Live Review: Life In Color - Chicago 2015

On Saturday, April 18, Life In Color graced the Chicago area with its presence yet again. Back for another earth-shattering experience, their newly enforced age limit of 17+ shows provided a crazy colorful experience without drunk thirteen-year-old children making literally everyone uncomfortable. 

As if I wasn't already excited and ready to see what the night would hold, as I walked from the the Blue Line to the Rosemont Convention Theater, I noticed two women dressed in all white overalls with an equally drunk guy slowly trailing behind. Their slurring words vaguely resembled a conversation about how "dope" the year before was. They were not only yelling at passing cars about how "f***ing pumped" they were about getting their groove on, but also poking fun at the pack of wild teenagers walking a few feet in front of them about their almost fully exposed backsides. 

I knew it was going to be an interesting night.

The moment I walked in, I noticed a mix of different characters. Some of the crowd wore white shirts and some even white shorts, begging to obtain the full effect of being blasted with paint, or they had crazy ensembles to show as much skin as possible. This consisted of tutus, crop tops, shorts that would probably be better categorized as underwear, shirtless guys, and to spice it up, a colorful array of "candy" bracelets, which to me just looked like the ones I cheaply made as a child and have piles of in my dresser drawers.  

Different things that could've potentially been on this guy's mind:-- The moment he realized he might be allergic to the paint--His jam just came on--"Oh no, I left the oven on..."--"Bro, do you even rave?"--"To the windowwww, to the wall (to the wall), to the sweat drip down my--," you get the point.

Although I was completely sober, the soul shaking bass and entrancing lights took me to another world. They coincided with the music and really took the experience to the next level. This wasn't just fun and games; at one point the variety of lights collided together just right to create the image of a cloudy sky right above our heads. Maybe I'm just new to the scene, but I was and still am sure magic was involved. 

Porn and Chicken opened up the night and started it off right -- they even dropped Life In Color's 2015 anthem "Big Bang," which you can listen to below. When I arrived, I immediately joined the crowd and took notice of the large clock counting down to what I thought was merely the first blast of paint, but it was so much more than that. The clock struck zero and the lights went haywire as the crowd screamed in anticipation. Everyone jumped up and down, their eyes darting around to observe the surrounding people, and fed off one another's energy. Out of nowhere, the paint cannons exploded and soaked me with an insane amount of paint. I tried to conceal my toothy grin as I wrung my hair out. 

After that first paint blast, the crowd fully took in the music. It sent a wave through the crowd causing us all to jump and fist-pump as one unit. 3LAU stole the stage and put on an amazing show, showing the crowd a phenomenal time from the first beat they dropped until their last song. Bingo Players took the crowd on and not only impressed us with a jarring mixture of old songs, new originals, and also remixes, but they dressed to impress as well. They were decked out in suits that resembled light up transformers, and I nearly had a hard attack I was so pumped. Unfortunately, the last headliner DVBBS's flight was delayed because of storm warnings and were unable to perform. All artists performed with a contagious energy and provided the sick bass-thumping beats and electronic riffs everyone was there for with such gusto, by the end of the night, everyone was breathless and had a slight limp, hinting at the fact they might've gone "too hard."

All good things must come to an end. Sopping and covered in mostly pink and green paint, I received numerous looks of confusion but mostly concern on my way home, and some even asked why I looked like a drowned rat. Those who asked were just worried about my well-being or mental health, and although I could tell they didn't exactly care about the explanation past, "I'm doing alright, thanks," I excitedly blurted out where I had been and hoped they knew of Life In Color so I could gush about what an energizing and crazy experience it was. 

It was my first time at LIC, but it most certainly won't be my last. The sense of solidarity felt throughout the crowd while listening to talented DJs and dancing like no one is watching is irreplaceable and addicting. Experience it yourself and get your ticket for Life In Color today, but beware, there are only a few shows left and you might have to wait until next year! 

Click here to browse upcoming Life In Color shows.