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Live Recap: The Struts Sell Out Two Nights at House of Blues
British rockers The Struts kicked off a sold out, two night stint at The House of Blues last Friday night. Despite it being a rainy, cold evening and the day after a holiday, by the time openers The Glorious Sons were wrapping up their set with a cover of “Gimme Shelter,” the theater was packed wall to wall with fans eager to see The Struts for the first time since their new album YOUNG&DANGEROUS came out.
After a stage changeover, The Struts burst onto the stage and were immediately greeting by thundering applause and cheers. Each band member sported a custom getup and lead singer Luke Spiller had painted glitter war stripes onto his face, giving them a glam rock aesthetic to match their sound and bravado. Opening up with “Primadonna Like Me” and “Body Talks” from the new album, the band immediately let the crowd know they were in for a wild ride with their magnetic and intense stage presence. Although Spiller later on addressed the end-of-tour slump any performer will surely experience from time to time, saying he was “absolutely knackered” after this recent run of shows, no one could have guessed it based on the band’s gusto that accelerated from the get go and only kept on going throughout the set. Spiller credited the crowd’s support as keeping them going during long stretches, adding that nights like tonight made it all worth it. Throughout the rest of the set, Spiller also encouraged positive energy and interaction amongst audience members; After performing new songs and a couple throwbacks like “Kiss This” from 2016’s Everybody Wants, Spiller prompted everyone to ask their neighbors to dance to their cover of “Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen.
Nowadays, there’s never a shortage of new music being created and plenty of musicians can make a great record, but the same can’t be always be said for live shows. However, with The Struts, their live shows are something so magical, yet indescribable at times; it’s a force between the musicians onstage and between them and the audience…something so magnificent that it can drown out the outside world and let people escape with the music for a couple of hours. Perhaps it’s the seemingly natural ease of being on stage that exudes from frontman Spiller— he saunters across the stage, singing every word with intention while decked out in extravagant costumes, reminiscent of the greats like Mick Jagger and Freddie Mercury— or maybe it’s the entire band’s love for rock’n’roll music that shines through in every song that they write, but The Struts’ performances have such a genuinely remarkable air about them. It’s that unique quality that keeps audiences coming back again and again— and perhaps why the audience on Friday was full of fans of all different ages and demographics. No matter the differences between the audience members, The Struts were able to bring everyone together through their music and give everyone another reason to smile on Friday night.
If you missed out on the incredible sold out shows, check out our photo gallery of the first night below.
Listen to YOUNG&DANGEROUS in full below!
PHOTOS: Supergroup boygenius Brings Their Special Show to Thalia Hall for Two Nights
Last week, the supergroup of the year, boygenius, brought their unique and collaborative show to Thalia Hall for two sold out shows. Both nights featured individual sets from boygenius collaborators Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker, before all three singer songwriters joined forces and closed out each night with a magical performance as a trio. Check out photos from Tuesday night’s show below and see where else you can catch boygenius on tour here.
Listen to the boygenius EP in full below
Live Recap: Tenacious D Rocked The Riviera for Two Sold Out Shows
Earlier in the week, Jack Black and Kyle Gass—better known as Tenacious D—brought their mix of rock’n’roll and comedy to Chicago’s Riviera Theatre for not one, but two sold out performances. The duo’s latest project comes in the form of six-part animated series released on YouTube, called Post-Apocalypto, and their recent tour centered around the new series. On both nights, the show kicked off with a large screen positioned at the front of the stage, the video for the Post-Apocalypto theme projected on the screen. The screen remained on stage for the first several songs of the set, with Black, Gass, and their band performing behind it as video clips weaved throughout songs like “Hope,” “Take Us Into Space,” and “Robot.” Longtime devoted fans of Tenacious D packed the concert theatre in Uptown, and everyone remained completely enthralled with the audiovisual-filled first half of the set.
After playing through all of the newest songs on Post-Apocalypto, Black and Gass took it back to the early days of 2012, 2006, and 2001, playing crowd favorites from their albums Rize of The Fenix, The Pick Of Destiny, and Tenacious D. As they played through part two sans the projection screen, their lighting show still remained intricate, and the production changed for each song. While the magic of Tenacious D’s show really stemmed from Black and Gass’s charisma on stage, the production design really added a theatrical and dynamic layer to the show. Tenacious D’s performance was more than just a concert, it was a fully immersive live experience that had the entire audience walking away with smiles.
If you weren’t one of the lucky ones to score a ticket to the sold out shows, check out photos from Wednesday, November 14th below and see where you can catch the tour next here.
PHOTOS: Grapetooth with Dehd and Sports Boyfriend at Thalia Hall 11.11.18
Thalia Hall hosted a hometown party for Grapetooth’s sold out record release show on Sunday, November 11th. The rowdy in-the-round show kicked off with Sports Boyfriend and Dehd. If you missed out on tickets, check out photos from the show below.
PHOTOS: Madeline Kenney and Girl K at Schubas 11.09.18
Check out photos from Madeline Kenney’s show at Schubas on November 9th in honor of her new album Perfect Shapes.
Can’t get enough Madeline Kenney? Check out our interview with her below.
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PHOTOS: Caroline Rose at Lincoln Hall 11.08.18
Earlier this year, Caroline Rose played a completely sold out Hideout show following the release of her album Loner, and last week she returned to Chicago to take on the Lincoln Hall stage. As usual, Caroline Rose donned an all red outfit and decked out the stage with red props, but this time around, even more red decorations filled the stage. In addition to a red backdrop, an Elmo piñata, red garland, artificial roses and more complemented Rose’s monochrome outfit. The headlining set also meant that Rose and her bandmates could play more songs, so the setlist included a couple of brand new songs in addition to fan favorites from Loner and a cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic.”
If you missed out on the gig, check out our photo gallery of the show below.
Can’t get enough Caroline Rose? Check out our interview with her below!
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PHOTOS: Tennis Solo in Stereo Tour at Thalia Hall 11.07.18
PHOTOS: Ron Gallo with TWEN and Ian Ferguson at Lincoln Hall 11.04.18
After playing a TNK Fest show at Lincoln Hall earlier this year, Ron Gallo returned to headline the venue in celebration of his new album Stardust Birthday Party. Fellow Nashville musicians TWEN and Ian Ferguson opened the show.
Live Recap: Celebrating Halloween with Sir Sly and Joywave at HOB Chicago
On All Hallow’s Eve, fans packed the House of Blues to catch a co-headlining tour from Rochester’s Joywave and LA’s Sir Sly.
After husband and wife duo from Minnesota and Sweden, respectively, Flora Cash warmed up the stage for the evening’s co-headliners, Joywave made their long awaited and highly anticipated return to a Chicago stage, rushing out to a startling swirl of lights. Along with the flood of overhead lights, the band set the night off with a bang, opening with the appropriately titled single “Blastoffff,” which just came out this Summer and features a heavy bassline and explosive chorus. Massive light boxes with phrases like “Applause,” “Jump,” and “Vape” sat behind the band, adding even more glimmer to the bright production set up. The group kept the momentum going by following up with “Somebody New” from their 2015 album, which also features in-your-face bass. Of course, with it being Halloween, Joywave added some spookiness to their set by donning costumes onstage, but they really upped their Halloween game towards the end of their set. After playing nearly an hour long mix of songs from 2015’s How Do You Feel Now? and 2017’s Content, their set began to wind down with “Tongues” from the former. During the second to last song of their set, one of the band’s friend crashed the stage dressed as the devil to help them finish out the song, which immediately segued into their closing song “Destruction.” The set’s finale had the whole room jumping in unison, causing the floor at the theatre to bounce.
Closing out the night, Sir Sly— or Disturbed, as Joywave’s Daniel Armbruster had teased their Halloween costumes earlier in the night— took the stage rocking full goth makeup and black outfits. As they began their first song, their latest and unreleased track called “Welcome The Pressure,” the room filled with a haze of fog, going along with the dark and spooky vibes of the night. Frontman Landon Jacobs and his bandmates Hayden Coplen and Jason Suwito had last been to Chicago just a couple months prior to play Lollapalooza, one of the many festivals the band hit on their Spring and Summer tour runs. Chicago warmly welcomed back the LA trio, with the full house loudly singing along to Sir Sly songs old and new, and Jacobs couldn’t help but break out of his dark demeanor to show his appreciation. “Have you ever seen a goth this smiley?” Jacobs asked the crowd, beaming about the fact that this show marked their biggest headline show in Chicago to date.
Throughout the rest of the set, the three piece kept a heavy focus on the fact that it was Halloween, but their usual goofy personalities also continued to shine through. “I didn’t wear makeup for nothing,” Jacobs also joked when asking the crowd to go as hard as they could for the rest of the night. The audience didn’t disappoint and kept their energy high to match the momentum of songs like “Trippin’” and “Change” from 2017’s Don’t You Worry, Honey. Jacobs kept the latter fresh and unique to this show by delivering a one-off monologue during the bridge, which has changed every time I’ve seen them on this album cycle. The band also kept their Halloween show special by giving the audience a rare “choose your own adventure” option after performing another one of their aptly spooky songs “Ghost” from their debut album. Jacobs gave the crowd the choice of either hearing a sad song with a speech introducing it, or hearing another Halloween song. Of course, the votes swayed towards the second option and the band played “You Haunt Me,” the title track from their 2014 debut. The eerie mood continued throughout the rest of the night, when Jacobs introduced their single “High” by saying it was based off the scariest thing that’s ever happened to him. “I got too high in a hotel room and I thought I was gonna die. Here I am still standing, but I tasted a little bit of death,” he said before launching into the song. The song once again had the room jumping so high that the floors would shake, but Sir Sly didn’t let the mood die down; instead they launched into an immediate encore performance of the popular single, feeding everyone a second dose of “High.” The night ended with “&Run,” another high intensity single, which the band performed with a fleshed out live arrangement, stretching out the ending with a crescendoing finale. Every time I’ve watched Sir Sly perform, they leave everything they’ve got on the stage, pouring themselves into the performance in such a genuine fashion. It’s only a matter of time before they’re headlining bigger shows and getting more of the attention that they deserve as artists.
If you missed out on the Halloween festivities, check out our photo gallery of all three bands below, and see where you can catch Sir Sly next here.
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