The Loved Ones Light Up Chicago

Maureen Vana, NBC5 Street Team

The walls were shaking at Reggie’s Sunday night with the voices of a unified crowd along side The Loved Ones. The Philadelphia punk rockers packed the place on the Chicago stop of their current headlining tour with The Gaslight Anthem, The Arrivals, and Hifi Handgrenades. Several of the bands have new material out which gave the evening a fresh flare and something to sing about.

Hifi Handgrenades and The Arrivals got things warmed up as the crowd filtered in and flushed out the club. Lead vocalist John Speck stole a seal of approval for Hifi from the crowd with his energetic stage presence. The band’s 20 minute taste test of a set got things rolling and grabbed the audience’s attention early on.

The Arrivals were greeted with a home town cheer from fans who have followed the band for many years. Complete with smiles and laughs, the band played a set that felt as welcome as if you were watching them in their own basement. The group played through their well stocked catalog of tunes including “Last Lullaby” and a brand new track that is currently untitled, but was cheerfully dubbed “Unicorn Horn” for the night. And yes…. someone did yell out “Zombie Raid!”.

See Photos From The Loved Ones, The Gaslight Anthem, and More…

With a new EP out…or on its way out… The Gaslight Anthem brought an extra fist full of nails to the stage. Their energy, raw vocals, and hint of a blues/folk mix shines through live bringing a tougher edge to their recorded material. After experiencing The Gaslight Anthem’s set, their album is now on repeat and I look forward to their next time through.

It is very possible that the majority of Sunday’s crowd sang every lyric to every song during The Loved Ones set. Even the tracks off “Build and Burn”, which is just barely 2 weeks old, were sung with a thunderous chorus from the depths of fan’s hearts. The set had old favorites like “Chicken”, “Jane”, “Arsenic”, and “Living Will” as well as tracks off the new release which included “The Bridge”, “Brittle Heart”, “Selfish Masquerade”, and a finale with “Louisiana”. The Loved Ones could have played for hours and we would still want more, so the only thing left to ask is, What about an encore? The group will be up in Milwaukee on March 21st at the Mirimar Theater and it is definitely worth the drive.

Band Pick of the Night: The Loved Ones

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