elio has only played 4 shows?!
Yep. You heard that right. Sunday night at Schubas in Chicago was only ELIO’s 4th show. Ever. I was in shock, but I’ll come back to that.
To start the night, Nashville-based artist Abby Holliday (accompanied by her boyfriend on acoustic guitar) treated us to a few stripped-back songs. The casual t-shirt/baggy jeans/converse vibes were everything. I had the chance to speak with Abby after the show and she was just so super cool and down-to-earth. Abby mentioned that she never expected to want to be a musician, but it felt like it kind of just happened. Now that she’s gotten to support a few artists on their tours, though, she knows she’s in the right place.
When I searched Abby on Spotify before the show, I realized I had already saved a few of her songs, including Better By Now, which was her closer for the night. You should definitely look it up.
Thirty minutes after Abby finished, the lights dimmed and ELIO emerged from the side door. Wearing a mesh “Tumbleweed” jersey, baggy leather shorts, and knee-high Frye boots, she stomped and jumped around for TYPECAST, one of her harder, more recent songs.
The energy level didn’t drop for 30 more minutes as ELIO played back-to-back upbeat songs and continued to own the stage. Back to what I was saying before… I have been to a lot of shows, and ELIO’s stage presence is one of the best I've ever seen. Of anyone. Especially since (like I said before) it was only her 4th show! The crowd was incredible, and you could tell that most us had been excited for ELIO to tour since we started listening to her mid-2020 or so.
Photos by Avery Zorn
I would have loved to have seen me standing over in the corner with my eye to a camera while screaming the words. I was having so much freaking fun. I was texting everyone I know gushing about how good the show was. Her stage presence, voice, production, everything. I loved it all.
I also stuck around to say hey at the end. She’s super sweet and chill, and I can’t wait to see her play larger venues to even more fans in the future.
