Angels & Airwaves
Allstate Arena – Rosemont, IL
October 2, 2008

Tom DeLonge (vocals/guitar)

Last Thursday, Angels & Airwaves returned to Chicago after being away for only two months. As a fan of the band, I was more than happy to seem them so soon (exactly two months) since their headlining stint on this summer’s Vans Warped Tour. However, this time around Angels & Airwaves were not the tour’s headliners. Tom DeLonge and Co. landed an opening act slot on the fall Weezer tour and had to work a little bit harder each night to impress the crowd. Most of the fans in the audience for the Chicago (ok, Rosemont actually) stop on the tour were die-hard Weezer fans and didn’t like the fact that they had to wait through two bands before Weezer hit the stage. Angels & Airwaves were no longer enjoying the luxury of playing to thousands of kids who were there to see them and only them, as was the case every day they performed on Warped Tour. During the band’s set last week, I heard kids in the front against the barricade chanting “Weezer!” sporadically throughout A&A’s 45-minute set. Luckily, the fans’ yelling didn’t get much worse than that. Nothing was thrown up on stage and no obscenities were spoken. The audience was surprisingly (to me at least) respectful.

Check out more photos from the band’s performance and see which songs made their set list for the night after the jump…

David Kennedy (guitar)

With the average Angels & Airwaves songs last between five and six minutes, the foursome from San Diego, CA only had time to play eight songs during their set after Tokyo Police Club and before Weezer. Opening with “Heaven” a track off their most recent album, I-Empire, I pretty much jumped a mile when the machine gun-like guitar/drums riff came out of nowhere and jolted the crowd into a state of utter alertness. The song’s intro was quite lengthy and allowed for the four band members to walk out on stage, grab their instruments from their tech guys and get themselves situated. The guys then prepared for their chance to win over the crowd. When it came time to play the first notes, bright white lights flashed in perfect unison with the music and caught me completely off guard, as my eyes were just getting adjusted to the darkness.

A&A Set List – 10/2/08

Heaven

Everything’s Magic

The War

Breathe

Start the Machine

Secret Crowds

Sirens

The Adventure

Matt Wachter (bass)

The song “Breathe” (also from sophomore album I-Empire) found frontman Tom DeLonge standing on a riser directly to the right of drummer Adam “Atom” Willard. DeLonge stood and sang, facing Atom and the fans located stage left, for the entire song. “Breathe” is I-Empire’s ballad and I was genuinely shocked that it was chosen to be a part of the set. Usually when forced with typical short opening slots on a tour, that band will choose to pack their fastest and catchiest songs into the se. This obviously serves to get the crowd riled up and ready for the headliner, while at the same time making their impression with the precious time they’ve been given. Nevertheless, being a true fan of A&A, I wasn’t going to be picky about which songs the band played that night. I was just grateful for the chance to see them play some of my favorite songs right there in front of me.

Adam “Atom” Willard (drums)

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