tUnE-yArDs, Vic Theatre, Chicago, Illinois

We arrived towards the beginning of the opening act and slid down to the back right corner of the front section. I counted only 8 people between myself and the stage. I was told that the tUnE-yArDs performance that evening wasn’t quite sold out but very close to it. When we arrived it was crowded but comfortable. However, by the time tUnE-yArDs took the stage, our section was packed –  too crowded for comfort. Though cramped, we stayed in our spot; trying to find a more comfortable one further back we mean we would be very far back.

tUnE-yArDs, a music project of the singer, song-writer, and multi-instrumentalist Merrill Garbus, was another instance of a live performance for which I didn’t know what to expect. While the official band consists of just her and her musical partner, Nate Brenner, the music uses lots of loops and layered sounds. Even though the tUnE-yArDs are a vehicle for her music, her albums involve various session musicians.

To begin the show, Merrill took the stage with her two female back up vocalists, Abigail Nessen-Bengson  and Jo Lampert, to kick off the set with the a capella song, “Rocking Chair.” Afterwards, another pair of musicians joined her including Nate Brenner on bass, percussion, and synthesizer and Dani Markham on percussion and vocals. Merrill had some minor percussion in front of her – a tom-tom, snare, and cymbal – a synthesizer, and lots of pedals for loops. She wasn’t wearing shoes so she could better manipulate the pedals. The two back-up singers (now also dancers) moved a few feet back for the remainder of the show. The stage set up was fairly minimal; there weren’t any lighting effects. Merrill and the back-up singers did do a few choreographed dance moves.

The setlist included only songs from here two most recent of her three albums, w h o k i l l (2011) and Nikki Nack (2014). Merrill is incredibly talented, with a beautiful Afro-Caribbean style voice, even though she’s white. It was also impressive to watch how much she was doing on stage in unison – creating and layering loops, playing instruments, and singing lead vocals.

Setlist:
Rocking Chair
Sink-O
Real Thing
Wait for a Minute
Gangsta
Es-So
Powa
Time of Dark
Stop That Man
Killa
Water Fountain
Bizness
Encore:
Doorstep
Hey Life