Martin Courtney & EZTV, Schuba’s, Chicago, Illinois

We arrived in time for opening act EZTV’s set. I don’t have much to say about them. I didn’t find their set that interesting, and they seemed either nervous or uninterested. They just didn’t really grab my attention, and I found my mind wandering to other things throughout their set.


Martin Courtney, is the frontman of the indie rock band Real Estate. Last year, he released a solo album, Many Moons (2015), which was well received by critics. I knew and liked Real Estate, though hadn’t heard any of Courtney’s solo album. However, Matt had won a pair of tickets for the evening’s show and invited me at the last minute. I agreed based on my moderate appreciation for Real Estate.  The room was quite full, though it couldn’t have been sold out if they were giving away tickets. Both Real Estate and Curtney’s solo music are mellow, better as background music than something with which I would particularly engage. His solo music has more of a surf rock vibe than I remember coming from Real Estate. And while I didn’t specifically know any of the songs, I liked the overall sound. It was a short show however, I assume because he just has the one album. The encore consisted of a couple covers. Even though the first was a very well done version of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” I didn’t stick I left for the second.

Probable Setlist:
Northern Highway
Little Blue
Focus
Awake
Airport Bar
Asleep
Many Moons
Foto
Before We Begin
Vestiges
Encore:
Harvest Moon [Neil Young cover]
Major Leagues [Pavement cover] [think it might have been Television cover though]