Day 28: Chicago, IL
Nau mai
Yesterday we played our largest ever headline show.
We had a dream day in Chicago. It was an absolute stunner in this midwestern metropolis when we pried ourselves out of our bunks to go and attack the morning catering. This was our third time at the Salt Shed. I vividly remember coming here the first time in 2022 to play at Here & There Festival. I remember the striking Morton salt logo printed on the corrugated iron roof of the shed, and I remember the inside of that shed being a rusted frame that housed an aging concrete floor covered in puddles and salt residue. We played outdoors that year on a stage that looked out across the Chicago river. The next time we played was at Pool Party Festival in 2023. The Shed had been fully renovated, transformed into a state of the art venue, and although we again played outdoors we did get to take a peek at the new indoor space, and dream about one day being up on that stage.
This was a venue that prioritised the artist experience, almost to a degree that felt like we didn’t deserve this level of pampering. Breakfast catering was up in the dining room, a space that was above and behind the stage with a couple of one-way windows that allowed a view out into the shed. There were fresh cookies in the oven and a juice bar that was cranking out beverages with a spicy ginger and kale focus. In the fridge there were craft sodas, and small bottles containing immunity shots, the tinctures of 2025. The buffet had hot food on offer and I served myself a breakfast of vege sausages, artisan white bread, toasted, scrambled eggs, and baked potatoes.
The schedule was a little different for this show and our load in happened at midday. If you blinked though, you might have missed it, so quick was this process. The venue staff swarmed over the trailer with a brutal efficiency, and suddenly everything was on stage and halfway set up before we could even get involved. They didn’t fuck around with a loading ramp at the Salt Shed as you can see in this photo – they just got things done.
The TV screens dotted around the backstage which featured a live feed of the stage with a slow zoom in the style of Apple TV screensaver.
We were soundchecked much earlier than usual and there were hours left in the day to witness the completely awesome weather that was visiting this great city. The skyline looked immense, and the mirrored glass of the skyscrapers served to reflect and amplify the picture that hung above us. The twilight was breathtaking and having the chance to be outside watching it instead of stuck in the bowels of a theatre was an experience that I was extremely grateful for.
There were three artists on the bill for our biggest ever headline show. Phoebe Rings were up first, and they were sounding road hot, and extremely confident when they opened the proceedings at 8pm. This Chicago crowd had an impressive punctuality, and the shed was already full when they played their first down beat.
There was a local band who played the second opening set. They were called Squirrel Flower and they sounded gorgeous, as you can hear in this clip. I walked around the venue to try all the different viewpoints and then settled at the back on the bleachers where I could sit in comfort and take in the full scale of this amazing event.
Our experience of playing the Salt Shed was one of pure joy. The set went as smoothly as it ever has, and it felt like there was no way to do anything wrong. Sometimes all the pressure just disappears and everything feels easy. We had the perfect show, and it felt like a celebration of hard work and achievements that we could share with three thousand beautiful Chicagoans.
