I am baaackkkk with more blurry iPhone photos and a “concert review” written by somebody with no formal education in music journalism.
Yaaayyy! Aren’t you glad you’re following me?
*Watches subscriptions plummet*
This past Thursday, I ventured down to Metro to catch The WLDLFE and VHS Collection.
So, I guess let’s start with The WLDLFE.
When I originally bought tickets for VHS Collection back in January, I didn’t realize there were openers — they weren’t advertised or marketed or anything.
Like I mentioned earlier this week, I have a new yoga teaching job with a class from 6 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays.
Doors for this concert were at 7, and the show started at 8, so after some super quick math, I did some Googling to see whether there were openers to make sure I wouldn’t miss VHS Collection.
Good: There were openers!
Bad: I actually listened to one of the two openers (The WLDLFE) and wanted to see them live!
Anyway, I ended up meeting up with my friend Mickey (my go-to concert companion) at Metro a little bit after 8. We missed half of the first opener’s set and I was able to catch The WLDLFE in their entirety.
They were actually pretty dang good! They had a lot of energy and the lead’s vocals were really great live.
I think my favorite part was actually after the show. I tagged the band on Twitter/ Instagram Stories and they took the time to not only reply to my tags and thank me for coming out, but also followed up with my request for a set list!
(I’m a dork and keep Spotify playlists of all the sets I see live.)
So, way cool of them to do that! I love when bands want to connect with their listeners and I definitely have nothing but positive things to say about The WLDLFE. I’ll definitely try to catch them again if I ever have the chance!
So now, VHS Collection.
I’ve wanted to see VHS Collection for years now, so when I saw that their Retrofuturism tour had a stop in Chicago, I immediately bought tickets. I absolutely love their music. It’s a electro-pop and is so fun to sing along and dance to. I listen to a lot of ’80s synth pop unironically, and I really enjoy their modern take on the sound.
No joke — years. Remember this post from a few years ago about how I got Spotify Premium? There’s a VHS Collection shoutout in it.
So, the good? VHS Collection played most of my favorites. They kicked off with “One,” concluded with “Waiting on the Summer” and performed an encore of “Ghost” and “Sign.” I also ended up in the second row (self-managed band + small venue = intimate performance) so I had a great view of the whole set.
The meh? The set wasn’t really what I was expecting. It wasn’t bad, but VHS Collection definitely gets some pretty heavy synth-treatment on record that wasn’t conveyed in a live performance.
It was still super fun to dance and sing along to, and I’d definitely see them again live, though.
Anyway, I have two more back-to-back concerts next week, and then I’m going back to being an introvert with my closedback headphones for the time being.
OK byeeeee.
