Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats @ Concord Music Hall, Chicago (US)

UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS / MESSA

Date: 04th October, 2026
Venue: Concord Music Hall
Ticket Price: $31.5/€28
Promoter: Riot Fest

There are bills that make perfect sense on paper, and then there are those that reveal just how well they work once the lights go down. Pairing MESSA with UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS definitely fell into the second category. Both bands reach backwards for inspiration, both know their way around Doom, psychedelia and the darker corners of decades-old Rock, but neither is interested in simply reproducing sounds that have already been committed to vinyl. More importantly, both understand atmosphere, and that turned out to be rather important on that Sunday night at Chicago's Concord Music Hall.

For MESSA, this US run arrived with their latest album “The Spin” still being the focal point. Released in 2025, the album pushed the Italians even further away from whatever comfortable genre box one may have tried to place them in. Doom is still there, of course, but so are Blues, Jazz, Progressive Rock, dark electronics and an almost '80s-flavored sense of melody. It made perfect sense to structure their set around songs from that album and give the packed Concord a hearty introduction to what MESSA are all about. Indeed, by the end of their set there were considerably more heads nodding to the rhythms and louder cheers and applause than those that had welcomed the Italian band onstage.

The stage remained dimly lit and almost monochromatic, with the MESSA logo occupying the screen at the back. There was no dramatic entrance, with the musicians barely separated from the darkness, letting the guitar notes of "Babalon" slowly pull the room into the band's world. Purple lighting eventually gave some shape to what was happening onstage, but there was still a sense that the music rather than the musicians was supposed to command the attention. Sara Bianchin's voice did the rest. There is always something almost ritualistic about this song, and starting with it immediately established the heavier and more mysterious side of MESSA before anything from the latest album had been played.

There was practically no pause before "Fire On The Roof", as blue lights replaced the purple and the tempo picked up. This was the first reminder of how much “The Spin” expanded MESSA's vocabulary. The song has movement, groove and an urgency that contrasts nicely with the slower Doom weight that many probably associate with the band. "At Races" followed just as quickly, dropping the pace again while Bianchin stretched those wordless vocal lines above the instrumentation. The transitions were particularly effective because MESSA were not treating the set as eight isolated songs; there was a flow here, with one mood pushing into the next without allowing the atmosphere to reset.

"Good evening, Chicago. We are MESSA from Italy," Bianchin finally said before explaining that the next song was something very intimate. That was "The Dress", and intimate was exactly the right word. The dynamics dropped, giving her voice considerably more space, while the band patiently allowed the song to develop instead of forcing its heavier moments. There was another interesting detail here, as Rachel Burnett, who would later take her place with UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS, joined MESSA on saxophone. It was one of those guest appearances that did not feel added simply for the sake of having someone else onstage. The saxophone suited MESSA's musical language perfectly and, considering how often Jazz has existed somewhere inside this band's DNA, it almost sounded as though it belonged there from the beginning.

Bianchin made sure Rachel received the recognition, asking the crowd to give it up for her before introducing "Immolation" as another song from the record released the previous year. The lighting became even more restrained here, with a spotlight essentially isolating Bianchin and guitarist Alberto Piccolo, while bassist Marco Zanin moved over to a small keyboard setup. That visual simplicity worked extremely well. Instead of washing the stage in light, the production kept directing your eyes toward small pieces of what was happening, leaving the rest almost hidden.

MESSA also seemed genuinely pleased to be doing these shows with UNCLE ACID, something Bianchin mentioned before "Reveal". Piccolo's slide guitar immediately changed the texture again, and this is where MESSA's ability to move between styles without sounding like a band checking boxes becomes particularly impressive. The Blues element does not arrive as a novelty, just as the Jazz does not suddenly announce itself as Jazz. Everything gets absorbed into their own language. Then came "Thicker Blood", introduced by Zanin on keyboards with an almost Hammond-like tone before the rest of the band gradually took over. This was another highlight for me because the song is a perfect example of the band's refusal to stay in one place. It can be heavy without simply being Doom, melodic without becoming soft, and atmospheric without losing momentum. By now, the absence of excessive stage movement also made complete sense. MESSA did not need anyone running from one side of the stage to the other; the constant changes inside the music supplied all the motion required.

The guitar continued ringing while Bianchin announced that they had reached their final song. "Thank you for having us. Grazie mille. Hope to see you soon," she said before "Hour Of The Wolf" took the set back to “Belfry”. Red lighting finally replaced the cooler colors, and hearing the band finish with material from its first album after spending most of the evening exploring “The Spin” created a nice circular ending. The repeated vocal line cut through the red-lit stage, and then it was over. Eight songs were enough to make a very convincing argument for seeing MESSA under completely different circumstances with a longer set. There is simply too much happening in this band's music to properly absorb everything in an opening slot, although they made excellent use of the time they had.

MESSA setlist:

01. "Babalon"
02. "Fire On The Roof"
03. "At Races"
04. "The Dress"
05. "Immolation"
06. "Reveal"
07. "Thicker Blood"
08. "Hour Of The Wolf"

MESSA

After the changeover, darkness returned, although with UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS this was not merely a matter of keeping the stage poorly lit. Darkness is almost part of the band's visual identity, and anyone hoping to spend the next hour staring clearly at Kevin Starrs' face was definitely attending the wrong show.

Fifteen minutes after 9pm, the screen at the rear of the stage came alive with imagery resembling the title sequence of some forgotten horror movie, showing the band's name as if it were the title of the film. Deep blue and purple dominated everything while the musicians gathered together in the shadows, almost becoming silhouettes against the screen. The pounding riff of "Mt. Abraxas" emerged, with the psychedelic video effects transporting Concord Music Hall into UNCLE ACID's wonderfully unhealthy universe.

Sure, AI can now generate almost any effect or visual a user asks for with a simple prompt, but it still cannot reproduce the instinct and vision of directors from an era when improvisation, practical tricks and experimentation were often the only ways to bring an idea to life. Those imperfections, along with the lack of pristine resolution, are exactly what make that visual language so difficult to recreate, let alone surpass. And UNCLE ACID understand that perfectly. That is why the projected visuals were not simply left running in the background, but were actively handled throughout the show by a dedicated operator seated next to the sound engineer, shaping the imagery in real time and making it feel like a living part of the performance rather than mere decoration.

"Waiting For Blood" followed immediately and really reinforced that thought, with the lineup performing as silhouettes inside what looked like an analogue horror film. After a quick tuning break, Starrs finally addressed the audience. "Alright, Chicago, how the f'n hell are you? It's great to be back," was more than enough before the familiar opening riff of "Death's Door" arrived, with the guitarists and bassist at one point having their backs turned to the audience. The Witchfinder General-style imagery on the screen could not have been more appropriate. The song felt perhaps a touch slower than I remember it on record, although that may simply have been the weight of the live guitars, because those riffs sounded huge inside Concord. I believe this was the first UNCLE ACID ANDS THE DEADBEATS show I have seen where the sound was this loud, adding another layer of heaviness that was absolutely captivating. Rachel was positioned stage right and, along with drummer Jon Rice, was probably one of the two faces receiving the most light. Not much, but enough to actually see their expressions.

The drums pushed directly into "Ritual Knife", keeping the momentum alive before Starrs announced, "Got a new one here for you," and that was the groovy, BLACK SABBATH-heavy "House By The Grave". It is amazing to realize how songs coming from different albums can carry the band's trademark sound so clearly without ever sounding stale or repetitive. The keyboards introduced the killer riff of "Bedouin", as the rest of the band gathered around the drums before Rachel added saxophone during the refrain. Having already watched her join MESSA earlier in the evening, seeing her now become part of UNCLE ACID's strange cinematic machinery gave the entire bill another little connective thread. The sax does not make the song any less heavy; if anything, it enhances the dusty, psychedelic feel and makes the performance sound even further removed from the current decade.

I also love how absorbed the band becomes in the music they perform, whether moving around or simply stomping hard on the stage, completely dedicated to serving the songs rather than drawing attention to the musicians playing them.

"Don't Let It Control You" followed, and hearing a loud "f*ck yeah!" coming from somewhere in the crowd made me nod in agreement. Indeed, “yeah” was pretty much the proper exclamation for the band's excellent performance. Blue imagery returned for "Pusher Man", and this was exactly the sort of song that reminded me why the band's relatively static stage presentation works. There is already so much menace inside those harmonized vocals and fuzzy guitars that adding Rock-star theatrics would probably destroy half of the illusion. The musicians stayed largely swallowed by the lighting while those riffs did all the necessary work.

Drums and keyboards then started "Melody Lane", bringing one of those deceivingly catchy moments UNCLE ACID have always been extremely good at writing. Beneath all the horror imagery, fuzz and lyrical nastiness, Starrs has always possessed a very sharp Pop instinct. Strip away the distortion and quite a few of these songs have melodies that could have escaped from an entirely different era. Interestingly, this is also one of those songs that seems to gain extra heaviness live as you find yourself pounding your foot on the floor following that groove.

Starrs himself kicked off the instantly evil riff of "Withered Hand Of Evil", triggering another loud reaction from the crowd and almost making me want to find whoever had shouted “f*ck yeah” earlier just to give them a high five. At one point Starrs stepped just far enough forward to land beneath a green light, and for something like five seconds we could actually see his face. Then he disappeared back into the shadows. Considering how stubbornly the lighting avoided revealing him for most of the show, those few seconds almost felt like an accidental special effect.

A simple "thank you" preceded the ringing of a telephone, an appropriately ominous cue for "Solo La Morte Ti Ammanetta". Rachel moved to keyboards for the intro, while the blue lighting perfectly complemented the song's funereal mood. Coming from “Nell' Ora Blu”, this was a reminder of the detour Starrs took into Italian horror cinema with that album, and hearing one of its pieces inserted among the more traditional UNCLE ACID material made considerably more sense live than one might have expected.

"Here's another new one for you," Starrs said before the latest album's title track "Shapes Of Midnight". This album finds the band moving back toward a more direct, song-based approach after the cinematic experiment of “Nell' Ora Blu”, and in the live setting that transition feels almost seamless. The riffs, vocal harmonies and sinister melody fit comfortably beside songs that have been in the band's repertoire for years.

Then came the instruction everyone had been waiting for. "Alright, Chicago, I wanna see you go f'n wild for this one." There was very little doubt about what was coming next. "I'll Cut You Down" remains one of those songs capable of changing the temperature of a room from its opening seconds, and the crowd responded accordingly. The screens continued throwing distorted imagery behind the band while that riff rolled through Concord. No matter how many times UNCLE ACID have played it, or how many times I have seen this band live, the song has lost none of its nasty charm, and placing it this late in the set made absolutely sense.

"Alright, Chicago, we've got one more song." The final riff was appropriately evil. "No Return" closed the night with the musicians once again visually drawn toward the center of the stage, almost forming a circle around the drums while the song expanded around them. There would be no manufactured walk-off followed by several minutes of pretending not to know whether an encore was going to happen. This was the ending. Starrs thanked Chicago and said they would see us next time, while the venue lights told us that our visit to UNCLE ACID's alternate universe was over.

This was a show that demanded full immersion. The lights, the visuals and that impeccable sound (thank you, sound guy!) all worked in UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS’ favor, inviting us to participate with our imagination and allowing the emotions created by the entire experience to fill in everything deliberately left unseen. After all, that carefully staged darkness is an essential part of their live identity.

And note that I left the band out of that last sentence, just like Starrs wants...

UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS setlist:

01. "Mt. Abraxas"
02. "Waiting For Blood"
03. "Death's Door"
04. "Ritual Knife"
05. "House By The Grave"
06. "Bedouin"
07. "Don't Let It Control You"
08. "Pusher Man"
09. "Melody Lane"
10. "Withered Hand Of Evil"
11. "Solo La Morte Ti Ammanetta"
12. "Shapes Of Midnight"
13. "I'll Cut You Down"
14. "No Return"

UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS