The Northern Gold Tour feat The Color Morale – REVIEW

The Penny Road Pub in Barrington, Illinois was host to the Northern Gold tour, featuring The Color Morale. With them also came , For All Those Sleeping, Close To Home, and The Air I Breathe. You can check out our review after the break.

This was the first day of the Northern Gold Tour and it was quite a tour kickoff show. When I arrived at Penny Road Pub for the show it was not a surprise to see a line of people waiting to get in coming out the front door of the venue. It was not a surprise because it is The Color Morale’s hometown show on the tour and they have a rather large following in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago!

First band of the package was The Air I Breathe. The band got off to a rocky start due to lack of crowd interaction, but throughout their set, more and more people entered into the cramped basement venue, which helped get the crowd going. So, about halfway through the set, things started to pick up and the crowd really got into the band’s heavy chug breakdowns and screeching guitar solos.

Unfortunately, Close To Home’s trailer broke down on their way to the venue somewhere in Indiana and they had to miss the show. They bought and new trailer, so the good news for the rest of the tour is that they will be gracing the stage to rock your faces off!

Up next was For All Those Sleeping, who’s name seem to be everywhere lately. The band had a very energetic intro and opened up their set with a big bang. The energy from then on was incredible and kept rising throughout the entire set. Their music was filled with dueling guitar harmonies, catchy choruses and breakdowns that kept your head bobbing. This was a very energetic band and the crowd didn’t miss a beat.

Finally, it was the band everyone was waiting for, the hometown boys, The Color Morale. The band came out with an intense amount of energy and the room exploded with kids jumping up and down and screaming the words along with Garret, their singer. From the beginning, kids were rushing to get up to the front and try and get their hands on the microphone. The band closed with their most popular song, “Hummanequin” and for those last three minutes, it was chaos. Kids had jumped up to the front of the stage to sing the lyrics and then jumped into the crowd and crowd surfed their way back. The Color Morale never disappoints when they play for their hometown crowd or for anyone else!

Information about the review…
Tour: The Northern Gold Tour
Bands: The Color Morale (Rise Records), For All Those Sleeping (Fearless Records), Close To Home (Artery Recordings) and The Air I Breathe (Velocity / Rise Records)
Date: May 12, 2011
Venue: Penny Road Pub in Barrington, IL