Saturday night, under Union lights and a Badger’s roof, two of Chicagoland’s up-and-comers established their rock 'n' roll empires, if only for a night. Grunge school graduates Mutts and heartland indie rockers Empires took over the Sett’s stage Saturday, blaring their way through sets full of slow-burner jams and light-hearted indie rock, sprinkled with sharp-edged grunge and shades of punk.
Mutts kicked off the night with keyboard-driven grunge led by Mike Maimone, the burly keyboarder and singer who growled his way through a 40-minute set. Mutts tore into blues tracks reminiscent of The Doors, with distorted keyboard lines and a bass guitar that whined with feedback, building intensity in the room. Save for a small foray into punk and a piano ballad in the same vein of The Replacements’ “Androgynous,” the Mutts' set list was devoted to sludgy piano rock.
“Shut the fuck up and go fuck yourself!” Maimone shouted over one of these thunderous blues songs. Drummer Chris Pagnani drove the Mutts' unique take on grunge with both lightly tapped and ear-shattering drum riffs, guiding the Mutts through their jams’ most left-field tempo changes. “We Float” was a perfect example of this, where a light shuffle tears into a roaring headbanger before returning to the flowing verses. A cover of John Lennon’s “Well Well Well” and the Black Sabbath-like “Terranaut” topped off the show.
The break between the two bands was short. Minutes after the Mutts sounded off their final snare tap, Empires took the stage over. They ripped into their brand of rock 'n' roll music, a brand that rests casually between punk heart of The Gaslight Anthem and the anthem-driven sound of The Killers. Lead singer Sean Van Vleet led the band with Thom Yorke-like gusto, dancing around the stage as Empires played through several incredibly danceable rock numbers (including several tracks they just debuted on this tour). Three songs in, the crowd was on their feet, bobbing and jumping with the Chicagoland rockers.
Empires eased their performance into the more emotionally intimate “Hello, Lover,” where they were allowed to reveal a more blues-based side to the band. The song eventually blew up into its enormous finale. As Van Vleet screamed into the microphone, Empires’ individual members fought a climactic battle between slide guitar, power chords, a torrential bass line and a deep drum line.
Empires closed their show with more lighter-hearted rockers, like the Garage Hymns cut “Shame.” Their show was a perfect compilation of pop-punk and heartland rock, storytelling played through hooks that had the crowd moving along with them. As the final chords echoed through the Sett, it became official: Empires had claimed a new audience for their own rock 'n' roll empire.
Needless to say, this new fan now eagerly awaits Empires’ upcoming album, somewhere on the horizon.
