RFC Reviews: The Morning Benders at Lincoln Hall

It was Saturday, October 30th and I was waiting behind a rhinoceros to get a whiskey-ginger. This particular evening at Lincoln Hall was comprised of 1/3 of a crowd donning Where's Waldo? costumes, a plethora of zombies, one Hawaiian Santa, and Steve Zissou, to name a few. Maybe it was because it was the Saturday of Halloween weekend. Or maybe it was because it was an 18+ show, but Lincoln Hall wasn't sold out. However, it was packed 3/4 with faithful fans. 

At 10:35 PM Twin Sister took to the stage in complete cat face paint. This only made lead singer, Andrea Estella, that much more adorable. As fake smoke filled the stage the crowd stood placid, swinging back and forth like cattails in the breeze. The five tet bounced on the stage playing their power pop songs. 

As The Morning Benders set up a dinosaur and bloody prom queen held hands making their way to the bar. Lincoln Hall began to fill up rapidly and on the ground floor, people were packed like sardines. Before The Morning Benders took to the stage the crowd's intensity grew. Entering the stage were a chef Chu, an Egyptian Pharaoh Chu, an alligator, and a guy with drunk eyes. The Morning Benders were all about dressing up. Before playing, "Cold War" lead singer, Chris Chu gave the warning, "If you wanna dance, you gotta find your groove and go for it.". It was a domino like reaction from the crowd. All at once their heads stopped bopping up and down and their entire body filled with dance fever. 

 

The Morning Benders - Promises

 

Announcing that they were going to play the entire Big Echo album, the crowd jeered with excitement. They started out with "Promises" - a personal favorite, the Rhinoceros pushed me in front of him so I could have a better look. Playing songs from their first album, Talking Through Tin Cans left the dedicated fans content. Encouraging an all crowd sing-a-long during a cover of Fleetwood Mac's, "Dreams", arms were put around each other and an all crowd sway occurred. 

The band took time out in between songs asking the crowd for a spirited "Tick or Teat" and from a giant bag of candy he tossed miniature chocolate goodness at the crowds heads. Confessing that he is not a fan of large music festivals, Chu did give praise to Chicago's famous Lollapalooza festival. 

As the band played their last song, "Excuses", Chu invited the crowd to once again sing with. The crowd grew eager with anticipation. Next to me a penguin drinking a tall boy of Busch whispered the lyrics to himself. Then came the moment everyone was waiting for, "Dum, du-dum, dum, du-dum.". Chris paced the stage with the maraca as the director of the sing-a-long. Continuing to play the song, the band laid on the floor with only an eerie echo of of "Dum, du-dum, du-dum" lingering inside Lincoln Hall. 

There are some bands that only create magic in the studio. This is in part with the help of studio effects and producing. The Morning Benders are not this band. Every single last drop of pop rock goodness this band creates is genuinely real. Expressing it during the show, band has a sweet tooth for Chicago. And Chicago has a sweet tooth for them.

 

The Monring Benders - All Day Day Light

 
Editor's Note: Our faithful photog Shani couldn't make it out to see the Benders at Lincoln Hall but Time Out Chicago has some sweet shots! Couple them with this review and it'll be just like you were there!