The Unlikely Candidates at Subterranean in Chicago

12 Aug, 2021 John Kosiewicz Alternative, Concert Reviews, Indie

After a long break of not touring, The Unlikely Candidates (TUC) are on the road with their first headline tour since the pandemic lockdowns back in March 2020. Despite staying very active with “Flatten The Hump Day” live streams, empty venue concerts and a couple new songs, there’s nothing like in person concerts. The tour kicked off on July 29^th at the House of Rock in Corpus Christi, TX. After a handful of other stops across the United States, the band returned to Chicago on August 12, 2021. Dedicated fans came out to the Subterranean for a Thursday night rock and roll experience… and the fans were not disappointed.

Formed in 2008, The Unlikely Candidates are out of Fort Worth, Texas. The alternative, indie, pop rock band currently includes: Kyle Morris on lead vocals, Cole Male on guitar, Kevin Goddard on drums, Brenton Carney on lead guitar, and Jared Hornbeek on bass guitar.

With the supporting artist Brother Elsey getting the audience primed and ready, it was time for The Unlikely Candidates. As the band members came down the small lit spiral staircase behind the stage, the question quickly became, where was lead singer, Kyle Morris? Turns out, he was standing near me in the crowd… ON CRUTCHES! His injury didn’t hold him back though, as he put the crutches down shortly after the band started out the set with “Your Love Could Start a War” and didn’t pick them back up throughout the show. From all his moving around on stage, you would never know he had an injury. I think the fact that he gave all he could throughout the night reflected on the audience and made them livelier and into the show.

Highlights of the night’s performance included: