Paper Kites Soar at Thalia Hall
What better place to end your tour than Saint Paddy’s Day in Chicago? Sunday night, The Paper Kites played a sold out show at Thalia Hall.
The opening act was a good friend of Sam Bentley (singer for The Paper Kites), Boy Golden. He was accompanied by another friend, Fontaine. Boy Golden and Fontaine came down from Winnipeg, Canada to give us a country meets indie twang performance. Boy Golden mainly pulled from his album, Church of Better Daze which came out late 2021. The duo has been playing plenty of festivals and have accompanied The Paper Kites on their North American tour.
At 9 pm, The Paper Kites took the stage. The Australian indie folk/rock band is made up of Sam Bentley as leading vocalist, Josh Bentley on drums, Matt Dickson on pedal stone, Hannah Cameron and Christina Lacy on piano, and Chris Panousakis and Sam Rasmussen on guitars. All members also do vocals. The Paper Kites were initially formed in 2009 by high school friends Sam Bentley and Christina Lacy.
The group mostly performed songs from their newest album, At the Roadhouse, which is coined as an indie folk/contemporary country piece. The album has an interesting story behind it, Sam explained to us that when searching for a space to create this album, the group came across a building in Campbells Creek, located outside Melbourne. Sam said the Roadhouse was a collective dream of everyone. A smokey tavern where they could play their music, and people would listen. So, they turned it into a reality. That building became home to The Paper Kites for the next year or so, where they created and performed the album. Every Friday and Saturday night, the band put on shows remaining undercover to folks that found themselves in the area. The only way to hear about these performances was through word of mouth. Within a month or so, word did get out, and you couldn’t fit another person into the Roadhouse. Eventually, The Paper Kites officially released their 6th album, At the Roadhouse, in spring of 2023.
Sunday night was packed with vibrant, hallucinogenic songs, soft sung lullabies with poetic lyrics, and a swooning crowd. It’s worth noting the range of this band was unmatched. Some songs were accompanied by flashing lights and guitar shredding, while others all instruments were dropped, and the crowd was treated with ethereal vocals and harmonies. Halfway through the night Sam brought Boy Golden and Fontaine back on stage to perform their song, "Blue Hills," all together. Boy Golden mentioned him and The Paper Kites met performing at festivals, making it really something to see them together in action.
Every so often, you get to experience a performance like this one. The atmosphere was absolutely exhilarating. The Paper Kites have built themselves a niche spot in the music industry, one that is a unique blend of so many things. Every song played, ranging from alternative rock, to contemporary country, to indie folk, had the audience captivated. I’m sure everyone that night at Thalia Hall would agree with me when I say we are very lucky to have seen such a special tour closing show, performed by such a wonderful group of artists.