Landon Conrath “Can Win Just A Little Bit” with Chicago Fans

4.5.26 - Chicago. IL

Abby Holliday at Lincoln Hall

Walking into Lincoln Hall a few minutes after doors opening usually results in a front row spot at other shows I’ve attended, but for Landon Conrath, fans had already filled multiple rows of the space buzzing with excitement. They passed time with friends they came with and new friends they just met discussing previous shows of Landon’s and songs they hoped would be on the setlist. 

As the room continued to fill and the audience packed together, the house lights began to dim, and a hush fell over the space, Abby Holliday and her musical partner, Avery, taking the stage. Abby filled the room with the soft and mellow timbre of her voice and her guitar, easing into her set for the night as the audience swam in the gentleness that filled the room.

But it wasn’t just Abby’s gorgeous voice and Avery’s guitar and synth work that kept the room focused on her set—Abby’s songwriting leaves you with lyrics to ponder long after her set is over, including “Why are you looking for needle in a haystack whеn there's horses?” from “Steve Martin” (up for interpretation, of course, but it’s kept me wondering days later, why we’re always focused on finding a small insignificant thing when there’s beauty all around), and “it’s not a crime to love someone and let it die” from “The Price”. At this point, Abby pauses to introduce herself and thank the audience for gathering tonight. She introduces her partner on stage, “Shoutout Avery on guitar, on drum machine, on synth—" "On drugs," Avery chimes in, and the room fills with laughter. Abby mentions that the set tonight is mostly filled with alt versions of her most recent album, CRACK A SMILE COME ON STAY A WHILE, some of which are out on streaming platforms, but all of which were available for purchase on CD at the merch stand.

Moving into her next few songs about a deep friendship (“Andrea”), a new song titled “The Song That I Write”, and an incredibly gorgeous cover of Bon Iver’s “29 #Strafford APTS”, the audience continues to smile and sway with each line Abby sings. Her utilization of a standard microphone and a crunchy, distorted microphone creates further intrigue throughout her set. Abby closes out her set with a few more songs from her recent album before thanking the audience with a big smile and stepping off stage. 

Fans watching Abby Holliday’s set

In stark contrast with the calm resonance Abby left in the room, the Kahoot theme song suddenly begins to play, and words pop onto the screen above the stage, prompting fans to participate in a little trivia as they prepare for Landon’s arrival. Questions about Landon’s hometown, discography, and previous shows keep fans engaged in the short period of time it takes before the room falls dim again and Landon’s band takes the stage.

With the first strum of guitar chords, Landon Conrath and his band strike a match on the energy in the room, launching into a single from 2024 “Replay”. The audience blazes into dancing and singing along to every lyric from start to finish. The next few songs on the setlist were older tracks of Landon’s discography, but this audience was filled with dedicated fans that had the energy of longtime Landon listeners.

Landon Conrath at The Sandbox - Eau Claire, Wisconsin (Nov. 2021)

“2AM” was one of those older tracks, one I heard for the first time in someone’s backyard shed during my college days. They called the venue “The Sandbox”, and Landon only had a handful of songs to perform in the fall of 2021. Many EPs, albums, and tours later (including shows with The Wrecks, Sara Kays, Bryce Vine, and a performance at Lollapalooza), Landon’s gained hundreds of thousands of monthly listeners on Spotify and even more dedicated fans, all showing up for and supporting his 27-stop US tour and even a UK/EU leg.

But no worries for newer fans of Landon or those with a hard time interpreting lyrics (how else was I supposed to know the lyrics are “tried to change, forget about it” and not “drive to church, forget about it” in “Trader Joe’s” …), the screen above the stage played lyrics and music videos for all in the crowd to follow along. Before the show, the screen also displayed a link for fans to vote on one song for the setlist. However, Landon announces that there has been a tie and asks for two volunteers from the audience to rock paper scissors between the two songs, resulting in “Pavement” being added to the setlist for Chicago’s show.

Moving through more of his recent releases on the setlist (“Will Nye”, “Cool Guy”, “Doomsday”), Landon touches on his experience starting out in the music industry under poor management and contracts he didn’t know could be negotiated when he was younger. He considers a lot of his success as a musician to be a series of happy accidents that ended him up where he is now, touring his albums across multiple countries despite being “just a guy from Lino Lakes [Minnesota]” (being sure to shoutout a Timberwolves jersey he spotted in the crowd too).

A goofy homemade merch ad plays on the screen before Landon closes out his set with a few of his earliest releases (“Acetone”, “July”, “lowercase”), the crowd maintaining just as much energy for the closing songs as they did for the opening ones, ending the night in cheers and applause for Landon and his band’s performance.