Why this band was playing the Club stage last night and not the big room is beyond me! This band is so hard to categorize with their complex mix of sound and energy. Slipping from manic to mystic and back again, the band carries their show. The set list was heavy on tracks from the new album Blue Weekend, but the crowd responded just as well to the new work as the tried and true. The evening closed with “The Last Man on Earth” as one of two encores.
Overall, it was fantastic night of music from the heartfelt songs of Charlie Hickey to Wolf Alice with their kinetic sound– The only thing left to say is: get this band a bigger stage…immediately!
Check out the photo gallery of the night below, and see where you can catch Wolf Alice next here.
Live Recap: Bright Eyes and Christian Lee Hutson at The Chicago Theatre
This past Saturday night, the iconic Chicago Theatre hosted a rare performance from Bright Eyes and special guest Christian Lee Hutson.
The evening kicked off with Christian Lee Hutson and his two bandmates for a set that combined indie folk songs and witty banter. Hutson’s set began with “Atheist” from his debut album, aptly called Beginners. As he began to play an unreleased song, Hutson started to give the backstory but paused and told the crowd it’d be better if he explained it afterwards. In the lyrics, he described an Instagram page that I’ve come across in real life, called “Siblings or Dating?” After wrapping up the song, Hutson informed the audience that the real Instagram page in fact inspired the song, and described the page as being one that posts random pictures of people and the premise (as you’ve probably predicted) is to guess if the pair is dating or related. Hutson also told the audience about his upcoming sophomore album called Quitters, which he joked would be his last because he’s quitting. The rest of the set contained some familiar favorites like “Get The Old Band Back Together,” which Hutson prefaced as being about “these guys I went to high school with who started a band, like sixteen years ago. But they’ve never played a gig before.” Overall, Hutson’s sound meshed really well with the forthcoming Bright Eyes set and the beautiful acoustics of the Chicago Theatre.
Between sets, excited chatter bounced around the room as fans anticipated Bright Eyes returning to the stage in Chicago. While I’ve gotten to see Conor Oberst perform with different projects in more recent years, it had been more than ten years since a Bright Eyes performance in the city. The scene was set with a massive backdrop in the form of an eye-chart that read the band’s name, and more than 15 musicians entered the stage, including Bright Eyes members alongside a strings and horns section. The show began with 2020’s “Dance and Sing,” in which Oberst fittingly performed sans instrument, and instead twirled around the stage with just his microphone. Next up, Oberst stationed himself at the piano to throw it back to the early 2000’s with their fan-favorite “Lover I Don’t Have to Love.” Throughout the set, Oberst and the band circulated around the stage, with the strings section and horns section sometimes leaving the stage entirely—but no matter what song was being performed, the live arrangements remained layered and expansive in order to provide the best live translation of the studio versions. For example, the strings section added an encompassing warmth to “Four Winds” that had the crowd listening with awe and appreciation.
Throughout most of the show itself, fans mostly remained in their seats, attentively listening or singing along to their favorite lyrics, but between songs, deafening cheers and raucous applause filled the room. During certain fan favorite songs and towards the end of the show, the audience couldn’t resist standing up out of their seats in order to further revel in the moment. The full band returned onstage for the final song before the encore, “Comet Song,” and as the tune came to a close, the band received a standing ovation from the audience.
When fans hollered for an encore, Bright Eyes obliged and returned to play “First Day of My Life” from 2005’s I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. The song is my personal favorite from Bright Eye’s catalog, as I’m sure it is to many other fans, but it hasn’t been a staple in the setlist this tour, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear it on Saturday night. One of the backing musicians also played the flute during the song, which made the moment even more special to witness. The encore wrapped up with “I Believe in Symmetry” and “One for You, One for Me.”
If you missed out on the special performance, check out the photo gallery below and see where you can catch the tour next here. Lastly, make sure you pre-order the reissues of Bright Eyes’ iconic releases here, and you can pre-order Quitters by Christian Lee Hutson here.
PHOTOS: The Band CAMINO with Flor and Hastings at The Riviera Theatre
This past Friday night, The Band CAMINO took the stage at The Riviera Theatre in celebration of their self-titled debut album. If you missed out on the show, check out the photo gallery featuring flor and Hastings, and see where you can catch upcoming tour dates here.
Live Recap: Perfume Genius with Hand Habits at Mr. Smalls Theatre
Perfume Genius, aka Mike Hadreas, performed a mesmerizing show at Pittsburgh’s Mr. Smalls Theatre, in honor of his critically acclaimed album Set My Heart on Fire Immediately.
Starting with an understated but powerful opening set from singer-songwriter Hand Habits, aka Meg Duffy (also a member of Perfume Genius’ band). They kept it simple, a guitar and two simple lights to hide them which allowed focus to fall on their voice and music. It worked. In a setting that often is noisy, chatty ‘opener’ space, the crowd was silent and rapt. It was a really powerful and a wonderful start to the show.
Perfume Genius followed up with a fantastic set. Sometimes playful, sometimes moody, the raw and honest performance was an enchanting reminder of the power of his music. From the electronic beats of opening song “Your Body Changes Everything” through the stunning “Fool” and more. Surprisingly few from his anticipated June release, “Ugly Season” with only “Photograph” finding its way into the set list the rest was full of some of Hadreas best known work. Including ending with “Queen” and a great rendition of “Grid”.
It’s been a long time since the last time I caught a Perfume Genius show but it is as I remembered, in turns bold, shy, intimate, playful, serious and seductive. Just fantastic. Check out photos of the evening below, and see where you can catch the tour next here.
Live Recap: Girl in Red with Holly Humberstone at Metro
ANCHR kicked off the weekend by catching Girl in Red’s second sold out show at Metro with Holly Humberstone.
Walking into the Metro on Friday night, the air was palpable with excitement as devoted fans packed into the venue to see the indie pop songwriter and musician Marie Ulven Ringheim, better known by the moniker Girl in Red. Ringheim hails from Norway, but is currently in the midst of a sold out North American tour because she has no shortage of fans on this side of the world. I’ve been to many concerts where fans are eager to see their favorite performer, but the excited energy of this crowd was something even more intense than an average show, and it left me with an extra pep in my step throughout the evening.
The show kicked off right at 7PM with British singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone, who took the stage for a solo performance. Although Humberstone didn’t have a backing band with her, she managed to breathe depth into her songs by setting up beat loops along with playing the keyboard and guitar throughout the set. Her songs like “Scarlett” and “London is Lonely” showed off her warm and silky vocal tones, and I could hear similarities in Humberstone’s sound to Wet, Vérité, and even a little bit of Ellie Goulding’s more mellower tracks. Other than her unreleased song in the set, called “Sleep Tight,” fans in the front of the crowd joined Humberstone in singing along. Make sure to give Humberstone a follow to see what she’s up to next.
Between sets, the high energy continued to radiate amongst the audience, as everyone sang along to Doja Cat songs until Girl in Red took the stage. Ringheim and her bandmates burst onto the stage and began “You Stupid Bitch,” as flashing strobes accompanied the song’s explosive chorus while fans loudly echoed the lyrics. At the moment, the wild ride was only just beginning— while Ringheim’s style of music can be described as bedroom pop, her stage presence is anything but sleepy. A Girl in Red show combines hooky pop music with rock n’ roll stage antics, and Ringheim remained in motion, constantly bolting around the Metro stage as she performed songs from 2021’s if i could make it go quiet amongst her earlier material. Between songs, Ringheim either riled the audience up by telling them they had to go harder than the first night’s crowd, or she filled them in on behind the scenes bits about the music. After playing “i'll die anyway.,” she mentioned she had actually finished the song in Chicago years ago while on tour with Conan Gray.
I thought the show had been pretty much full speed since the kick off, but after crowd surfing at the end of “Serotonin,” Ringheim told the audience that the “slow part” of the show was officially over and jumped into her popular single “bad idea!” The momentum continued to climb further for the rest of the show. Just before the final song of the evening, a fan in the front row threw a bouquet of flowers to Ringheim, with a note that told her she’d changed the fan’s life. Ringheim joked she thought it said “changed my vibe” at first, which was fitting because the show had filled the venue with nothing but positive vibes. The night closed out with the massively popular “i wanna be your girlfriend,” which ended with Ringheim stage diving into her sea of adoring audience members.
If you missed the sold out spectacle, check out the photo recap below, and see where you can catch Girl in Red next here.
PHOTOS: Animal Collective at the Vic Theatre
This past Sunday night, Animal Collective returned to Chicago in honor of their album Time Skiffs. Check out the photo recap of the mesmerizing show below, and see where you can catch their upcoming shows here.
Live Recap: Alt-J with Portugal. The Man and Windser at Credit Union 1 Arena
Alt-J played the Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago last Saturday night, in honor of their brand new album called The Dream.
The evening opened up with independent artist Windser from Santa Cruz, California. Windser is the moniker of lead vocalist and songwriter Jordan Topf, but Topf was joined by his live band to perform his songs like “July” and “Memory” to the arena crowd. Windser’s bright guitar riffs blended with his hooky beats and buttery vocals, making him the perfect bridge between fans of Portugal. The Man and Alt-J. If you like Michigander, Del Water Gap, and Yoke Lore, be sure to keep an eye on Windser for more new music in the near future.
Next up, anticipation built up around the room and fans in the front row grew visibly antsy for Portugal. The Man’s set to begin. The moment felt very theatrical and dramatic, as fog machines pumped smoke onto the stage and throughout the room, and a screen provided a bright backdrop to the dim stage. Colorful lighting rigs that framed the stage began to flash in time to their upbeat mix of rock and psychedelic pop, while the screen flicked through varying visual clips to accompany each song. From the second Portugal. The Man hit the stage, they amplified the volume and energy swirling around the room, and the audience enthusiastically sang along to songs like “Live in the Moment” and “What, Me Worry?” Their set closed out with “Feel It Still” and “Purple Yellow Red and Blue”— each of these songs receiving overwhelming cheers as fans recognized the opening riffs.
As the adrenaline from Portugal. The Man’s show still bounced around the arena, the stage began to transform for Alt-J to close out the night. After about a 40 minute change over, the curtain at the front of the stage dropped to reveal approximately ten-foot high risers boxed in by screens. Soon, the three members of Alt-J made their way to their spots on the risers and the dark stage was lit up by projections of large candles reflecting on the box that enveloped the band. Throughout the show, the projections shifted to simulate everything from falling rain, moonlight, a fish tank, the Northern Lights, ocean waves, and blooms of flowers— just to name a few. Pictures don’t do the spectacle justice, but the way the projections perfectly complemented to tone and moods of each song really elevated the magic of Alt-J’s hypnotic performance. The audience remained in awe as Alt-J shuffled through their entire catalog alongside the stunning visualizations— they of course heavily featured newer songs from The Actor like “Bane,” “Losing My Mind,” and “Chicago” (which got an extra hometown cheer), but there was no shortage of familiar tunes like “Tessellate,” “Matilda,” and “Fitzpleasure” from their earlier records. Just as Alt-J started performing “Taro” from their debut album, Gus Unger-Hamilton of the band noticed that one audience member needed assistance getting out of the crowd, and the show stopped while fellow crowd members helped them to safety. The band ended up dedicating the song to them, and the moment was a reminder of how important it is to keep a sense of community and camaraderie at shows.
Before the show ended, Alt-J reinforced that positive message of community by making sure to let everyone know that they stand with the people Ukraine— as an image of the country’s flag projected onto the screen, Unger-Hamilton shouted “fuck Putin!” before they launched into their hit “Left Hand Free.” The wonderful evening closed out with another fan favorite “Breezeblocks.”
You can relive some of the show by checking out the photo gallery below, but there’s nothing better than catching this top-tier production in person, so be sure to see what tour dates are coming next here.
