Anthem/Haley Heynderickx — Lincoln Hall, Chicago; Smokin’
Gunz — Lucky Star, Bartlett; The Steepwater Band/The
Handcuffs — Martyrs’, Chicago; Wolf Alice/The Big Pink —
Metro, Chicago; Bud N’ The Coolers/Mind Over Matter/Monk
9 — Penny Road Pub, S. Barrington; Comedy Night — Pig Minds
Brewing Co., Machesney Park; Left Lane Cruiser/Fret Rattles/
Badwater Sound/Volk — Reggie’s, Chicago; Ricky Nelson
Remembered w/Matthew & Gunnar Nelson — Rialto Square
Theater, Joliet; Hi Infidelity & DJ Q — Rivers Casino, Des Plaines;
L.A. Salami/Cat Clyde — Schubas, Chicago; Gang of Youths/
Majority Rule — Subterranean, Chicago; Live DJ — Tailgaters,
Bolingbrook; Yo La Tengo — Thalia Hall, Chicago; Covington
Groove — Twisted Rose, Algonquin; Ursa Ensemble — Uncommon
Ground, Chicago; DJ & Karaoke — Uptown Lounge, Chicago; El
Bandolero — Venuti’s, Addison; Randy McCallister — White Eagle
Restaurant, Niles; School of Rock Oak Park: Gambler Reunion
Show — Wire, Berwyn; Afterglow — Zachary’s, Palos Heights; Ed
Collins — ZaZa’s Tavola, Lake Barrington.
SATURDAY 31
European Klezmer Cabaret — 210 Live, Highwood; Nightwish —
Aragon Ballroom, Chicago; The Sweet w/House of Lords —
Arcada Theater, St. Charles; Battle For AMB Fest 2018 — Bada
Brew, Crest Hill; Level V — Ballydoyle, Downers Grove; Pop
Fiction — Bar Evolution, Batavia; Forever Came Calling/In Her
Own Words/Hold Close/Cup Check — Beat Kitchen, Chicago;
Jimmy O. & Rhonda Lee — Bella Mia, Midlothian; Tenry Johns
Band/Claudette Miller — Blue Chicago, Chicago; Tynan/
Ultrafab/Indigo Band — Blue Chip Casino - Rocks Lounge,
Michigan City, IN; Killer Flamingos — Blue Chip Casino- It’s Vegas
Baby, Michigan City, IN; Ricoquinn — Brazen Head, Crestwood;
Simply Sound — Broken Oar, Port Barrington; Reece Phillips —
Bub City, Chicago; Anthony Orio — Bub City, Rosemont; NuBlu
Band/Scott Nev — Buddy Guy’s Legends, Chicago; Last
Generation/Iris Blue — Chicago Loop, Streamwood; The Limbos
/Titty Citty/Dethwarrant/Ellyeahdehd/The Perks — Chop Shop,
Chicago; Christopher Cross — City Winery, Chicago; Professor
Black/Bones/Heavens Decay/Sons of Famine — Cobra Lounge,
Chicago; ill.Gates/Ivy Lab/Andreilien/Danny Corn — Concord
Music Hall, Chicago; Monsters of Mock/TNT/Motley II/Ratt
Pakk — Cubby Bear, Chicago; Dave Schmidt & The Snouts —
Cuzin’s Pub, Tinley Park; The Rob Post Band — Dock’s Bar,
Wauconda; The B-Side Band — Draft Picks, Mt. Prospect; CK &
The Gray — Draft Picks, Naperville; Hairbangers Ball — Durty
Nellie’s, Palatine; The Soft Moon/Boy Harsher/The Pirate
Twins DJ — Empty Bottle, Chicago; Mr. Speed Kiss Tribute —
Evanston Rocks, Evanston; Expo ‘76 — FitzGerald’s, Berwyn;
Poison’d Crue/DJ — Four Winds Casino, New Buffalo, MI; Bee
Gees Gold - The Tribute — Fuel Room, Libertyville; Stephane
Wrembel/The Paper Machete/After Hours Jazz w/Sabertooth
— Green Mill, Chicago; Chicago Latin Groove — Hollywood
Casino, Aurora; Dario Radio Dueling Pianos — Hollywood Casino,
Joliet; Joe Fascetta — Hoppy Pig, Bradley; Andy Grammer —
House of Blues, Chicago; Double Treble Dueling Pianos —
Incontro A Tavola, S. Barrington; The Boxes — Kerry Piper,
Willlowbrook; Joanna Connor/Vance Kelly — Kingston Mines,
Chicago; Billie Eilish/Reo Cragun — Lincoln Hall, Chicago; Hi
Infidelity — Lucky Star, Bartlett; Kung Fu/Groovy Louie & The
Time Capsules — Martyrs’, Chicago; James Bay — Metro,
Chicago; Whiskey & Harmony — Natural Law Cocktail Club, Blue
Island; Steve Earle & The Dukes/The Mastersons — Old Town
School, Chicago; Vic Dibitetto — Park West, Chicago; Chick
Norris/Blue Onyx/Amsepel — Penny Road Pub, S. Barrington;
Hello Weekend — Q Bar, Glendale Heights; Altered Stage/
Flatfoot 56/Brassnuckle Boys/The Magnifiers/J.B. Ritchie/
The Nick Bell Band/Sammy Ray & Texas Flood — Reggie’s,
Chicago; Buddy Guy — Rialto Square Theater, Joliet; Courtney
Marie Andrews/Molly Parden — Schubas, Chicago; Backdated
— Slapshots, Midlothian; Shemekia Copeland — Space,
Evanston; Bloodletter/The Bus Crates/Dessa/Monakr —
Subterranean, Chicago; Semple/Modern Day Romeos —
Sundance Saloon, Mundelein; 7th Heaven/Mike Zabrin’s
Funktastic — Tailgaters, Bolingbrook; Sal & Izy — The Cottage,
Crystal Lake; DJ Esteban La Groue & DJ Danny Dan — The Owl,
Chicago; Haters Roast-The Shady Tour — The Vic, Chicago;
Marty O’Reilly & The Old Soul Orchestra/Brittany Campbell/
Zombie Manana/Electric Or ange Peel — Tonic Room, Chicago;
The Chain — Twisted Rose, Algonquin; Baby Cuts/Brother Derek
— Uncommon Ground, Chicago; Fool’s Brew/DJ & Karaoke —
Uptown Lounge, Chicago; Julian Jumpin Perez — Venuti’s,
Addison; The Falconaires Orchestra — White Eagle Restaurant,
Niles; Mallory Lennon & The Sykadelix — Wise Owl, Chicago;
Charles & Company — Zachary’s, Palos Heights.
B LU E TO T U R N S TO G R AY
By Penelope Biver
Check illinoisentertainer.com
for live music updates.
S
till a nascent band at all of two years,
Davlin has carved out a place for
themselves in the local scene quite
quickly. Carrying on the tradition of juxta-
posing moods and vocal styles that began
on the early end with bands like Faith No
More and Deftones, then Senses Fail,
Silverstein, and Story Of The Year, Davlin
has begun to mold that hunk of clay into
something uniquely their own.
"We all have pretty different music
tastes," singer John Cass explains. "Johnny
[Lopez – bass player] is super into emo
stuff like American Football, Algernon
Cadwallader, and whatnot; whereas Alex
[Zarek – guitarist/singer] is more into
metal and hardcore. Dave [Catanese –
drummer] also plays in another band
called The Moose, which is more funky
indie rock, and I think he brought some of
that style to us, which is cool. I love hooks
and melody, and then ambient guitar stuff,
so you’ll hear some of that [in Davlin] as
well."
Davlin released their second EP A
Lifetime Spent In Gray last month. Although
it's just five tracks, it takes the listener on
an emotional journey that wouldn't have
required more. Out of the gate, the first
thing that stands out for Davlin is their
dual vocals – oft referred to as "screamo"
thanks to the bands in the early-mid 2000s
who made it their signature. Cass delivers
the melodic parts, and Zarek delivers the
scorching bellows. It's like what your "id"
is saying in your head…or that moment
when you're standing at the top of a hill or
edge of a canyon, and you release the
cathartic scream you don't think anyone
can hear. Except you do it within every
song that you perform on stage. "I think it
was just natural for us," says Cass. "We
love that style and figured we could do it
but try and make it ours. Alex is a fantastic
screamer, and I love to sing, so we decided
we would see what we could do with it."
"There aren’t a whole lot of bands
doing this specific brand of post-hard-
core/emo that we play," Zarek elaborated.
"We stumbled into an interesting realm of
genre fusion which can probably be
accredited to our differing musical back-
grounds. There are plenty of different gen-
res and subgenres that have singing and
screaming vocal parts, and loud and quiet
instrumental moments, but there’s some-
thing about that mid-2000s Golden Age."
True, they aren't alone; in their subsection,
you'll find bands like Story of The Year,
Senses Fail, Silverstein, Capstan, and
Finch, all of whom employ the dichotomy
of pensive/explosive, melodic/abrasive,
quiet/loud, sing/scream tools.
They recorded the EP through the
spring and summer of last year with Seth
Henderson at his Always Be Genius
Recording Studio in Crown Point, Indiana.
Henderson has worked with bands like
The Devil Wears Prada, Capstan, Knuckle
Puck, and Sleep On It. "Seth is an incredi-
ble person to work with," says Zarek. "His
enthusiasm about the project fueled a ton
of creativity. He really helped push our
songs to the next level. It’s one of those
things where you know it’s going to be
great, but when you actually get there and
do it, you’re still blown away. It’s like see-
ing a part of you come to life right in front
of you."
At the fulcrum of the five-song EP is the
track "Alone," a lonely ballad that slowly
sweeps and swirls like fog and gray storm
clouds: "Yeah, there's definitely some
breakup themes intertwined in there,
admits Cass. "I wrote "Alone" about two
days before we went into the studio. I was
dating this amazing girl a couple of years
ago, and we broke up. As I grow into who
I am now, compared to who I was then,
I've started to see that a lot of the pain in
continues on page 45
march
2018
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