This past Friday, October 23rd to be exactly, Say Anything headlined a sold out show at the Vic Theatre in Chicago Il. This was the first time I had ever seen Say Anything live, and I can honestly say that for only knowing them through their albums, they put on an amazing live performance! The opening acts that night were Moving Mountains, Moneen and Eisley. One thing that I learned throughout Say Anything’s set was that lead singer Max Bemis had just recently married Sherri Dupree of Eisley this past April.

At first when Say Anything was just about to go on, I thought there was no way that this show was sold out, as it didn’t look that crowded from my perspective. I was way off on that observation because the second that they walked onto the stage and started the song Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too, the crowd was immediately full of energy and singing along with every word. I was amazed at how passionate and responsive the crowd was to not only every song on the set list but to Max Bemis as well and his theatrics and flamboyance in his performance. Here is the set list of what Say Anything performed during the show:

Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too
Alive With the Glory of Love
It’s a Metaphor, Fool
Shiksa (Girlfriend)
Hate Everyone
Yellow Cat (Slash) Red Cat
Have at Thee!
This is Fucking Ecstasy
Eloise
Woe
Baby Girl, I’m A Blur
Mara and Me
Slowly, Through A Vector
The Futile

Encore:
Crush’d
Spores
Admit It!!!

Rounding out the show were classics such as Alive With the Glory of Love and Woe, and they performed a few new songs such as Eloise and Hate Everyone, off of their soon to be released, self-titled album available on November 3rd. A touching moment during the set was when Max Bemis came out for the encore and did a solo acoustic set for the song Crush’d, which was a song he wrote for his wife Sherri Dupree. Then by the end of the show, the closing song, Admit It!!! really picked up the energy in the room. The opening bands began stage diving and mingling amongst the crowd surfers, and Max Bemis was practically throwing himself into the front of the crowd. This mixed with the singing and chanting in unison of the crowd and just the overall atmosphere really made you feel like if anything, that this crowd had in common, it was Say Anything, they really love this band and rightfully so. It was one of the best performances I have ever seen and I would not hesitate to go see them perform live again!

You may also like:

1. The Academy Is… Metro Chicago Show Review
2. Raditude at the Aragon Show Review! Aragon Ballroom Chicago, IL
3. IAMTHETREND TV Tonight! Huge Show!
4. Review: Breathe Electric
5. The Rocket Summer – Of Men and Angels CD Review