![\"\"](\"https:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tiger-Army-Aragon-Ballroom-Chicago-June-2022-1-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy Christopher David<\/p>\n
As the concert industry makes its slow but steady post-Covid recovery, shows have taken on a triumphant atmosphere as fans, bands, and venues come together to celebrate\u2014and there was no clearer example of that than Friday\u2019s bill at the Aragon as Flogging Molly, The Interrupters, Tiger Army, and The Skints delivered almost five hours of danceable catharsis.<\/p>\n
The Skints offered a short but punchy set to kick things off, followed by L.A. punkabilly trio Tiger Army, whose sound fell somewhere between a more aggressive Stray Cats and Social Distortion, with some clear nods to punk and hardcore (most notably the speedy \u201cFuck The World\u201d).\u00a0 Bassist Djordje Stijepovic and drummer Mike Fasano were a tightly wound rhythm section, giving guitarist\/vocalist Nick 13 a chance to work the crowd on tunes like \u201cDevil You Don\u2019t Know\u201d and \u201cCupid\u2019s Return.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
L.A.-based quartet The Interrupters hit the stage with arena-ready lighting and enough energy to carry the entire night, as vocalist Aimee Interrupter made the most of the band\u2019s hour long set.\u00a0 Bouncy opener \u201cTake Back the Power\u201d had the crowd singing along literally from the first line, and a solid cover of Bad Religion\u2019s \u201cSorrow\u201d fit right in with the band\u2019s sometimes poppy approach to ska; it was hard not to remember the early days of No Doubt and the more radio-friendly members of that \u201890s movement, and The Interrupters certainly have the panache and talent for that level of success; have a listen to their most recent single and set closer \u201cShe\u2019s Kerosene\u201d (from 2018\u2019s Fight the Good Fight<\/em>) if you need proof.<\/p>\n Even given the audience fever-pitch by the time they hit the stage, Flogging Molly managed to take everything up by several notches, rounding out a perfectly selected tour bill.\u00a0 Multi-talented legend Dave King is surely one of the strongest, most tireless band leaders on the touring map, leading the seven-piece band through an almost ninety-minute set that started off with \u201cDrunken Lullabies\u201d (an appropriate moniker for the night as a whole!) and never paused for breath, though the ebb and flow of the tunes offered plenty of opportunities for Irish dancing\u2014and dancing there was, harkening back to the Aragon\u2019s glory days.\u00a0 Singalongs like the melancholy \u201cIf I Ever Leave This World Alive\u201d and \u201cA Song of Liberty\u201d turned the near-capacity Aragon into an intimate space not unlike an Irish pub\u2014just a few thousand stronger and louder, and by the time the band found their way to \u201cThe Seven Deadly Sins\u201d to cap things off, it would have been tough to imagine a better way to kick Chicago\u2019s concert season into high gear.<\/p>\n For more on this tour, click here<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/The-Interrupters-Aragon-Ballroom-Chicago-June-2022-6-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Flogging-Molly-Aragon-Ballroom-Chicago-June-2022-06-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n