Nov 09, 2022 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Reviews 0
By Christopher David
“We’re the longest running charity in emo music,” frontman Buddy Nielsen joked toward the end of Senses Fail’s show at Bottom Lounge on Sunday before launching into “I’m Sorry I’m Leaving,” a heartfelt paean to his daughter and one of several new songs the band played during their long-awaited return to Chicago. “So stop donating to politicians, and start donating to Senses Fail.” Following two cancellations in the last two years, the band made the most of the small footprint, and while Buddy wasn’t able to indulge in his tradition of spinning mic cords due to the Lounge’s low ceiling, a stellar time was had by all in attendance.
Opening with “The Burial of the Dead” from this year’s new release Hell is in Your Head, the setlist was a solid mix of old and new, with “Calling All Cars” hitting early and riling the crowd into a nonstop cycle of crowd-surfing. (Shout-out to the guy in the stocking cap with the plaid shirt – this writer counted eight separate times over the barricade for you!) With over twenty years in the game, the band made the most of the Covid downtime, finishing the new album as well as treating fans to two live-streamed shows from Joshua Tree—certainly one of the most ambitious and impressive creative projects for which Covid opened the door, and the Jersey quintet was clearly thrilled to be back in action on a live stage in front of actual people after so long away, and snippets of “Master of Puppets” during the breakdown of “Rum is for Drinking” and Smashmouth’s “All-Star” during “Gold Jacket, Green Jacket” were a playful counterpoint to the bombastic intensity of “Wolves at the Door” and Let It Enfold You deep cut “NJ Falls Into the Atlantic.”
“This song is a fuck-you from us millennials,” Nielsen said at the beginning of “Gold Jacket,” “and this song is about how we’ve persevered as a generation.” If the enthusiastic response from the crowd was any indication, then Senses Fail will continue to persevere as one of the best live bands of that generation, too.
For more on Senses Fail, click here
For photos from the show, click here
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