The Lone Bellow has been a 93XRT (local Chicago radio station) sweetheart for a couple of years now – the station has had them on heavy rotation since their debut album dropped in 2013. After a long span between Chicago concerts, the station invited the group back to Chicago Wednesday night for a show at Lincoln Hall on the heels of the release of their 2015 album Then Came the Morning.
The indie folk foursome (they were backed by a drummer) took the stage looking exactly as you’d expect from their music – rustic chic – with ties, three piece suits, slicked back hair, and a shabby chic dress for Kanene Pipkin, the lone female performer.
The only way I can think to convey the level of energy on the stage is to say that Lincoln Hall probably should’ve put up a splash zone à la Seaworld – I was standing pretty far away, and I could still see the perspiration/spray coming off these guys all the way from the back. Working in phenomenal three part harmony, the group sounded amazingly powerful – I thought for the first time ever I might see Lincoln Hall’s stellar sound system fail (it didn’t, but in my imagination it was creaking under the weight). Working with two guitars and a mandolin (although a stand up bass did make a very exciting appearance for the first song), Kanene Pipkin and Brian Elmquist provided back up vocals as the charismatic Zach Williams looked like he was about to bust a gut belting out the lead. At one point when his electric guitar failed Williams joked with the audience “that’s okay, I’ve got all the energy I need from this crowd” – the man was definitely conducting plenty of electricity himself.
Working their way mostly through Then Came the Morning with a smattering of songs from their 2013 debut, the setlist was full of crowd pleasers with “Marietta” “Take My Love” “Then Came the Morning” and “The One I should’ve Let Go” all coming relatively early on in the set. At one point during the set Williams hopped off the stage with a big grin and moved into the audience, garnering a roar of appreciation from the crowd which welcomed him with open arms – my guess is that’s a pretty standard reception no matter where this band goes.