Good Morning at Chapel Sf
Good Morning has always been one of those bands that sneaks back onto my radar. Whether it's hearing two surprise singles when I’m playing new releases on shuffle or recognizing a sample on A$AP Rocky’s 2018 album Testing, I am always reminded of their talent and unique sound. Off the back of their 2021 release Barnyard, the band went on tour and I was able to catch them at Chapel in San Francisco for an intimate experience. Only a few weeks prior they released two singles “Misery” and “Out to Pasture” with the latter being on repeat every day since it came out. The song is a melancholy take on age and being past one’s prime. It instantly became one of my favorite songs of 2022. My excitement for their show at Chapel grew intensely.
SF based country rock band Juan Wayne was the first opener. The lead vocalist rocked around the stage with a cowboy hat on. They had incredible energy, reinvigorating the small crowd that was there two hours early. They completed their set by surprising the crowd with a soft rock rendition of T-Pain’s classic hit “Buy U a Drank“ which was an ethereal experience, subverting every expectation that the crowd had created due to the sound they had established.
The second opener was rock group PACKS led by lead vocalist Madeline Link. The band played their entire set bathed in crimson red light. The crowd’s energy increased as they played lo-fi punk jams, aptly described as “slacker rock” taking influence from grunge hits of the 90’s. A small moshpit erupted and Madeline Link enjoyed interacting with the crowd. It was not the most respectful crowd I had been a part of. People frequently talked loudly during each song, holding conversations right in front of the stage close to where I was standing. Although I enjoyed PACKS, they deserved more respect from the crowd. This trend would only continue onto the main event, Good Morning who came out a few minutes after PACKS.
There was an instant energy change in the crowd as the band came out immediately bantering with the front row and one another. I can definitively say I was in the crowd laughing along to each pun and comedic introduction to each new track on the setlist. Some of my favorites were the somber “Too Young to Quit” and “Wahlberg“ off of their latest album. However my favorite track they played was “Boy, I’m Just a Loser For Your Love.” The crowd was mostly silent, but a disco ball had begun to spin on the ceiling, projecting rays of light all over the venue as they performed the soft tune.
Classics off of their 2014 album Shawcross were performed, pleasing the crowd hungry for their older hits. Personally, although I love their older music I was enjoying the band playing their more recent releases, songs they most likely had never played since the pandemic had taken stages away from musicians. Good Morning’s performance brought on a multitude of emotions, muddying the lines between joy and numbness as their songs deal with a multitude of human feelings. It was intimate in a room filled with strangers but it projected the energy as if it was a group of enthusiastic friends at a backyard show, all clamoring to hear their favorite tune.
