Romantica live!

Romantica
Schubas, Chicago
Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Minneapolis-via-North Ireland folk-pop combo Romantica stopped into Schubas on a chilly August evening, bringing with them an unexpected, resilient warmth not counted upon given the tragic bridge accident just days earlier.

While emergency crews regretfully abandoned hope of finding more survivors, frontman Ben Kyle sifted through webs and relationships, trying to restore daily life from a different angle. Surprisingly, however, Romantica ignored the south-of-the-border fascinations that bring this summer’s America (2024) to life, ditching “Ixcatan,” “The Gulf Of Mexico,” and “La Traviada” in favor of a simpler, Whiskeytown-esque set up of acoustic and slide guitars, bass, drums, and harmonica.

They ominously eased into their set with “God Walks On The Water,” a fitting tribute to the bridge tragedy that wonders, as God whistles, “what key he’s playing in.” Belfastian Kyle was a little too wide-eyed covering existential matters on the band’s slicker debut, It’s Your Weakness That I Want, and has pulled his band and himself closer together on America, still managing to let lines on “God Walks” and “Drink The Night Away” linger on Wednesday.

“I Need You Tonight” and “Honey” were the only real blah detours for the intimate show, and while some of the women in the audience clearly wanted to hear more anecdotes in Kyle’s gentle brogue, he let the tales behind the longing of “Fiona” and dreams of lifting the F.A. Cup on “The National Side” do it for him.

— Steve Forstneger

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly