Live Review and Photo Gallery: Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets at Square Roots Festival • Chicago
Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets
Square Roots Festival
Chicago, IL
Nick Lowe started his week with some quality time in Lincoln Square. First, he and his luchador-masked bandmates in Los Straitjackets drew lucky fans and strangers alike to a free (and hot!) street performance on Sunday for the Square Roots Festival. On Monday, Lowe settled into an air-conditioned show at the Old Town School of Folk Music. When Lowe asked, many people in the crowd said they were back for a second helping.
Lowe wisecracked that he didn’t know why everyone hadn’t resold their tickets to the sold-out Old Town School show and opted for just the free concert. It soon became obvious that there was good reason to have attended both performances as the band began digging into different corners of Lowe’s extensive catalog than he’d explored the day before.
The melancholy crooner “Lately I’ve Let Things Slide” was an unrepeated gem drawn from 2001’s The Convincer. Those who only attended Monday’s show may have missed Lowe’s Rockpile classic “When I Write the Book” that closed the Square Roots set, but they got a terrific boogie-woogie version of “I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ‘n’ Roll)” in trade.
The English rocker had special thanks for his fans in Chicago, revealing that Park West had until recently been his most frequently played venue in any town. That distinction is now held by the Old Town School. “Who knows why?” Lowe joked. “I don’t think I’m very folk at all,” he added, expressing gratitude for the repeated invitations and fans’ patronage.
The concert touched on a broad range of Lowe’s career, with an extra measure drawn from 2024’s acclaimed Indoor Safari. Songs including “Love Starvation,” “Went to a Party,” and “Jet Pac Boomerang” were designed to capitalize on Lowe’s longstanding partnership with surf and rockabilly mavens Los Straitjackets, who helped Lowe find the sweet spot between early rock and roll influences like Carl Perkins and the summery twang of the Ventures.
The newer songs find Lowe well deserving of his reputation as a master craftsman of heartbroken pop. Following the rowdy and often insightful pub rock of his earlier career, Lowe has deployed his expertise in his formative rock and roll influences to craft songs that swing and shimmer. “Jet Pac Boomerang” closed with a quote from the Beatles’ early 1963 single, “Please Please Me.”
“Trombone” unfolded with a deceptively summery jangle akin to The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar,” but its romantically defeated protagonist described a personal soundtrack provided by the saddest of the stereotypical sad trombones. The optimistic and upbeat “Somebody Cares for Me” briefly visited the opposite end of the emotional spectrum.
The show was assured and easygoing. When Lowe began the beautifully lovelorn “Blue on Blue” in the wrong key for Eddie Angel’s languid guitar line, Lowe simply paused and said, “So many chords, so little time.” The crowd laughed as Lowe rebooted in the intended key.
Party of One favorite “Shting-Shtang” leaned into the rockabilly train shuffle of drummer Chris “Gringo Starr” Sprague, who added rich harmony to Lowe’s weathered but warm and agile voice throughout the evening. It was one of several songs to suggest that in a parallel universe, Elvis Presley could have made hit albums full of Lowe’s songs with Los Straitjackets’ arrangements.
Los Straitjackets were highlighted with a four-song mid-show set of their own. The entertaining showmen exhibited sharp playing with a minimum of technological aids. Guitarists Angel and Greg Townson coaxed dreamy and exhilarating surf-rock tones with the minimal tools of their bare fingers and switches for amplifier reverb and tremolo. The band performed the nimble “High Wire Act” from 2025’s Somos Los Straitjackets, recorded in Chicago.
The show gathered fervor and momentum with a string of indelible singles. “Without Love” and the jangling “Cruel to Be Kind” were performed from 1979’s celebrated Labour of Lust album. The country-flavored rocker “Half a Boy and Half a Man” led into a hymnal and emotion-packed version of “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding.” The latter song continues to resonate deeply, more than 50 years since its original release.
Lowe’s beloved debut album, Jesus of Cool (retooled for US audiences as Pure Pop for Now People), was represented by songs that bookended the main set. The wry, Kurt Vonnegut-referencing “So it Goes” was Lowe’s debut solo single and served as the show’s swinging opener. A chugging version of “Heart of the City” was the final song before the encore.
The evening was full of goodwill for and from Nick Lowe. It’s clear that Chicago-area fans want the 77-year-old rocker to continue enjoying sufficient good health to keep adding to his personal record-setting tally of shows at the Old Town School of Folk Music. With luck, Lowe will return soon and bring his masked pals with him.
Category: Featured, IE Photo Gallery
