The Technicolors - Concert Review

Last Monday (6/24/2019) I did a road trip with my (19 y/o) son and one of his friends.  We headed north to Chicago, to see one of my son'r favorite bands, The Technicolors.  I got invited since it seems 19 year olds can't check into hotel rooms in the Chicago area (at least ay IHG properties).  All good, I like music, and there will be increasingly fewer times to spend time with the boy.

The venue was The Beat Kitchen.  I wasn't at all familiar with it, as I only know one otehr venue in Chicago: Metro.  Anyway, we headed north from STL area a bit after 0 am, checked into our hotel (in Bolingbrook) around 3.  (I decided to stay outside of town to save a few bucks and avoid Chicago traffic the next morning - GREAT decision, btw).  The traffic from Bolingbrook into town was...  ... well, Chicago.  But we got to the venue with plenty of time to find parking (on-street - easy-peasy!), and grab dinner at the bar (quite good!).

So, Beat Kitchen is a corner bar in a pretty nice section of town, seems to be pretty "gentrified".  I guess the area is Roscoe Village... You enter through the bar, where there's a few tables and food.  Then the concert space is in the back.  It looks lomething like this:

IJust a big open space, rectangular....  Just off camera to the left is the sound booth, and behind that a small bar space.  Directly behind me were a couple tables set up for band merchandise, and the door to the bar.  I very cozy place, I found someplace on line that said capacity is 275, which seems about right.  Above is shortly after the doors to the back opened, not exactly a rush.

There were 3 bands on the schedule:  Local group Ivy Dye, then Deal Casino, and finally The Technicolors.  

I though Ivy Dye was ok, in the context of being a local band and 3rd billing.  Nobody I'd make a 500 mile round trip to see, but OK.  A little bit of "wall-of-sound" and a little bit of "all sounds the same", but we're talking a 30 minute set from a not-widely known band.  Bit of a challenge to get on, make a splash and get off.  I counted 28 people in the venue when they started, that had to be a bit disappointing.

Deal Casino was a step up, presumably a bit more experienced.  I hadn't heard of them before, don't remember specific songs, but they were good enough.  They're on Spotify, I'll listen to them a bit more for sure.

The Technicolors came on a little after 9:30, and were pretty outstanding.  I was only somewhat familiar with them from when my son takes over the music, but I quite enjoyed the show.  I made a Spotify playlist based on a recent setlist and have been checking out Youtubes.  

The crowd was pretty sparse, I'd guess no more than 100 .  I don't know if that's good for a Monday night in Chicago, but seemed pretty light for a national act.  But, the old man in me liked the not-crowded bit.  I don't usually take photos during shows, but grabbed a few iPhone shots since I wasn't really interfering with others...

One especially good thing about the small crowd in the show was the small crowd at the mech tables, and the opportunity to chat briefly with a couple of the band members.

We were out of the club by around 11:15, and the drive back to Bolingbrook only took 40-45 minutes (less than 1/2 the drive in, but that's Chicago).  So we were in the hotel room just after midnight.  And an easy drive home Tuesday morning.

Fun excursion!