Farewell, Bridey. Chicago Loves You

This is a common occurrence in the art scenes of Chicago: to stay a while, hone your craft, and then move to a hopeful Los Angeles. Some in pursuit of jobs in an iconic film industry, some starry-eyed actors, some natives of California aching for a landscape that isn’t blocked by those Brian Urlacher restorative hair ads. This is the secondary nature of Chicago, unironically nicknamed the second city. It’s a place to steady your bearings among a vibrant art scene full of enthusiastic support and connection, a place to gain experience, an affordable and happening place to establish a home in your young adult life. Chicago is where people with big dreams go, hone their craft, and leave when they need to pursue those dreams on a larger scale. At the end of this summer, singer songwriter Bridey and her bandmates will do just that.

I first saw Bridey sing at a house show just over three years ago. She stood below the crown molding of a weathered Wrigleyville living room with her electric guitar and amp. I remember being struck by how tender and calm she was. She held her own in an awkward room as she spoke and sang with sweet and warm honesty. Since that night, she has formed a vibrant band equipped with a second guitar, a bass, and a steady drummer. Bridey and her band have gone from house shows to headlining numerous independent Chicago venues, easily filling the room of Schubas, Sleeping Village, and The Hideout.

On a humid Sunday night in August, she and her bandmates held a farewell show at the beloved Sleeping Village in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. All in attendance understood the importance of this night: Bridey will perform in Chicago for what will be the last time for the foreseeable future. There was an air of bittersweetness in the crowd, but more importantly, excitement and love. Her fans and friends have come to know Bridey for her hopefulness as a performer. With a sound that mirrors Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten, anyone who listens to her expects her career to follow a similar trajectory.

Bridey began her show like she would most, alone and with her electric guitar as she strums the chords to her song, “The Light.” She started off soft and slow, serenading us with the romantic and easing tune. The song grew in intensity and her voice grew in volume before her bandmates joined her onstage: Cam Mahai on guitar, Tommy Nelson on bass, and Alex Collyard on drums. There was a space of emptiness for a moment while they grabbed their instruments; a pin drop could have been heard before an explosion of full sound. Each of them blasted their tools as the show began in full and uninterrupted force. This is how her fanbase has come to expect Bridey and her band, with this spiritual explosion at the top of a show.

She played songs old and new - the old was sung along to and the new was given undivided attention. Bridey has an innate and unique ability to unite the crowd and get us to laugh and cry, often simultaneously. In “You Are The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened”, which she has dubbed “a make-out song”, she asks the crowd if there is a couple who would make out at the break in the chorus. Two awkward lovers got pushed to the front, stood in the pit, anxious in anticipation as her sound built. When the building broke, they kissed most passionately, and the crowd screamed like loving, wild animals. It was a beautiful thing to watch; it gives you a pit in your stomach akin to your first kiss. It felt like jumping up and down through city streets in the rain - singing, dancing, and holding hands.

While she is known and loved for her humbling and soft melodies, she and her band are no strangers to rocking. They played and slammed their instruments as hard as possible as the room shook. In “The Yearning,” a 2021 single, she sings: “take me now darling with both hands,” as the crowd danced and swayed to this melodic and somehow nostalgic tune. It feels like butter melting on your heart to listen to musicians with the confidence that she performed with. Chicago has given Bridey that platform and chance: to perfect. With her poetic lyrics, soft-rock rhythm, and her band’s ability to shred their instruments, Bridey crafts a full-bodied and knowing performance.

The show continued with Collyard’s thick drumming, Mahai’s swinging force of chords, and Nelson standing tall and true with his bass. The band complemented Bridey’s guttural melancholy sound, as if to have been lifting her up and saying with the rhythm of their bodies and instruments, “Listen to this woman, dammit.” It is a beautiful thing to watch these talented people play, mostly beautiful in the way they play together, in how they support each other actively on stage. They make eye contact, smile, dance, and laugh together, and out in the audience of Sleeping Village there was the understanding among us that this is a band that loves each other. They end the show with an encore, a cover of Cher’s “Believe” and belts: “Do you believe in life after love?” The crowd couldn’t help but do so.

In this overwhelming age of what feels like never ending bad news, good, true live music is an act of resistance in spite of our canyon sized pratfalls. Bridey on this stage, in the thick of August at the end of another sweet and sticky Chicago summer, made it possible to believe in love as an act of resistance and revolution. And so, Bridey ended her time in Chicago with a perfect show at Sleeping Village. I’m sad to see her go, but I know that Los Angeles is necessary in her journey and I am sure that these opportunities will find her, should she not find them first. She will embark on her road trip to LA come Labor Day, and, though Chicago will have a hollow feeling without her in it, she’s left us with stead found hope for the future. In this confusing tornado of life, that is more than enough.

Listen to Bridey on Bandcamp, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Farewell, Bridey. Chicago Loves You

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