Cece Coakley @ Schubas
Chicago, Illinois- April 15th, 2023
On Saturday night, Schubas Tavern was filled with loving, folk music from Field Guide, Cece Coakley, and Reno Cruz on Field Guide’s first headlining tour through the U.S.
As the crowd arrived, they were met with Chicago-local opener Reno Cruz’s love songs and Chicago-banter. The crowd’s attentiveness truly showed their appreciation of his late-addition to the show. He started his set with the first song on his latest project, “Falling In Love is Not That Hard,” and wrapped it up with the last on the album, “I’d Do It All Again.” Between these beautiful acoustic folk songs, the attentive crowd was given the chance to listen to unreleased material as well.
The self-proclaimed “hummus queen of Tennessee,” Cece Coakley, stepped on stage with her guitarist, Joseph Sardella, to wow the audience with a set list filled with unreleased tracks. Styled by her freshly-thrifted outfit, Coakley carried the intimacy of the night with her own anecdotes about the songs she performed. Starting with her well-known song “Terrify You With My Heart,” Cece held the audience’s attention with a stunning performance. Coakley hinted at the release of the songs that are not yet out, getting the audience excited to listen again when they are available. Her unforgettable lyricism and sweet-sounding vocals allowed the audience to soak in the entirety of the six songs that lined her setlist. The crowd participated in a call and response with Coakley as she performed her final song of the night: “Halfway,” which is one that has yet to be released.
Dylan MacDonald, who most know as Field Guide lit up the stage with energy and love for his craft. He and his band, who consisted of Michael Dunn on drums and Kris Ulrich on just about every other instrument, further-proved the night to be a look into the future of music-to-be-released as they sprinkled some of their own unreleased songs into the night’s melodies. Field Guide also played some of his most popular songs like “Tupperware,” “You Were,” and “All the Other Lovers.” The set was cleverly built upon his sometimes-slightly-fabricated, memorable stories, which entertained the audience at all points of the show.
The Winnipeg-based group gave their Canadian love to the city of Chicago and the night’s venue. The audience was swept away by Field Guide’s unforgettable vulnerability in his lyricism and liveliness in his interactions with the crowd. With an encore ending Field Guide’s first Chicago headlining show, the audience was left in awe by his extended guitar solo and his infectious energy closing the night perfectly.
