Allah-Las has got 'The Stuff'
Rock and roll fans of all walks of life gathered at Metro Chicago for a night of chilled out psychedelic jams and good times, brought to you by the guys of Allah-Las. Metro is a historic rock and roll venue in the Wrigleyville neighborhood, and the experience the band and venue provided was a musical grand slam. The venue is divided into a balcony section and a pit area. The balcony provides a nice view, and a separate bar area, but the pit allows for a much more immersive concert experience.
The supporting act for Allah-Las on this tour was Maston, the artist name for Frank Maston, also a member of Allah-Las. Maston played some instrumental jams to start out the night, including Infinite Bliss. The song is led by beautiful background vocals, supplemented by breezy piano and Maston’s own vocals. It sounded like what I imagine it feels like to be carried off by a cloud. Maston ended his performance with Jet Lag, and announced that he’d be back in a moment to play with the rest of the band. Jet Lag was a great way to end the set, with metronome-like percussion joined by slowly evolving and layered instrumentation to keep the track moving.
Allah-Las has been making music together as a band for over 15 years, with the release of their first record 'Allah-Las’ coming in 2012. The group is composed of Miles Michaud on vocals and guitar, Matthew Correia on percussion, Spencer Dunham on bass, Pedrum Siadatian on lead guitar, and Frank Maston on keys. The band has been making waves outside of just their own musical output, however. The band created a podcast, Reverberation Radio, and has been posting 30 minute episodes for over 400 weeks. Featuring a mix of all different genres, the podcasts serve as curated playlists to discover new music every week. The podcast initially started out as a radio show on KXLU in Los Angeles, but has grown to have a life of its own entirely outside of Allah-Las.
By the time the band came out on stage, the crowd had long been filled in. They began with the intro song from their new record ‘Zuma 85’ called The Stuff. The song contains lyrics satirizing the current state of the music industry. “I don’t listen to the radio, they keep playing that same song again, and the DJ’s a computer” The song featured a soaring guitar solo from Siadatian, and ignited the crowd.
The band played a healthy mix of new and old, which properly fit the crowd of new and returning fans. The crowd was frequently singing lyrics along with the band, none more prominently than on Tell Me (What’s On Your Mind). Other highlights included songs off the new record, like Right On Time and The Fall, as well as Prazem em te conhecer from their record ‘LAHS.’
The band finished their set with an encore performance, comprised of two fan favorites, Could Be You and Catamaran. The former features a kind of western motif, accompanied by lyrics about reconsidering the past, asking the audience “if you had the chance to- would you do it all again?” The latter features a bright guitar riff and tambourines creating a warm outro for the evening. The band thanked the audience for making a great sendoff for the tour, and left the stage.
Allah-Las concluded their tour at this show in Chicago, but you can keep up with the band via their social media or Spotify.