Cloud Cult, Lincoln Hall, Chicago, Illinois

Even though we had just seen Cloud Cult ten months prior at the same venue, I enjoyed it enough that I wanted to see them again. The other major draw was that this show would feature two sets, an acoustic followed by an electric set. We didn’t arrive particularly early, so we found a spot towards the back of the venue for the sold out crowd. Fortunately, Lincoln Hall is so small that anywhere in the room is a decent spot.

As expected, the acoustic set was striped-down and intimate. The full band, including guitar/vocals, violin, cello, piano, and brass, was on stage, with all except the drummer sitting in a row of chairs at the front of the stage. In particular, I enjoyed the songs that they chose to do acoustically, which were the quieter and often more vocal/poetic songs in their repertoire.



The two Cloud Cult painters were also back. Both of their drawings were very similar to last time. The guy on the right did an up-close portrait of a woman; the woman on the left once again incorporated a woman/avian theme. During the acoustic set, each artist did a black and white drawing/outline, leaving a completed grayscale picture at the end of the set break. When the band plugged in their instruments for the second set, the artist returned with their colors. I thought it was a clever, if obvious, idea. However, I think the band ended up playing longer than the artists needed time to paint. Towards the end of the second set, I starting noticing that the artists should have just stopped; the canvas didn’t need any more paint.

The electric set mostly pulled from the same albums, though a bit more heavily from their newer material. Compared to the first set, the second was much more lively and bombastic, due in part to both the song choices and the performance medium. The painters put away their brushes towards the very end and joined in on the microphones and an extra set of drums.

The latter set was very similar to their 2013 show. Overall, I really enjoyed the show and the setlist. There was only one song that they played during their show in 2013 that they didn’t play this time around. However with the addition of a second set, the show was much longer show, so we were treated to an additional 14 songs. At over two and a half hours, the show was a great deal for only $23. The most notable song addition was “The Lessons: The Exploding People“ for their single song encore. It’s my favorite song in their catalog and I was disappointed to not hear last time.

 

Setlist
Acoustic:
The Baby: You Were Born
Breakfast With My Shadow
Meet Me Where You're Going
The Ghost Inside Our House
No One Said It Would Be Easy
The Acceptance: Responsible
You're the Only Thing in Your Way
Chain Reaction
The Escape: Running with the Wolves
Journey of the Featherless
Purpose
Light at the End of the Tunnel
Step Forward
We Made Up Your Mind for You
Pretty Voice
Transistor Radio
Chemicals Collide
Complicated Creation
Electric:
All the Things We Couldn't See
The Arrival: There's So Much Energy in Us
Everybody Here Is A Cloud
Sleepwalker
Car Crash
Intro
The Calling
Love You All
The Mission: Unexplainable Stories (Journey to the Light, Pt. 1)
1x1x1
The Invocation: Blessings (Invocation, Pt. 2)
Love & The First Law of Thermodynamics
Good Friend
The Invocation: You'll Be Bright (Invocation, Pt. 1)
Encore:
The Lessons: The Exploding People

Paul Simon & Sting, United Center, Chicago, Illinois

When Paul Simon and Sting announced that they would pair together for a national tour, it provided a rare opportunity to see two music legends together on stage. It was particularly interesting to pair these two together because, other than both having spent the last several decades putting out hit records, I wouldn’t have thought they had a whole lot in common, musically or personally. Though I was a bit more excited for Paul Simon, I would have gladly paid to see either performer.

No opener was scheduled, so we arrived at the United Center only a short while before the duo took the stage. We had pretty decent seats though nothing special, in the 100 section of the arena though on the far side of the stage. We were far enough that I generally preferred to look at the screens on either side instead of the artists themselves.

The show started with both of them on stage for a trio of songs – one Sting song, one Simon, and another Sting. They then introduced each other and the show. They were accompanied by a large backing band, perhaps as many as 14 musicians in total, though it was a bit hard to get the exact count from the distance of our seats. Both Simon and Sting were very deferential to each other, especially Sting towards Simon, who is about ten years older and influenced when he was still went by the name Gordon. Simon threw in a little self-deprecating humor, comparing his physique and virility to Sting’s, then left the stage. Sting stayed on stage with the rest of their backing band to perform five Sting/The Police songs. At the end of this mini set, Simon returned to the stage to perform on of Simon’s songs with Sting. Then they reversed, with Sting taking a bow and leaving Simon to perform five or so of his songs. Then the cycle repeated once more, the only exception was when Sting played “America” by himself, the only instance of one of them playing the other’s song alone. Perhaps it was a bit more fitting for Sting to sing that song anyway as he’s truly an immigrant to the US, not just a “reimmigrant” like Simon, who briefly lived in the UK. The show included a huge mix of musical genres, which wasn’t surprising considering the degree to which Simon is known for branching out from his original folk roots into African, roots, zyeco, and reggae music, much of which stems from his Graceland era. Sting held his own in this regard as well though.

Unfortunately, people in our section sat through most of the show, which I don’t prefer, but they stood up a fair amount throughout various parts of the show, probably for more Simon than Sting songs, but certainly some of both. Of the people around us, there were clear pockets of people who were there primarily for one act or the other.

Both artists cycled through each of their many hits. There were a few additional Paul Simon songs that I would have liked to have heard that weren’t included, but Sting played everything I could have hoped. Sting pulled from The Police’s catalog
as much as his solo career, though he never name checked his old band. Conversely, Simon did mostly all his own songs, not those of Simon & Garfunkel. However, he did pull out a pair of Simon & Garfunkel songs, “The Boxer” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” in which Sting sang the second part. Sting has a great voice and was able to harmonize well with Simon, but he’s no Art Garfunkle. Perhaps that’s not really a fair comparison as there are few pop music voices as beautiful as Art Garfunkle’s. They ended the evening with two encores, the second of which included only the song “When Will I Be Loved?,” the only “full” cover of the evening. The whole set was nearly three hours including encore breaks, well over two and a half hours of music.