You Me At Six @ Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL
You Me At Six with support from Machineheart & DREAMERS
Photos and review by Nina Tadic | March 2nd 2019
The first time I heard You Me at Six, I was in eighth grade, and they had just released Sinners Never Sleep, and it was on a loop on my iPod Classic. There was something a little… zestier?... about it than similar albums by their American counterparts, and I loved that it had an edge. There weren’t many bands putting out songs with guest vocals from heavy metal vocalists, but You Me At Six were. They’ve always been at the forefront of trying new things, and have never been afraid to test out a new sound. That hasn’t changed.
For their current tour, the band made a stop in Chicago at the Bottom Lounge on March 3, and the entire show was more than phenomenal. The night kicked off with support from Machineheart and DREAMERS, both of which were insane.
When the lights dimmed and Machineheart hit the stage, I knew I was in for a performance. The band has this dreamy, ethereal energy about them, and boy do they know how to groove. Vocalist Stevie Scott can croon and hit notes I couldn’t reach in my wildest dreams, and she does it with poise that is indescribable.
Following Machineheart, DREAMERS took the stage, and their fans clearly made it known. Before the lights even came up, the amount of shrieking and screaming in the crowd let everyone who hadn’t heard the band know that they were going to see a great performance - which we did. DREAMERS have mastered the art of carefree and lighthearted indie-pop, which can be funky and bubblegummy at the same time, and wonderful all around.
After looking at these openers, though they were different from one another in sound, and different from You Me at Six in sound, they fit well for the bill. They were both a great way to merge into You Me at Six’s set, especially since their sound has developed in a more groovy indie-rock direction.
This indie-rock style they’ve got going - it works. It works aesthetically- in the way they carry themselves, in the tones of light and backdrop they use for their performance, in vocalist Josh Franceschi’s witty remarks. They know how to walk the walk. They also know how to talk the talk. Playing a plethora of songs off of their most recent release, VI, the band was absolutely in their element. Guitarist Max Helyer did not stop moving and grooving for a second, while fellow guitarist Chris Miller and bassist Matt Barnes both managed to look poised and cool as they jammed from one song to the next. Drummer Dan Flint may have been farther back on the stage, but his presence was through the roof as he lead each song, especially more noticeably when they played a handful of older tunes off of Hold Me Down and Sinners Never Sleep, from their more “rowdy” days, you could say.
Regardless of what the band was playing, they were holding their own on stage. The entire crowd was so captivated by every moment, every flickering light, every step everyone made - all eyes were on them. Franceschi did make sure to apologize to the crowd for spending quite a few years without a Chicago performance, and made it up by playing oldies that everyone knew. Just because this crowd had grown up, and this band has grown up, doesn’t mean the memories weren’t still there, and it showed the entire night.
