The following article was written by David Kepner:

Last week, I had the pleasure of seeing Chicago’s Filligar play a sold out show at the Bowery Elektric. Dartmouth alums clad in flannels, Sperry’s and sundresses filled the venue far beyond capacity. It felt less like a concert and more like an Ivy League reunion at first, but once the music started, it was clear that everyone there was a serious fan.

The band opened with a powerful and energetic rendition of Robbery (Shocking Love), the opening track of their new album, The Nerve. While I was familiar with their old repertoire, I had not yet been exposed to their new album, and it quickly became clear that the band had grown infinitely since the release of 2008’s Near or Far.  Although the focus of the concert was the new material, Casey Gibson and the Mathias brothers managed to squeeze in a couple of older tracks including All the Same during their set.

Filligar’s version of Neil Young’s Helpless would have been enough to make Ryan Adams jealous, but the pinnacle of the show was undoubtedly Resurrection Song, perhaps the strongest of the fourteen tracks on The Nerve. I couldn’t help but get the sense that the band was having the time of their lives onstage. And in many ways, they were, surrounded by college friends and new fans alike on a Friday night in the greatest city in the world.

The show was so good that I decided to hop on a bus to Philadelphia to see the band perform at the Grape Room just a few nights after my first Filligar concert experience. Although the show was nearly empty (likely because of the show’s location in Manayunk), the band performed with the same passion I saw in New York. If Filligar comes anywhere near you, go see them because at this point, it’s clear that this quartet is headed somewhere big.