It may be freezing in Chicago, but it’s heating up inside Lincoln Hall. First on the stage is The Wind and The Wave. Dwight is “The Wind” and Patty is “The Wave” and the drummer is the “Crash”. The Austinites roll through their set of southern rock and quickly get everyone moving around to hits such as “With Your Two Hands” and “My Mama Said Be Careful Where You Lay Your Head”. Midway through their set, Dwight tells a story about the last time they played Chicago at Schubas. A woman in the audience kept talking during their set. Patty asked her to be quiet and the audience member responded with “Bands have to earn my attention!” So Patty said, “Come say that to my face!” And the woman did! “Wow, Chicagoans are tough”, said Dwight. They close their set with a cover from their latest release, “Covers One”. It’s Ignition (Remix) by R. Kelly. The audience loves it. It’s a fantastic example of transforming a song from one genre to another and giving it a fresh new sound.
Next up is Saints of Valory, also from Austin. They may be from the same town, but their sound is much louder. A few songs in, they start playing “Take Me to Church” by Hozier and then transition into one of their songs. This is a cool effect which is even better when they blend back into the cover. They continue to play their arena sized rock at full volume, even though Lincoln Hall has closed off the top floor for a more intimate show. Saints of Valory make it feel like it’s the United Center and everyone in attendance has scored pit tickets in front of the stage. For the encore, they play two new songs. This is a bit anti-climactic as everyone had been just jumping around to their favorite tracks “Kids” and “Neon Eyes”. It’s usually best to put new songs in the middle of your set, and finish with crowd favorites. Either way, these Texans put on a great show complete with great lighting shining behind them giving them the authentic rock band look.
Quinn Delaney
PlaylistHQ 