The Color Purple by Alice Walker was first published in 1982 as a novel. The film version, directed by Steven Spielberg, was released in 1985 starring Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, and Oprah Winfrey. The musical’s world premiere took place at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in 2004. It then ran on Broadway from 2005 to 2008. The first national tour began in Chicago in April 2007 and stayed there until September 2007.   

Celie is living a tough life. Her husband treats her like an animal. He treats animals like dirt. He took away her two children when they were born. He forbad her from seeing her sister. But, after some time, there is a glimpse of something better to come. 

Brittney Mack puts on an impressive performance. She is on stage the entre show and she goes through quite a range of emotions. Shantel Renee Cribbs (Memphis)  is excellent as her sister, who reveals one of the biggest surprises of the show. Evan Tyrone Martin does a great job in the very difficult role of Celie’s husband. Aerie Williams (Memphis) is stellar as Shug Avery, who beams with energy. Nicole Michelle Haskins (Spitfire Grill) has an impressive presence as Celie’s friend Sofia. Eric A. Lewis (Titanique) shines as Bobby and with his dancing in the ensemble.   

Get tickets now for The Color Purple – The Musical through August 3rd! 

Cost of a ticket: $83

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Quinn Delaney

Greensky Bluegrass have come a long way since they played at the Boulevard Festival in Logan Square in 2014. See our preview of that performance here which describes how they “deftly weave rock, folk, blues, country and yes, bluegrass”.  

For the second song of the night, they play “In Control” from their 2014 album, If Sorrows Swim. It’s a beautiful song that showcases their bluegrass mixed with jam band style.  

At the end of the opening set, the crowd erupts as they launch into their Pink Floyd covers of “Time” and “Breathe”. Everyone is joyfully singing and dancing along to this fantastic interpretation. 

In the middle of the second set, during “Grow Together” from their 2022 album, Stress Dreams, in the middle of the audience, a man drops down to one knee and proposes to his girlfriend. With tears in her eyes, she says yes and they embrace in a big kiss while the crowd surrounding them cheers. “No matter how far we’ve come / Still the same thing on my mind / That we can grow old together / If we can find the time.” With lyrics like those, it is a great choice for a proposal!

To start the encore, they play an unreleased song. Afterwards, the lead singer says, “I bet you can guess the name of that song! It’s Chicago!” 

Overall, it’s a fantastic night of music that had similarly great vibes as at the Salt Shed last summer on 4^th of July weekend, when My Morning Jacket played. 

See the full setlist here. 

Cost of a ticket: $57
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Quinn Delaney

A boy is having trouble getting into his canoe. His father is not helping as he paddles away. So, the son gives up and says he wants to be a dancer instead. This causes the father to turn around and come back to him. He gets out of his boat and encourages him. Cut to the son showing off his dancing skills, hilariously, to a new teacher. “I see promise!” says the instructor. This entire scene was improvised by the cast for the third act. 

The Chaos Theory of Everything is full of hilarious scenes likes this one. Also, there is very little mention of politics, which is a nice break. 

Javid Iqbal (Best Kept Secret, What the Elf?) is hilarious as the eighth grader getting picked up after a middle school dance by his mom, played by Meghan Babbe (Best Kept Secret, Oh, The Places You’ll Glow). She is shocked when he says his former crush is run-through.  Tim Metzler (Best Kept Secret, Oh, The Places You’ll Glow) is hilarious as Lorax shaming everyone for not contributing money to fight deforestation.  Jenelle Cheyne (Best Kept Secret, What the Elf?) is so funny as the woman who loves the surprise at a surprise birthday party so much that she insists they do it over and over again. Spencer Hodges and Max Thomas are great as the old couple commenting on all the people on their way into Lollapalooza. 

Cost of a ticket: $26 (Thursday)

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Get tickets now for The Chaos Theory of Everything!

Quinn Delaney

It’s the 30^th anniversary of the release of their album, I Am An Elastic Firecracker, and they are playing the entire album in order.  According to Songkick, they last played Chicago at the Metro with Soul Asylum in July of 1995. “Sorry it has been so long,” says the lead singer. “Traffic was terrible!”

The third song is their biggest hit, “I Got A Girl”. It has over 13 million streams on Spotify. ” I got a girl who lives with me / I got a girl, she smells so sweetly / I got a girl, she loves her dog / I got a girl, I love her dog too”. The crowd joyfully dances and sings along to this fantastic song that still sounds great today. 

Next up is “Paranha”. The guitar playing and the singing match perfectly on this song. “Watch out for piranhas / There’s always piranhas / Watch out for piranhas”! It’s excellent alternative pop!

Later on is “Raindrop”. This song jumps out at the gate and races till the finish.  “Insecurity / Insecure / I feel like racing the wind / I feel like I’m flying”. It’s a rapidly fun pace to the end. 

Towards the end of the album is “Prick”. The guitar starts off very gently and then explodes into a rock song. The audience matches it by gently swaying to start and then rocking out.

As the band leaves the stage, the lead singer exclaims “Tripping Daisy is back!”

See the full setlist here. 

Cost of a ticket: $37

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Quinn Delaney

Larry Walters dreams of flying for the Air Force. But, since he needs to wear glasses, he is disqualified. So, he dreams of flying in a lawn chair attached to balloons instead. One day he meets Carol at a bar, and they fall in love. After asking for 10 years, Carol finally agrees to help him fulfill his dream. 

Jack Godfrey has written a very joyful first half of a musical followed by a very dramatic second half. The 80’s-style music is excellent along with the fantastic expressive dancing. 

It ends on a sad note related to mental illness, which leaves the question, could this be removed? Or, could it be revealed earlier so that the story can end on a positive note? 

Charlie McCullagh is great as Larry, who is so committed to his dream. Evelyn Hoskins is so loving and supportive as Carol. Lisa Howard is so funny as Carol’s mom (“When your daughter meets a loser… “). Lastly, Akron Watson is great as Larry’s friend with a video camera.

Cost of a ticket: $79

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Get tickets now for 42 Balloons through June 29th! 

Quinn Delaney

A man gets sick, and he finds it hard to tell anyone. So, he decides to pay a stranger to listen. She becomes a friend and caregiver. He pays her to tell his sister for him. While caring for him, she is also very focused on her audition to play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. 

Noah Diaz has written a very unusual comedic play about an unlikely friendship. There are a lot of references to the Wizard of Oz and also a touch of magic. In terms of plot, there isn’t a whole lot of progression.

At 85 minutes, it would still be nice to have an intermission. Join the Pro-Intermission movement here.

Namir Smallwood (The Book of Grace, Primary Trust) is great as the sick man. Amy Morton is hilarious as the friend, especially when pricing out the very small things she does for him. Sadieh Rifai is solid as the sister, who the friend describes as a pill. Cliff Chamberlain (Fool for Love, The Minutes) is so funny in his many roles, especially as the crying waiter. Jordan Arredondo is excellent as the narrator who provides the sick man’s thoughts. 

Cost of a ticket: $62

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Get tickets now for You Will Get Sick through July 20th! 

Quinn Delaney

After an opening set by Special Guest, Band of Horses take the stage to a grand applause. Many in the audience notice that Brett Nash, who plays guitar, was also in the opening band! 

Early in the set, they play “No One’s Gonna Love You” from their 2007 album, Cease To Begin. After just the first few notes, the crowd jumps for joy.  “But someone, they should’ve warned you / If things start splittin’ at the seams and now / The whole thing’s tumblin’ down”. It’s such a beautiful breakup song. The voice of Ben Bridwell, the lead singer, sounds fantastic on this one. 

Later on, they play “Is There A Ghost”. “I could sleep, I could sleep / When I lived alone / Is there a ghost in my house?” This song features excellent guitar playing that has the whole audience dancing along. 

They close their set with “The Funeral” from their 2006 album, Everything All The Time. This is their most popular song on Spotify with over 435 million streams. “At every occasion, I’ll be ready for the funeral / At every occasion once more, it’s called the funeral”. This fantastic song still rocks and sounds just as good as when it was released. 

They end the encore with “The General Specific”. While many of their songs have a touch of melancholy, this one is pure joy, which makes it a great one to close with. “In time I’d find / A little way to your heart”.

See the full setlist here. 

Cost of a ticket: $65

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Quinn Delaney

Tonight is the largest headlining show that Andrew McMahon has ever played. The outdoor capacity for the Salt Shed is 5,000 people. 

Early in the set, they play “The Mixed Tape” from 2005’s Everything In Transit. “And this is my mixed tape for her / It’s like I wrote every note / With my own fingers”. There is so much nostalgia in this song about creating mixed tapes on cassettes. It’s a beautiful piano rock song. 

Later on, they play “Bruised”. Andrew McMahon, the lead singer, said that he has already cried on stage twice during this tour. There is so much emotion in these songs and especially in this one. “Hours pass and she still counts the minutes that I am not there / I swear I didn’t mean for it to feel like this / Like every inch of me is bruised, bruised”. It sounds fantastic tonight. Also, they are selling a “Bruised” t-shirt that has a picture of a beat-up teddy bear. 

Midway into the show, Andrew comes into the audience to say hi to a bunch of kids scattered throughout the audience. He gives a special message to a 12-year-old in the front row who has been singing every lyric: “I was only 2 years older than you when I started writing songs. You can do whatever you want. Dream big!” 

Afterwards, they play “The Resolution” from 2008’s The Glass Passenger. “And I’m alive / And I don’t need a witness / To know that I survived / I’m not looking for forgiveness / I just need light / I need light in the dark as I search for the resolution.” In 2005, McMahon was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia. He was able to beat this cancer thanks to a lifesaving bone marrow transplant from his sister. Andrew now strongly advocates for registering to be a bone marrow donor. 

To end the night, they play “Dark Blue”, which is their most popular song on Spotify with over 45 million streams.  “Have you ever been alone in a crowded room? Well I’m here with you / I said the world could be burnin’ / ‘Til there’s nothin’ but dark blue”. It’s emo rock perfected. Everyone in attendance happily sings along and the smiles are still on everyone’s faces as they exit. 

Cost of a ticket: $69

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See the full setlist here. 

Quinn Delaney

Kate Peytavin takes the stage with her guitarist, Flynn Tanner, who is from Canada. Early on, she sings “Cecilia”, which is an unreleased song that personifies her anxiety. It’s a great one that hopefully will be released soon. 

Midway in her set, she sings “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus, which was released in 1999. It’s a very fun moment as the entire crowd joyfully sings along. 

Later on, she sings “Louisiana”, which is also unreleased. It’s a great one about missing home, which is Baton Rouge. She now lives in LA. 

She ends with “ever fallen?” “Ever fallen in, in love with someone / You shouldn’t have fallen in love with”. It’s a very ominous song and the lyrics perfectly match the music. 

See a similar setlist here. 

Afterwards, James Arthur crushed it. Check out our review of him from May of last year here. 

Cost of a ticket: $61

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Quinn Delaney

–

“This is one of the first songs I wrote when I was 18”, says the lead singer, Nic Cester. Jet then play “Look What You’ve Done” from their 2003 album, Get Born. On the recorded version, he plays piano, but tonight he plays it on acoustic guitar. “Oh, look what you’ve done / You’ve made a fool of everyone / Oh well, it seems like such fun / Until you lose what you had won”. This is such a beautiful song and it’s amazing to think that one of the first songs he wrote is now their second most popular song. 

They follow this with “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”, which is their most popular song on Spotify with over 737 million streams. “Now you don’t need that money /  When you look like that, do ya, honey?” This song absolutely rocks and even those with seats in the premium section stand up and dance for this one! It was very surprising they didn’t save this one for their closer. 

Soon afterwards, they play “Cold Hard Bitch”. This song features fantastic guitar work along with exception singing. “Gotta leave town / Got another appointment / Spent all my rent / Girl, you know I enjoyed it, yeah!” 

To start the encore, Nic plays “Shine On” solo on acoustic guitar as a tribute to his father, who has passed away. “Everything will be okay / We will meet again one day / I will shine on, for everyone.” 

To end the night, they play “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)” by fellow Australian rockers, AC/DC, who just played Soldier Field on May 24th. It’s a fun cover, but it would be better suited in the middle of their setlist. 

In total, they played 9 of the 13 songs on their debut album, Get Born. Overall, it was a fantastic night of music that left all their fans with big smiles on their faces. 

 See the full setlist here. 

Cost of a ticket: $95 (Premium Section)

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It  

Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Discounted > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

Quinn Delaney