SNIFFERY WHEN WET
Amyl and the Sniffers are back doing what they do best— tearing up stages. But are they getting enough naps?
Built in 1915, Logan Square Auditorium has played host to a massive number of events—from weddings to performances, even wrestling matches—in all its storied years. But while there’s no ring or referee in sight, tonight’s headliners, Melbourne four-piece Amyl and the Sniffers, are nonetheless laying an epic smackdown on the historic Chicago ballroom. For all of the chaotic punk and metal shows that have called this place home, it rarely sees a band go so hard that the floorboards start to shake. Amyl and the Sniffers might have given this venue its most ferocious crowd ever.
The atmosphere of the show—part of the band’s almost entirely sold-out North American tour—is as chaotic and festive as the wild rainbow of colored lights projected across the ornately plastered walls and ceilings. While the floor bounces rhythmically, dancers, moshers, and stage divers cut loose to Amyl’s blistering mix of punk, garage, hard rock, and hardcore, intensifying during their most aggressive cuts, such as “Choices,” off their 2021 album, Comfort to Me. Everything is loud, hot, and sweaty—and it feels fucking great. If the crowd is trying to make up for some of the good times they lost to the pandemic, the Sniffers are their commanders in chief. There’s drummer Bryce Wilson pounding the ever-loving crap out of his kit; bassist Gus Romer firing up the crowd with calls to “get rowdy” between songs; and guitarist Declan Martens, whose vintage style gives the impression he time-traveled to the venue from 1985 to chug out loose but unflappable riffs.
