Photo Gallery: Alkaline Trio • Aragon Ballroom • Chicago

Brassneck | March 17, 2024

Alkaline Trio

Aragon Ballroom

Chicago, IL

March 16, 2024

Recap and photos by Curt Baran

Chicago’s favorite coffin chasers (and February IE cover stars), Alkaline Trio, brought their Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs tour to Uptown’s Aragon Ballroom for a much-anticipated hometown show. Hours before even a single note was played, the line to enter the venue snaked down the city’s streets for blocks on end. The crowd was a mix of guy-lingered fanboys, pierced, inked goth girls, and St. Patrick’s Day revelers festooned in requisite Irish garb.

A packed and rabid throng of concertgoers greeted the first notes of opener “Hot For Preacher” with a deafening sing-along and tear-smeared mascara. The setlist would go on to include a nice chunk of new material from their latest release (2024’s Blood, Hair And Eyeballs) as well as a smattering of selections from throughout their nearly three decades old catalog. The evening also saw the debut of new drummer Atom Willard (who replaced his predecessor of more than twenty years, Derek Grant). His massive backbeat helped guide songs like “We’ve Had Enough,” “Mercy Me,” “Calling All Skeletons” and “Fuck You Aurora” into the darkest corners of the graveyard. It may have been the eve of St. Patrick’s most revered day, but Alkaline Trio’s musical nightmare made it feel like the greenest Halloween ever.