Live Recap: Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Sasami at Northerly Island

June 04, 2023 / Rachel Zyzda

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Sasami kicked off June with a show at Northerly Island in Chicago this past Thursday night.

With the sun still shining and the Chicago skyline in the background, Sasami and her band took the stage to warm up the crowd for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Sasami quickly ramped up the energy throughout the venue with her animated stage presence, dancing and between-song banter as she performed some songs from her 2022 album entitled Squeeze. At one point in her set, Sasami joked she was playing a new song called “Chicago Ate My Asshole”— which obviously got a lot of cheers and laughter from the crowd.

Fans continued to file into the outdoor venue, and eventually it was time for Yeah Yeah Yeahs to hit the stage. With the lights dim, the band members made their way onstage as strobing lights sent out small bursts of lighting before fully illuminating lead singer Karen O and her shimmering attire. The band opened the show up with the cinematic single “Spitting Off The Edge of the World” from their 2022 album Cool It Down before moving into the more tenured track “Cheated Hearts.”

“We’re gonna fucking party like it’s Thursday Night,” Karen O told the crowd early on in the set; a statement that was met with loud cheers and dancing from the packed audience. The singer also shared that she recently recovered from “the plague” so her voice might crack a little, but her energy and vocals remained resilient throughout the entire show.

The only time the energy mellowed out was when Karen O mentioned they were going to slow it down a bit to play “Lovebomb,” another newer song their last album. The band perfectly transitioned out of the song into the adored and familiar introduction to their hit “Maps,” which received an immediate eruption in screams from the audience. The energy continued to climb for the last portion of the show, with everyone dancing to “Heads Will Roll” to close out the main part of the set. The night fully wrapped with a 3- song encore, all of which were featured on 2003’s Fever To Tell album.

Check out photos from the evening below, and see where you can catch Yeah Yeah Yeahs on tour next here.

0 Likes

categories / Photos, Reviews, Gigs
tags / Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sasami, Photo recap, Live Review, Live Show, Live Nation, Northerly Island

PHOTOS: Future Islands and Deeper at Salt Shed

May 24, 2023 / Rachel Zyzda

This past Sunday, Future Islands hit the Salt Shed stage for an incredible show, accompanied by Deeper. If you missed out on the show, check out photos from the evening below and see where you can catch the tour next here.

0 Likes

categories / Gigs, Photos
tags / Future Islands, Salt Shed, Deeper, Photo recap, Photo Gallery, Concert Photography

Live Recap: MUNA with Nova Twins at Salt Shed

May 19, 2023 / Rachel Zyzda

This past Tuesday night, fans gathered to catch a sold out show from MUNA, with support from Nova Twins at the Salt Shed.

I entered the shed very familiar with MUNA, having been a (number one) fan for years now, but I went into the Nova Twins’ set completely cold. It didn’t take long at all for the duo of Amy Love and Georgia South to warm me up and win me over—it was somewhere between their wildly energetic entrance to the stage, their encouragement of the audience to declare “I’m a boss bitch!” (as they sing in the chorus of their song “Cleopatra”) and Love’s request for the crowd to “open up the twerk pit” (rather than mosh pit) that I decided Nova Twins is one of my new favorites. The cheers from the audience and the smiles I saw on everyone’s faces confirmed I was not alone in my newfound admiration for the duo. Their 40-minute set contained plenty of songs from their 2022 album entitled Supernova and was chock-full of ear-splitting guitar riffs and booming bass lines.

With the crowd primed and ready now, MUNA took the stage right around 9PM. As the band launched into their hit “What I Want,” vocalist Katie Gavin abruptly stopped the song only about 30 seconds in, to call out that someone in the audience appeared to need medical assistance. Once the fallen fan received help, Gavin and her bandmates Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson, decided to leave the stage, restarting the set completely from the top so that everyone got to experience their full introduction. The sold out crowd remained rowdy throughout the show, but thanks to an overwhelming sense of camaraderie and a reminder from Gavin to look out for each other, the show carried on with only good vibes and no more incidents.

Following a whirlwind of bangers like “Number One Fan” and “Stayaway,” MUNA mellowed out the tempo slightly for songs like “Loose Garment” and “Winterbreak,” the latter of which Gavin picked up an acoustic guitar to add some richness to the arrangement. For the majority of the show, Gavin sang and danced freely across the stage, only staying stationary for the few songs she played acoustic guitar on. The energy remained high throughout the show, though, with plenty of banter and movement from Maskin and McPherson as well. Things got even rowdier during MUNA’s performance of “Anything But Me” when the band threw out horse figurines for the crowd to toss around.

In the blink of an eye it seemed, the show began to wind down and MUNA left the stage to immediate requests for an encore. The trio kept the magic going with their song “I Know a Place,” in which Gavin sings about a place where you can go, let down your walls and truly be yourself— AKA, every MUNA concert ever. For one last hoorah of the night, Nova Twins graced the stage again to join in on singing “Silk Chiffon.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, MUNA fans are some of the most accepting and joyous people you’ll ever meet, so if you get the chance to attend one of their shows, don’t miss out on the wonderful experience.

If you missed the show, check out the full gallery below, and see where you can catch the tour next here.

0 Likes

categories / Reviews, Photos, Gigs
tags / MUNA, Nova Twins, Live Recap, Live Show, Photo recap, Salt Shed, Concert Photography

PHOTOS: The Flaming Lips at Salt Shed

May 09, 2023 / Rachel Zyzda

The Flaming Lips celebrated Cinco De Mayo at The Salt Shed with all the lasers and confetti. If you missed out on the fun, check out photos from the sold-out show below and see where you can catch the tour next here.

0 Likes

categories / Photos, Gigs, Music
tags / The Flaming Lips, Salt Shed, Photo recap, Photo Gallery, Photography

PHOTOS: Bikini Kill with Ganser at Salt Shed

April 30, 2023 / Rachel Zyzda

Fans flocked to The Salt Shed on Saturday, April 22nd to catch a show from Bikini Kill with support from Chicago’s own Ganser. If you missed the show, check out the photo gallery below and see where you can catch them on tour next here.

0 Likes

categories / Music, Photos, Gigs
tags / Bikini Kill, Ganser, Salt Shed, Photo recap, Photography, Photo Gallery

PHOTOS: Caroline Rose with Kairos Creature Club at Thalia Hall

April 28, 2023 / Rachel Zyzda

Caroline Rose played a sold out show at Thalia Hall on Friday, April 21st with support from Kairos Creature Club. If you missed out on tickets, be sure to check out the photo gallery below and see where you can catch Caroline Rose on tour next here.

0 Likes

categories / Gigs, Photos, Music
tags / Caroline Rose, Kairos Creature Club, Thaila Hall, Photo Gallery, Live Show, Live Music, Photo Set

PHOTOS: Ibeyi and Kara Jackson at Thalia Hall

March 23, 2023 / Rachel Zyzda

This past Sunday night, Ibeyi dazzled Thalia Hall with support from Kara Jackson. Check out photos from the show below, and see where you can catch the tour next here.

0 Likes

categories / Photos, Gigs
tags / Ibeyi, Kara Jackson, Thalia Hall, Photo recap, Photo Gallery, Photo Set

PHOTOS: Jawny with Wallice at Thalia Hall

March 20, 2023 / Rachel Zyzda

Jawny and Wallice brought the high energy to Thalia Hall on St.Patty’s Day. If you missed the sold out show, check out photos below, and see where you can catch Jawny on tour next here.

0 Likes

categories / Photos, Gigs, Music
tags / Jawny, Wallice, Thalia Hall, Photo recap, Photo Gallery, Photo Set

Live Recap: Weyes Blood with Molly Lewis at The Riviera

March 16, 2023 / Scott Teresi

On Saturday, March 11, The Riviera in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood brought the sensational Weyes Blood back to town for the first time in over three years to play a sold-out show in support of her latest LP In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow (her second for Sub Pop Records), which released in November of last year to critical acclaim. In support, Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering was joined by fellow Californian whistler Molly Lewis who played songs off her new EP “Mirage” (out on Jagjaguwar) accompanied by her pre-recorded music to a hushed and stunned audience. (In all truth, you could hear a pin drop during the entire duration of Lewis’ magical repertoire.)

Following Lewis came the main act: Mering’s five-piece band that filled out the stage among an array of shimmering and twinkling candelabras distributed between the instruments and gear, setting the appropriate tone for what would be a hauntingly elegant set. The band then took it away across 14 songs from both the new album and 2019’s acclaimed Titanic Rising, which includes fan favorites “Andromeda” and the endlessly danceable “Everyday.” Enveloping around these now-modern classics were tracks like the haunting “Grapevine” (named for the California’s I-5) to the seriously underrated “Children of the Empire” (This reviewers favorite.)

With these new songs, Mering has seemingly never felt more comfortable and alive on stage that she appears to be here with a lighting program that accompanies the tone of context of these songs perfectly. Mering’s presence, where she dances and twirls around like the ghost of an amateur ballerina, feels jubilant and earnest and is only helped by her new choice of stage costume. Gone is the smart white suit of the last few years of touring (a look featured on the cover of her third LP Front Row Seat to Earth) and in its place is a long white gown with a white cape and matching boots, casting Mering as a cross between a angelic religious figure and Princess Leia in the original Star Wars.

All of these elements combine into a transcendent alchemy during “God Turn Me Into a Flower” (from the new record) which finds Mering searching for a way to survive and finding that power in the idea of a resilient flexibility while also re-examing the Narcissus myth. Backlit by a single light, Mering slowly spun in and out of its rays which illuminated her cloak and dress to new heights, casting Mering as a spirit on the stage ready to ascend into the rafters and right out of the auditorium.

Later in the set, another ingenious touch of costume design came into play when, during “Twin Flame,” Mering’s chest lit up a bright reddish orange (“Hearts Aglow!”) commanding an audible gasp and then jubilant cheers from the audience. In addition to being a master songwriter and live performer, Mering’s showmanship and knack for creative spectacle are also now fully on display.

The evening eventually ended with a solo acoustic rendition of Titanic Rising’s closer “Picture Me Better,” a somber ballad about a lost friend. Making our way out of The Riv (select merch items in hand!) showgoers buzzed excitedly about what they had just seen against a thick Chicago snowfall that seemed perfectly timed to cap off the evening, it occurred to me: Across an evening of standing together in a dark room and sharing a communal cathartic experience we exactly conjured up the title of the new record— “In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow.”