The Veils’ North American Tour 2013 – REVIEW

The Veils’ North American tour came through the Subterranean in Chicago recently and we were there to catch the show. You can check out our review of the tour, after the break.

When you have 40 minutes to kill in Wicker Park and you’re hungry, there are a few choices, you can go generic with Jimmy Johns, you can go to the brand new Walgreens that looks like it should be in the movie Gattica or you can choose Flash Taco. Me and my friend Gehring who tagged along as my plus one decided to kill our 40 minutes before The Island of Misfit Toys went on, by getting food at Flash Taco. From what I vaguely remembered, I had eaten there while being highly intoxicated about a year prior and it was decent. Well after sitting in front of the cashier for approximately eight minutes without even a glance at us, we were finally un-ignored and our orders taken. We both ordered a steak burrito and despite that I got my food 15 minutes after Gehring. We both barely finished the worst burrito that we had ever attempted to eat and gladly and hastily made our way out the door and around the corner to Subterranean never to return to Flash Taco again.

We got into the aptly named Subterranean or SubT, which is on the second and third floor of the space the venue occupies. It’s one of my favorite venues to see bands, two floors, small and intimate, with a decent beer selection and some obscure and intense sculptures. I had been super excited to see The Island of Misfit Toys because not only were they old friends of mine, but I hadn’t seen them live in maybe a year. The nine piece (currently an eight piece because Audry had missed her bus to Chicago that afternoon) barely fit on the tiny stage that is semi comfortable for a four piece band. Honestly the two drum sets were intimidating enough not to mention the plethora of instruments that accompanied them on stage. As IOMT took the stage the crowd died down and gathered to the front of the stage. They opened with a new song that I personally hadn’t heard before, it was a nice slow start and then they got into the meat and potatoes of their set. They peppered new songs from the upcoming album they have been preparing to sit down and finally put to hardcopy. I haven’t seen them play such a stellar and full set since they headlined Lincoln Hall back in 2011 when Bear Hair first hit the streets. I was proud, taken aback and thoroughly impressed with their performance and how well the new line up finally performed. After the long struggle over the past two years, they have finally found a solid line up and a solid and empowering sound, if they keep this up, there is a bright future ahead for IOMT.

Lantern, before the night of the show, I had never heard of them, didn’t know how they sounded, didn’t know what they looked like, they were an enigma to me. I like not checking out supporting bands because I’m usually pleasantly surprised and it gives me a clear conscious and non bias opinion about them, because I’m jaded. When I saw Lantern for the first time, well I had a preconceived notion, a three piece with a girl bassist, great, I can’t wait… But when they actually played their set, I ate my words, I ate them like that burrito from Flash Taco. They were gritty and ballsy and I dug it. Usually girls in bands are gimmicky and not really up to par, but their bassist was tall, gritty and nonchalant enough to catch my fancy and set herself apart from the stereotype of female bassist. Their sound made me constantly think, “damn, this should be in a classic Tarantino film score”. Maybe they should be in something along the lines of Death Proof or Pulp Fiction. Regardless behind the thrashy guitar and bass was the real show, their drummer made me and Gehring step back and constantly talk about how solid he was. If you were just there to “enjoy the tunes” you wouldn’t notice how damn spot on and awesome this guy was. I was impressed by the end of their set and I was anticipating The Veils even more now.

From England, check, another tall and good looking female bassist, check, a horn section, check. The Veils were already on my favorite list before they even played a single note. Once they actually started playing notes I was enthralled, when they started singing, they had me hook line and sinker and when it all came together it killed me. There was a reason that The Veils were touring abroad, it’s because they’re that good and deserve the privilege to do so. The Veils had me on a bit of an emotional roller coaster, the music was heavy and gigantic in this tiny venue and the vocals were passionate and heartfelt. The entire culmination of it all had me mesmerized, not to mention the fact that SubT was the perfect place to hold this show, it all was a perfect storm. Usually at a show you get chit chat and have a few patrons who are too busy talking about how their co-worker is totally DTF but has a boyfriend, but not here and not tonight. Everyone was fixated on The Veils like children listening to a parent telling them a story before bed. Eyes wide and mouths shut, it was an odd sight to see to be honest. The Veils exceeded my expectations exponentially and they have gained a new fan in America.

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Information about the review…
Tour: The Veils’ North American Tour
Bands: The Veils, Latern, The Island of Misfit Toys
Reviewer: Jim Vondruska
Date: May 2, 2013
Venue: Subterranean in Chicago, IL