Photos by Ari Karnezis // Review by Mercé Horton

On a rainy Tuesday night in Chicago, Australian band Hiatus Kaiyote graced the Salt Shed with their presence and gave an electrifying performance. The multi-genre, 3x Grammy nominated quartet performed to a packed house, and took the crowd on a journey through the land of music. With positive energy from the band and audience filling the venue, it led to a fulfilling and inspiring night.

A night of avant-garde musicianship began with the opener, Clever Austin, alias of Perrin, who is the drummer for Hiatus Kaiyote. In addition to his instrumentation, he is a producer. Seated on a platform slightly above ground, Austin began to showcase a variety of mixes. Each track conveyed a different emotion, ranging from mellow and chill, to vibrant and upbeat. One could picture an underground rapper on one of these productions, breathing even more life into these tracks. Austin expressed his gratitude to the crowd, and they reciprocated it with cheers and shouts of adoration.

The audience grew excited as MF DOOM played over the speakers during intermission. As the lights dimmed, Hiatus Kaiyote began to filter out one by one and cheers grew. They reached their highest point when lead singer Nai Palm graced the stage with her presence, shining her bright smile and thanking the crowd for being there.

They began with “Dreamboat”, the opening song on their most recent album Love Heart Cheat Code, released June 28. From the moment Nai Palm started singing, her infectious energy was felt throughout the building. Her strong and soulful voice brought out shouts of adoration from the crowd. Fan favorite “And We Go Gentle” was performed next, with the crowd illuminating the venue with lighters and flashlights to pay homage to the lyrics “Tell me, can I get a light?”

Elaborate compositions of the songs featured on Love Heart Cheat Code were showcased, including “Telescope”, “Dimitri”, and “Make Friends”. They visited their third album frequently throughout the night, performing alternate versions of “All the Words We Don’t Say”, “Get Sun” and “Red Room”. Their crowd interaction was impeccable, with Nai Palm checking throughout the show to make sure everyone was okay.

As the night dwindled down, a beautiful piano composition piece was performed by keyboardist Simon Mavin. Hiatus Kaiyote revisited their debut album with “Swamp Thing” closing the show. The band thanked Chicago for their love, and began to exit the stage one by one as the song came to a gentle close. Cheers for more erupted from the crowd and grew stronger. Eventually the band came out for an encore, performing “Everything’s Beautiful” and interacting with the crowd even more.

The light drizzle was a full on shower when the night was over, but it didn’t matter to the exiting audience. The effects of the high quality musicianship were felt and cultivated a positive and happy atmosphere overall. 

Hiatus Kaiyote will be on tour in the U.S. through July 20 and tickets can be purchased on Ticketmaster.