Alex G brought his tour in support of God Save the Animals to Thalia Hall in Chicago, IL for two consecutive sold-out shows in November, with Australian dream-pop act Hatchie opening the bill both nights.

Tour opener Hatchie took the stage as the last remaining concertgoers were piling in, setting the tone with lush reverbs and massive ready-for-radio hooks. A majority of their set was from this year’s incredible LP Giving the World Away, and the band performed these cuts with machine-like precision. The band’s lack of a drummer was glaringly apparent (all drums in their songs were present in the backing tracks), but Hatchie put on a stellar show regardless.

Alex G and his band took the stage and jumped straight into God Save the Animals’ “S.D.O.S.” and “Runner”. Each and every track from his new record was performed with the exception of interlude “Headroom Piano”, which was used as intro music for the band to walk out to. As the last notes of “Runner” were fading out, the crowd exploded with applause as the band started playing House of Sugar standout “Hope”. The night went along without a hitch, and Alex G and his band flew through their 19-song setlist in just over an hour. Immediately after walking off, Rascal Flatts’ cover of “Life is a Highway” was played through the PA and the band walked back out, ad libbing along to the song as Alex hilariously assured the crowd that they had no idea the band was coming back out for more. He asked everyone to hold up which songs they wanted to hear on their phones, and the band played six fan requests as their encore, closing with TRICK highlight “Change”.

Review by Jake Ciccotelli