On Friday night, the newly reunited Miracle Legion entertained hundreds of fans at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall. As expected, Mark Mulcahy’s Connecticut outfit came fully prepared with an arsenal of favorites, opting out of 1992’s Drenched and focusing namely on 1987’s Surprise Surprise Surprise, 1989’s Me and Mr. Ray, and 1984’s The Backyard EP.
All night, the bearded singer-songwriter jovially bounced alongside guitarist Mr. Ray Neal, drawing tears and harmonies from several diehards in the audience, especially on tracks “Mr. Mingo”, “All for the Best”, and “The Backyard”. Behind them, drummer Scott Boutier and bassist Dave McCaffrey kept things remarkably tight, powering ahead with aplomb.
Cracking open the night were hometown heroes The Kickback. Frontman Billy Yost offered his trademark witty banter, which is always fresh from transparency, acknowledging that everyone was there for Miracle Legion and not them — including himself. To prove his loyalty, he led the band straight into a sweltering cover of Polaris’ Pete and Pete hit “Summerbaby”.
Consequence of Sound presented the concert, rounding out a trilogy of Mulcahy gigs that began with 2013’s solo performance at The Hideout and continued with 2014’s pop culture spectacle of Polaris feat. Danny Tamberelli and Michael Maronna at Lincoln Hall. Revisit Friday night’s festivities with Heather Kaplan’s photo gallery below.
