A Snowy Night at Park West: Triple Threat of Openers Followed by Hollyy’s Retro-Rock Energy
January 30th, 2026 - Chicago, Illinois
Chicago has felt the peak of its brutal winter season over the past couple of weeks, with temperatures dipping into the negatives and weather warnings against leaving the house. However, these freezing temps didn’t stop an energetic crowd of folks from trekking through the snowy night to Park West for the triple threat of bands opening for Chicago band Hollyy’s retro rock set.
Julian Saunders started off the night, the warmth of indie folk filling the room. Julian and his guitar, accompanied by the rest of his band (Ethan on bass, Eric on keys and Fiona on drums/background vocals), opened with his song “Southfield”, followed by his most recent single, “Two Geese”. This song is where Julian asks the question that adorned his handmade merch totebags, “who do you want to be?”, the conversation being had between the narrator and “the woman in the painting [who] spent her whole life waiting for someone to sweep her away”. The contemplative tune is also the title track of the album Julian will be releasing come April.
As “Nothing Short” began, I noticed the number of couples in the room with arms around each other, swaying together as the love song played. Cheers emerged from the crowd as the band introduced a cover of The Orillia’s song “Subservient to the Weather”. As the song ended, I watched the bassist set down his instrument and take a seat on the floor for the next one. “The Son” was a soft and mellow song, with apologetic lyrics as just Julian’s voice and piano chords filled the room. “Anymore” picked up the energy as the full band joined once again. Before closing out his set for the night, Julian gave a short speech denouncing ICE and encouraging the audience to donate to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) instead of purchasing his merch, leading into his final song, “You”.
Though “Two Geese” is the only song of Julian’s available on streaming platforms, I am personally looking forward to the release of his album by the same name and encourage anyone who puts honey in their coffee and enjoys indie folk to check out Saunders’ album on April 10th.
In a bright red jumpsuit, Chicago-based artist Sarah Krohn and her band (Caleb on drums/vocals, Ivan on guitar, Steven on keys/guitar and Andrew on bass) take the stage with their indie pop-rock energy. Sarah’s set list is energetic, catchy, and goofy as she opens with a song about the in-between space of friends and lovers, followed by a tune she introduced as “a song about my Minecraft ex-boyfriend”. Sarah’s songs are filled with relatable lyrics of yearning, honest feelings, and silly anecdotes that make you feel like she’s a friend updating you on her recent adventures over drinks. A few songs later, Sarah gives a mention on the current state of the country, reminding fans to stay close to their communities, whether that’s family or strangers bonding over music at a concert venue like tonight. She reminds the audience to “keep love in your heart, even if anger is in there too”.
I’ve seen Sarah perform once before, as a solo act at Reggie’s Bar in August of 2025 but seeing her with a full band added an infectious energy to the songs, not only by fleshing out the instrumentation but with their stage presence, dancing and smiling as they played through each tune. Sarah’s band closed out the night with her most recent single, “Hung Up”, singing and dancing through the canon experience of having a crush, and the roller coaster of emotions that comes with it.
The first thing I noticed when Runner and Bobby (Parker on guitar/vocals, Lula on bass, Mick on drums) stepped on stage was their incredible style, most noticeably Parker’s horse print pants. Later, they acknowledged these outfits as being dressed by Kone Ranger, a local Chicago brand located in Avondale. The crowd built with each opener and as Runner and Bobby opened with their first song “Last One”, the floor was high energy. A sort-of existential track comes next (one that two band members list as their favorite of the album in the band’s zine available at the merch table), “Fate You Choose”. The setlist continues, thick with the band’s indie rock/shoegaze flavor: lyrics teeter from slightly bitter (“Wray”, “Bite Down”, “Colors”) to deep in love (“Cali’s Song”) and the in between (I can’t seem to nail down the placement of the lyrics to “All Because of You”). Next comes “Green”, a love song to friendship, which Parker mentions is the album’s title track, singing “one day you will know all the time you spent Adoring a Friend, I’ll be here until the end”.
Mick explains in their zine that the album revolves around the ups and downs of all types of relationships. A listener of the album could recognize how the different tracks tackle the complicated emotions of the human experience with other humans. Claire Anderson and her saxophone took to the stage for their next tune, “Caught”- which I almost mistook for a cover of The Cranberries’ “Linger” at the guitar intro. The addition of the saxophone line brings a gentler, almost 90s rock feel to this one (think The Script, Coldplay, The Fray, etc.). “Swarn” brings back that grungier, shoegazey feel that the band’s album has, before they close out with two older fan favorites (given the cheers when they were introduced) - “Fall For Her (Nobody Else)”, an energetic love song, and ending with “Sex Wax” which had the crowd dancing their hearts out from the first beat of the intro, building the energy up for what was next: Hollyy.
As the final band stepped onstage in T-shirts denouncing ICE, the crowd was buzzing, ready for the energetic set that Hollyy had prepared.
Lovers of the sweet cross-pollination of funk/soul and retro pop should know the names Lake Street Dive, Lawrence, Couch, and maybe even Juice. Each of these bands was running through my mind with every song on Hollyy's setlist, trying to place exactly which one the band was most similar to. At the merch table after the show, talking with Tanner (lead vocals/guitar), I summarized it as Clyde Lawrence (of Lawrence) singing with Lake Street Dive, with the ghost of Stevie Wonder haunting through each performer (which earned a fist bump from bassist Dominic).
Dancing spread through the crowd as Hollyy’s 2023 single “By My Side” opened up their set, the type of song that you would hear in the montage scene of a rom-comwhere the happy couple skips around the city after finally getting together at the end. Hollyy slowed it down with some mellower songs to sway to, including “Secrets”, “Flowers”, and “After Every Storm”, before picking the energy back up with songs from their most recent album The Weight of This Heart. Tanner mentions the band’s recent album release (12/12/25), and how it was originally promised over 4 years ago, despite being released last month. The album’s title track (“Weight Of This Heart”) opens with a taste of desperation, “just give me a break, from these lonely days”, but despite the melancholic lyrics, it’s impossible not to dance with the driving keys (Peter Giere) & and jazzy horn section (Blase Cermak - trumpet). Tanner acknowledges the absence of their saxophone player as he isn’t in attendance due to the fact that he’s getting married in Spain at the moment (congratulations Nathan France!). But the band maintained their energy and strong sound despite being a man down. Hollyy’s set closes out with a few of their older tunes, “Someone Just Like Me” and “Wondering Why”, fans far from dwindling at the end of a long night, energy still bubbling over from the crowd as the night ended.
This Park West show had a little something for every indie music lover: folk, pop-rock, shoegazy rock, and some fusion retro rock. Though a long lineup, the show was extremely engaging as each band held the stage, uniting this audience of strangers together for even a brief few hours, creating community under a disco ball and the glow of stage lights.
