Paradise Waits

For whatever reason I was unaware of this weekly throwdown at McDunna's until very recently. On this particular Wednesday, promotions on Facebook piqued my interest with offers of free beer and a Sierra Nevada rep coming with a free keg of pale ale as well. Count me in!

Jaik Willis got the night flowing with a solid opening set. He made use of a few Led Zeppelin teases that seemed to connect with the small but growing crowd. He busted out one of my favorite songs that he sings, "Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms." The chemical-bent lyrics of this song always seem to speak to the audience, who clearly agree with the sentiment of the song-- "sounds like a party for me!" To close the set, Jaik unleashed something I haven't seen from him yet-- beatboxing. He wound up a really cool song with the drum machine in his mouth and even sprinkled in some rapping. It was completely unexpected. He really impressed me with both his skill and courage to perform something really out-of-the-box. Jaik is all over the place in Chicago for good reason, this dude is entertaining as hell.

By the time Paradise Waits began, the free beer had been drunk and McSpunna's was packed with people. This was definitely one of the most packed 'bar concerts' I've been to. It reminded me of how crowded it was at the Red Line Tap for Sexfist's final show there. I'm not much of a Deadhead-- although I respect & appreciate their music tremendously-- so I can't speak much to the setlist. I can say that the crowd was definitely feeling the music. I can also say that the sound inside McDunna's is pretty good and did the efforts on stage great justice. The lights & stage design were a little haphazard, but I wouldn't expect much else from a $5 cover at a bar. For the circumstances, they did a nice job with the visual appeal. I was digging the work on the keys from Matt Wegryzn, it was very rich and really carried the sound well. The last 3 songs of the set were all ones I recognized, so I felt a boost of engagement in the show. "Mexicali Blues" > "El Paso" > "Promised Land" was a great stretch of jams and made me feel like I should really try harder to become more familiar with The Dead's catalog. Setbreak came and I decided I was gonna hit the road-- despite the fact the the second set looked to be packed with awesome songs. I definitely enjoyed my night at McDunna's. Jaik Willis was awesome as usual and Paradise Waits is a solid Grateful Dead cover band. They are great at playing someone else's music, so it makes me want to hear some of their original music. Maybe next time.

- chicagojamscene.com