CHICAGO– Last week, I went to The Destroyer show at Thalia Hall with my co-host Paige Schiller, and our friends Eilee and Ella. Dan Bejar was a legend in my house growing up, one of the few contemporary artists that my parents kept up with (the rest of my music education from them was founded on a lot of Bruce Springsteen, Ella Fitzgerald, and whatever live sets were being played on A Prairie Home Companion weekly.) I have tried to see Destroyer live three times since moving to Chicago, and up until now I had never been successful. Either the tickets were sold out, or the shows took place at a venue I wasn’t old enough to be at. This time, I was incredibly lucky to be able to be able to attend through Radio DePaul!
My friends and I showed up halfway through the opener, Jennifer Castle. She played “Blowing Kisses” as her last song, prefacing the performance by telling the crowd that it had been featured in “The Bear’s” latest season. I just finished that season so I recognized her lilting lyrics almost immediately.
The crowd that night was pretty boisterous and talked through Castle’s entire set, (everyone was shushed numerous times by fans and staff alike) but anticipation creeped in as soon as she exited the stage and the aimless chatting was quickly replaced by an infectious buzz.
The show began with the first song off “Dan’s Boogie,” “The Same Thing as Nothing at All,” a perfect album opener, and a perfect start to the show. Even though the tour was advertised as being “Dan’s Boogie Tour,” only ⅓ of the setlist came from the new album. I was both disappointed and delighted by this. I really like the album but I wasn’t as familiar with it as I am with “Kaputt” or “Destroyer’s Rubies.”
I almost didn’t notice the variety of songs since the setlist traveled so smoothly through Bejar’s different albums and eras. His sound is so cohesive and unique that the show felt like one very long song, in the best way. Having recently bought a new camera, I brought it expecting to be able to shoot from the balcony since the lighting at Thalia Hall is always impeccable. However, this was my first time using the camera and I did not anticipate so many technical issues. Dead pixels, broken flash, sensor malfunctioning, I did the best I could to capture some coverage of the set from up above.
The show melded together in such a way that I did not get bored once, but at the same time, little stood out to me in the moment. There were certain moments that brought me back, such as Jennifer Castle re-entering to sing Fiver’s part in “Bologna,” “European Oils” my favorite Destroyer song, and “Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World,” but that isn’t to say that the set was dull at all. It wasn’t Bejar or his band’s fault that I was losing focus, but instead it was just difficult balancing the photography and paying attention to the show since the camera turned out to be so unwieldy, and since I have never shot from a balcony before. I find that it is much easier to remain present when shooting from the floor. The crowd keeps me grounded because I feel a little self-conscious waving a camera in the air knowing that it might be blocking someone’s view, so I typically choose my photo-taking moments much more carefully. Up on the balcony, my view was definitely less obstructed but I wasn’t alone. Multiple seated attendees got up and stood in the back of the balcony aisles to dance.
I hadn’t been expecting Destroyer to inspire dance in so many Gen X couples but it was very sweet to watch. By the encore, “Bay of Pigs Detail,” one of my favorites, my friends and I got up to dance as well and we experienced “collective effervescence,” which was a term I discussed in length with Paige before our most recent show. It defines the unified feeling of enjoyment or entertainment amongst a crowd of people who are all there for the same reason, or all focused on the same cause at the same time.
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