ANCHR Magazine

Holding you down with the best new music

Two Feet Delivers a Dynamic Debut Performance in Chicago

April 02, 2017  /  Rachel Zyzda

Wicker Park’s Subterranean is packed with a sold out, Saturday night crowd as Bill Dess (Aka Two Feet) takes the stage with his bandmate Huff.  After kicking off his short and sweet support set around 9PM with a new song called “Love is a Bitch,” Dess introduces himself to the crowd and reveals he’s out on his first tour ever. Although he hasn’t been playing shows for very long and he only released his debut EP in July 2016, Dess delivered a very polished set, showcasing his skills as both a songwriter and producer. The second song, “Quick Musical Doodles” perfectly combines Dess’s bluesy guitar riffs with full-bodied bass.

Dess also proves to be a natural with stage banter, mentioning that his brother works in Chicago and that his dad is in the audience before playing the next song. The following two songs, “Too Long” and “Twisted” are both unreleased tracks, and will be featured on Two Feet’s upcoming EP. Dess and Huff display incredible musicianship as they flawlessly performed these new tracks live, only further proving their adaptability when they played a cover of “Ain't No Sunshine” with a refreshing take on it. Before playing the Bill Withers cover, Dess mentioned that they just arranged the cover a couple of days prior in a hotel room on tour.

The set closed out with the viral track “Go Fuck Yourself,” which has gotten a nod from Martin Garrix and racked up nearly 20 million plays on Spotify. This year has already been a whirlwind for Two Feet, playing SXSW and being added to the Bonnaroo lineup, but we’re sure to be seeing much more from Two Feet after this tour and his upcoming EP. Stay tuned for an interview with Bill for even more on the EP and what we can expect from Two Feet in 2017, but for now listen to the debut EP First Steps:

Keep up with all upcoming Two Feet tour dates here.

categories / Reviews
tags / Two Feet, NYC, New Music, Live Music, Live Review, Concert Photography

PHOTOS: Foxygen at The Vic 3.31.17

April 02, 2017  /  Christian Heinzel

It’s a Friday night and the screen outside the Vic Theater flashes the cover of Foxygen’s latest single, “America." This tour follows the release of the band's acclaimed fourth album, Hang, released January 20th. Gabriella Cohen, the Australian singer, opened the performance, playing dreamy songs that got the crowd moving and ready for the energy that Foxygen was about to bring. The lights go down and an instrumental remix of Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode” and what sounded like an Ennio Morricone song plays as the band and Johnathon Rado walks out.

As the band began the introduction to “We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic,” lead singer Sam France sashayed onto the theater’s stage. France encountered a minor problem with his microphone coming unplugged, but he finished the song with great power, making the crowd roar with delight. They move on, playing hits such as “San Francisco” and “Shuggie” with Jackie Cohen on the female backup vocals. After getting the hits out of the way, they performed Hang in entirety. The first couple songs off the album such as “Follow the Leader” and “Avalon” got the crowd dancing. For “America” the lights flashed red, white, and blue as Sam France sported a blue suit coat. Once they reached “Rise Up,” the album’s final track, Sam France and Jackie Cohen walked off stage while the rest of the band carried out the powerful ending of the album.

The band returned for their encore with “On Blue Mountain” off their 2nd album, which included Sam France playing the trumpet. They closed with their “How Can You Really” from their 2014 album …And Star Power, a groovy, Todd Rundgren-esque dance number which ended with Sam France jumping into the crowd. The show was a delight to all in attendance, marking Foxygen’s triumphant return to Chicago.

Foxygen will be touring throughout the summer-- check out all their tour dates here, and catch them in a city near you.  Listen to their album Hang here:

categories / Photos, Gigs, Reviews
tags / Foxygen, Live Review, Photos, Concert Photography, Photo Set, Christian Heinzel

WayHome Festival Line Up Additions

March 30, 2017  /  Rachel Zyzda

In case you missed the initial line up announcement, WayHome came back today with a few line up additions, including Cage The Elephant and Foster The People. The full line up includes some of favorites, like Frank Ocean, The Shins, Honne, Rag'N'Bone Man, Blossoms, and many more incredible artists from a mix of genres. Check out the full line up below, and grab your festival passes here. 3 Day Passes start at $229.99, and 1 day passes start at $89.99.

categories / Gigs, Festival
tags / WayHome, Music Festival, Lineups, Rag'n'Bone Man, Blossoms, Honne, The Shins, Frank Ocean, Cage the Elephant, Foster the People

PHOTOS: Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness at HOB Chicago 3.24.17

March 29, 2017  /  Rachel Zyzda

The final installment of photos from the Zombies in America Tour is here! Check out Emily Nava's brilliant shots from headliner Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness's set. Also be sure to check out Emily Nava's photo galleries of Andrew's tourmates Night Riots and Atlas Genius if you haven't already!

Check out all of Andrew McMahon's upcoming tour dates here. (Psst! Chicago, he'll be back for Lollapalooza). You can also listen to the latest album Zombies on Broadway here:

categories / Photos, Gigs
tags / Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Photo Set, Concert Photography, Concerts, Chicago

PHOTOS: Atlas Genius at HOB Chicago 3.24

March 28, 2017  /  Rachel Zyzda

Yesterday, we shared the full photo gallery of Night Riots from their stop in Chicago during the Zombies in America tour. Today, check out the full photo gallery of their tourmates Atlas Genius, shot by ANCHR photographer Emily Nava.  

Check out all of Atlas Genius's upcoming tour dates here, and stay tuned for photos of Andrew McMahon's set tomorrow! While you wait, listen to Atlas Genius's album Inanimate Objects:

categories / Photos
tags / Atlas Genius, Zombies in America, Photos, Photo Set, Concert Photography, Chicago, Live Music

PHOTOS: Night Riots at HOB Chicago 3.24.17

March 27, 2017  /  Rachel Zyzda

Last Friday, ANCHR photographer Emily Nava headed out to the House of Blues to catch the Zombies in America Tour, featuring one of our favorites, Night Riots. Check out her photos from their incredible live show now!

Photos by Emily Nava

Catch Night Riots in a city near you by checking out their tour dates here, and stream their latest album Love Gloom below!

categories / Gigs, Photos
tags / Night Riots, Zombies in America, House of Blues, Chicago, Concert Photography, Photos, Photo Set

PHOTOS: Conor Oberst at Track 29 3.22.17

March 25, 2017  /  Rachel Zyzda

This past Wednesday night, ANCHR photographer Liz Mouw caught a stunning performance from Conor Oberst in Chattanooga, TN. Check out photos from the night in the gallery below. 

Photos by Liz Mouw

Conor will be on tour throughout the summer, so make sure you check out all his up coming tour dates here. You can also grab a copy of his new album Salutations, out March 17th, here (and listen to it below)!

categories / Photos, Gigs
tags / Conor Oberst, Concert Photography, Photos, Chattanooga, Liz Mouw, Live music

A Thursday Trifecta With Jude Shuma, Molly Burch, and Tim Darcy

March 25, 2017  /  Rachel Zyzda

Kicking off a night of three incredible sets, Chicago’s own Jude Shuma took The Empty Bottle stage around 9:30 on Thursday evening. His 30 minute set kicked off with his most played track “Float,” (which--shameless plug--you can hear on the CW's new show Riverdale).  After playing some older, familiar tunes, like “Subterranean Feelings,” Jude tested out some new songs from his upcoming album, Sugar Mountain. The new songs already sounded incredible live, and they went over well with the crowd.

Molly Burch captivated the crowd next, hooking them in with her 1950’s-style crooning and a refreshingly retro sound. The seven-song set started with the title track of Molly’s debut album Please Be Mine, the crowd slowly swaying along to the hauntingly beautiful chorus. The next song, “Fool,” picked up the pace, with Molly adding a powerful edge to her alluring vocals. As Molly and her band completely enchanted the crowd with more songs from the album, like “Wrong For You” and “Try,” the music translated incredibly well from the album to the live sense. The fact that Molly recorded the album in a live setting in just a couple days kept the album so authentic and added a real vulnerability to the music. That same sense of sincerity and vulnerability came across in Molly’s stage performance, as well.

Ought-frontman Tim Darcy and his extremely talented two-women band took the stage next just after 11PM, playing a set mostly comprised of songs from his debut solo album Saturday Night. Tim got the crowd moving right away with the up-tempo, building tune “Tall Glass of Water,” immediately following with “Still Waking Up.”  About half way through the set, Tim mentioned his album and thanked the audience, pointing out how wonderful Chicago crowds are all of the time. “New York is good 80% of the time,” Tim continued before moving into the instrumental track “First Final Days.”  As the night of good vibes and great jams continued, Tim also mentioned that he and his band had been on tour for 5 weeks with Molly Burch, shouting out her, his band members, and his crew. The set drew to a close with a brand new song that Tim recently wrote while on this tour. Introducing the new song, called “Sledgehammer and The Rose,” Tim says he wrote it about an experience in Toronto, when some guy spit in his face when he was already having a bad day. The set wrapped up with the mellow “What’d You Release,” before the band left and returned for an encore.

If you missed this night filled with genuine talent and incredible musicianship, make sure you stay in the loop with all three artists! Check here for any updates from Jude Shuma on his new record and upcoming shows. Molly Burch returns to Chicago as soon as April 7th, supporting Sallie Ford at Schubas, and you can grab tickets for that show here. Lastly, keep up with Tim Darcy's latest tour dates here, and listen to his album below! 

categories / Gigs, Reviews
tags / Jude Shuma, Tim Darcy, Molly Burch, The Empty Bottle, Chicago, Live Music

PHOTOS: The Walters at The Metro 3.16.17

March 20, 2017  /  Rachel Zyzda

Last week, The Walters put on a killer show supporting The Orwells at The Metro. Check out some photos ANCHR photographer Jen Machuca snapped during The Walters' set below, and head here to read more about the show. 

categories / Photos
tags / The Walters, Photos, Concert Photography, Contributors, JEN MACHUCA

Tei Shi Enchants a Sold Out Metro

March 14, 2017  /  Rachel Zyzda

It’s 7:30 on a snowy, Monday night in Chicago (the first snow there’s been in months), yet the house is still packed as Tei Shi saunters onto a dimly lit stage at The Metro. Starting off her diverse and captivating performance with her latest single “How Far,” Tei Shi instantly won over the sold out crowd with her angelic vocals. In the opening song particularly, the heavy bass of the song created a beautiful juxtaposition with her soft falsettos. For the second song of the evening, the 2014 single “See Me,” the stage brightened up, illuminating the singer and her band. After wrapping up this slower, hypnotizing tune, Tei Shi told the crowd “I’m super excited to be supporting MØ, this is our first night with her.”

Tei Shi starts off the third song of the night on the microphone situated stage right, adding some dynamics to her performance. Based on the lyrics of this new song, which alternate between “breathe, I breathe, I breathe” and “creep, I creep, I creep,” along with other verbs that fall into that rhyming pocket, this new one is most likely called “Creep,” which is also track three on Tei Shi’s upcoming album. After playing another recent single, “Keep Running,” which was released this year, Tei Shi mentions the new album. “This is all brand new music that we just started playing. It’s all going to be on the new album. We’re gonna do another one,” she says, introducing another bass-heavy tune with a catchy dance beat. Based on the lyrics, this new one appears to be track 9 from the album Crawl Space, called “Justify.” This track, along with all of the new ones, had such a cool vibe, and the band executed each song perfectly, especially Tei Shi with her incredible vocal performance.

After playing another new song, presumably “Crawl,” which is track 12 on the new record, Tei Shi transitioned back into an older song, 2013’s “Nevermind the End,” a building, layered track full of ethereal vocals. The set winded down with Tei Shi saying, “We’ve got two more songs for you guys,” and expressing her gratitude to the crowd before playing one more new song. The new song features a fierce chorus and lyrics that say “you don’t know me, but you say you do,” which could be track 7 on Crawl Space, “Say You Do.” The stellar set ended just before 8:15 with one of the singer’s best known tracks, “Bassically,” the crowd cheering with recognition as the opening notes rang out. Tei Shi’s amazing performance closed out with her giving 1000% during this last song….she absolutely sang her heart out during this song’s powerful and piercing chorus. As she and her band left the stage to massive applause, it’s clear that Tei Shi has warmed up the crowd on this cold, Chicago evening.


If you’re out at SXSW this week, Tei Shi will also be there, and you don’t want to miss her incredible live show. She also just announced some new tour dates in May (below), but you can keep up with all of her tour dates here.

You can also preorder Crawl Space here, which is going to be an amazing album, based on the live preview of some of the tracks. In the meantime, get ready for the album by watching the video for "Keep Running." 

categories / Gigs, Reviews
tags / Tei Shi, Mø, Metro, Chicago, Live Show