The Dandy Warhols Celebrate 25 Years Together at The Metro

11 May, 2019 Erica McKeehen Alternative, Concert Reviews, Pop, Rock

The Dandy Warhols just celebrated their 25th anniversary making music by releasing a new album, Why You So Crazy, in conjunction with a single-shot 360° short film; in addition, they embarked on a 2019 tour of North America, Europe, and the UK. On May 11th, 2019, their travels brought them to Chicago’s Metro, where they played a hefty selection of their notable tracks to an eager, sold-out audience.

Formed in 1994 in Portland, Oregon, The Dandy Warhols are singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. Joined later by keyboardist Zia McCabe and eventually, in 1998, by Brent DeBoer on drums, the group gained notoriety in 2001 with the release of their third studio album Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia, featuring the single “Bohemian Like You.” “Bohemian Like You” brought the band the much-anticipated commercial success they craved as it was featured on several popular TV programs and film soundtracks at the time; the track continues to foster instant recognition a power pop classic. The Dandy Warhols continued to experience significant commercial success with the release of Welcome to the Monkey House in 2003. The album featured one of the group’s most popular songs, “We Used to Be Friends.”

The first half of groups’ performance at the Metro was punctuated by bright splashes of light that would occasionally illuminate a face in the indie quartet — mostly though, the group navigated the evenings’ earlier songs in thick fog and darkness with only Taylor-Taylor’s raw vocals piercing through the ambiguity. As such, tracks like “Holding Me Up” at the front of the set felt fuzzier and more abstract — making it easy for fans to slip into the shoe gaze daydream that The Dandy Warhols sonically craft. The audience came alive quickly despite the mysterious haze upon the stage, and the second half of the set brought more raucous tunes like “Get Off” and “Every Day Should Be a Holiday,” which were met with true rock-out enthusiasm and theatrics. As the evening drew closer to a close, the lights got a bit brighter, balloons dropped from the ceiling, and the formerly ethereal space became loud melodic mayhem that was slow to fizzle out even after band members left the stage and the house lights came up.

The Dandy Warhols Setlist, 5/11/19