CONCERT REBREWS: I Fight Dragons, Flugel, August Hotel.
Hello! Zac here with another Concert ReBrew: a totally non-SEO-derived creative endeavor where we cover a show from some of our favorite Chicago musicians. We're always looking for new bands and creatives in the city of Chicago so if you or someone you know would like to come on our podcast or would like a Concert ReBrew of a local show send us a message on our contact page or fill in the guest host submission form! Alright, let's get into the MEAT. (or tofu if you prefer that sorta thing)
Sarah had plans to see the Nutcracker the night of this show, what an exceptionally adult thing to do. Well done Sarah. So I was rolling with another friend for the evening who is also a musically-inclined person so it was very fun to grab their opinions and make jokes during the set. We had a blast.
This concert ReBrew is on the I Fight Dragons, Flugel, and August Hotel show at Lincoln Hall on Dec 17, 2022 and was the 11 year Anniversary show for I Fight Dragons’ “KABOOM.” Lincoln Hall is my FAVORITE mid-sized venue in Chicago, coming in realllll close to Tahlia Hall. LH has some of the best bands playing, and the sound is always top-notch. Their Sister company is the company Audiotree, which does live band recordings. And, if I’m not mistaken, they spend a lot of time and energy curating the best talent they can find to spend all the time and resources filming them. So I have an inkling that it probably helps a ton with always having amazing bands on their stages. This night was no exception.
A fun thing we noticed when we got there early before the show started was that there were some really killer tunes playing over the house system. Stuff that just made ya wanna dance. We noticed looking into the sound booth from the balcony that the playlist was called “FUNKY AF.” It doesn't seem to be a public playlist, so if anybody from the band or Lincoln Hall is reading please make it public or send it to us. Please and thank you!
Another quick fun antidote of the pre-show shenanigans: we were lucky enough to run into past guest hosts (and big sweethearts) Cale and Ryan from August Hotel. Both of them were all grins with excitement for this big show. We chatted for a good minute mostly about how crazy it was that The Royal Concept, the band Cale and Ryan covered on their episode of Album ReBrews, had shared the episode on their Instagram stories. Another fun moment, Possibly my favorite was when I was very kindly introduced to Cale’s wonderful wife. After a short greeting and Cale informing her I was from the podcast, she said something to the effect of “Ohhh I recognize your voice, AND I know your alcohol preference,” which gave me a big grin and a good chuckle.
We make our way back up to our seats on the second floor. (life pro tip: this is the best way to watch the shows at Lincoln Hall.) August Hotel starts the show with “Disaster & Delight” which is such a charming song, and a fun energetic opener. The tone choices on the synth and bass on the opening lick are god-tier tone choices. For a hint just go listen to the recorded version and then imagine it 10 times better because it’s live. The 3-person vocals on the chorus of this tune are ALSO fun and charming. So much love for it.
They transition into the 2nd song with a super tasty drum break in the tasty keyboard intro with the stage lights blacked out except for the glowing “A” logo that kinda felt transcendental. I think I saw God when this moment happened. I don’t know if this is a planned thing in their set, or if the lighting designer just really really hit the nail on the head here, but the auditory-visual experience at the moment was surreal.
They start their 3rd song with the sexiest drum pad and the anticipation is building inside me. I immediately recognized it as their song “12AM” a very catchy synth-y poppy moody dreamy tune released in 2016 as a single. (A quick Zac Fun fact is I’ve actually been following August Hotel since about 2016 when I was but a bright-eyed music business student at Columbia College and I was looking around for cool local bands to get into. The dopamine rush of nostalgia on this track was palpable (like grab a bucket and a mop.) This point in the set really shined, the musicians were very warmed up and they were all performing so effortlessly, a really cool moment. Ryan Lammers's guitar solo on this track was so perfectly crafted. They are an Auditory Artesian, delicately crafting and placing each note as an emerald into the grooviest most articulate mosaic of major scales and perfectly placed pentatonic lines.
Next up was Chicago Indie Pop Band, Flugel, and dang, did they come out kicking. Their first song came as an instinct tangible push in your chest on Lincoln Hall’s incredible sound system. The guitar tones and heavy drums slammed into you like a creamy heavy dreamy blanket that wraps you up and keeps you warm, like creamy oat milk in a latte with a flower done on it. (Man, I have been loving oat milk lately.) The 2nd tune gave us some more funky grooves and fun vibey stage presence. At this point, I noticed keyboard player Michael Grathwhold’s incredibly cool shirt. I thought perhaps it was dotted with jaguars, but later in the set, we learned Grathwholds’ nickname was “The Leopard” and I thought that was pretty cool and I hope there is a cool story behind that.
A few songs brilliantly pass and the crowd is vibing and loving this set. We feel a quick lull between songs that is only tangible because of how much good energy this group brings while playing. To fill this lull drummer, Kyle Therriault brings us in with a very fun, very artificial, very sample-y, very cool clap sound on the drum pad, and the crowd claps along with it! And I thought “whoa, this drummer just reinvented the crowd clap-along.”
We can’t talk about this set without talking about how cool it was for the lead guitar player of I Fight Dragons, Packy Lundholm, to come on stage to play a song with Flugel. The guitar tone Lundholm brought to this song was so gorgeous, and he even sang backup. The crowd got a really big kick out of the backup vocals, and an even bigger kick out of the guitar solo Lundholm goes into directly after. The guitar playing was super articulate with big jumps in intensity and emotion that put us on a rollercoaster that somehow goes up and up more than physics would allow. After the song, lead singer, Tommy Moore makes a comment to the effect of something like, “and we even got backups!” giving the impression that that wasn't even rehearsed or planned, which made the crowd reaction all that even more impressive and cool.
Flugel finished up their (too short) opening set (I could have vibed with Flugel all night), and after a brief intermission filled with vibey songs from the “FUNKY AF” playlist, I Fight Dragons started their set! There is a ton of fog on the stage from the hazers that make the Lincoln Hall lighting pop so beautifully. There is some sort of action theme song drifting through the fog as the drummer, Chad Van Dahm hits us with a pulsating drum beat. The guitar players parade onto the stage with their wireless guitars as the last member of the group walks up with a KEYTAR DUDE! First time seeing their set and so I had no idea what to expect but I was incredibly excited by this, and it was so cool!
They started their set with the song “Don’t You,” the 11th track from their 2011 album and namesake for this concert, KABOOM. Lead singer, Brian Mazzaferri instructs us to party like it is indeed 2011, and we did in fact do that for the rest of the set. The combination of vintage gamer noises and hard-hitting rock and roll moved through the foggy ether of Lincoln Hall, and it hit me with a strange sentimentality for a song I had never heard before...
The nearly sold-out show of a crowd was eating this up. Folks for dancing and cheering and loving the performance. I take it that most of the crowd there that night had been fans since 2011, and you could tell they were having the best time. After a few songs, guitarist Lundholm brings out a very cute muppet baby keyboard and hits us with very fun electric melodies and it is sooo good. It’s obviously some sort of children's toy keyboard, but the Muppet baby keyboard went hard. I think you should add it to the instrumentation of your next album. 10 out of 10.
This was a very fun set to watch as an outsider who wasn't that familiar with Chicago Band, I Fight Dragons. They seem to have a deep catalog and lots of touring customs they've established over the years that I’m not too familiar with, Like the annual tour Haiku. Which was a pleasure to see written live on stage. If I had to write on myself for the night I might say:
The crowd was dancing
three bands make good notes all night
The vibes were just right
I like this exercise. remind me to do this next Concert ReBrew.
All in all, a wonderful night, and I had the greatest time attending and writing this article. The band played several more amazing songs, and we left just before the encore (sorry I Fight Dragons, we had work in the morning, and comedy podcasting doesn't pay like and used to), but we could tell it was an encore enjoyed by many of the faithful fans that night.
Make sure to go check out I Fight Dragons, Flugel, and August Hotel wherever you get music, and if you're so inclined check out our recent episode with Cale and Ryan from August Hotel. It’s an especially wholesome episode. Thanks for reading and we’ll see ya next time. Cheers, Dears!