Photo Gallery: Japanese Breakfast

Brassneck | May 2, 2025

Japanese Breakfast

The Salt Shed

Chicago, IL

April 30, 2025

Recap and photos by Curt Baran

While not exactly the equivalent of securing an EGOT, at the very least, Michelle Zauner has established herself as a multi-hyphenate. Singer-songwriter-best-selling author is now her title to claim. Her book Crying In H Mart, a devastatingly emotional account of her mother’s passing from cancer, was a New York Times hit and is rumored to be in development as a major motion picture.

But what has been an even more significant ongoing concern of hers for the past decade or so has been Japanese Breakfast. The ever-evolving indie pop band she founded in 2013 has steadily clawed from clubs and basements to theaters, arenas, and major music festivals. The group recently hit the road in support of their fourth album, For Melancholy Brunettes ( & Sad Woman), and the tour, which bears its name, set down at the Salt Shed for the first of three nights on Wednesday evening.

Zauner was aglow and sparkling (literally…thanks glitter) as she took the stage, which reminded those of a certain age of the “Enchantment Under The Sea Dance” from the film Back To The Future. She even promptly parked herself inside a giant clam. As one might expect, the set list was culled heavily from the newest record, with periodic dips into her back catalogue.

While there’s certainly no denying the talent Zauner possesses as both a performer and a songwriter, the fact that she will move more than 10,000 or so tickets over her three nights at the venue is a testament to a finely curated career.

It could also apply to some of her peers (Lucy Dacus and Sharon Van Etten), who will also be coming through town shortly, who said that sometimes talent WITHOUT patience can be the death of a career. Zauner proved over the execution of a set of nearly two dozen songs that she not only earned her current success, but the smile she wore most of Wednesday night proves she’s also enjoying it.