Concert Review

The Orwells
June 14, 2015 @ Ribfest Chicago

By Dave Miller

If you think it's easy doin' one night stands
Try playin' in a rock roll band
It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock 'n' roll
-- AC/DC

Mario Cuomo lived dangerously at Ribfest Chicago Sunday night.

The Orwells frontman risked life and limb during his band's hour-long set that closed the North Center festival. Before anyone could stop him, Cuomo scaled a tall speaker stack nestled against the left side of the stage and somehow slipped through a small space to climb on top of the canopy pitched over the stage. He crawled on the roof along the front supporting pole until he was 20 feet above center stage. With the crowd holding its breath as if witnessing a high-wire act, Cuomo headed back where he came from and eventually touched down safely on the stage.

That's not to say Cuomo got away unscathed. His stage diving and crowd surfing left his back covered in bruises, which could be seen in an Instagram photo that Cuomo posted at the end of the night.

It was the most dangerous performance by a frontman I've seen since the legendary Jesus Lizard show at Metro in 2009 that saw David Yow leave the venue in an ambulance after relentlessly diving into the crowd. Like Jesus Lizard, The Orwells are more than their crazy lead singer. Cuomo's bandmates didn't bat an eye through their frontman's physical forays. They were too busy kicking out the jams, their music as tight as their bloodlines. They grew up together in Elmhurst. Drummer Henry Brinner and bassist Grant Brinner are twins, and Cuomo and guitarist Dominic Corso are cousins. Matt O'Keefe is the other guitarist.

Ribfest was lucky to have The Orwells considering the buzz surrounding them and the fact that they've been on Letterman twice. The festival rightly positioned them in the closing slot, but organizers probably didn't know what they were in for. Event personnel at the side of the stage looked stunned, and then worried as the band ignited the crowd as soon as it started playing. The first crowd surfer who made it to the stage got removed in rough fashion. Festival workers eventually relaxed and went with the flow of the raucous show.

The Orwells have been unusually accessible of late for a band that's played rock's big festivals and appeared on national TV. The neighborhood event was just the latest chance to see the young guns up close. Recently, they've also played a free show at Schubas and some house parties as they work out songs for the follow-up to last year's Disgraceland. The new songs that received a public airing stood confidently next to the older ones such as "The Righteous One," "Mallrats (La La La)," "Dirty Sheets" and "Let It Burn." The newbies contained some sweet-sounding backing vocals. When Cuomo veered off course as he broke the barrier between the band and crowd in punk fashion, his bandmates, particularly Henry Brinner behind the drums, anchored the music so the songs didn't stray too far, even during the times Cuomo turned the microphone over to the crowd.

Of the four times I've seen The Orwells, it was the second time they played an encore. They returned by demand for a gloriously raw cover of The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog," which included a lengthy, tough intro as Cuomo eventually returned to the stage.

On my way to the show, I stopped at the Ed Paschke Art Center in Jefferson Park to see Paul Natkin's photo exhibit called "Superstars." It featured the best work of Chicago's most accomplished rock photographer, including stunning concert shots of Prince, Ozzie Osbourne, Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley and Pete Townshend. Natkin likes to shoot musicians who put on a show. The Orwells definitely qualify in that department. They're taking the rock-and-roll torch from the greats and running with it. It's a long way to the top, but The Orwells are on their way.