Local Legends #12
Venue : Beat Kitchen
City : Chicago
Line Up : Asi Asi, Mariah Colon, Knotts
My first Beat Kitchen review! I love this place if you can’t already tell, it’s totally a band’s band venue. There’s a dining area up front and outside, they make good pub grub food and serve a mixed bag of standards and quirky drinks. There’s real magic in these walls though if you’re paying attention, the semi-recent poster for comedian Brian Posehn will let the knowers know, but the real gem is the stage. If the front-of-house is a shotgun barrel, the venue in the back is the open forest full of game to hunt. You can breathe easier right away and it starts every visit on a good note which was most certainly thought of during its creation.
All the space in the world is just empty space without a band though so I was lucky to find that space full of Asi Asi up front tonight. They’re a latin indie rock band that is such a vibe it doesn’t even matter if you don’t speak Spanish to understand the lyrics. Pull up “Carne Molida” on Spotify and you’ll understand right away…in fact, follow that up with “Descubrimientos” and you’ll be on your way down their discography up to this point. I love the combination of traditional drumming and electronic sounds / equipment throughout their set, and their stage presence is professional but fun. They’ve earned it too; check out their AudioTree session or simply google “music to see in Chicago” and you’ll find them playing. Just do yourself the favor and catch them.
Up next was the bad ass bombshell Mariah Colon. If our opener was a vibe then Mariah is a whole afternoon, and you need to put your phone down and pay attention to it. Pull up “Kick It With You” and let yourself truly feel good for a minute because I just did and I saw this song live an hour ago. Speaking of live, the band was a perfect match and played masterfully. Her drummer (I’ll edit in his name if I can snag it!) wins King Pocket tonight, though it was very tough competition. Apparently their keyboard player was sick but you wouldn’t have known if you were new like me. Mariah is a show woman through and through and I promise we’ll see her somewhere big in the near future. Now give me a second while I bop to “Full Time Lover”.
Ok, that was fun, but I’m not done! Closing out tonight was Cincinnati based indie pop band Knotts. As of the writing of this sentence they have a strangle hold on indie pop in my mind. I rented an e-scooter to get home (highly recommend) and popped in one ear bud all the way just so I could listen to “Until You” again. Play it right now and let yourself be lulled into wherever you’re listening to it. They had a cool mix of pre-recorded sounds and additional tracks and live synth, guitars, drums, and vocals. There wasn’t a bass player on stage but there was bass in the mix but that could be temporary or on purpose. Whatever it is, didn’t matter tonight because the full sound was there and as fulfilling to hear as their recordings. Caution though reader, their song “Your Name” is a total ear worm so listen at your own risk. You might come down with a groovy fever and break out in tickets to their next show.
Beautiful music from beautiful souls would be my elevator pitch for a night like tonight, with another super shout out to Beat Kitchen. Long may they reign.
