Touched by Ghoul

www.touchedbyghoul .  photo by Poorie Koleyni

A Chicago band, Touched by Ghoul, opened for the Foo Fighters at Wrigley Field this week. They did a short set with another opening band playing after them. Oh, but what a set it was. Angela Mullenhour, the singer, came out with her big guitar, heidi braid, and Kate Spade-ish summer dress, opened her mouth- wide, and pulled the early evening crowd into the band's jam.

Song, song, song, little repartee, song. The band (Mullenhour, Andrea Bauer, Alex Shumard, and PaigeSandlin) played fast, tight, and pulled together. The sound of them blew me away. As it happens and with my poor hearing, I don't always capture song lyrics, but I get the sound. The urgency of the music and the humor that Mullenhour presented the lyrics brought me right into the songs in the first listen. Now as I'm listening to them on YouTube, I already feel like they are old friends. If I had to describe their style, I would say that they are punk. But they are fresh and more modern that what would've gone as punk in the past. But when the songs end ... on a dime ... on a pin ... however you say it, it's punk. And when they left the stage, I was sad that they didn't play more, especially when the Breeders came out with an incoherent, disjointed performance.

I give it to the Foo Fighters for highlighting a local band. I'm disappointed that when I look them up for future Chicago appearances, any appearances, they don't seem to be playing anywhere. That's too bad. I think that they underestimated their own power to pull in Foo Fighter fans, who probably aren't as likely to go punk.

I am enthralled.