The film version of Some Like It Hot was released in 1959 starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. The musical version was originally scheduled to first open in Chicago, but this was canceled due to covid. It ended up opening on Broadway in November 2022. It is now opening in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace in October of 2024. 

Two guys witness a triple homicide, so they go on the run. They quickly decide to dress as women and become Daphne and Josephine to join an all-female band taking the train from Chicago to San Diego. 

This production features lots of big tap dance numbers. It also features a new ending for Daphne that is a very satisfying modern twist. However, they also sanitized the plot which makes it less exciting.

Edward Juvier has the standout performance as Osgood, the rich man who is obsessed with Daphne. He is so energetically funny. 

Cost of a ticket: $100 (Orchestra)

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Get tickets now for Some Like It Hot through November 3rd.

Quinn Delaney

Delicate Steve is the stage name of musician Steve Marion. Tonight, he opens with “Baby” from his latest album, 2024’s Delicate Steve Sings. This song is fresh and keeps the audience fully entranced. No words are needed. Like classical music, the emotion is in the notes.

His musical talent matches that of Joe Satriani, another instrumental rock guitarist. See our review of Satriani’s 2022 performance at the Chicago theatre here.

Throughout the show, Steve doesn’t say much beyond “Hi Chicago”. He lets the music do the talking.

Midway into the set, he plays his cover of “Yesterday” by The Beatles. It sounds absolutely magnificent and definitely fits within his style. 

Later on he plays “Wally Wilder” from his 2012 album, Positive Force. This track sounds amazing. His guitar playing goes along so well with the great electric tones he has created. 

He closes his set with “Butterfly” from his 2011 debut album, Wondervisions. The audience is ecstatic to hear this one.   

In the middle of the last song, he transitions into a cover of “Benny and The Jets” by Elton John. Since he doesn’t sing, the audience sings the words! The crowd was very exuberant all night long and he surely made some new fans on this evening.

Cost of a ticket: $30

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Quinn Delaney

See the full setlist here. 

The California Honeydrops don’t just play their instruments on stage, they put on a party. Tonight’s party is at the Vic Theatre, the largest Chicago venue with them headlining to date. They have an old school sound that appeals to audience members of all ages. People young and old are swing dancing to their blues / retro soul / indie rock vibe.

Early on in their first set, they play a Wilson Pickett cover, “Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You”. “It may be greener on the other side now baby, but right here in my arms is where you belong.” They make this song their own and turn it into a slow groove party starter. The audience can’t help but start swaying back and forth and singing along. It also matches a common theme in their songs about relationships. 

Later on, they play “Pumpkin Pie” with the drummer on a washboard. “If they ask you for a slice, well you can give them beans and rice!” It’s a very sweet tune to sing along and dance to. 

This is the last night of their tour. The lead singer comments on how tired he is, but he summons enough energy to sing the final song of the evening, “All Day, All Night” from their 2013 album, Like You Mean It. This is their most popular song on Spotify with over 25.9 million streams. 

Cost of a ticket: $49

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Quinn Delaney

The Sheepdogs are from Saskatoon, Canada, but they sound like they are from the Southern United States. 

When the band takes the stage, they immediately jump into “Find the Truth”. They quickly follow this up with “Downtown” from their 2015 album, Future Nostalgia. Both of these songs rock and you can hear the influence of Creedance Clearwater Revival.

Two songs later, they play “Bad Lieutenant”. “I’m a bad, bad, man / Don’t you understand / I’m a bad, bad, man / Best you turn and ran.” This track has a great groove and it’s just so cool. 

Next up is “Southern Dreaming” from their 2010 album, Learn & Burn. It features a fantastic guitar riff that is incredibly catchy. 

Later on is “H.M.S. Buffalo” from their 2018 album, “Changing Colours”. In the middle of the song, they play a short bit of “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers. 

Towards the end of the night, they play “I Don’t Know” from their 2011 EP, Five Easy Pieces. This is their most popular song on Spotify with over 11.8 million streams. 

They finish their set with “Nobody”. “Nobody is gonna bring me down / Nobody is gonna turn me ’round”. The influence of Lynyrd Skynyrd can be heard on this one. After the band leaves, the crowd chants “Sheep … Dogs”. 

Upon returning, they launch into “Roughrider ’89”. It features a fantastic solo on a slick keytar that has all black keys. 

They close the night out with “Feeling Good” from their self-titled 2012 album. The beginning of the song sounds like “Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum. As the audience leaves the Metro, they are hoping to see The Sheepdogs live again soon. 

See a similar setlist here. 

Cost of a ticket: $32

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Exceptional Value

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Quinn Delaney

Kenneth lives in a suburb of Rochester, New York. He works at the local bookstore and goes to happy hour at the tiki bar, Wally’s. His only friend is Bert, whom nobody else can see. Ken is content with his life. One day, the bookstore owner tells him that he is closing the store in two weeks and moving to Arizona. This sets in motion many changes for Kenneth. 

This is a nice low-key play as the main character is very low-energy. It’s a slice of life story about a regular suburb dweller with some drama and some laughs. At 85 minutes, it would still be good to have an intermission. Join the Pro-Intermission movement here.

The highlight of this production is Christian Clark, who is hilarious as all the different waiters and bank customers. Fred Zimmerman (How to Succeed… at Porchlight) is so nice and friendly as Kenneth’s bosses. Charles Andrew Gardner (Boulevard of Bold Dreams) is great as Bert, Kenneth’s supportive best imaginary friend. Mike Przygoda is excellent as the onstage musician playing many instrumental covers of popular songs (i.e.. The Girl From Ipanema) along with instrumental music he composed with Brandon Reed. Lastly, Namir Smallwood’s (Bug, True West) performance is impressive as Ken, who is on stage the entire play dealing with everyday suburban issues. 

Cost of a ticket: $50 (Main Floor)

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Get tickets now for Primary Trust through November 3rd. 

Quinn Delaney

For the 2^nd song of the night, JD McPherson plays “Just Like Summer” from their brand-new album, Nite Owls. It has a great guitar sound that sounds at once fresh and classic. JD says their record label calls it surf noir. 

Two songs later, they play “Firebug” from their 2011 album, Signs & Signifiers. This is such a fun song that everyone in the audience can’t help but dance along. 

Later on, they play “LUCKY PENNY” from their 2017 album, UNDIVIDED HEART & SOUL. This is their most popular song on Spotify with over 32 million streams. This one features a great groove which the crowd eats up. 

Next up is the title track from their 2015 album Let The Good Times Roll. This song is a pure fun rock and roll song that puts a smile on everyone’s face and is a perfect ending to their set. 

To close out the encore, JD plays “North Side Gal”. He says they regularly play this one at Wrigley Field during Cubs games, which is just a block away from the Metro. It’s a truly catchy song that ends the night with an energetic fun vibe.

See the full setlist here. 

Cost of a ticket: $39

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It +

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Quinn Delaney

Frances Luke Accord is not the three names of the members of the band. The “Accord” in their name refers to the harmonies between Nicholas (“Luke” is his middle name) and Brian (“Frances” is the name of the street he lived on when the band formed). The third member tonight is Katie on violin, who drove into town today from Cleveland. 

While playing “Over Your Roof” from their 2014 album, Queen for Me, the audience is transfixed. It is expertly written, with a tapped out rhythmic backbone and dancing melody. It’s a beautiful love song.

On July 5^th of this year, they released their Cicadian Rhythm LP, which features the sounds of the double brood of cicadas that emerged this summer in Illinois. They believe it’s the most cicada filled album ever recorded. This all instrumental album features Brian and Nicholas on piano, guitar, and other instruments. Brian says that it isn’t on any streaming services, because it doesn’t qualify as music according to their rules. It clearly is music, which you can hear by listening to album on bandcamp here.

Brian tells a quick story about his wife being unable to sleep one night. She gets up and goes to the website to download the album. After listening for 10 minutes, she was able to fall asleep. Nicholas says “Your wife had to download the album?!” Brian responds, “I hate to admit it, but yes.” This back and forth is a great example of the friendly banter that always takes place during their live shows. They also say that the Frances Luke Accord promise is that after attending one of their shows, you’ll get a great nine hours of sleep. The author of this piece confirms this promise held true.

Later on, they sing “Nowhere To Be Found” from their 2016 album, “Fluke”. It features some fantastic guitar playing. If you’d like to learn to play it, the chords are available here.

They play a few songs from their 2023 album, Safe in Sound. One of these is “Maria”. It features beautiful harmonies and great guitar playing.

Lastly, FLA is like a cross between Simon and Garfunkel and Trevor Hall and they are just as musically talented.

Cost of a ticket: $31

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Quinn Delaney

Yasmin Williams plays solo instrumental guitar folk rock.  She opens with “Juvenescence” from her 2021 album, Urban Driftwood. It is her most popular song on Spotify with over 2.7 million streams.

For one song, she attaches a kalimba (aka a thumb piano), to the bottom of her guitar. It’s impressive to watch her play both at the same time. Often, she flips the guitar on it’s side and plays it in the style of a lap steel guitar. She is also wearing tap shoes which allow her to add percussion to the songs. After each song, the audience responds with a grand applause.

She ends the set with “Restless Heart” from her 2018 album, Unwind. Her guitar playing sounds similar to John Butler Trio at times. Afterwards, the crowd sends her off with an enthusiastic standing ovation.

See a recent setlist here.

Quinn Delaney

P.S. Yasmin returned to the stage during Brittany Howard’s set to play a song with her in a great collaboration!

What happens when a band loses its lead singer? Can they continue to tour? More bands these days are saying yes. AC/DC famously pulled this off. 10,000 Maniacs, Stone Temple Pilots, and Sublime are doing it now. The Fray are giving it a go after Isaac Slade decided to leave the band in 2022 to pursue other interests. Their rhythm guitarist is now taking over lead vocals. This strongly changes the dynamic of the band instead of having the lead being the piano player.

They open with “Angeleno Moon” from their new album, The Fray is Back. It seems like a brand new band. The songs sound a lot different with a new voice and the piano a bit further back in the mix. It’s more like a background keyboard than a lead instrument.

They follow this up with “Over My Head (Cable Car)” from their debut 2005 album, “How to Save A Life”. Everyone sings along “And everyone knows I’m in / Over my head, over my head / Eight seconds left in overtime / She’s on your mind, she’s on your mind.” Again, this old song sounds a lot different with the new configuration.

They close the show with “How to Save A Life”, which many people remember as the unofficial theme song for Grey’s Anatomy. This is their most popular song on Spotify with over 1.2 billion streams. “Where did I go wrong? / I lost a friend / Somewhere along in the bitterness / And I would have stayed up with you all night / Had I known how to save a life”.

In conclusion, bands can continue without their former lead singer. Their results will vary, with most bands not reaching the same heights that they did before.

Cost of a ticket: $65

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Discounted

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See the full setlist here. 

Quinn Delaney

This is an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, & John Tiffany. It is much better than trying to convert one of the books into a play. It first premiered on the West End in June 2016 and won the Olivier for Best New Play. It premiered on Broadway in April 2018 and won the Tony for Best Play. And now, in September 2024, it opens in Chicago at the Nederlander Theatre.

Harry Potter sends his son, Albus, to Hogwarts. Albus decides to use the time turner to go back in time to save Cedric. The consequences of this attempt are much more than he expected.

This is truly a high level production. The story is fast paced and action packed which keeps the audience paying close attention. It is full of great magic enabled by high class special effects and pyrotechnics. The cast does an excellent job bringing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to life.

John Skelley plays Harry Potter and Trish Lindstrom is Ginny Potter with Emmet Smith as their son Albus Potter. Matt Mueller plays Ron Weasley with Ebony Blake as Hermione Granger and Naiya Vanessa McCalla as their daughter Rose Granger-Weasley. Playing Draco Malfoy is Ben Thys with Aidan Close as his son Scorpius Malfoy. Julia Nightingale plays Delphi Diggory and Larry Yando (Champion, A Christmas Carol, Bernhardt / Hamlet) plays Severus Snape. The rest of the supporting cast is solid.

Cost of a ticket: $99 (Orchestra Sides)

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It +

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Get tickets now for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child through February 1^st!

Quinn Delaney