Bartees Strange - Horror (February 14, 2025) • Page 4

Kind of wonder if the timing of his show here being just before Memorial Day when it seems like a lot of people bail on the city for the weekend had an impact. Not wanting to go to a show when they’re out of town for the weekend the next day or whatever.

 

I don't have a good answer. I think possibly booking it for a smaller venue would have been wise - Lincoln Hall or similar. He probably felt like since he played Thalia before and sold well - but had the benefit of playing in the round - he could do it again.

As for why he's never taken off - even stranger. You'd think he'd have some amount of a following at this point but it's just fallen flat. Still a great show, though.

 

He got on some great tours/had a lot of momentum going when he opened for a lot of artists first tours back post-Covid (Phoebe Bridgers, Car Seat Headrest, Courtney Barnett, Lucy Dacus) and even when he was opening for boygenius. However I don’t think that has translated to him solo. Both this show and the last time he headlined in Chicago resale was extremely low in price and neither show sold incredibly well. The first time I saw him headline in Chicago at the Empty Bottle it was fairly crowded but it was also a free show and in the Live Forever era.

 

Some musicians end up stuck as an opener on larger tours while playing much smaller places when they tour solo. Just how it goes. Probably where he's going to land now.

 

i really liked live forever (though i haven’t returned to it in a long time), liked the first couple songs on farm to table, and didn’t even like the singles from horror and haven’t heard the full thing. his drop off is definitely a bummer.

 

I think this is easily his best album

 

I gave Horror a respin yesterday and I still dig it. Wants Needs is the standout for me but I think it's just consistently pretty dang good. Live show really gelled everything together for me across a discography that's gone a lot of different directions.

 

this is the same boat I'm in sadly.

saw him at a 250 cap room in 2021 and was ready to put all my chips in on him being the next big thing.

 

I'm a fan but also unfortunately see how people who are at a show for Boygenius/Clairo wouldn't see him and convert that into a ticket for his headlining show.