Brigitte Calls Me Baby performs at Schubas Tavern on March 2, 2024. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)
There was a charge in the air at Schubas Tavern on Saturday night. Maybe it was the singer with the electric chair tattooed on his chest.
Brigitte Calls Me Baby played its first sold-out hometown show. Arguably the Chicago rock band of the moment, the group has had airplay on WXRT, a slot on national TV and praise from the press — all in a matter of months.
But expectations are damned things. Would they live up to the hype?
Brigitte Calls Me Baby answered the call emphatically. The band was both tight and loose. They shrugged off the hype and exceeded expectations.
Singer Wes Leavins is a charismatic frontman with moves and good looks, but it’s his voice that really pierces your ears. A confident rock singer with a soaring instrument, he has pipes and isn’t afraid to use them.
The band writes hook-filled songs that ages ago might have been called “new wave.” They are fans of The Cars, and if they ever cover the Modern English classic “I Melt With You” it would fit neatly into their set. Songs are short and smart and don’t overstay their welcome with noodling or repetition. Tunes like “Eddie My Love” and “Impressively Average” were embraced by the crowd, as was an up-tempo version of George Michael’s “Careless Whisper.”
Another fine thing: The bandmates enjoyed each other’s company, and their good humor was contagious. Bass player Devin Wessels, guitarists Trevor Lynch and Jack Fluegel, and drummer Jeremy Benshish knew they were winning the night and enjoyed the ride. The rapport was more than musical.
Back to that voice — maybe everything really is bigger in Texas. Leavins is from Port Arthur, Texas, hometown of another big-voiced singer, Janis Joplin, but his voice is more comparable to another giant from Texas, Roy Orbison. Hearing Leavins at a club, you realize he could fill a space many times that size. You get the feeling that if they cut the power on his microphone, he could keep going.
There have been some grumblings about how the band sounds too much like the Smiths or whoever. Nonsense. Every recording artist has antecedents you can hear in their early work. Anyone listening to Sinatra’s first recordings might think: “Who does this Bing Crosby impersonator think he is?”
Lastly, my plus-one for the evening was a veteran of the music scene who, unlike me, has actually played at Schubas, Metro, etc. He didn’t know the band but was a quick convert, stating: “Every song was good. They cannot be denied.”
After the group’s first sold-out show in Chicago — and two coming up in June — there’s little denying the potency of Brigitte Calls Me Baby.
