Delta Rae, Metro, Chicago, Illinois

We arrived midway through Scottish folk rocker Greg Holden’s opening set. I found him to be one of the better opening acts that I’ve seen in a while (except for Kishi Bashi) and a good pairing for Delta Rae. It was my fourth time seeing Delta Rae, including third time within the past year. After playing Lincoln Hall a year ago and opening a minor stage at Lollapalooza last summer, Delta Rae are growing in popularity, moving up to Metro following the release of their sophomore album, After It All (2015). The room was crowded, though not sold out.

Since their last show, they had acquired some additional lighting, including a handful of white plastic trees for the stage and some lanterns spread through the main room. The lanterns flashed in sync with the rest of the stage lighting, which was a novel addition. They also augmented their normal six person lineup with a violinist for some songs.

Though the vibe of the show was similar, the setlist was significantly different from previous Delta Rae performances that I've seen, with the addition of many songs from their recent album, many of which I really enjoyed. In fact, they only played four songs from their debut album, Carry the Fire (2012), compared to eleven from After It All [though three of those were also on the Chasing Twisters EP (2013)]. They also included a new a capella song, “Doesn't Get Any Better Than This.” There was a good order to the setlist as well, with some particularly high energy songs placed toward the beginning and end of the setlist. The end of the show included a couple covers, including one that was integrated into their final song, "Dance in the Graveyards.”

Setlist:
The Dream
Outlaws
Run
Morning Comes
Chasing Twisters
Bethlehem Steel
Doesn't Get Any Better Than This
The Meaning of It All
Cold Day in Heaven
I Will Never Die
My Whole Life Long
Scared
If I Loved You
After It All
Bottom of the River
Encore:
Chandelier [Sia Cover]
Dance in the Graveyards/I Wanna Dance With Somebody [Whitney Houston Cover]