Sunday night, fans of The Blood Brothers got one more early Xmas gift as they played not just the final night of their three night sellout run at Chicago’s Thalia Hall, but the final night of their reunion tour. This was it for them and boy did they go out on a high note!
First up was Frail Body. This trio come from Rockford, IL and man did they impress! They played blistering and complex screamo/post-hardcore. They had a bunch of cool tempo changes to keep things interesting and a hint of Sunbather era Deafheaven influence in some of the songs too with the layers of guitar noise. They were really intense and blew the doors off the place. The bass player seemed to spend as much time tuning his bass as he did playing it, but maybe that was the secret to their great wall of sound. This band was fantastic and you should make a point to seek them out.
Just like the night before, the crowd lost their minds the minute The Blood Brothers took to the stage to start playing “Set Fire to the Face On Fire” and the place went bananas. Johnny wasted zero time hopping off the stage and getting into and on top of the crowd, which just whipped them into an even bigger frenzy. They played the same exact setlist on all nights of the tour, but knowing what was coming didn’t detract from the experience, it just made you look forward to hearing your favorites and being ready for them.
Perhaps it was knowing this was the last show that gave them an extra boost, but the band somehow topped the greatness of the previous night’s performance in every way. There was an extra “oomph” in everything they played and their overall presentation. As if it was possible, Johnny and Jordan were even more animated and gave even more to their already great vocal performances and screamed their heads off even louder and more powerful than the night before. Moments like the singalong chorus of the opening track, to the melodic beauty of “Crimes” to the sheer intensity of “Cecilia and the Silhouette Saloon”, the show as a whole was just magical. Seeing this band reunite after so long was really something special and will leave memories that will be cherished for years to come by the fans in attendance that night.
You really couldn’t have asked for a better holiday gift than these Blood Brothers shows if you were a fan of the band, what an amazing way to close out the year!
