Donnie Trumpet’s show at Taste of Chicago Wednesday night couldn’t have been a better representation of this city’s jaw-dropping music scene. After all, as the 23-year-old Nico Segal noted during his stellar opening set for the Roots, “every member of my band is from Chicago.” Backed by the Social Experiment, which tours with Chance the Rapper, there’s no doubt that this unit is one of the tightest local groups performing now.
If you read a lot of breathless local media reports about the gig, headlines like “Chance The Rapper To Play Taste Of Chicago Wednesday” made it seem like it was a Chance-headlining set. But just like Chance ceded frontman duties for “Surf,” Donnie Trumpet once again got top billing. It was a Donnie Trumpet gig through and through, and had the same freewheeling, collaborative spirit as “Surf.” It was 50 minutes of a total jam session.
Reading about his his Social Experiment lineup boasted multi-instrumentalists Nate Fox and Peter Cottontale, drummer Greg “Stix” Landfair, bassist Lane Beckstrom, trombonist J.P. Floyd, vibraphonist Thaddeus Tukes, backup singers Jamila Woods (!) along with Homme’s Macie Stewart and Sima Cunningham. I could keep going but already this group reads like an all-star roster of young local talent. That’s five out of seven members of his former band Kids These Days, which played Taste in 2012.
Segal’s return to Taste as Donnie Trumpet was totally triumphant. What’s cool about this show is that besides Donnie’s appearance at last year’s Teens in the Park festival, there’s hasn’t been a gig showcasing “Surf” to Chicago yet. The band blitzed through new renditions of “Surf” cuts “Windows,” “Slip Slide,” “Pass The Vibes,” “Wanna Be Cool” and “Just Wait” (which featured a welcome appearance by dancer Ian Eastwood). When they played “Go,” local artist Mike Golden reprise his excellent vocal turn on the track and Joey Purp joined the band onstage for his verse. This is where the surprises start. After “Go,” they performed Purp’s “iiiDrops” hits “Girls@” and “Cornerstore.” While Chance didn’t show up to rap his “Ta-Nehisi Coates” line for that track, it was so cool to hear those bangers live.
Then came another surprise: D.R.A.M., the golden-voiced Virginia crooner responsible for my favorite party jam of 2015 “Cha Cha.” Here he sang “D.R.A.M. Sings Special” and it was sublime. Then Chance came on and the place went nuts. The Social Experiment then went through “No Problem,” and “Blessings” with Jamila Woods. Then, before launching into a brilliant rendition of Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo” highlight “Ultralight Beam,” Chance said, “we haven’t played this one in Chicago yet” which makes me think I was hallucinating during his recent Chicago Theatre gig.
Before set closer “Sunday Candy,” which is still as revelatory live as it always is, Donnie called for a moment of silence in honor of Alton Sterling, a black man killed by police in Baton Rouge. Just hours removed from the news of Philando Castile, another person of color dead at the hands of police, it was a somber reminder of music’s healing power in the face of injustice.
While almost-childlike wonder is one of the Social Experiment’s most prominent themes in their music, it’s Donnie Trumpet’s writing that truly captures it. With songs like “Sunday Candy” and “Wanna Be Cool,” Donnie’s music is self-empowering and completely innocent in its unabashed joy. We needed that feeling last night.
***Writer’s note: if you’re looking for a review of The Roots you can find one here. The Roots are great but they’re from Philadelphia and I write about Chicago music.
@joshhterry | jterry@redeyechicago.com
