Concert Review: Whitney/Wildhoney/Michael Rault/Troy Anderson (Tomorrow Never Knows) @ Schubas Chicago, IL 1/13/16
Some of my earliest posts on here were recaps of shows I went to. I used to write about every show I went to. Last year I went to the most shows I’d ever gone to in a year so I decided to do at least some sort of write up for each show I go to this year from festivals to DIY shows. This is mainly for my own enjoyment so I can look back at the end of 2016 but I hope you’ll enjoy as well.
Tomorrow Never Knows: Tomorrow Never Knows was started a few years ago by the owners of the Schubas and Lincoln Hall here in Chicago. This was done in response to the lack of touring in the winter. Usually artists are local acts and smaller touring acts that can fill small clubs.
Venue: This was my first time at Schubas. Schubas is a bar meaning that most of its shows are 21+ but occasionally they have 18+ shows. I left early not knowing how long it would take me to get across town but ended up getting there before the doors were even open. I was surprised by the dedications it had to being a music venue. Schubas has been around for nearly 30 years. I guess I just have a bad stigma with bar venues after seeing how awful they can be. Schubas is really just a smaller version of Lincoln Hall as they are both owned by the same people. It has a good bar environment while still being a quality venue.
Troy Anderson: Troy Anderson is a local act who continues to hold up the tradition of garage bands coming out of Chicago in the last few years. When you think of a guy named Troy Anderson he seems like some guy you would see around at shows and hang out with and that’s kind of what he goes for.
Michael Rault: Out of Canada Michael Rault put out an album last year on Burger Records. I had only heard a few songs from him prior to this show. He holds a style of 70′s Rock music and takes his songs to the extremes expanding on the recordings.
Wildhoney: From Baltimore, Wildhoney was by far the loudest band of the night. The Shoegaze band held nothing back switching up the atmosphere of the night. They were probably the most put together of the bands that night stage presence wise. They were the only band with any sort of visuals playing behind them, they have been playing shows all week and it was clear they knew what they were doing.
Whitney: This was the band I had been looking forward to all night. Whitney has been on the rise as one of the next big things to come out of Chicago. Members of Smith Westerns and Unknown Mortal Orchestra make up the writing part of the band. They started playing shows last summer and I only heard good things about them. Their last Chicago show was in November and I had yet to see them so this shows was long anticipated. Whitney takes a lot softer a turn than every other band of the night. With six members (two guitars, bass, keyboard, drums/singing, and trumpet). The band was something unique to any show. There are very few songs out there by Whitney so I was surprised that they played 2 of the ones that were out in the first three songs. The songs I was familiar with were some of the most enjoyable but was mainly due to the excitement that everyone in the crowd had. The songs that I wasn’t familiar only got my excitement for an impending release raised to even higher heights. They said a new single would come out next week in which I’m hoping a release date for the album will be made. The rumors right now are set for March.
Conclusion: Whitney may have been the highlight for the night but it was an overall great time to get back to going to shows after a nearly 2 month break and its always great to get out to a new venue.
