Photos and Review by Stephen Bloch
In horse racing, when a gambler places a bet predicting the top three finishers in the correct order, that’s a trifecta. In horse racing, there is also the Triple Crown, which are the three most significant races of the year, including the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes. In these events, the horses are restricted to only three year olds, and are called a colt if it is male and a filly if it is female. They are also sometimes referred to as “sophomores”
While this past week didn’t have any races, there were well timed concert events happening across state lines. This was a marathon, not a sprint. In a six day span, Chicago and Milwaukee played host to three of the biggest musical acts currently on the road, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival last Wednesday, Billy Strings at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum, and Chicago’s own Wilco the The Salt Shed.
What transpired at the starting gate, the backstretch, the homestretch, and the finish line at each event was pretty special.
Ravinia didn’t seem like it would be a track suited to King Gizzard‘s strengths. They performed well and were accompanied by the Chicago Philharmonic during their first and third sets. The first set consisted entirely of their 2025 release Phantom Island. This combo simply worked. Lush strings, horns, and woodwinds made this release come alive. The philharmonic then left the stage to likely get a cool down and some hydration and the Gizz stayed to perform a drawn out “Theia” where they teased “Vomit Coffin”, “Land Before Timeland”, “Field of Vision” and “Sharp Dressed Man” jams. The philharmonic then rejoined them for another 50 min set with tracks from seven of the band’s 27 albums from the past 14 years. The lo-fi lights and video definitely added to this nearly two hour show. Sitting in the pavilion was a unique King Gizz experience. No pit, no mosh, no Swarm frenzy. Maybe the lawn had that, but I doubt it as charcuterie boards and chardonnay would have been upended.
Arguably no musical act has had the meteoric rise (I think I’ve used this one before) that Billy String has had over the past five years. At the ripe old age of 32, Billy has been doing this since he was 19. He’s gone from opening for Americana acts playing in 200 seat clubs to selling out 15,000 seat sports arenas. At show time, there was not a single seat available at Fiserv Forum. There probably wasn’t any miracles to be had outside the venue either. Those numbers are jaw dropping, but what is really incredible is that Billy has played 204 different songs on THIS tour alone. Get the idea of manifesting your setlist out of your head. It’s simply not going to happen. You will get trad bluegrass covers, you will get an ample dose of songs from his most recent release, Highway Prayers (2024), and you will get stratospheric jams. If you close your eyes, you might think you’re listening to Eddie Van Halen, John Mayer, or Trey Anastasio ripping into an electric explosion, but you’d be mistaken. Only acoustics in the hands of this master. Do NOT close your eyes. Billy has enlisted Saxton Waller to take on lighting duties and it’s next level, rivaling Phish, or pretty much any other band’s visuals. One of the highlights of Friday’s show most certainly was Billy playing Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edumund Fitzgerald”. This is just one of those Milwaukee songs that people can’t get enough of. Nothing is lost on seeing this band in a huge arena. Yes, a bluegrass band that pulls off an arena show. Defies logic.
Arguably the hottest ticket of the week was Wilco at Chicago’s Salt Shed. It was like trying to get a seat next to Bob Baffert at the Derby and getting to head to the paddock with him to see the winning horse. This was billed as “An evening with Wilco”. No opener, just two full sets from a band that has been doing this since 1994 (my first show was in 1995). Again, like Billy Strings, throw out the idea of manifesting your penultimate show. You’re going to get a career spanning performance with hits, deep cuts, covers, and everything in between. What is remarkable about Wilco is that they reinterpret their material all the time. Fuzzy classics like “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” and “Art of Almost” became lush and stripped down acoustic numbers. This show had a heavy dose of tunes from both Sky Blue Sky and A Ghost is Born. Cuts from 12 Wilco albums were represented at this show as well as covers that included a show closer of “U.S. Blues” by the Grateful Dead (very happy Deadhead here!).
There wasn’t any photo finish this past week and all bets paid off. I easily survived the marathon. It really wasn’t that hard once I got the timing down. After over 45 years of seeing concerts (saw Supertramp in Milwaukee in 1979), I’ve learned how to pick the right races and I’ve got the stamina and strategy for getting to the finish line. But let’s be honest, it’s really not about finishing, it’s about the journey and planning for the next one (which is this week).
