It’s really not like me to turn down a free concert. I’ve gone and seen some pretty crappy concerts, because they were free. But this one had promise. The group is pretty hip with a Lumineers-like sound. They have a new album out. And I really like this new song which was their first release off the new album.
That’s right, The Revivalists are giving a free concert tonight as I type, and I had free tickets. They will be playing Lollapalooza later this summer, and while not headliners, they are on the top line for Saturday.
Listed right after … Yung Gravy? Well, I took a look at Sunday’s line-up, and they are listed in the same general area as Mt. Joy, a current favorite band of mine.
I saw Mt. Joy in concert pre-COVID, and I really enjoyed the show. I think my favorite was their singalong performance of “Astrovan.” My logic told me that if I liked Mt. Joy, I should like The Revivalists based on their Lolla listings locations.
And the concert is in the Chicago suburbs. Hey, I live in the Chicago suburbs. I should be able to walk to the show. What I didn’t count on is that getting to some suburbs takes me longer than getting into downtown Chicago. Such was the case for this concert tonight.
And I went to a concert last night with the Blues Brothers. Wait, make that the Blooze Brothers.
It was a way to kill an hour on a Thursday night in the summer. However, I was disappointed with the lack of cartwheels from the pseudo-Belushi/Joliet Jake.
Maybe I’ll give them another try next Friday as they headline Swedish Days in Geneva which I can easily get to on my bike.
I want to be clear that I am willing to spend a few bucks and walk to a concert at the historic Arcada Theatre in downtown St. Charles where I live. Over the years, I’ve seen Devo, Poi Dog Pondering, Todd Rundgren, Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees, Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, Graham Nash of CSN, Burton Cummings of the Guess Who, America, and others perform there. By the way, America sounded like they were getting punched in their vocal chords while singing. If you have the opportunity to see them, take a pass.
But those shows were all pre-COVID. The quality of performers seems to have dropped off a bit post-COVID. For example, take a look at this upcoming show.
I remembered Brian Hyland as a one hit wonder with “Gypsy Woman.” But wait, before “Gypsy Woman,” he was a teen idol with hits.
That stopped me from featuring him in my Forgotten One Hit Wonder feature on this blog, much to his relief. Wait, now where were we? Right, The Revivalists free concert. The topper for me was that my tickets did not guarantee me entry into the show. I get it. They distribute more tickets than space allows to ensure a good crowd. That is classic Trump rally strategy back in 2016 when he was packing the crowds in. Gates opened at 5:30 tonight with The Revivalists taking the stage at 8PM. I was simply not prepared to sit 2.5 hours to see a concert, free or not. Maybe I would have if you knew me when I was younger, which is a great segue to this song by The Revivalists to close this rambling post about a concert I didn’t even attend.
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 