Saturday, September 19th at The Empyrean
Thou shall see Olaf Olaf Olaf! Olaf Olaf Olaf (besides it being fun to say) is a group of young guys that like to have fun, tell jokes, and dance. Before the show even started with a fog machine and strobe lights they announced their show rule. Thou shall always stand up… and dance… or leave… at least shake your foot.
I think everyone stuck with the rule. They boys all were wearing some sort of white shirt or jacket and one of the singers being barefoot standing in front of a amp covered in a white teddy bear skin. There friends were in the front row screaming the lyrics and doing some silly dance moves. In fact it was the first time we saw crowd surfing at the Empyrean.
The boys had fun solos, managed to play a song for the first time live that they wrote that day, had some band drama, and plenty of clapping. It was quite a set for a bunch of kids. I would love to see them again.
Tonight I was a little under the weather so unfortunately when Yourself and the Air took the stage I had to sit down in the back. But here is what I will tell you from sitting in the back on a bench. Every kid got up off their feet and stood on chairs to see this Chicago band play. They were even shaking what there mamas gave them on top of chairs; made me a little nervous but it worked.
I absolutely adore the pauses and breakdowns in their hip indie melodies. Another sound that stood out to me was all the tings and chimes in their songs, they were quite but loud enough to make your ears perk up. The band was smiling the whole time and enjoying their set as much as the crowd was, all while working their asses off.
Yourself and the Air had personalities trying to tell us jokes about pacman (sorry I didn't get it), explaining how the dog of the person's house they were sleeping at went and tinkled on one of the guys during the middle of the night, and referencing Wayne' World. All night they band would say Party on Wayne and the crowd would yell back Party of Garth! It was a kick in the can and a super tight band from the windy city itself – make sure to check out Yourself and the Air and be ready to dance.
Andrea@checkitoutmusic.com
checkitoutmusic.com 2007-2009
