Chicago Gets Lucky With Chromeo

By Michelle Meywes Kopeny in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 6, 2011 6:40PM

We were excited to see dance duo Chromeo somewhere that wasn’t Congress Theater (mainly somewhere smaller) and Saturday night we got lucky when Dave 1 and P-Thugg played at the House of Blues.

Speaking of getting lucky ... their most recent video for the song “When The Night Falls” features an expecting Solange Knowles (who guests on the track) along with a bunch of other ladies sporting baby-bumps that appear to be spontaneously impregnated by Chromeo’s sweet beats. Seriously. Now, the guys might not be quite that suave in real life, but they are pretty smooth, with their signature hot glowing legs as keyboard stands, Dave 1 dapper in a suit and P-Thugg wielding the talk box.

Mayer Hawthorne and Sammy Bananas got the night started off right for a crowd that came amped to dance. Sammy, an artist on the Fool’s Gold label, is known for his remixes, but showed his musical prowess busting out a live sax solo during his set. Mayer Hawthorne rode the swooner crooner revival wave right to the stage, but we cant help but think that Bruno Mars has that genre covered. His red suit and matching entourage looked the part, but didn’t convince us that we need another retro artist in the arena. Still, hailing from outside Detroit, his Motown roots run deep, and the audience ate it up as the dance floor filled up leading up to the headliner.

Eleven o’clock was “Funk O’clock” as Chromeo came out and kicked the night up a notch with “Fancy Footwork” from their previous album bearing the same name. Songs from that album dominated early in the set, with fan favorites like “Tenderoni” and “Call Me Up” charging up the crowd, but the focus was on their most recent album, Business Casual. Once they reached “When the Night Falls” they announced, “It’s time to get pregnant.” Naturally. Hands in the crowd barely left the sky and people were sitting up on shoulders as a confetti drop punctuated the end of the show. Dave 1 even apparently lost his glasses, telling a fan over twitter “all good, keep 'em!” but then adding, “PS I'm blind as a bat. I can't believe I managed to jump back on stage, put my mic back on and walk offstage unscathed! #thatshitcray” Cray indeed.