Photo Gallery: The The in Chicago

Recap and photos by Curt Baran

Deep into The The’s second music set at Chicago’s Salt Shed, listeners were reminded how bottomless this band’s catalog goes.

Now entering their fourth decade, The The (the chosen moniker singer/songwriter Matt Johnson has used throughout his career) broke their evening into two distinct acts. For their First Act, the band performed their latest album, Ensoulment, in its entirety. Having been off the road since 2018, the return has resulted in sold-out shows for most of the tour. But getting back to that second set. Johnson proved just how many near misses his band has had. “This Is The Day,” from 1983, is the band’s best-recognized song. It has succeeded as part of many high-profile ad campaigns but was never a charting dynamo.

What was apparent during songs like “Slow Emotion Replay,” “Infected,” “Uncertain Smile,” and “Dogs of Lust” is that Johnson knows how to not only craft a tune but how to sell it as well. His sumptuous baritone sucked the listener in, and his sing/speak delivery made it a point to chew on every last syllable. Hits be damned, it was a welcomed return to form, proving that perseverance, as well as taken-for-granted talent, still somehow managed to transcend a perceived sense of what is or is not defined as success.