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Review Fri Jan 30 2015
Bahamas Took Another Trip to Chicago
"I feel like a golfer at a PGA tournament" singer songwriter David McMillin joked to the sold out and reverently quiet crowd at Lincoln Hall on Thursday evening. McMillin (who was voted best folk, country, or Americana act by the Reader in 2008) moved between guitar and keyboard for his set, working his way through his solo material as well as tracks "White Roses" and "Plastic Hearts" from his Chicago based band Fort Frances. The singer-songwriter played beautiful Americana that ranged in style from upbeat folk to heart wrenching ballads, but he never took himself too seriously onstage, jokingly telling the crowd as he pulled on his harmonica: "I got my beard stuck in this last night. So you know it was a good excuse to clean myself up... although not too much obviously," as he pointed at his scruffy facial hair.
McMillin was a perfect warm up to get the crowd ready for Afie Jurvanen, the Canadian born musician behind Bahamas. Jurvanen was in Chicago recently, playing a sold out Schubas back in October. While I wasn't at that show, I was told by others that there was some chatter going on during his set that wasn't great for the ambiance, but that could not have been less true at Lincoln Hall on Thursday night. So quiet you could've heard a pin drop, Jurvanen took the stage in his red plaid and Nike swooshes, and made his way through a good deal of his 2014 album Bahamas is Afie including "Caught Me Thinking," "Waves," "Stronger than that" and "Can't Take Me With You."
Backed by a guitar, drums and a female vocalist, the melodic, rolling and beautiful tracks came out sounding exactly as fantastic as they do on the album. The good natured Jurvanen bantered with the crowd about his calming and lovely set, "Now we're cooking -- on a low medium heat -- that's how I do it."
While Bahamas' style of music may be low key, the set was never for a minute anything less than engrossing, especially because Jurvanen is in constant motion, dancing, coaxing and shaking the sounds out of his guitar. Wrapping up his set with an encore including "Bitter Memories", "Be My Witness" and "All the Time in the World" Bahamas told the rapt crowd "I feel like I've got you all in the palm of my hand, you all are really enjoying it. It really is a pleasure for me." It was for us as well