SK6ers and Needtobreathe in Chi-town

It just so happened that my friend and I wanted to see SK6ers soon and also see Chicago. It also so happened that SK6ers were opening for Needtobreathe in Chicago. Thus, we went!

When it comes to the SK6ers, I really can't imagine anyone seeing their live show and not liking them. They have one of the most fun live shows I have ever seen and that is one of the main reasons why I became a fan of theirs to begin with. They are everything an opening band should be. Energetic, entertaining, playing a mix of their own music, getting the crowd involved and tossing in some familiar tunes. Love them SO much. There was a lot of Glassjaw Boxer love, with "Fourth of July", "Milwaukee" and "Big Easy", which of course was the crowd participation number with the hand motions. They played "The Bear", which entertained me extra because I had been singing it all day and there was TUBA on it! "Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts" had a choreographed dance, which was various levels of entertaining depending which member of the band you happened to be looking at. They all had ties on and some had vests, some had hats, they're so adorable and that song is just so catchy that to see them in those outfits, singing that song while bouncing on one foot, it's just too much. They closed the show with a Stephen song mixed with a medley of covers and when I say medley, I mean medley. There were at least 20 songs in there, chronologically by decade. It was awesome. Shana and I were dorks and cheered extra loud for "Aquarius" in memory of Kyle Riabko, who is currently starring in Hair former SK6er status. So much fun, those guys are. I wish they made it easier to see them in my own town!

Needtobreathe was incredible. It kind of amazes me that I had no idea who they were at this time last year but they're that kind of band that sometimes, it just clicks and it has totally clicked for me. Something about them just resonates with me, I love their music so much and seeing them live is an awesome experience. It was especially fun seeing them in the Midwest, where they have a considerably larger following. I saw them at Highline Ballroom here in the city in September and it wasn't even sold out. That's about a third of the size of the Chicago House of Blues and that was sold out. They were able to play quite a longer set, with obviously, a lot of love for The Outsiders, I think they played all but three songs from that album, plus a mix of songs from The Heat and even "Don't Wait for Daylight". They even let Bo sing lead on "Won't Turn Back", aww! He sings so pretty and so different from Bear. All of the rockier songs seemed to be in a row and it kind of felt like all the more rootsy stuff was toward the end. "More Time" and "Something Beautiful" and "Stones Under Rushing Water", it's almost like a different band when those songs come out after "Prisoner" and "Girl Named Tennessee" (I could not stand still for that song, oops). They closed with "Through Smoke", which I thought was a bit of an odd choice for a closer and also, they still hadn't played a few songs that I was surprised they'd go without, but really didn't think they'd encore for long. But, they did! First song of the encore was "Hurricane", then into "Let Us Love" which is one of the most fun of their live songs, with the built in singalong and ridiculous energy. When I saw them in New York, they had ended the show with an unplugged version of "Something Beautiful". When they played that earlier in the set here, I figured that they wouldn't be doing anything like that for this show because the venue was so much bigger and it just probably wouldn't work. So when Bear walked to the absolute tip of the stage and said they were going to sing something totally unplugged, I was pretty intrigued on how that was going to work. He asked everyone to be as quiet as possible, because his unamplified voice wouldn't be able to sing over people talking or singing along, and you could seriously hear a pin drop. He started singing "Washed by the Water" and it completely filled the room up. He has an absolutely incredible voice and hearing it just as it is, in this big room, full of silent people, singing that song about his dad and his faith, was insanely amazing. After the bridge, he asked to crowd to join in and I think he was a little blown away by the immediate response that came. He had said earlier that it was their biggest headlining show to date and I love that I got to be there for such a huge show for them. It was so, so awesome.

I think I'll be thinking of this performance every time I hear the song from now on. Even in the video, when the crowd comes in, it's a little chilling and being there was even more awesome. And when Bear starts singing "Can't Always Get What You Want" at the end, you can sort of hear the crowd trying to be patient and let him sing, but everyone loses their resolve at the exact same moment and screams "you get what you need!" Really, one of the best live concert moments I've ever been a part of! I love them so much. Can't wait to see them again here in a few weeks.