Louden Swain blew into the Windy City this past weekend for two no repeats shows! This is the first time in many years that Swain has played a non-convention show in Chicago, and the crowd absolutely brought their “A” game to show their appreciation. Among the excited local fans, people came in from all over the States and Canada. Despite the 11:30 p.m. start for the second show, many fans returned to the venue and rocked out into early Sunday morning with high, but unsurprising energy – it is a rock concert, after all!
Both sets had their classics that we all know and love mixed in with some of the lesser played songs fans rarely get to hear. As always the crowd happily shouted “so captivating” back at the band during “Amazing”, and some fans brought lights to be waved in the air to the beat. Singer Rob Benedict was also met with the usual enthusiastic singing during “This is How” and the melodious buzzing of kazoos during “Medicated”.
The band also debuted a few brand new, never before played songs for both crowds. During the first show, Benedict revealed that the new song “Basement of No Hope” is based on his experience in the “super kidnap-y” basement room he was forced to stay in during a Swain east coast tour with Jason Manns, after losing a battle of One’s and Two’s in which drummer Stephen Norton may or may not have cheated (and based on the lyrics it seems like Benedict might still be bitter about his loss!) Afterward they played “Comeback Kid”, another new song that they’ve played at some recent concerts. At the second show, Swain again played “Basement of No Hope” breaking their no repeat rule and debuted another new song called “Letter”.
The full set lists for both shows are below:
First show:
- Suit and Tie
- Bandaged Hand
- Present Time
- Juliet
- Overachiever (Splitting the Seams version)
- Rock Song (Splitting the Seams version)
- Trigger Finger
- Better
- Roll Me Over
- Kind of Guy
- Basement of No Hope (new!)
- Comeback Kid
- Blind
- Wave
- Amazing
- This is How
- Medicated (encore)
Second show:
- Only Lyin’
- Alright
- Worlds Collide
- Eskimo
- Downtown Letdown
- Gamma Ray
- Mrs. Vance
- Help You
- Silverspoon
- Taxi Driver (with a very special rain of dollar bills from fans in the upper level)
- Letter (new!)
- Basement of No Hope (new!)
- Cast Off
- Crooked Wheel
- Mamma’s Jam
- Pop Tart Heart
- Prom
Benedict also let slip that a new album is in the works! There is no set timeline for its release just yet but they hope to get it out by the end of the year. All in all, this year is shaping up to be a great one for Louden Swain and their fans with new music and hopefully more concerts announced in more new cities. We are incredibly excited to see what is in store for the future! The next stop in their non-convention tour is Boston on March 21 at the Red Room. The 7 p.m. show is sold out, but tickets for the 9 p.m. show are available here.
