Chicago in March can be a dismal place, but this past Tuesday the sun was shining, it was 50 degrees out (50 degrees!) and The Colourist was playing Schubas – things were looking good.
First up for the night was local band Zookeeper. The Chicago foursome of indie rockers played from their 2014 EP Tall Men With Feelings (best name ever – they have feelings too! Don’t give them mean looks when they stand in front of you at concerts!). The band, composed onstage of two guitars, a bass and drums, has an eclectic sound, ranging from the indie pop sound of “Frosted Glass” to the more experimental vibe of tracks like “Otter Rock Café” with blending voices merging in the background. Bonus points to the lead singer who has a great head of super scrunchable looking red curls.
Next up, The Colourist. The indie pop foursome out of California boasts a female drummer who shares lead vocals – how could you fail to love them already? On top of that their 2014 self titled debut album is just one super catchy, hard rocking, sweet treat after another.
As the band pointed out, they only have one full length album and they played the entire thing, with “We Won’t Go Home,” “Tonight,” and “Wishing Wells” getting the crowd especially pumped. No surprises (especially since there was literally no other song they could have played since they’d gone through the entire album otherwise) the band saved their infectious single “Little Games” for last and the audience went wild for it.
There was some good banter between the audience and the band. “Play ‘say you need me’!” yelled someone in the crowd to which lead singer Adam Castilla responded, “We already played that one. Say you need to pay more attention girl – stop texting!” But it was all completely congenial, with the bassist specifically pointing out the guy in the crowd who had his hands up the entire show saying “shout out to this guy for dancing through every single song in the set.”
Not only did The Colourist bring their lush math pop, their good natured vibe and their A-game – they also brought that California sunshine both inside the venue and out, and for that Chicago is forever grateful.