Live Recap: Stella Donnelly and Natalie Prass at Lincoln Hall 9.19.18
This week Australian singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly kicked off her North American tour supporting Natalie Prass, performing at Lincoln Hall on Wednesday, September 19th.
It’s rare for a solo performer to completely captivate an entire room the size of Lincoln Hall, but Donnelly not only took the challenge; she surpassed all expectations and had the crowd engrossed from the start. She took the stage on her own, armed only with her guitar, her voice, and razor sharp wit, and she provided a 40 minute set that showcased her clever and thoughtful songwriting, her raw vocal power, and her authentic stage presence. Lyrically, she toes the line between sincere and cheeky, managing to tell serious stories in a personable way.
On Donnelly’s six-song debut EP Thrush Metal, listeners get the chance to observe her writing talent, but when performed live, her talent shines through even more. Its the type of performance that still demands the audience’s attention without any extra fluff or unnecessary bells and whistles. For most of the songs performed on Wednesday night, the mood of the room remained lighthearted; like when Donnelly introduced a song about her boss paying her late (“he paid me a week later. I was on the wrong pay roll,” she said at the end of the song) or when she described another song as being about a relationship on its last leg, in which both people are working to salvage it (“In Australia we call it polishing a turd”). However, one part of her set tackled the very serious issue of sexual assault, when Donnelly introduced her song “Boys Will Be Boys.” She was mindful enough to give a content warning before introducing and playing the song, which very candidly recounts the story of an assault that happened to a friend of hers. While the issue is still very relevant, especially in the music scene at the moment, Donnelly said she wrote the song three years ago before there was this much open conversation happening about the matter. With most of her songs, but particularly “Boys Will Be Boys,” Donnelly demonstrates a fearless approach to songwriting. If there’s a story to tell, Donnelly will deliver, and based on the audience response at her live show, people are here to hear her.
Photos of Stella Donnelly and Natalie Prass on September 19th in Chicago
Check out all of Stella Donnelly’s upcoming tour dates here and listen to Thrush Metal in full below.
PHOTOS: Vacation Manor 09.17.18
On Monday, September 17th, Vacation Manor played songs from their upcoming album, Everything I Can't Say Out Loud, as well as old favorites from their Girl, Say EP at Schubas! Check out the full gallery of the show below.
PHOTOS: Naked Giants and Car Seat Headrest at The Riviera Theatre 9.07.18
Check out photos of Car Seat Headrest's show in Chicago with Naked Giants on Friday, September 7th below!
See if Car Seat Headrest's tour is coming to a city near you by checking out the dates here.
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PHOTOS: OHMME Record Release Show with V.V. Lightbody and The Hecks
OHMME celebrated the release of their debut album Parts on Saturday with an in-the-round style show at Thalia Hall. V.V. Lightbody and The Hecks opened the show--check out a gallery of all of their performances below.
Make sure you check out our interview with OHMME here if you haven't already, and listen to Parts in full below!
PHOTOS: Half Acre's Big North Festival with Post Animal, DEHD, and Divino Niño
Half Acre's annual Big North festival returned for its third year at the brewery's Balmoral location. In addition to endless beer and burgers, the fest also highlighted three of the city's best bands: Post Animal, DEHD, and Divino Niño. Check out our photo gallery of the musical portion of the fest below.
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PHOTOS: Whitney and NE-HI at Millennium Park 8.12.18
The Millennium Park free summer concert series rolled on over the weekend, this time featuring NE-HI and Whitney. The Chicago bands revisited plenty of crowd favorites from their past albums, but both also debuted some brand new material to the crowded park. If you missed the hometown celebration, check out photos from the show below.
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Live Recap: The Inaugural Bellwether Festival
Bellwether Festival made its debut over the weekend, bringing some of the freshest names in indie music as well as some celebrated classics to the festival site, which usually plays home to a renaissance festival. The first-time, two-day festival encountered some setbacks, like a storm that forced the cancellation of Friday's headliner MGMT, but Bellwether also excelled in other ways. Limiting its grounds to feature only two stages within easy walking distance and limiting the lineup to rule out any schedule overlap allowed for the festival attendees to focus on the music and see every artist.
If you missed out on the fest, check out the top five moments of the weekend below.
"Golden Days" Met The Golden Hour During Whitney's Set
Following the success of their debut project Light Upon The Lake, Whitney toured relentlessly for the better part of two years, playing several headline runs and appearing on the major festival circuits. Their early evening set at Bellwether marked a rare live set from the group this year, as they've been slowly, but surely chipping away at their sophomore effort. Beginning with a quick sprinkle of rain, Whitney's set revisited their beloved first album, including their popular single "Golden Days." The band performed the anthemic break up song just after the sun had broken through the rain, delivering the perfect soundtrack to Friday's golden hour. The set also included a Neil Young and NRBQ cover, as well as Whitney's unreleased song "Rolling Blackout" that has become a staple of their live shows. As the set closed out, lead singer Julien Ehrlich left the crowd with the promise of new music soon; "See you next time. With a new album. We've been working on it...we're happy about it."
Local Natives Egged on the Rain
Like Whitney, Los Angeles' Local Natives are between albums at the moment, but lead singer Taylor Rice also teased their next album. "We're almost done with the fourth record. We can't say much but we like it," Rice told the crowd. While the news gave the audience something to look forward to with the future of Local Natives, the crowd also got a chance to celebrate the past with the band. Kelcey Ayer of the band reminisced on the band's history, noting that they just hit their ten year anniversary. "In honor of that we're gonna close the set with a few Gorilla Manor songs," the band announced before revisiting songs from their first album. Just before playing their final song of the set, "Sun Hands," Rice commented on the fact that they'd managed to hold off the rain despite the lightning filling the sky behind them. "If it rains, just go crazier. It's our last song so give it everything you've got," the frontman said, egging on the inevitable storm brewing, which let loose just as Local Natives left the stage.
Japanese Breakfast Invited The Flaming Lips to Olive Garden
Fronted by Michelle Zauner, Philadelphia outfit Japanese Breakfast has been hitting the road consistently following the release of Soft Sounds From Another Planet last summer. Despite their taxing tour schedule, Zauner and her band brought their usual energy and witty stage banter to their Bellwether Fest set. Between songs, Zauner called attention to the fact that the festival site also hosts a renaissance fair; "I should have worn my John Snow Outfit," she joked, adding that she was hoping to see more capes in the crowd. She also shared the band's excitement to be a part of the small but mighty lineup, expressing her admiration of that night's headliner, The Flaming Lips. "If they're here, we would like to extend an invitation to the Olive Garden," Zauner said about Wayne Coyne and co before ending the set with an explosive, high energy jam with her band.
The Psychedelic Furs and Echo & The Bunnymen Evoked 80's Nostalgia
After Japanese Breakfast's set, the lineup turned back to the era of The Breakfast Club, with back to back sets from post punk bands The Psychedelic Furs and Echo & The Bunnymen. The Psychedelic Furs kicked off the nostalgic streak, attracting zealous fans to the front rows to chant frontman Richard Butler's name just before they took the stage. Their set had fans from all generations singing along to the hits like "Pretty in Pink" and "Love My Way," and the band sounded as tight as ever. Butler's signature vocals remained strong throughout the whole set, and the band's saxophone player added some spice to the songs. Echo & The Bunnymen kept the post punk train rolling during their set, frontman Ian McCulloch also sounding great as the band played through their hits. Again, fans from all different generations flocked to see the iconic group, one fan in the front even donning a Donnie Darko mask as a nod to the band's song "The Killing Moon" being featured on the film's soundtrack.
The Flaming Lips Covered MGMT
While the weather forecast showed a chance of storms all weekend, the rain managed to hold off most of Saturday. Despite the clear skies on day two, the muddy grounds and disappointment of headliner MGMT's cancelled set lingered in the air and reminded the festival goers of the previous night's storm. The festival staff offered some perks, like free Saturday entry for Friday ticket holders, to lessen that sting, but The Flaming Lips were the ultimate festival heroes when they covered MGMT's song "Kids" at the beginning of their set. Lead singer Wayne Coyne set up the cover saying that the cancellation from the rain was obviously no one's fault, and MGMT had left him a note in the green room. The "note" ended up being lyrics to "Kids," which Coyne began reading slowly, before the band pitched in with the melody and Coyne began singing. The cover came after the group had opened their set with "Race For The Prize," which they paired with a confetti cannon, giant balloons, and lots of fog. The theatrics continued nonstop for the entire show; the bright lights and colorful props lifting the spirits of everyone at the festival and ending the weekend on the most magical note. One of the absolute highlights of The Flaming Lips' production came towards the end of the set, when the band covered Bowie's "Space Oddity"; Coyne stepped inside of a giant bubble and floated along the top of the crowd during the performance. As Coyne said, the rain that had put a damper on Friday's headlining set was no one's fault, and the spectacular close of Saturday night outweighed the set backs.
Check out more photos of the whole weekend below, featuring Whitney, Dr. Dog, Local Natives, Allah-Las, Japanese Breakfast, The Psychedelic Furs, Echo & The Bunnymen, and The Flaming Lips.
Bellwether returns next year on August 9th and 10th. Get more details here.
PHOTOS: Lala Lala, Torres, Wolf Parade at House of Vans 8.08.18
Last Wednesday night, the House of Vans summer house party series came to a close with an evening curated by Wolf Parade. Check out photos of the show below, featuring Lala Lala and Torres warming up the stage.
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