Tea Leaf Green | Vic Theatre, Chicago, 10/21/06

At approximately 8:30pm on Saturday night, Tea Leaf Green took the stage at the Vic Theatre in Chicago. Show notes said “show at 7:30pm with 56 Hope Road as the opener.”

We showed up shortly after this thinking we were being overly conservative about getting to the show “on time” — you just never really know when the band is going to take the stage — but Tea Leaf Green remains the “most punctual band in rock and roll,” quote taken directly from Andy…we had already missed two songs after showing up around 9:00pm.

The venue was less than full — in fact, not even close to sold-out — which actually took me by surprise following their Park West concert back in June. I assumed the entire crowd was going to be pumping firsts and raging to all the standard T-L-G jam vehicles, and it was really only the first two rows where this behavior stood out. Everyone else seemed to be chilling towards the back where I took solace…Yeah, quite surprising to see the less-than-packed room…

But…

That didn’t stop Tea Leaf Green from bringing their rock and roll formula — a hearable and sometimes easily distinguishable mix of their jam forefathers and classic rock titans before them — to a Chicago crowd that felt like rocking out with their cock out. Not literally.

In summary, it wasn’t the best show I’ve ever seen and I’ve been to stronger, more energenic Tea Leaf Green shows in the past — but these guys are still worth the price of admission, even on an off night. And not that this would even be considered an “off” night…

(thanks to Madison House for floating me in and almost letting me get away with All Access passes to the show).

More photos below…