First up, to start the night off right, was James the Boneless! There’s quite a backstory for James here. He went through a prolonged period of IV drug abuse, partially disintegrating his freaking bones. Yes his bones, yikes! Thankfully James cleaned up, but that accomplishment brought about another challenge. How could James get back into playing guitar? Well, it would appear he strapped on his sweet Dean Cadillac guitar and taught himself to play it sort of like a slide guitar, baring all the strings. He grips them from the top side of the neck with his forefinger. Although it gives him a way to play, his condition still brings notable pain to the performance, but James pushes through and puts on a great show. The band plays a breed of bluesy soul music with driving rock parts mixed in. The large lineup of the band generated a full and diverse sound. Besides the band’s usual bass, drum, and sax  accompaniment, a synth, trumpet, and additional saxophone were added to the mix for the evening. James said he brought the extra musicians out because it was their debut show at his favorite Chicago venue. Beyond filling the stage with a full sound, I quite appreciated the contrast between the relaxed parts of songs and how they transitioned into energetic rock hooks.You can catch Jame’s the Boneless at  Beer Can’d Fest on April 29th, at the Reopening of the Exit Fest (TBA), and at One City Tap on May 19th.

Nora Marks closed out the evening, bringing a more traditional lineup and a sound more akin to what I’m used to on stage at Lair’s. They have a fairly standard four piece rock lineup, with 2 guitars, bass, and drums. Their vocal parts fill out nicely with rhythm guitar belting out the lead vocals, backed up by both the lead guitar player and the bass player. Their lineup presented solid, solid rock grooves to the stage. I would say their sound was somewhat laid back but came with plenty of driving parts too. All in all the songs had a feel good vibe you don’t always get these days. The drummer and bass player laid a tight foundation holding everything together. The lead guitar player churned out chimey melodies with her Telecaster that complemented the crunchy power chords of the rhythm player’s Firefly single-cut nicely. Things didn’t stay too mellow though. Towards the end of the set the lead vocalist left his guitar behind and took his microphone for a field trip into the audience. He let loose a great amount of energy and got the crowd even more worked up. It was a powerful end to the evening for sure.Nora Marks will be playing in Chicago on April 2nd as part of the Mic1park Midwest Magic Tour, don’t miss it!