Acoustic Chicago CD Release - Chicago, IL

The CD release party for Acoustic Chicago at Joe's on Thanksgiving Eve was an event truly worthy of giving thanks. The project, the brainchild of Stonecutter Records president Chris Steinmetz, is an ambitious labor of love, an eclectic collection to represent the spectrum of Chicago music. "When we began the submission process," Steinmetz explains, "the only criteria was to be from the Chicagoland area and have a great song that deserved to be heard. As the submissions rolled in, it became apparent that there was such diversity and I embraced it. There are enough records out there with songs that all sound similar. I thought it would be refreshing to present different styles." And the styles displayed were different indeed, a veritable cornucopia of hometown talent.

Highlights of the show includes a rousing set from Scottish McMillan, challenging people's concept of what "acoustic" sounds like with Primus-inflected songs. Sarah Potenza brought the house down with her bigger-than-life blues, the epitome of the phrase "man, does she have PIPES!" Andreas Kapsalis captivated the crowd with his mind-boggling 8-finger tapping technique, discovered when he had severed a tendon on his left hand when he was 18. The experimental technique makes it sounds as though there are 2 or 3 musicians on stage when it is only him. As I watched in wonder, I noticed those around were likewise awestruck, as his jazz/flamenco/Mediterranean melange confounded and bemused the crowd.

But the unquestionable stars of the show were the Lovehammers. The energy in the crowd built as the time neared for them to take the stage. The hoots and hollers started in breathless anticipation as their mere gear was being set up. Then the frenzy reached a fever pitch as they finally burst onto the stage to Dino Kourelis's driving bass line opening "This Town." And so began the crowd-participation portion of the evening. As at most Lovehammers shows, the crowd sang every line of every song, and the show becomes more of a dialogue of between the fans and the band than a typical one-way performance.

Guitarist Billy Sawilchik burned down the house with the opening licks of "The Tunnel," as frontman Marty Casey led the crowd chanting the ever-hopeful-but-ultimately-futile chorus "Keep calling, keep calling, keep calling," the battle cry of the long-distance relationship.

Semi-regular "guest stars" Matt Hoffer and original Lovehammers member, Ben Kelly, sat in on rhythm guitar, enriching the songs to a fuller sound and enlivening the onstage energy to even more dizzying heights. The chemistry that both of them bring to the mix assures more playfulness onstage than usual, and that always translates to the audience's good time.

The band broke out all the hard rocking hits, including "Sky is Falling," "Call of Distress," and "Throw My Head," then took it down a notch for the melodic-turned-anthemic "Rain on the Brain." Casey displayed a laser-sharp ability to read the audience and had them in the palm of his hand. Being so in tune with them, Marty sensed that they were going to come in on the very first line of "Hold On" and decided to play around a bit. Instead of joining the audience, he threw it to them to take the lead, and directed the sing-along with the broadest of smiles on his face, before picking up to join the in the chorus.

As Marty chitchatted with the crowd between songs, he mentioned that an old-school fan and long-time friend of the band was celebrating a birthday that night, and brought her onstage for "any song she wanted." As he related the story of narrowing down the selection from among the 70-some song catalog they've amassed over the past decade, he rolled his eyes and laughed that she chose, not a Lovehammers original, but "Disconnected," a Face to Face cover they've incorporated into several shows! Always the self-deprecating good sports, they tore into the song as she and her friend danced joyfully on the stage.

"Driving Blind," the Lovehammers' contribution to the Acoustic Chicago compilation, was an arm-in-arm swaying, lighter-in-the-air ballad, and even without the string section from the CD, it soared. Then the rock kicked it back up to high-gear with "Let's Get Wasted" and "Eyes Can't See." An as-yet unreleased original, "Guns," showed startling rage and a political edge, and if this is any indication of the quality level of more upcoming music, we're all going to be blown away.

Another political moment started with a little levity, as Marty introduced yet another "guest star:" Six, "the sixth member of the band," who gave Marty a break from lead vocals and tackled Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World."

Other highlights included the band's biggest single (and yet, according to many fans, a song that is among the least indicative of the Lovehammers' catalog), "Trees," along with "Straight as an Arrow," and perhaps the greatest display of Bobby Kourelis's drumming gift, the intro to "Ultrasound." Rounding out the set was a searing cover of the Stones' "Paint it Black."

The show in total encompassed over 7 hours of music, interspersed with fashion shows featuring local designers. The night was an exhibition of the best of various forms of creative expression that Chicago has to offer, and people traveled from various neighborhoods, suburbs, and many even came in from out-of-state, to partake of the celebration. Steinmetz's dream of bringing the best unknown local talent to light came to wondrous fruition, both in the creation of the CD and the live show. He sums his vision up eloquently: "I like all music that is passionate. If the artist can move you in a way, then there is something special about them."