Fresh paint, clean floors, and an eager crowd lined up down the block of Chicago’s newest music venue Outset located in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The fans couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day for a show as the fans wrapped around the block more than an hour before the show in perfect sunny and 80° weather.
To start off the night and first to christen the stage was Chicago’s own Scarlet Demore. Formed by best friends Alex Gonzalez, Cat Ayala, and Alaska Young back in 2017, the band is best described as a punk and ska, with strong but elegant vocals from Cat. 2024 is looking to be a big year for the band as they recently performed at Milwaukee’s Harley Davidson Fest and are slated to play at this year’s Lollapalooza.
Highly Suspect took the stage fresh off their recent album release As Above, So Below. In rare occurrence as described by the bands lead singer Johnny Stevens aka Terrible Johnny, this was the first time the band has dedicated playing an entire album from front to back. The new album consists of dark lyrics with essence of rock, blues and emotion and the dark, blue lighting helped set the mood. Highly Suspect is made up of Twin brothers Ryan and Rich on drums and bass, respectfully, Matt Kotos on guitar, Mark Schwartz on keyboard and Johnny on guitar and lead vocals. This was my third time capturing the band and fifth time total seeing them live and they never fail to disappoint. Johnny pours his heart and should into his lyrics that can be noticed by the crowd as the sing along to every song performed. The band finished up the night with an encore song from their debut album Mister Asylum with one of their biggest hits “Bath Salts”
Needless to say, Highly Suspect set the bar high by selling out the new venue and help putting it on the map. Be sure to check out one of their upcoming tour dates here!
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