Review: Chicago Loves Winona Fighter

It's 10pm and something doesn't smell right but I can't put my finger on what. I take a big, deep breath through my nose, REALLY inhaling. "You really don't smell that," I say to my partner. I sit down on the couch next to her and for the first time feel how sore my legs, feet, and arms are. After another minute the familiarity of the odor washes over me and I realize - that's the all too familiar smell of spilled beer and sweat drying on fabric. 

I'm typing this with aching bones over coffee. I'm a middle aged guy, well into my mosh retirement years, and everything still feels sore. But it's the good kind of sore. The kind burned so deep into my muscle memory it's in my bones. 

"We fuck with you, Chicago," vocalist/guitarist Coco Kinnon told a packed, sweaty, and beer soaked sold out crowd at Subterranean. 

The Chicago love was all over the menu on one of Winona Fighter's last stops on their "Yes, Chef" tour, which Kinnon told the crowd it felt like their millionth day on. But despite being on tour for months, this isn't a band that shows fatigue. From the opening chords of "You Look Like a Drunk Phoebe Bridges" to the last notes of "HAMMS IN A GLASS," the Nashville punks shredded their way through the entirety of My Apologies to the Chef, along with a newly released song, "(Don't Get) Close," from their upcoming deluxe edition of the album, and an incredible cover of the Beastie Boy's "Sabotage." 

The sheer force they bring to the stage is complimented by a genuine down to Earth nature that feels downright midwestern. In between ping-ponging between the stage and the shoulders of the crowd, Kinnon and company made sure we all felt loved by a band who absolutely loves what they do, even when they tell us to hit somebody on the dance floor. 

Along their tour, Winona Fighter has been helping to spread love for local acts, and at Subterranean we were treated to an opening set by Chicago's Pure Intention, a ferocious trio who blasted out songs that were equal parts punk and thrash run through a blender with the best and loudest parts of the 80s, 90s, and early aught's. 

I don't get out to see as many shows as I'd like to these days, and I've shot even fewer as of late. But Winona Fighter was too incredible to see just once, so my partner and I packed up and jumped on an Amtrak to see them the very next night at the Vivarium in Milwaukee. This band is so good I immediately needed a second course. And while the Yes, Chef tour might've ended over the weekend, I expect there will be more opportunities once the deluxe version of My Apologies to the Chef drops in early September.

Don't sleep on it.

All photos by Aaron Cynic