Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners @ Lincoln Hall
BY MARY ICENOGLE (SHE/HER)A crowd had already formed when I reached Lincoln Hall, 15 minutes before doors were set to open for the sold out Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners show. Concert-goers milled around the bar, waiting eagerly outside the doors which cracked open every now and again as staff came and went, letting the melodic music of soundcheck slip through for brief moments before being lost again in the excited chatter of the crowd. Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners, joined by opener Evan Honer, stopped in Chicago on Sunday, September 24 as one of the last U.S. shows of their first world tour. The tour has 30 dates spanning coast to coast in the United States, including festivals like Chicago’s own Lollapalooza, and reaching European cities like Dublin, Berlin, and Cologne.
The lights dimmed as Evan Honer took the stage, accompanied by fiddlist, Julia DiGrazia. The two captivated the audience with only an acoustic guitar, a fiddle, and vocals that felt like they had descended from heaven itself. In Evan’s own words, “Sorry if you were expecting happy songs, I only know how to write sad ones,” and that statement held true. Highlights of the set included the slow burning track Comfort The Fall, Mr. Meyers which, I’ll admit, made my eyes water up, and the song that made me want to squaredance while simultaneously making me feel a little twinge of sadness, idk shit about cars.
The electrifying energy remained as Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners wasted no time taking the stage with their set-starter Somersault which seamlessly transitioned into BC, Victoria. The music that filled the venue for the next hour was vibe-y and dream-like thanks to vocalist Mitch Cutts and guitarist Nic Haughn, with a driving undercurrent brought to you by drummer (and Chicago native) Jakob Ervin and bassist Dylan Schneider. The group started in 2017 as high-school friends and avid Guitar Hero players who decided to learn real instruments. Mitch introduced his band members during the concert as his best friends, and their cohesion as a band born from their long-time friendship is evident. Their success at evoking emotions and transporting audiences to the rolling mountains of Coloardo would only be possible with the synchrony and harmony from six years of working together.
The show featured some of their more rock-influenced folksy songs, likeBinsand Lucerne, and a brief interlude of acoustic tracks, including St. Paul, with Mitch solo on keys and guitar. The show concluded with hits Evergreen and Lake Missoula, songs that garnered the attention of Mt. Joy and Noah Kahan, both of who invited the band to open for them in concerts this year, and finally their unreleased track For the Jets.
