Coming off the heels of her latest album Joy'All and a set at Summerfest, Jenny Lewis was more than prepared to impress at the Salt Shed. Despite that aforementioned festival show, Lewis' made clear that this Chicago show was the true start of her tour. "This is a little bit radder" she confessed and given her connection to Chicago through local favorite Serengeti (who she obviously mentioned in her fantastic set), you couldn't help but fell like this was a special show.
The whole evening built upon itself wonderfully and set a pretty high bar with Hayden Pedigo. The Amarillo Texas native approached to the stage and after some finagling of the sound introduced himself to the slowly growing crowd. He expressed his gratitude to Jenny Lewis for letting a instrumental guitarist open the show. But within seconds of that first strum it was evident that we were the ones that were grateful to have him start off the night.
While he braced the audience for the "simplicity" of his performance, I couldn't help be awed by the complexity of his performance. Pedigo's deft skill is unquestionable as his guitar skills filed the Salt Shed with utterly beautiful sounds. his set was comprised of songs off his last two albums Letting Go and the just released The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored, letting the lengthy compositions engulf the lucky crowd that got to experience his artistry. Every track let the crowd just sink into their grooves and get lost in their emotive power. Musicians like Pedigo are the reason why you arrive early to shows.
Jenny O followed that up with completely different, but just as enjoyable vibe. Backed by drums and bass, Jenny O put the spotlight on her latest release Spectra, playing over half of the album during her fantastic set. There is a great ethereal quality to her songs (thanks to her amazing voice) that got turned inside out for her live performance, putting the emphasis on their more rocking and bombastic elements. Some retain the softer touch, like "The Natural World" and most of her pre-Spectra songs, but the faster moments definitely grabbed a hold of the crowd.
The last portion of her set is when everything truly fell into place. "Make It a Plan" had everyone onstage hitting a spectacular high and was undoubtedly my favorite moment of the set. The song's bouncy quality was infinitely more exuberant live, turning the earworm into an all out boisterous jam. The energy kept going with "There is a Club" and " Solitary Girl", really letting the explosive nature of that final track go wild and leave the crowd amped up for what was to follow.
After a lengthy wait, the time had finally come and Jenny Lewis emerged onstage alongside her fantastic band. There was cool and collected aura to their opening song "Psychos", letting the Joy'All track sink into the night like an tried and true tune. It flowed effortlessly into "Do Si Do" off On the Line, really cementing how honed and stellar Lewis' solo output has been. The country twinges added to the more pop and rock sound that she came from in Rilo Kiley has been endlessly catchy and welcome.
While Joy'All is the latest release, Lewis made sure to fill her set with a fantastic variety of tracks from her previous efforts. "Just One of the Guys" and it's steadfast position against the expectations placed on women, came early and popped the crowd. Right after that "She's Not Me" kept those feelings going, giving the crowd even more of those The Voyager vibes. Her cover of Girls' "Lust for Life" was a tremendous highlight, adding another layer to her set.
The show was full of fun and playful moments. In the middle of the set she took the time to pick up the telephone mic and check in with her pup Bobby Rhubarb, who face adorned the the drum kit) before jumping into "Puppy and a Truck". She proposed a union between Milwaukee and Chicago to become the new first city, something her collaborator Serengeti had originally brought up to her, and was met with a decidedly mixed reaction. But that didn't sway the crowd as they were behind her throughout every song, taking in every glorious moment like the windy platform performance of songs like "Head Underwater".
Before the show had even begun, everyone was speculating as to when the big red balloons in the rafters would come down. With so many big tracks in her discography, there were tons of songs named as possible moments for them to make their way into the crowd. Turned out that it was "Little White Dove" that would cause the balloons to fall and bounce throughout the Salt Shed crowd.
As with every show, the end had to come but boy was it an amazing one. I know "Acid Tongue" may seem like a basic answer to the question "What's your favorite Jenny Lewis song?", but hearing her perform that song acoustically with the entire band harmonizing alongside her was utterly grand. The balloons continued bouncing around and popping here and there as Lewis changed the lyrics just for our city "'Cause I've been down to Chicago and dropped acid on my tongue" she say letting the crowd erupt we a gracious yelp. The encore kept bringing the high watermark tracks like the last Rilo Kiley album classic "Silver Linings", Lewis' own "See Fernando", and "Guns" from her Nice as Fuck side project.
All photos by Julian Ramirez