Live Review: Lords of Acid With Praga Kahn Live in Chicago at Bottom Lounge

by Cesar Glanville

The anticipation was high as the Lords rolled into one of their better markets as Chicago almost seems

like a second home with a string of always sold out shows. This one was special with rumors of

retirement happening and the real big incentive – Praga Kahn opening for…well himself.

A special treat indeed was not just Praga opening the show but doing it with his longtime collaborator

Oliver Adams. These guys have written songs you love and probably dont even know they wrote as

they work under so many different monikers.

Praga taking the lead as frontman and Adams manning the tracks, percussion and backing vocals – it

was a real treat to hear legendary songs such as Breakfast in Vegas and the Mortal Kombat theme, true

dance anthems. His set hit all those non LOA treasures that we have waited far too long to hear and the

only complaint was it was only 45 minutes.

After taking a whole one song break at the start of the Lords of Acid set Praga returned to man the keys

for a set that spanned their 30 plus year career and focused on their biggest records and major

underground hits.

The solid foundation: i.e. the rhythm section of Dietrich Thrall and Galen Waling –

who have been part of the band for the last few tours keep it tight and groovy while new vocalist GiGi

Ricci had all the energy of 3 year old ramped up on a bag of sugar. She continued the legacy of not

only extremely sexy frontwomen for the band but also charismatic and could deliver on the voice end.

The only negative was the show had 10x the energy coming from the stage as in the packed audience. I

get it the crowd is aging as the band is but there still should have been far more sweaty dance pods

erupting throughout the crowd.

With the pending visa fee issues and general cost of touring lets hope this isnt the rumored swan song

we have been hearing about because for a guy nearly 65 years old the music he has created has been a

masterclass in electronic – songs that will live on forever

Photo Gallery: Lords of Acid @ Bottom Lounge Chicago Photo Gallery: Echo & The Bunnymen @ The Riviera Theatre Chicago