Daffo Visits Chicago’s Beat Kitchen on January 30th for their Winter Where the Earth Bends Tour
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY MAE SAUNDERS ☆
This past Friday marked the return of Daffo to the Chicagoland area. The up-and-coming twang-filled indie rocker stopped by the Beat Kitchen venue in Roscoe Village, filling the room with patrons willing to brave the white-out conditions just outside the door. Daffo’s debut album, Where the Earth Bends, dropped last year and features twelve lyrically poetic tracks, each perfectly matched to its own fiercely composed instrumentals. Where the Earth Bends follows the flock of indie lovers to the twang genre with artists like MJ Lenderman, Big Thief, and Wednesday, marking the “artists to know” sections of nearly every music magazine. Coincidentally (or not), I think many of the watchers lining the Beat Kitchen stage discovered Daffo when they visited Chicago with Wednesday back in the fall, and just had to come back for more. After watching Daffo’s set, it’s not hard to understand why.
Perfectly plucked to open for the evening was Toronto-based Earth 2 Tiffany. Though playing solo, the artist hooked the attention of everyone in the room with their close-to-home, personal lyrics and powerful alto voice. I often find that it is difficult to open as a solo acoustic artist for a band as “loud” as Daffo, but Earth 2 Tiffany’s honesty and personable diction paired spectacularly with Daffo’s similarly themed lyrical motifs.
Crowds continued to accumulate until it was finally time for Daffo. The band made their way through the densely packed room and onto the stage. Necks craned to catch a view as they opened their set with the starting track off their new album, “Get a Life”. Fans around me sang along and danced; the energy in the room growing alongside Daffo’s as the set progressed. As to be expected, the setlist primarily featured songs off of Where the Earth Bends, though when the rare throwback was played, it was easy to tell who the die-hard Daffo fans were, as they quickly erupted in squeals. By the time the set ended, there a palpable joy to the crowd, knowing they had just witnessed indie twang’s next greatest artist.
There are still a few dates left on the Where the Earth Bends Tour, and if you are lucky enough for one of them to be in your city, you cannot miss it. I am sure we will be hearing a lot more about Daffo soon, and I can’t wait to see what they do next!
