Recap: Eryn Allen Kane at City Winery – Chicago

/ By / Live Performances, Music, POD Exclusive, Recaps

Last Friday I was able to attend what could very well be one of the most important shows in the ascending career of Detroit native, Chicago-based singer Eryn Allen Kane. Eryn has quickly risen to be one of the hottest acts in our city thanks to collaborations with high-profile artists like Chance The Rapper and Prince, so when EAK announced her first live show would take place to celebrate the release of her EPs Aviary: Act I and Aviary: Act II, it was an instant can’t-miss show for the year. Eryn came out at City Winery-Chicago with full intention to woo us with her big, luxurious hair and a captivating red gown, but soon after going into her opening number she (almost symbolically) removed her heels to continue the show on her own two feet, allowing her voice to be the center of attention without having to stress her body to present herself like any other songstress out there.

The crowd was a cool mix of family, friends, musicians, and tens of fans excited to hear live renditions of the Soulful R&B music that’s helping Eryn get national acclaim. The set included a mix of her own Aviary tracks, like “Slipping,” “How Many Times,” and “Have Mercy,” along with tracks that came out of the Motor City’s Motown heyday like Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” and a Stevie Wonder song (I’m thinking “Living In The City,” but I can’t completely assert that my mind is doing me right with that). Miss Kane showed off her vocal prowess, her effortless charisma, and a stage presence that will soon enough be conquering cities across every corner of the globe. At one point she jokingly advised the crowd to chant “one more song” so that she can experience the whole encore moment, for which left and immediately came back to the stage to perform “Have Mercy.” In what’s surely going to become a classic EAK moment, the singer giggled after that performance to slightly embarrassingly admit that they actually had one more song left… So she prompted us to once more give her the “one more song” chant, and we all happily obliged.

One of my favorite moments came at the end of the show with the crowd still roaring from the fine performance we had just witnessed. An older man wearing a blazer over his Pink Floyd shirt who was sitting at the same table as my date and I looked at us and gleefully said, “that’s my daughter.” You couldn’t spot a happier person in that crowd, and Mr. Koehn made sure to let us know how proud he was of his daughter. We talked about the show and just how far she’s come in such a short time, our whole table giddy for our own particular reasons that ultimately just served as examples of why EAK is our favorite artist these days. As I look back at a show at almost didn’t even take place after she learned of a medical issue affecting her voice, seeing how she fought through and delivered a flawless set, it’s clear that we saw the launching of a true star.

See a couple more clips below.

“Slipping”

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