The Chicago Runnner Show!

Noah Weinman; Runnner lead singer

Photo by Addison Gross

By: Addison Gross

Editor in Chief

March 3rd, 2023 Beat Kitchen located in Chicago was packed for the first sold-out show of the Runnner and waveform* tour. The small concert did not disappoint with electric performances from both bands.

The night kicked off with the opening band waveform*; a small indie band made up of 4 members total. Their set was composed of multiple unreleased songs from their upcoming album Antarctica which will be the band's 5th album since their debut in 2018.

While a lot of the crowd hadn’t heard their music before, the response to their set was overall positive and members of the band even spoke to concertgoers after the show.

“Their music is pretty good…I like the vibe” said Celeste Aguilar “It feels nice and almost nostalgic in a way”

Though they aren’t a well-known band as of right now hopefully in the future big things are coming for them. They have a clean and consistent sound that's managed to hold up throughout their various releases.

“Though it was my first time hearing them, I loved their set.” said fellow concertgoer Alaina Vasquez. “I’ll definitely be listening to them more going forward.”

Shortly after waveform* the headliners, indie folk band, Runnner came on to begin their highly anticipated set which included a mix of singles as well as songs from their various albums.

The set began with Monochrome, the first track on their 2021 album Always Repeating. The crowd's response was incredible, especially considering how the song isn’t the most popular on the album. It was a great song to slowly introduce the rest of their set to the crowd.

The crowd livened up a lot more during Runnner’s set. There was a lot of singing and cheering, and the energy from everyone was astounding.

“It was really fun,” said Noah Weinman, lead singer of Runnner “It’s so awesome being here and getting to play a sold-out show.”

The middle of the set was a lot of songs from Like Dying Stars, We’re Reaching Out. The album was released on February 17th, 2023. Though it has only been out for roughly a month the crowd still kept up the energy for the whole set. It was truly great to see so many people connecting over music.

The rest of the show was amazing and their closing song Ur Name on a Grain of Rice, one of their most popular songs, really kept the energy of the crowd right up until Runnner walked off stage.

Overall the concert was astounding and small shows like this truly bring a different kind of energy in contrast to larger shows. Going to concerts is a great way of supporting small bands and contributing to their growth as artists.