A Swedish Riot: The Soundtrack of our Lives Tear Metro
"It's just another manic Monday," jokingly said Ebbot Lundberg, lead singer of the Soundtrack of our Lives. Regardless if it was a Monday or not, the Swedish sextet stomped out another manic performance as they returned for their second Chicago visit this year.
It seemed like it was yesterday when the Soundtrack of our Lives arrived in a harsh Chicago blizzard. In mid-January at the Double Door, the band unveiled their fourth album Origin Vol. I to a sold-out audience more than willing to be snowed in if the situation arose. With the snow gone and their new album officially released in the U.S., it was business as usual for the band as they continued their current tour through the states.
When the Soundtrack of our Lives take a stage it's without mercy. The stage is where this band shines, and they have the songs to back up their swagger. There isn't a stage big enough for them. They stood before the Metro crowd as if they were playing Wembley Stadium. Their showmanship is a display of rock and roll's past coursing through their veins. Unoriginal? The Who they may never be, but their natural energy can not be questioned. If there is one thing to walk away from an experience like a Soundtrack of our Lives show, it is that they leave no stone unturned. Nothing is off limits. Nothing is impossible.
Anticipation was everywhere, from the balcony to the dance floor. The band steadily rolled and tumbled with the opener "I Believe I've Found," and, like lightning, struck with "Infra Riot." Guitarists Mattias Barjed and Ian Person unleashed a column of power chords behind the tribal opening beats of drummer Fredrik Sandsten's attack. Lundberg moved with the uninhibited force of Iggy Pop combined with the steps of James Brown, and there was still plenty of show to be played.
However much the band leveled the crowd with their sheer volume they also added a mix of twists and turns. Behind the keyboards, Martin Hederos provided spectacular moments that gave extra dimensions to the band's performance. One such highlight came when he, Lundberg, and Barjed on acoustic guitar gave a moving rendition of "Song For The Others." The somber quietness of the song laced with piano and Lundberg's raspy, soulful vocals spoke louder than any other song in the set. It was proof enough of how much versatility is at work in the band.
Between Sandsten and bassist Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm, the band maintained a concrete foundation. "Sister Surround" was too irresistible a groove for the crowd to succumb to and "Transcendental Suicide" was a rock epic in every respect, from the grabbing chorus of "We're gonna last forever" to the rapturous solo. As the second and what seemed final encore reached its peak, Lundberg began singing the opening lines to "Instant Repeater '99" to the pleasant surprise of the band. Before long Lundberg departed the stage to perform from the floor of Metro, parting the crowd as he strolled by singing. The band and crowd were in a unified frenzy.
Like the great showmen that they are, the Soundtrack of our Lives left the stage like they were the biggest band in the world and an audience demanding for more. A show like this leaves any attendee believing that these Swedish rockers could last forever.
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