Live: Badflower in Belvidere

On September 29, hard rock up and comers Badflower kicked off their “OK, I’m Sick” headlining tour in Chicago, Illinois. The tour featured support from Weathers and Dead Poet Society.

Dead Poet Society started the night off right by warming up the crowd with their energetic stage performance. Two nights before the show, the rock group released a single called “.swvrm.” and decided to end their set that night with their newest release.

Next up was Weathers, the first of two of two Los Angeles bands for the night. The indie rockers took the stage to “Poser”, the fourth track off of their debut album, ‘Kids in the Night’. The set also included a few brand new songs that they just released this year like “Problems”, “Lonely Vampire”, and “Dirty Money”. The quartet delivered a strong performance that consisted of playful dancing on stage from vocalist Cameron Boyer. Although only having one album out, the band brought the energy of a seasoned touring band to get the crowd pumped up for the main attraction, Badflower.

Badflower opened their first night on tour with a live debut of “Wide Eyes” from their newest album ‘OK, I’M SICK’ which made the crowd come to life. Next up, they played one of their first singles from the album and fan favorite “x ANA x”, towards the end of the song lead singer and guitarist, Josh Katz, preformed his signature move where he glided across the stage on his back while still playing the guitar. A few songs later the band did another live debut for their song “24” also off of the new album. The set was packed with fan favorites from their own albums and other popular artists; such as “Champagne Supernova” by Oasis and “bury a friend” by Billie Eilish both of which were outstanding covers. There was a lot of firsts for the band that night, towards the end of the set Josh Katz talked about how this was the band’s first show of their first real headlining tour and the first time playing both “Wide Eyes” and “24”. That night they closed with “Promise Me”, a high emotion song that had the crowd singing out with all their heart.

At the end of the night, fans left happy with strong performances from three on the rise bands in the rock scene and one of the most intense light shows the Bottom Lounge has ever seen thanks to Badflower’s own personal tour lights. This is a tour not to be missed so be sure to check out Badflower’s tour dates to see if they’re coming near you soon. Also be sure to check out our photo gallery below of the show.

-Kayla Gray