I flew into Chicago for the Christmas holiday a few days earlier than I normally would have, in order to catch the Sleeping At Last show at the House of Blues on December 20th. Not only has it been a long time since I've seen Sleeping At Last, but for this special Christmas show, they were backed by a string quartet. The show was pretty great - the House of Blues is a great venue, and I don't think it was sold out - so it was easy to get fairly close to the stage. I had my iPhone in tow, and I managed to get a few pictures to turn out:
Sleeping at Last, with string quartet
Here's the set list:
- a Christmas Carol (I can't remember which one)
- Hurry
- Careful Hands
- Needle and Thread
- Dreamlife
- Say ("This is an older song")
- Side By Side (New - first time ever performed in front of an audience)
- Levels of Light
- Chandeliers (Another new song)
- Heaven Breaks
- Sliver Bells (Christmas carol)
- Hold Still
- Ghosts
- Envelopes
- Keep No Score
- Quicksand
- Umbrellas Encore
- Currents
- O Holy Night (Christmas carol)
Dan Perdue on bass, with the string quartet assisting in the background
This show was amazing. Sleeping At Last tends to produce some pretty amazing music, but the string section just put it over the top. My particular favorites included "Dreamlife", "Say", "Levels of Light", "Hold Still" (the strings really enhanced this one), and "Envelopes". I found the songs to be enjoyable as well - although they didn't really stand out in my mind as much as the ones that I listed above. Given the more intimate setting, the band played things a bit more loose - the in-between song banter was more like conversation. And not every song was played without a hitch. But it didn't matter, because on the whole, an amazing evening was crafted out of a variety of instruments, some old, and some new. It really felt like there was a lack of pretension - both from the short interval between the opener (Matthew Santos) and and Sleeping At Last, and the immense number of songs that were played.
Just Sleeping At Last
Even with just the core three members, Sleeping At Last is able to produce an amazing sound. Both the lead singer, Ryan O'Neal, and the bassist, Dan Perdue, were able to switch between guitars and keyboards - sometimes playing both within the confines of a single song. All in all, I was pleased that I forced Sara into making the trek down to Chicago to see this band, and I will definitely check out their new album. If you're looking to give this band a try, I recommend their second album, "Ghosts" - it's definitely the best album produce by Sleeping At Last (thus far).
-Andy.