On Tuesday, November 24th, the Traveling Talent Show tour rolled into town, headlined by The White Tie Affair with supporting acts Every Avenue, Stereo Skyline, and Runner Runner. At only half capacity, Fubar was the perfect venue for this Chicago pop rock band because of its intimacy and acoustics. The doors opened an hour late, accordingly Runner Runner began the show behind schedule. The crowd, for the most part, was apparently not familiar with RR’s material, and the excitement was disappointingly lacking. RR was definitely looking for more applause and seemed offended by the lack of enthusiasm. I was impressed with their performance, however, and they had stepped up their crowd interaction since the last time I saw them. Next on was Stereo Skyline, a band from Long Island signed to Colombia records this summer. After seeing them only a few months ago on the Let’s Make A Mess tour (headlined by Hey Monday) I expected to see a similar show from their last tour, yet they performed many new, unreleased songs along with a few from their older EPs. They were more stage shy than RR, but very endearing – somehow lead vocalist Kevin Bard managed to smile throughout their entire set.
Next up was Every Avenue. They have received a lot of hype for their recently released album Picture Perfect and the band’s energy matched that of the increasingly excited audience. They paved the way for the main act, and after a fairly unsuccessful “talent show” by individuals in the audience, The White Tie Affair made their grand entrance enhanced by smoke machines and a light show. However, halfway through their highly anticipated first song “Allow Me To Introduce Myself…Mr. Right” the sound cut down. After ten minutes of lead singer, Chris Wallace, awkwardly entertaining the crowd, the technical problems subsided and the show resumed (though the sound did fail again later in the show). For the song “Let Down,” the lights (intentionally, don’t worry) went out and glow sticks were distributed—and Wallace actually went into the audience and sang to people. Most likely inspired by their recent tour with Lady Gaga, The White Tie Affair did a medley including covers of “Paparazzi” and “Just Dance.” Their set ended with a two-song encore that was lit with black lights. Overall, though the show could have gone smoother, The White Tie Affair rolled with the punches and was still energetic and charismatic.