8 l:!§i RYAN HYNES ae@technewsiit.com TechNews | Tuesday, janua1y31,2012

Jack's Mannequin visits the House of Blues

By Amy Czarkowski
TECHNEWS WRITER

The tickets at the House of Blues
downtown were sold out as excited fans packed
tightly inside to see Jack’s Mannequin and their
handepicked opening bands: Allen Stone and
Jukebox the Ghost The venue is right next to the
Chicago River and Marina City, making the walk
there from the train station on the evening of
January 25th a very enjoyable one The interior
of the House of Blues is heavily decorated, with
walls lined with a variety of things ranging from
examples of their merchandise to band postersi
There are stairs that you have to walk up to get
to the main floor of the stage where there is a
bar and standing room Balcony seats are also
an option, some of which offer a View from the
extreme right ofleft ofthe stage so you can see
behind the stage

As soon as the first opener Allen
Stone and his band walked onstage, there was
an instant vibe radiating from them It was clear
that they were all happyto be there, and this was
accentuated by the enormous smiles on their
faces while playing They played their soul music
with an enormous amount of passion, and Allen
Stone’s voice fit the genre extremely well They
covered a song by Bob Marley near the end of
their set, and ended their short set with one of
their own songs, all filing ofi’ the stage to heavy
applause as they cleared out their equipment to
get ready for the next bandi

Jukebox the Ghost was the second
band to go on A three member band consisting
of guitarist Tommy Siegel, drummer Jesse
Kristin, and keyboardist B en Thornewill,
Jukebox the Ghost produced a full sound that
was very upbeat and original They played a set
of alluring, exciting songs including two songs

 

ofi’ of their upcoming album that will be out later
this year, and even traded out their usual cover
of “I Love You (Always Forever)" by Donna
Lewis for a cover of The Beatles’ song “Golden
Slumbers?’ They set up and set down quickly
and efficiently, making the most of their time on
stage Both Jukebox the Ghost and Allen Stone
and his band were at their merchandise booths
after the show, meeting and greeting their old,
and new, fans

Jack’s Mannequin was the third and
final band to go on They decorated their stage

with lamps and an old, well worn, brown baby
grand piano It gave the stage a very personal
feel to it, as if the audience were standing in
their living room with them They played songs
evenly from all three of their albums, a few of
which were acoustic versions

The lead singer/pianist of the band,
Andy McMahon, was still full of energy even
from two nights in a row onstage in the same
venue, and stood on top of the piano a few
times, playing notes by stomping on the keys
and showing his appreciation for the people

who came out to see them At one point the
band walked off the stage, leaving everyone
yelling for more music, only to come back on
while announcing that, “we planned to come
back, don’t worry!" They ended the concert with
their most popular song “Dark Blue," and shot
confetti into the audience

The concert ended around 10 pm,
leaving the large audience of students enough
time to get back to their homes or dorm rooms
to work on their homework, probably while
listening to one, two, or all three of the bands

 

Photos by Ryan Kampnms