Tag: Entertainment

On Friday, December 20^th, I had the amazing opportunity to cover the first night of The Blood Brothers’ three-night sold-out run at Thalia Hall, as a part of their 20^th anniversary tour for their album Crimes. One of my most anticipated shows of the year, it did not disappoint at all. The show follows the recent trend of more bands doing reunion tours and I am extremely grateful that I got to attend. While I only started to listen to The Blood Brothers earlier this year, they have quickly cemented themselves as one of my favorite bands. I love discovering new bands, even ones from before my time, and this show was a perfect example of that, with it being clear that I was one of the youngest people there.

As the night kicked off, Stress Positions, a hardcore punk band coming from Chicago, took the stage to open the show. Their set was extremely captivating, with high-speed D-beat drums and a talented vocalist with great stage presence. After hearing their set, I knew that I would become a fan and immediately followed them on social media to stay updated on their future shows and releases.

The Blood Brothers performed next, delivering an amazing show that I will always remember, especially with it being their first tour in over a decade.  As the show started, a very energetic pit opened right behind me, and I found myself going in it several times throughout. Within the first few songs, they played my favorite of theirs: “USA Nails.”  This show was exceptionally good live, as you could feel the energy in the venue along with the high speed and danceability of the song. Later into the set, they launched into the song “We Ride Skeletal Lightning,” another favorite of mine from their album Young Machetes. This song was amazing to see live, with great energy, vocals, guitar, and much more, as it picks up speed towards the end.

The band also had an exceptional stage presence. Both vocalists Jordan Billie and Johnny Whitney constantly moved around on stage, with Whitney crowd surfing and diving into the crowd several times as he interacted with the crowd. As the show neared an end, both vocalists wore fur coats that were thrown at them from the audience as the crowd cheered in excitement. As one of their final songs that night, The Blood Brothers played their most popular song, “Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck,” which had the crowd breaking into even more excitement as Whitney sang into the crowd for nearly the entire song. 

I found The Blood Brothers’ performance incredible and am super grateful to be able to cover this show. Their set and energy were amazing and gave me an unforgettable night. I highly recommend seeing The Blood Brothers’ live, and I suggest catching them on one of their upcoming stops for their 20^th anniversary tour in celebration of their album Crimes.

On Saturday, November 16^th, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend Dawes’ Oh Brother tour at The Salt Shed.  The folk and indie infused rock band has been a touring group since 2009, and their appearance in Chicago this past weekend marked the group’s largest show in the city to date. This is the group’s first tour since amicably parting ways with members Wylie Gelber (bass) and Lee Pardini (piano), leaving brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith as the only remaining members of the group, and thus, the genesis of the album and tour’s name.

Joined by opening act and frequent collaborator, the Winnetka Bowling League, the evening was full of classics and new favorites, in a fast-paced, yet sentimental show. The setlist was a considerate tour of their discography, and to a long-time listener, felt similar to taking someone on a tour of your hometown, showing them all your favorite places and reminiscing on all of the memories you made at each stop. I have been a loyal Dawes fan for about as long as I can remember, and I have developed a unique attachment to many of their songs, but given the group’s tendency to never repeat the same setlist, it is rare that a listener like myself could hear all of their favorite songs in one night. This show was one of those rare instances, where my ideal setlist aligned with what Taylor and Griffin were thinking as well, making for an especially enjoyable experience.

The band highlighted the majority of their latest album, Oh Brother, including singles “House Parties” and “Surprise!,” working in the new material with years-old favorites like “Things Happen” and “When the Tequila Runs Out” seamlessly. This show was just the eighth stop of a 35-show tour, with shows spanning into next April (with a break between January and April). For still being relatively early into this leg of the tour, the band had already found a noticeable groove, with thoughtful connections on solos and instrumental breaks. Despite their recent change in personnel, the group exhibited the same creative lyricism and genre-twisting instrumentals that fans have come to love, which was also paralleled on the stage.

Dawes’ performance at The Salt Shed was an engaging culmination of the group’s winding history, and one that certainly marked an X on the map of the direction the band is headed. When bands go on tour for the purpose of putting on a great show, the crowd can feel it, and this performance was a perfect display of that passion. Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith have put together another thoughtful body of work in their latest album Oh Brother, and this tour is the perfect accompaniment to that composition. And, by continuing on with just the Goldsmith brothers, Dawes has made sure to fulfill their wish to listeners as written in a 2015 song: “May all your favorite bands stay together.”

On November 8th, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the Montreal instrumental post-rock group, took the stage at Salt Shed to play their biggest Chicago show yet. Godspeed You! has made a legendary career of playing immaculately constructed drones that resemble classical pieces with a sense of doom. Godspeed has always centered its sound around being as apocalyptic as possible, focusing thematically on the prison complex, failures of industrialism/capitalism, and atrocities of world government. Their 2024 album No Title as of 13 February 28,340 Dead focuses their doom energy around spreading awareness of what the civilians in Palestine are experiencing. On this latest album, GY!BE sounds as fresh as ever constructing the instrumental doom around an urgent issue and releasing an important piece of music that is worth a thousand words without speaking any.

I had seen Godspeed twice before, once at Thalia Hall which was off of their 2021 album G_D’s Pee At State’s End, and then at 2023’s edition of Riot Fest. The 2024 Salt Shed show had the biggest showing of the three shows, and election-related dread likely contributed to the packed turnout.

Alan Sparhawk, former member of the legendary indie outfit Low, opened the show, and Godspeed took the stage at 9:00pm sharp. The band included three guitarists, an upright bass player, two drummers, a violin player, and a keyboardist. They started off with their 2021 song “Hope Drone.”

The lead musician in the band, Efrim Menuck, was the main guitarist powering their drones. Efrim’s guitar fills every room he plays in with beauty and grace but also with the progressive feeling of dread and doom that the band is known for. Efrim and crew’s ability to balance the beauty with the apocalyptic is unlike any other band and a testament to the talent of the seven musicians.

Godspeed’s setlist continued with songs from their newest album like “Raindrops Cast In Lead” and “Pale Spectator,” two 10+ minute songs that capture the unspeakable horror of overseas atrocities with a somber reckoning. “Raindrops Cast in Lead” sounds like a dying machine coming to its last breath, a thematic rhythm Godspeed is consistent with. The songs off of their new record fit well into their setlists, delivering a new excitement to their musical range with brand-new beautiful arrangements. Godspeed ended their set with a special shoutout to their 1999 EP Slow Riot For Zero Kanada with the songs “Moya” and “BBF3.”

As a longtime Godspeed vinyl collector, I was really excited to see the songs from this EP played live as the vinyl for Slow Riot is one of my favorites. The EP is a great starting point into the band’s intimidating discography, delivering two beautiful and heart-wrenching tracks in only 20 minutes. BBF3 was amazing to hear live as its sample comes from a street interview with an American obsessed with his gun collection and discussing his issues with the judicial court system. BBF3 is haunting as it leads into soaring guitar sections.

Godspeed’s meditative music delivered a moment of reprieve for many at the Salt Shed.

On November 9^th of 2024, I had the incredible opportunity to see Orchid, one of the most influential screamo bands of all time, as a part of their “Doom Loop World Tour.” As a huge fan of screamo and anything adjacent, I could hardly contain my excitement, with this being Orchid’s first tour since 2002. Though I wasn’t familiar with all of Orchid’s discography, my anticipation had been building for weeks and I could not wait for the night to arrive.

The first band that played that night was Cloud Rat, a grindcore band from Michigan. I was thrilled to see them open for Orchid, having first caught their set a few years ago in Carrboro, North Carolina, where they opened for Soul Glo. I loved their performance then and now, with their song “Faster” staying in my rotation ever since. Their sound is everything I love about grindcore, having plenty of fast, heavy, and intense riffs throughout. Each member had incredible skill, with great guitar riffs, precise and loud drums, and a vocalist who tied it all together beautifully.

Up next was The Repos, an older local Chicago punk band that has been around for years. They perfectly embodied what you would expect from a local punk band, with most of their songs clocking in under a minute while delivering a fast and punchy sound. While I came into the show unsure of what to expect due to their lack of social media presence or information online, I was anything but disappointed. The crowd cheered for an encore leaving everybody wanting more, but the set was sealed off with the vocalist fist-bumping the drummer before walking off stage.

Next up was Orchid, with their set being nothing short of amazing. They kicked things off with a theatrical intro, featuring cinematic sound effects and a custom graphic designed for their tour, which had the crowd cheering in excitement. These details only helped amplify how surreal this night was, as it finally sank in that I was about to see Orchid perform live, 22 years since they were last together. From the moment they hit the stage, it was clear that Orchid still had their charm and energy. The songs sounded just like the recorded versions but better, which is impressive considering that this is the band’s first tour since 2002. One of the most memorable moments of the night came when they played “Lights Out”. As the opening chords of the bass rang out, the crowd began chanting the introduction in perfect sync of the vocalist, who held his hands up in the air in anticipation for the song to begin. 

I absolutely loved their overall stage design and presence, with stunning projections that helped create an immersive atmosphere for the show. Vocalist Jayson Green walked all around the stage during the show, engaging with the crowd adding a layer of excitement to the performance. For a majority of their set, they projected an image from their iconic 1999 album “Chaos is Me”, featuring a drawing of a skeleton. The combination of their stage design, stage presence, and the energy of the night was all but enough to create an unforgettable experience of being able to see one of the most influential screamo bands of all time.  If you haven’t heard of Orchid or experienced them live, I highly recommend catching them at one of their stops on their ongoing “Doom Loop World Tour.”

On November 5th, I was in Houston at Warehouse Live in Midtown to see Crowbar’s headliner tour. One of my favorite bands for their consistent emotional style of New Orleans sludge metal, I had been listening to Crowbar consistently for a few months and knew I had to fly out to see them as well as the openers on this show. 

Morbid Visionz opened up the election day Metal jam in Houston. The bill for this show was a Mega-show collaboration between the Cavalera brothers of Sepultura fame’s current band Soulfly and the New Orleans legends Crowbar. The collaboration allowed for smaller metal bands like Morbid Visionz to shine. Hailing from Little Rock, AR, Morbid Visionz delivered a brutal style of slow, sludgey death metal that fit right on their record label Maggot Stomp. They only have one demo and a 4-track EP released so it was cool to see a band that was newer able to share the stage with some absolute legends. Songs like “Bloodscape” and “Dismal Harvest” trudge through these brutal landscapes.

From Cleveland, OH, Mutilation Barbecue performed next with an absolutely brutal mix of slam-style and death metal. They are on the same label as Morbid Visionz, Maggot Stomp, but are currently on Eyehategod/Soulfly’s touring package. Mutilation Barbecue’s fantastic album Amalgamations of Gore dropped in March of this year. Tracks like “Hive Mind Homicide,” “Trampled Under 18 Wheels,” and “Spontaneous Human Combustion” deliver insane death metal inspired by the likes of Mortician and 200 Stab Wounds. They performed the riffs live with such precision and attack that they really stood out, even on a stacked bill. The band also recently had gear and merch stolen from their trailer so touring spots like this help them as they recover from that loss.

Eyehategod has been consistent in the legacy-building of their unique style of New Orleans sludge metal. Led by Mike Williams, EHG is a fantastic combination of sludge riffs delivered by guitarist Jimmy Bower and Mike’s screechy and catchy mid-range vocal attack. Their 1990 debut album, In the Name of Suffering, is an incredibly dark and sludgey piece of music that set the tone for their incredible career. 1993’s Take as Needed For Pain tends to be referred to as their magnum opus, providing an hour of mid-range sludge attack at their highest level. EHG’s modern set is career-ranging as they deliver tracks like “High Risk Trigger” off of their 2016 album while also delivering tracks like “30$ Bag” and “Shoplift” from Take as Needed. Jimmy Bower’s live guitar performance creates a sludge from the Gibson Les Paul that harkens Black Sabbath from further depths of hell. Mike Williams live performance also stands out as he has evidently been touring for most of his life but he still delivers every vocal performance with an energy second to none in the sludge world. 

Crowbar’s music transcends generations and has been on a resurgence with younger audiences lately. Hardcore podcasters Bo Lueders and Colin Young recently dubbed them as the “Heaviest Band of All Time” and seeing them perform live makes it clear why. Helmed by the incredibly versatile and talented Kirk Windstein, Crowbar delivers a lyrical, emotional, but brutally heavy style of New Orleans sludge. Crowbar dropped their debut Obedience Thru Suffering in 1992 and their most recent album Zero and Below in 2022, maintaining a standard of immense quality in between and throughout their entire career. Their discography highlights include 1998’s Odd Fellow’s Rest  and 2001’s Sonic Excess in its Purest Form. The evident amount of soul Kirk Windstein puts into every song he writes makes Crowbar stand out as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Crowbar’s lyricism has always been deeply emotional, exploring themes of self-improvement through suffering, which makes them popular with the ethos of hardcore sharing a similar value of self-improvement. Kirk Windstein puts emotion into his music in his riffage and lyricism without a shred of fear and that makes Crowbar on another level when it comes to Metal music. This headliner set was nothing different as Kirk and crew came out swinging with “Planets Collide” as the second song on the setlist. Arguably one of the best metal songs ever written, “Planets Collide” shows Kirk’s songwriting ability at its highest quality with some incredibly heavy and brutal riffs. On Stage, Kirk is putting everything he has into every song even this late into his career, showing no sign of slowing any time soon. The guitar rig featuring the Neural DSP into the 5150 cabinet perfectly fit the riffs Kirk blasted. The set also featured incredible songs like “Like Broken Glass,” “To Build a Mountain,” and “Cemetery Angels.” The latter gets a moment of reprieve when Kirk says “Now this is a real breakdown” before going into what is likely the greatest breakdown ever written.

The crowd in Houston was geared up for this show, moshing and singing along to every song. Crowbar’s music has an ability to resonate with listeners unlike many other metal bands solely due to how personal a lot of the music is to Kirk and the band. Crowbar wears their heart on their sleeve without fear, which many metalheads find motivational. Catching Crowbar’s tour opener in Houston was a great experience. The band transcends generation and genre and their resurgence into a new generation will continue with force.