Photo courtesy of Matty Vogel

Indie pop band MisterWives has always been a voice for confidence, courage and pushing boundaries. They’ve built their own house, colored outside the lines, came out the other side and walked the tightrope. While their latest album, Nosebleeds, has an attitude unlike their previous albums, the message of it is still powerful. Each member of the band puts their best foot forward on each track, and the same can be said for their live performances on The Don’t Look Down Tour.

During their Chicago stop with Bishop Briggs and Raffaella, their energy was felt from the front of the stage to the last row of the balcony. The band entered from the darkness, with vocalist Mandy Lee perched atop an elevated LED platform. The first track off Nosebleeds, “Out of Your Mind”, began just as strongly as it does on the album. As Lee made it down to the front of the stage, the crowd rejoiced. The real party was about to begin.

There is no doubt the band is well attuned with one another, as they’ve been performing together for a decade. It is the sheer happiness that was most palpable on stage, however. There was not a moment where at least one of them was smiling or staring out into the crowd with a look of awe. Multiple times Lee called out the audience’s energy and thanked them for reminding them that playing music was the best feeling ever.

Lee’s energy was just as dynamic. Her vocal range is impressive in its own right, but hearing it in person is unmatched. She not only brings what is heard in album form to life, but she is also acrobatic in her stage presence; bounding from stage left to stage right, with epic hair flips and high jumps in between. She never once stumbled, physically or vocally.

The rest of the band is impressively interactive with one another, crossing the stage to perform alongside them or smile up at them from their own smaller raised platforms. It is clear that despite everything they have been through since the beginning, they still appreciate each other.

The set list included nearly every song from Nosebleeds, minus “Flower Moon” and “Broken Glass”. The message of the album was heard tenfold that night, and the band gave the audience a safe space to feel any and all emotions.

“Thanks so much for helping us feel OK, Chicago,” Lee said.

MisterWives and The Don’t Look Down Tour is everything an audience wants in a live performance: interaction, entertainment and a sprinkling of encouragement. The partnership between fan and band is unlike any other, and this band knows how to give their fans a performance to remember.