Never Shout Never Spring Headline Tour – REVIEW

Christofer Drew and his band, Never Shout Never, made a stop at The Beat Kitchen in Chicago on their recent club tour and we had a chance to review the show. Check out our review of the show after the break.

While walking into the sold out show at The Beat Kitchen, I was expecting to see hundreds of eager fans awaiting the tour’s headlining act, Never Shout Never. To my surprise, the room looked less full than expect, probably because the room was full of teenage girls and not grown-ups, except for the few parents who accompanied their kids to the show. The line-up for the night was Bearcat, Kurt Travis, Koji, and Never Shout Never.

As I walked into the venue at 6:30, Bearcat was performing her first song. The lights were dim, and that really set the mood. Lead singer Renee Yohe, who is also the founder of To Write Love On Her Arms, has a marvelous voice. It’s really pure, jazzy and clean, which is getting harder and harder to find these days. The third song she played entitled “Saudade”, a Portuguese word meaning “longing” or “yearning” in English, was as perfect as a song can get, in my opinion. During the following song, a Melodica was utilized. Jokingly, Renee said, “It’s like a recorder except it doesn’t make you wanna shoot yourself.” The final song she played was a cover of the song “Sunshine in a Bag” by the Gorillaz. I loved the cover; if Regina Spektor did a cover of that song, this is what it would have sounded like. Renee is an inspiration to many people not only for her music, but for her work with TWLOHA as well.

Next up was Kurt Travis. Before his set started, the ceiling started to drip, from the air conditioner, right in front of the stage onto the fans. Kurt decided to solve the issue himself by grabbing some cardboard from his merch table and giving it to a few fans to use as a makeshift umbrella. The dripping ceased soon after, and his set began. He started his set with his song “Untitled”, followed by a cover of the Deftones’ “Be Quiet and Drive”. During the following song, Kurt brought up his girlfriend to sing with him. They did an amazing job and their voices complimented each other. It’s a beautiful experience to see them up on stage together, loving what they’re doing. Next Kurt played “25 New Ways To Regress”, “Wha Happen?”, a cover of Elliot Smith’s “2:45 AM”, and closed his set with his song “How Are Things”. It was a very solid acoustic set, I approve.

Next to take the stage was Koji. Recently, Koji’s merch and guitar were stolen. With the support of his tour mates, he decided to stay on the tour. Christofer Drew, the singer of Never Shout Never, was nice enough to lend Koji a guitar. He played a 6 song set and I can honestly say that I’ve never heard a voice with such wonderful tone. After a few originals, he played a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Wagon Wheel”. I’ve never heard this song, but after 2 days it’s still stuck in my head. I guess I can thank Koji for that. He closed off his set by inviting everyone in the audience to become a part of the “Koji Band”.

On to the headliner, Never Shout Never. The first song they played was “Til The Sun Comes Up”, followed by “On The Brightside”, which I really liked as a full band. The following two songs were “Coffee and Cigarettes”, then a new song called “Unwinding”. On a side note, Chris announced that their new record would be called “Indigo” and that each song on the album will be of a different genre, which I think is a really clever idea. Next they played “Piggy Bank”, which is my personal favorite song off of their album “Harmony” because it is so catchy and upbeat. Two songs later, they played an oldie, but a goodie, “Trouble”. After the song, a member of the crowd handed Chris a note and asked him to read it aloud, he did, and it said “(Girls name) will you go to prom with (Boys name)?” In case you were wondering, the girl said yes. Then, they played a slew of songs including: “I Love You 5”, “The Gray”, “Can’t Stand It”, “Sellout” and “Big City Dreams”, which finally got the crowd to move around a little. Then he played “The Past”, “What Is Love?” and ended their set with “Time Travel”. I’m glad that after all of these years, Chris is still sticking to doing what he loves, standing by his beliefs, and not letting society change him.

I would definitely recommend all these acts to fans of Indie and Acoustic music. So, take some time to check out the tunes from Never Shout Never, Koji, Kurt Travis and Bearcat.

Information about the review…
Tour: Never Shout Never Spring Headline Tour
Bands: Never Shout Never, Koji, Kurt Travis, and Bearcat
Reviewer: Michaela Kramer
Date: May 4, 2012
Venue: The Beat Kitchen in Chicago, IL