Top Concerts of 2023
Jehnny Beth
Sept. 16, 2023 @ Douglass Park, Riot Fest
By Dave Miller
Can anyone spare a few bucks?
You need to take out a loan to see a big concert these days. The year 2023 is when naked greed smacked concertgoers aside the head and tried to lift their wallets. Suddenly it took hundreds and dumbfoundedly even thousands to see a top act at a big venue. There's no doubt tours have bigger expenses in the post-pandemic world. And artists deserve to be the ones making money on their shows, not scalpers. But while Ticketmaster has earned its reputation as a villain with its stick-'em-up fees, let's not kid ourselves. Artists and their management teams are the ones responsible for gouging us. Bruce Springsteen, what happened to you? There are a million reasons to love Taylor Swift, but her ticket prices aren't one of them. Supply and demand, right? There's a point, though, when art and what it's meant to communicate changes and devolves into merely cold commerce. It doesn't have to be that way. The Cure proved artists can still charge fans reasonable prices. Their general admission tickets were as low as $20, t-shirts just $25. Not only did they did not use dynamic pricing, which meant ticket prices didn't increase with demand, but Robert Smith even shamed Ticketmaster into issuing partial fee refunds.
Thankfully, you don't need a lot, or sometimes any, money to see great shows around Chicago. For a modest donation at the gate, you can catch national touring acts at some streets fests. The City of Chicago puts on all kinds of free events including Blues Fest. The smartly-curated LatiNxt at Navy Pier is free. Empty Bottle regularly has free Mondays. FitzGerald's hosts free happy hour sets in its SideBar. And venues around the city put together quality bills for a mere $10 or $20. That's about the cost per act you can see at Riot Fest, Pitchfork and Lollapalooza. Major festivals remain a relatively good bang for the buck.
For the first time in ages, I didn't attend a concert at a big venue such as the United Center or Soldier Field, but I saw more shows, 113 complete sets in all, in 2023 than in any other year. Here's my list of the best, dedicated to Patti Smith:
1. Jehnny Beth, Sept. 16 at Douglass Park, Riot Fest - The Savages frontwoman warms up by igniting Enola Gay's preceding set with an explosive guest appearance, then returns to the stage for her performance and turns up the intensity three notches. Beth starts by declaring "I'm the man" over and over again, then proves it. She prowls the stage and repeatedly ventures into the crowd adrenalized by industrial beats and personal fierceness. In a word, well, savage.
2. Margo Price, Feb. 21 at The Vic - The farmer's daughter works the stage like a boss, in high heels no less. Guitar. Cowbell. Tambourine. Drums. Price plays 'em all and rocks a responsive crowd pumped up by her crack band, No. 1 country album, Strays, and choice covers of Jefferson Airplane, John Prine, Elvis Costello and Wings. This wild searcher can't be contained by country's borders.
3. Bob Dylan, Oct. 8 at Cadillac Palace Theatre - At 82, Dylan plays nearly two hours from a baby grand piano front and center onstage and in the mix, airing nine of 10 songs from his latest album, Rough and Rowdy Ways. No nods to Chicago like the first two nights, but the standard set is compelling thanks to his singing and piano playing. Minutes into the show on "Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine)" when he comes to the title for the first time, Dylan sings the first part and then waits 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8... and just when you thought the second half of the line isn't coming he finally sings it. Sinatra died at 82 and here Dylan is still being born.
4. Pussy Riot, Aug. 12 at North Halsted Market Days - Nadya Tolokonnikova is on Putin's list. Her brave art in all its forms elevates punk. Her secret weapon is joy. She makes rioting fun. This Pussy Riot performance is unlike her other Chicago appearances of recent years. Those were a combination of concert, performance art and political rally. This one is full of bangers with sex as a co-conspirator.
5. Amy Rigby, Nov. 16 at Friendly Community - The Mod Housewife dubs her show a poor man's Springsteen on Broadway. An apt comparison in the master songwriter sense, but it undersells. Rigby reads from her memoir, Girl to City, and performs a pair of sets rich with songs that would be the envy of most artists -- including "All I Want," which Ronnie Spector covered and put on her greatest hits release. "Don't Ever Change" appears set to end the night -- until Rigby morphs it into an emotional "Give Peace a Chance" sing-along.
6. Mdou Moctar, July 23 at Union Park, Pitchfork Music Festival - Niger-based Mahamadou Souleymane and his band make music that sounds like traditional music heard in the Sahara Desert only sped to 78 rpm and fronted by Jimmy Page. Amazing stuff. The beats of the largely instrumental songs slowly build into a frenzied trance as the audience moves like a single organism.
7. Sara Curruchich, Aug. 26 at Navy Pier, LatiNxt - Small in stature, but a giant to her fans, the Guatemalan singer-songwriter of Kaqchikel descent sings in both Spanish and the Kaqchikel language. Devotees sit against the front of the stage and even some old people move close to take pictures of the 30-year-old activist. Curruchich sings about struggle, resistance and justice for women and indigenous people backed by a three-piece band highlighted by Sandra Moreno on marimba. The show ends with Curruchich going into the crowd and dancing with one person after another.
8. DeeOhGee, July 3 at FitzGerald's, American Music Festival - The road warriors from Nashville receive the closing set in the club and make good in the confidence placed in them, pumping out rock-and-roll jams born from the country hills and city bars that ascend into levitation. By the end of the night, feel-good frontman Matthew Paige jumps on sit-in guest Justin Bell's organ and triumphantly plays his guitar with his head skimming the club's ceiling. Let freedom ring.
9. Weyes Blood, July 22, Union Park, Pitchfork Music Festival - Attendees who return to the park after weather forces a fest evacuation are rewarded with a dramatic, cinematic set by Natalie Mering. She glides across the stage in a white dress and cape as her beautiful vocals float over the crowd. The resuming rain only adds to the dreamy atmosphere. Late in the set a light appears suddenly in her chest. It's a sweeping, art-pop performance that meets the festival moment.
10. Michele McGuire, July 3 at FitzGerald's, American Music Festival - The local singer-songwriter slays an early afternoon crowd inside the club with songs and banter in a rare perfect set. McGuire quickly wins over a crowd unfamiliar with her with her knockout songs highlighted by material from her new album, Getting Here. And literally her every attempt at humor lands. This is the Ryman mixed with SNL. Beware of the funny ones. Their songs can hit the hardest.
Honorable mention (in order): Shemekia Copeland, Dec. 30 at Robert's Westside; Quasi, Sept. 15 at Douglass Park, Riot Fest; Nation of Language, July 21 at Union Park, Pitchfork; Kim Gordon, Sept. 15 at Douglass Park, Riot Fest; Tiger Sex, June 25 at Cobra Lounge, Motoblot; Hurray for the Riff Raff, July 2 at Union Park, Pitchfork; Iris DeMent, July 16 at Old Town School of Folk Music; Lucinda Williams, June 30 at FitzGerald's, American Music Festival; Boybrain, June 5 at Empty Bottle; Ivan Julian, Aug. 4 at FitzGerald's; The Dresden Dolls, Sept. 17 at Douglass Park, Riot Fest; The Handcuffs, April 7 at The Outta Space; Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express, Feb. 26 at FitzGerald's; Skating Polly, June 24 at Beat Kitchen; Tommy Stinson, April 13 at Liar's Club.