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