Monday night shows are unpredictable. Will the crowd show up? Will the band show up? Will there be a show at all? Despite signs to the contrary, everything ended up falling into place for Manwolves at Baby’s All Right.

The night began as a docile affair with Alpha Bravo opening. The one-man-act tepidly strummed his stratocaster, and asked the audience,"Do you like my sweater?” Before the crowd could answer in support, he chortled, “too bad, I'm taking it off!” It was difficult to rein the early crowd back in from that point forward. Words of encouragement were yelled by his friends in Manwolves, but the effacing demeanor was difficult to come out from under.

The mood in the venue began to change as Manwolves took the stage. The Chicago based band began their set with Ari Garfin’s dreamy keys and Eli Cohen’s meandering guitar that contrasted well with the locked-in bass and drum core of Henry Wolf and Julian Freeman respectively. The slurry style of lead singer Jamie McNear, was by my estimation, half artistic choice and half real time effects of his drink of choice.The crowd seemed to meander when the music did. Coupled with the lack of crowd check in or interaction, the energy in the venue had a tough time getting off its feet.

However, as the night wore on the shoegaze tunes turned to a more defined jam band approach, with Mcnear having moments of Anthony Kiedis or Mac Miller style bars over Vulfpeck adjacent funky rhythms. At times leaning on Garfin’s synthesizer for the laid back west coast Snoop Dogg/ Warren G sound, the crowd began to feel it.

Manwolves started to embrace the jazz roots of their earlier material. Nearly 40 minutes into the set, The band invited trumpet player Issac Burns on stage, and the place turned upside down. Beginning with the song “Roses”, Issac and the rest of the band decided to come alive. The crowd responded in kind. Between “These Days” and “Reaper”, diehard fans began singing along with great fervor. One member of the crowd exclaimed, “they’re like the Grateful Dead, but with bars and swag!” Around this time, Mcnear took a playful jab at the crowd exclaiming that “Pittsburgh was moving around more…New York, you can’t get shown up by Pittsburgh.” That comment may have been the reason that the ensuing chants for an encore, and a generally chipper demeanor was a forgone conclusion for this one of a kind Monday night affair.

You can check out Manwolves on Audiotree Live (Full Session) or on all major streaming platforms.

Review & Photos by: Jay Bartell

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