Passafire U.S. Summer Tour – REVIEW

Passafire is easily one our personally favorite, reggae rock bands, out there right now! These guys always put on an awesome live show and the Chicago date of their summer tour was no exception! Check out our review and recap of the night after the break.

Beat Kitchen is a small backroom venue that is neatly placed on the corner of Belmont and Hoyne in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood.  I’ve always found visiting this part of town to be pleasant because of the area’s quiet, family-oriented atmosphere.  Roscoe Village was a very easy place to drive to, and the minimal traffic was a huge positive on top of the easy parking.  Before heading to the venue I went to check out for the first time the neighborhood bakery called “The Bleeding Heart Bakery.”  This place is sold as a punk-rock bakery, and it is quite the local attraction.  I have frequented the Beat Kitchen many times, but it’s nice to have an adventure in a decent part of town.

Entry to Beat Kitchen was simple, after showing ID and entering the bar, the door to the back music area was on the far side of the room. The inside of the building as a whole is quaint, with a touch of hipster flair.  There were people laughing and drinking Pabst tallboys everywhere, so it was sure to be an interesting crowd.  The Great Divide was billed as being a country music band on the website that handles ticket sales for Beat Kitchen.  This seemed a little odd to be paired with Passafire, who is surely a reggae band.  Anywhere you go in the tiny Beat Kitchen music room you’ll have a great view of the stage, which is what I discovered during the set from The Great Divide.  I wandered around listening to them play while looking at Passafire’s merch for sale.  The Great Divide was definitely not a country band, nor were they a similar reggae band.  These guys played out with a blues / jam-band type of feel, a genre that I can’t quite describe without providing a sample to listen to.  I can say, however, that the music was quite danceable, and the crowd felt so as well.  As of this writing I have so far not found anything regarding The Great Divide online.  I’m sure they exist on the web, but so do many other bands with the same name.  The Great Divide is a must listen, if you can locate their music that is.  This 7-piece band that included both a trumpet and sax player jammed on from 9:30 till about 10:15, at which time they left the tiny stage to a loud applause.

This was my third time seeing Passafire now, with my first being at the 2011 Warped Tour, and the second taking place a few months back at Chicago’s Subterranean venue.  It is incredible to be able to see a band you love at a venue that is so small and intimate.  The feeling of the fans all crowding towards the small stage is a great one, and not something that you can get with most bands these days.  Passafire opened with “Feel It” from their 2006 self-titled release.  The little music room exploded in applause as this 4-piece Savannah, Georgia reggae band continued to jam along to a very vast array of their songs.  Next up was “Ghost Man” from the 2007 release “Submersible.”  For about an hour and 15 minutes or so Passafire took hits from all four of their albums, with many coming from their 2011 release “Start from Scratch.”  One thing is clear about the guys in Passafire, these fellas are musicians, and they have all mastered their instruments and what they do.  Between incredible playing on the melodica, keytar, and bass, the vocals alone from Ted Bowne are enough to make the band as great as they are.  Other amazing tunes like “Shapes and Colors,” “Barcelona,” “Dimming Sky,” “Bad Taste,” “Kiss My Head,” and “Start from Scratch,” were all played with the emotion and musicianship that they deserve.  My favorite song from Passafire, “Kilo,” was played toward the end of the set, with the band finishing their show with “Submersible.”  Beat Kitchen is too small to have a space for bands to exit the stage before an encore, so Passafire made due with the extra time and played a few more songs before they finished to a loud and enthusiastic crowd.

Information about the tour…
Tour:  Passafire U.S. Summer Tour
Bands:  Passafire, The Great Divide
Reviewer:  Michael Nutting
Date:  June 23, 2012
Venue:  Beat Kitchen in Chicago, IL