We had our first date night in months (I think?) on Saturday night at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago. We saw Johnnyswim, our favorite duo, for the fifth time, and it was one of the best shows we’ve see them perform.
We were nervous about getting to the Riviera Theatre because Graham had to work Saturday and his end time was uncertain. (It depends on when a game ends.) Also, I was unsure how long it would take me to drive into the city on a Saturday afternoon, but thankfully the Memorial Day weekend meant most people seemed to be out of town and traffic was a breeze. Parking was also easy to find. We found a spot on the street on Lawrence Avenue just around the corner from the venue. I wanted to get to the Riv when doors opened because I am short and need to find a spot where I won’t be blocked by tall people. (Short person problems!) Our tickets were only $32.50 for general admission, and we could stand wherever we wanted. We chose behind the railing in front of the sound techs. I didn’t want to be in the pit area because I knew my view would be blocked at some point. We chose not to do VIP tickets, which get you into the venue earlier, because we’ve already met them twice and we wouldn’t have been able to make it anyway due to Graham’s work schedule.
As soon as we walked into the Riv we noticed how much it looks like Vic Theatre, where we saw Johnnyswim a couple of years ago. It has almost the exact layout. I liked the venue; it was perfect!
I loved that they played most of their new songs from “Moonlight” along with songs from their previous albums. When I realized they were starting to sing Adelina I immediately screamed. It was unexpected because we assumed they would play their new album with their major hits, and Adelina is not the most popular of their songs. It felt like they were singing it just for us, and I’m going to pretend they were because we told them we named our baby after that song when we saw them during our VIP experience last September.
Some of the other songs on the set list, in no particular order:
Flowers (opened with this)
Hummingbird
Live While We’re Young
Diamonds
Don’t Let It Get You Down
Villains
Lonely Night in Georgia
Take the World
The Last Time
Amanda
Say What You Will
Souvenir
Home
Moonlight
Bridges
Lost in Translation
Marietta
I’m sure I am omitting songs, but as you can see it’s a nice mix of old and new.
As per usual, the go into the crowd for a few songs. We have seen them do this four times now. It’s always a highlight. They all looked great onstage, too. The band wore matching gray suits and Abner and Amanda matched in white. I remember an IG Story in which Abner said his style inspiration was a Cuban farmer and he definitely nailed it. The production improved, too. I really liked the blue-light silhouette as Amanda sang “Flowers” to open the show.
If you have a chance to catch them on tour, do it! You can thank me later.
