Many thanks to the very talented Anthonia Akitunde for this review.

“[It’s a] great night to be on the bill,” Ryan Groff of Champaign, IL said. And he wasn’t lying. With a line up consisting of Groff’s amazing vocal range and heartfelt lyrics, Butterfly Assassins frenetic energy, Death Ships folk and alt-country sounds, and headliners the Foundry Field Recordings melancholic intensity, there was something for everyone in the crowd at Schubas last night. The night’s opener, Groff played singles off his new CD “People in the Midwest.” Groups of twos and threes huddled against the walls, eyes trained on Groff – who could easily be mistaken for Weird Al Yankovik’s son with his long, tightly curled hair and glasses – as he masterfully delivered a blues/folky rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” on par with Jeff Buckley’s own cover.

Chicago’s own Butterfly Assassins were up next, wowing the audience with their high energy. Every band member was in motion. A mop of hair covered celloist Kate Wakefield’s face, guitarist Bryan Kveton sang through a megaphone, and lead singer/keyboardist pounded away at the keys, moving from keyboard to keyboard and sometimes kneeling to play – it was like watching an indie Liberace.

Death Ships followed Assassins, offering an admirable set of folk infused rock. The audience grew larger as the Iowa City band performed. “Everyone’s so polite,” lead singer and guitarist Dan Maloney commented. The polite distance the audience had kept through out the night diminished as the evening’s headliners, the Foundry Field Recordings, got on stage. Backs facing the audience, the band starts into a furious crash of guitar strumming and drums. Just as the energy is at its highest, guitarist Billy Schuh turns to the audience and the music mellows out into their first song of the evening. Scuh’s sad alto played beautifully with drummer Benjamin Hooks vocals and Hooks singing to the bands cover of the Pixie’s “Caribou” was fantastic. All in all, as Ryan Groff noted at the beginning of the concert, a good night for music.

Foundry Field Recordings - Transistor Kids

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