According to a trio of Arlington Heights girls I talked to before Magic Man’s set at Metro, the line to get in started at 6:30am. A 13-hour wait to see a band seems crazy to me, but I’m old. The closest I came was driving from Des Moines to Minneapolis in 2006 to see Prince play at First Ave for the first time in 30 years (he was dropping the 3121 album, and also a new fragrance at Bloomingdale’s-or Macy’s, I don’t remember). I didn’t think of that as odd, because I love Prince. And apparently a lot of people love Boston band Magic Man.
The group headlined the Chicago stop of the Hotline Spring tour with The Griswolds and Panama Wedding, and held up the insane energy level that ran from beginning to end. Of the three bands, I was least familiar with Magic Man, but their sound was tight and they were having a lot of fun. Alex Caplow was all over the place, jumping on risers and leaning out into the audience to connect with the fans. The crowd went crazy, of course, and Magic Man delivered a memorable set they’ll carry with them for years to come.