Dashboard Confessional with Sydney Sprague @ The Louisville Palace - Louisville, KY
Dashboard Confessional and Jimmy Eat World brought their co-headlining Surviving The Truth Tour to Louisville, KY on March 9th to a packed house! Performing at the beautiful and historic Louisville Palace Theatre, it was a beautiful setting for an incredible night of music. Starting things off this evening was Phoenix singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sydney Sprague. Having released her debut album, maybe i will see you at the end of the world, in February of 2021, she performed plenty of tracks from the album along with a few other songs. With a really fun alternative indie rock vibe, she and her bandmates had fun together on stage and got the crowd warmed up for the evening ahead!
Taking the stage next was Dashboard Confessional, and singer Chris Carabba was all smiles as he walked out on stage. Starting things off acoustically, Chris’s band then joined him on stage for the remainder of the set- Abigail Kelly, Dane Poppin, Armon Jay, Scott Schoenbeck, and Chris Kamrada. Early in the set, after a sing song from the crowd (of which there were plenty throughout the evening!), Chris exclaimed, “It sounds like there’s 10,000 people in here! This is fantastic! Do you get to come to this theater for all of the shows? Invite me sometime! I’d love to come back!”. He then went on to say that he had put out a new record a week or so ago and wanted to just play one new song, “The Better of Me”, telling the crowd how disappointed they must feel because they were probably all hoping to hear the whole record! Chris was in great spirits this evening, laughing and joking with the crowd! After finding out it was an audience member’s birthday, he asked the crowd “How many people here have birthdays today?”, joking that that he and his band had found out months ago that it was each of their birthdays and planned the whole show for them and that it was hard to pull off! He then dedicated the next song “Saints and Sailors” to the “birthday folks”. He later noticed a to of young people in the crowd, saying “That means it must be someone’s first ever show! I remember that feeling! Welcome!”. With the setlist full of classic Dashboard songs, he had the crowd singing along all night to hits such as “Again I Go Unnoticed”, “The Brilliant Dance”, “Screaming Infidelities”, “The Good Fight”, “Hands Down”, and “Vindicated”, they gave the crowd an incredible set full of sing alongs, dancing, and a good dose of nostalgia (for us older folks!).
Headlining this evening was Jimmy Eat World! Starting things off with a bang, they had the crowd going in no time! With beautiful and, at times, dramatic lighting that seemed to correspond to the music, they were having a great time with each other on stage and feeding off of the energy of the crowd. A few songs in lead singer/guitarist Jim Adkins announced the band as Jimmy Eat World from Mesa, Arizona and asked everyone how they were doing before launching into their hit song “Bleed American”. He then told the crowd, “I heard you going off tonight during Dashboard Confessional’s set!You decided you were ready to party tonight! So are well!”. He then told the crowd, “Thank you so much for coming out! We will probably say that many more times tonight. We don’t take anything for granted anymore. The fact that we can still be here so many years later and you’re still here…thank you so much for supporting us over the years! We will be playing a lot of older songs tonight. It’s because we are old (laughs)!”. They proceeded to play hits such as “Here You Me”, “The Middle”, “Get It Faster”, “Sweetness”, and “All The Way (Stay)”. It was an incredibly fun night in a beautiful and intimate setting!
Sydney Sprague
Dashboard Confessional
Remiwolf @ Regency Ballroom - San Francisco, CA
Photos and words courtesy of Kris Lori | Jan 24th 2022
Remiwolf is an artist that has truly exploded over the past year and is on everyone’s radar. Her performance at San Francisco’s Outside Lands, drew in one of the biggest crowds out of that weekend. She returns back to The Regency Ballroom, to kick off her latest tour in her hometown. She grew up and attended school in the bay area, so this show was going to be a solid send off for her. The venue was packed with fans and friends and it seemed the cheering never stopped throughout the night.
Clairo with Arlo Parks @ The Fillmore - Silver Spring, MD
Photos and words courtesy of Gabby Ames | Feb 19th 2022
Claire Cottrill, known most well as Clairo played an incredible sold out show on her third night of the “Sling” tour. This was the first of two nights in Silver Spring, Maryland. There was a long line of fans wrapped around the building, even some who camped out all day for the show.
The show started off with support from the incredible Arlo Parks. Clairo started off the concert with “Bambi” and played other hits from her album Sling. The whole venue sang along, especially to her hits “Bags” and “Sofia”.
Tyler, the Creator, Kali Uchis, Vince Staples and Teezo Touchdown @ Fiserv Forum - Milwaukee
Call Me If You Get Lost Tour at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
Photos and words courtesy of Victoria Sanders @veesanders.
CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
It was just about four years to the date from the first time I had covered Vince Staples and Tyler, the Creator. They had a tour in 2018 that had two sold-out nights at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to cover Vince Staples a handful more times before the Call Me If You Get Lost tour which has Tyler, the Creator headling, and support from the ethereal Kali Uchis, in my very biased opinion, one the best on a stage - Vince Staples, and Teezo Touchdown to kick things off.
I went up to an absolutely freezing Milwaukee to cover this show, walked into the venue during the start of a snowstorm and left with measurable snow on the ground - but that fact did not stop a single person from showing up and making as much noise as they could for each and every artist. Teezo’s set had a very midwestern garage feel to it that I’m sure most of the crowd could related to - a very DIY home improvement vibe for sure.
Kali Uchis
Vince Staples performed entirely on the b-stage, or the stage in the middle of the floor ticketed space with no set, just lights and haze. That’s all he ever honestly has needed. His ability to control a crowd’s attention based on his style has always existed, and he continues to master it on the arena-level now.
Kali Uchis was back on the main stage with a minimal set, bright and fitting lighting and her dancers who enhanced her already every perfect move. Having seen and covered Kali’s sets in various sized venues in the past, she was born to control an arena stage and crowd. In the 15 or so minutes the media had access to take photos of her, I don’t think I ever stopped because every single move was made to be captured.
…and of course the night ends with Tyler. Starting off with the crowds physically measurable anticipation, the scale and detail of the set is immediately visible, with Tyler being driven up and out of the stage to the front of the stage-sized mansion façade. A few songs in brings Tyler his speedboat to drive him to the b-stage, which just adds to the entire production - from start to finish - being put together as an experience, not merely a show one goes to and leaves at the end. The b-stage had the feel of an island, with it’s sparse vegetation, and had amazingly intimate lighting to make the entire experience feel like it’s just you and Tyler on that island. Each time Tyler moved a single inch, the crowd moved along with him till the set ended with RUNITUP.
Vince Staples
Also of major note to as far as production details - when Who Dat Boy was performed, a silhouette of A$AP Rocky could be seen in the mansions windows. One of many well-thought out production parts to this amazing tour.
Teezo Touchdown
Tierra Whack @ House of Vans - Chicago
Tierra Whack at House of Vans (Chicago) courtesy of Azuree Wiitala (azureewiitala.com / @azureewiitala)
On February 26th House of Vans had their first in person performance for a while and we were stoked it was Tierra Whack. House of Vans is one of my favorite venues, the Goose lsland juice is freely flowing, there are always fun art installs and activations and of course sick swag.
DJ Hot Rod opened the night up and got us all pumped for Tierra. His set was abundant in 90’s throwbacks that kept the crowd amped and dancing. House DJ Xover did their thing from upstairs and kept everyone hyped to be back at House of Vans in person with all our besties and future besties.
When Tierra Whack blessed us with her presence the room exploded. Fxlks were s c r e a m i n g “WHACK!” We were met with Tierra’s awesome and enigmatic energy. She filled up the room. She came out in a yellow puffer vest, blue jumper and the reddest hair that was playfully tossed throughout her set. Big energy out of Philly and her set did not disappoint. Already can not wait for the next time she rolls back through!
Jelani Aryeh @ The Fillmore - Philadelphia, PA
Lyn Lapid & Eric Nam @ The Vic Theater - Chicago, IL
Eric Nam at Chicago’s Vic Theater.
Photos and words by Victoria Sanders (@veesanders).
Eric Nam has been called an accidental K-Pop star. The Korean-American superstar competed on Star Audition: Birth of a Great Star 2 in Seoul in 2011/12. He placed within the top five, and there’s been no looking back. This January, Nam released his second English-language album, There and Back Again, and has been supporting it’s release on a sold-out US tour. Fans lined up hours in advance of the Chicago show coming from cities near and far to experience the show, which had amazing production, choreography and energy. The fan-created signs ranged from kid-friendly to can’t-show-your-grandmother, and Eric made sure to check every one of them out. We covered the show in Chicago, with the fantastic and dreamy Lyn Lapid opening up.
Eric Nam / Chicago
Photo: @veesanders
Neil Frances + Luke Wild @ Lincoln Hall, Chicago
Neil Frances at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall.
Photos and words by Alana Swaringen (@allamma)
An epic night of dancing was had by all who attended the intimate but entirely groovy Neil Frances show at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, on February 18th- the disco ball that permanently hangs in the venue was truly a paid actor that evening.
The night kicked off with Luke Wild opening, Wild himself on lead guitar accompanied only by his drummer. But even in small numbers, the duo provided major sound fueled by shredding guitar riffs and emotionally charged lyrics that Wild very candidly explained to the audience in between songs. This is an artist we should all be keeping tabs on.
Then it was time for the party to begin. A Neil Frances show is a true piece of sonic performance art, something you’d be sure to find in an underground European club or my personal manifestation, a small stage sundown set at Pitchfork Music Festival. But wherever you are transported to, you are definitely captivated. Neil Frances provides a set full of ebb and flow, individual songs grow into each other as if you were attending a House EDM show yet the sound is provided by a classic four piece band. For fans of Tame Impala looking for a more digestible and positive aura, Neil Frances is the group that will solve that missing vibe.
