James Vincent McMorrow returned to Chicago playing his sophomore album Post Tropical to a sold out crowd.

Although different from his folksy first album, Early In The Morning, the album was well received. Opening with “The Lakes,” the music seemed to hang upon the air and McMorrow immediately captivated the audience.

McMorrow also played his single “Cavalier” along with new songs such as “Red Dust,” “Post Tropical,” and “Glacier.” McMorrow played old favorites “Down the Burning Ropes,” and “Follow You Down To The Red Oak Tree” and closed with “If My Heart Should Somehow Stop” and “If I Had A Boat.”

Throughout many songs, the crowd would begin to sing along, realize how bad they sounded compared to McMorrow’s falsetto, and would slowly fade into a whisper, not wanting to disturb the ambience.

The crowd was calm and respectful, only speaking to McMorrow when spoken to, leaving near silence between songs. It was not until the fourth or fifth song McMorrow even acknowledged he had an audience. He bashfully thanked the crowd for being there and said it was great to be in Chicago again, then went back to staring at an unknown location near his feet before starting the next song.

Later in the evening, McMorrow warmed up and began to tell comical stories of the band’s troubles on the road including the tour bus driver dubbed “Big Ron” (fuck that guy) who was unable to cross the border into Canada. This forced McMorrow to become “an ice road trucker” and drive the van through the mountains at 3 am.

Although McMorrow’s crowd connection got off to a slow start, his music filled the room and left you breathless instantly. His passion was easy to see as he shook his fist at the crowd and the veins in his neck bulged. Throughout the set, it was difficult not to imagine the cruel girl who broke McMorrow’s heart, but led to such beautiful songs.

Opening for McMorrow was the young, Canadian singer Aidan Knight, hailing from Victoria.

“We’re from Canada. Just wanted to get that out there,” said Knight to start of the set.

Although the band was young, their music was surprisingly matured with lyrics describing heartbreaks and lost love in a voice almost as pure as McMorrow’s. The lyrics were layered between a reverberating violin and trumpet with 808 drums and keyboards in the background.

Knight created the perfect beginning to the set: the spoon of sorbet at a swanky restaurant before the big meal, the artisanal nut…the pistachio, as described by Knight. They will be opening for McMorrow for the remainder of the tour.