It was the first beautiful spring day in the windy city, but that didn’t stop the crowd that piled into the Cobra Lounge. On the road with Superbloom and Bleary Eyed for the 10 day Hope Your Flowers Die tour, Chicago alt band Footballhead are the local sweethearts that know how to fill a room.
Foolishly, I used the bathroom after Bleary Eyed’s electric set and when I returned it was already packed front to back, but the chatter and excitement that bounced between the walls was unavoidable. The room became a hotbox of people standing shoulder to shoulder, but nobody seemed bothered by the heat, even after we were invited to stand even closer by inching towards the front. Heads were already moving for their first two songs, “Before I Die” and “Stupefied”, so it was not a hard request to get bodies moving during “Your Ghost.” Heavy guitars and an earworm of a chorus kept the room circling, and even without glancing towards the audience, it was obvious that the band had already captured the attention of the room long before we realized it.
While the first three songs were off of their recent album Before I Die, (if you haven’t listened to it yet, you should) the band backpedaled in their discography to rip some songs off of their debut EP, Overthinking Everything. “Like A Blister” provided a slower atmosphere to catch a breath, impressively keeping the energy high both in the audience and on the stage. Savoring the breaths and quick sips of drink before jumping along to the next one, the members of Footballhead are no strangers to letting loose on stage and putting their heart into a performance. This doesn’t mean they slacked on the chatter though— they continued cracking quick comments during the short breaks and bantering back and forth with fans. Notably, some requested they play songs with frontman Ryan Nolen being quick on the comeback response of “Save your requests till encore, the encore is when we take requests.” (Funnily enough, Footballhead is not leaving the stage to come back for the encore group – they rocked through their entire set.)
“Ugly Day” was a song introduced as a B-Side. As a fellow fan of many B-side songs, this one takes home the cake for “songs to get the real ones hyped up.” I tried to take out my phone to write down the song’s title, and embarrassingly, I was not paying attention to the crowd next to me as a pit had quickly formed and I found my phone getting knocked out of my hands mid-recording. I remembered to keep my phone down and safely tucked away as they rolled onto a crowd favorite, “Tightrope”— an explosive song that showed off the prowess of drummer Andrew Smith and guitarist Snow Ellet’s electrifying display of skills.
Finishing the tail end of their set with Nolen setting his guitar down to display an impressive vocal run during “All For What,” there was no time for horseplay as the guitar was returned to its rightful place, where the recent single “Sliver” was showcased, creating the mood of nostalgia while still being present in the moment. Last but not least, closing out the set for that night was the sweat soaked “Crushing Me.” Moshers never let up until the last note of the song finished ringing, and even during their pack up, it was obvious that Chicago was indeed a hometown show— with some coming to see their local favorites, while others made the space a reunion of old friends.
No sign of weariness and perfectly aligned with one another during their performance, Footballhead prove that they always leave a lingering presence in the mind as they play and sound just as good, if not better, than their studio recordings that stay on repeat after leaving the venues.