Augustana HOB Review
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
By Aaron Keker
HOUSE OF BLUES, Chicago – Last evening Augustana performed, after John Ralston, as a special guest for Chris Carrabba’s Dashboard Confessional solo acoustic performance at House of Blues in Chicago, Illinois.
The concert was the hottest ticket in Chicago because it was sold out.
Augustana commenced their evening with the song “Wasteland” from their album All the Stars and Boulevards. After “Wasteland” concluded they received a small ovation.
The small ovations continued to occur on every song on their set list except for two songs. Even though a majority of their songs on their set list received small ovations their merchandise counter was extremely busy.
The two songs that surpassed the smaller ovations were their hit songs Boston from All the Stars and Boulevards and soon to be hit song “Dust” from the album Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt. Not only did they receive a larger ovation on “Boston” and “Dust” but also the audience provided the background vocals as Dan Layus sung the lyrics to “Boston.”
Augustana played a majority of their songs on their new album titled album Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt which will be released in January 2008 unless the release date is pushed back. The songs they played from Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt were “Meet You There,” “I Still Ain’t Over You,” “Hey Now” and “Fire.”
Not only did Augustana perform a majority of their songs from the album Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt but also they offered a flash drive at their merchandise table with five songs from their newer album.
Besides the ovations and the sing-a-long on “Boston” what a wonderful Tuesday evening to spend with Augustana. However, I wished they performed “Stars and Boulevards,” “Bullets” and “Sunday Best” from the album All the Stars and Boulevards and “Either Way I’ll Break Your Heart Someday” from the album Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt.
Once again like Augustana’s performance on July 26, 2007 the audience was obnoxious by chatting loudly amongst themselves. Not only were they chatting loudly amongst themselves but also there were moments in Augustana’s performance were I could not even hear Dan Layus’s vocals.
Besides the chatter bugs it probably did not help that the acoustics were not very good where I was situated. Hopefully, next time Augustana performs in Chicago the audience will not be as obnoxious by chatting loudly amongst themselves or maybe they should perform at a venue that has better acoustics than the House of Blues. Maybe they can perform at the Metro or the Vic Theatre?
If you are unfamiliar with Augustana’s music, visit their website at www.augustanamusic.com or their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/augustana and listen to their music. If it turns out that you really enjoy their music, make sure you purchase Augustana’s debut album All the Stars and Boulevards at iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody or any other store that sells their music.
If you download their album All the Stars and Boulevards from iTunes you will be able to download three live bonus songs of “Stars and Boulevards,” “Bullets” and “Boston.” Also, make sure you purchase Augustana’s videos for Stars and Boulevards and Boston because they are really entertaining videos.
Finally, I am looking forward to providing future coverage of Augustana whether it will be an interview or watching another live performance by them. Hopefully, if I watch another live performance by Augustana they will play “Stars and Boulevards,” “Bullets,” “Sunday Best” and “Either Way I’ll Break Your Heart Someday.” Below is the set list for Augustana’s performance at the House of Blues in Chicago.
Chicago Set List:
- “Wasteland”
- “Meet You There”
- “Boston”
- “I Still Ain’t Over You”
- “Reasons”
- “Hey Now”
- “Fire”
- “Dust”
