As soon as I heard Chicago Farmer and the Fieldnotes were coming to kick off the Heritage Square Courtyard Concert Series at Pour Bros I not only knew it was going to be a fun time with lots of people I haven’t seen much of in awhile, but also that I would probably shed a few tears this weekend.

It’s not really a secret that except for a short amount of time in early 2020 when nobody really knew what was going on, and when I had Covid in January 2021, I never stopped going to see live music. There has been something happening somewhere nearly every weekend all along. But it was different than before.

Sure, there were smaller venues and smaller crowds, but there was also a layer of heaviness associated with the decision to go out, knowing we'd be judged and criticized, sometimes privately, sometimes publicly.

And even those who were able to shake that off, knew that just by being out, just by trying to get something we desperately needed, (whether that was escape, connection, inspiration, or any one of a number of needs people meet through live local music) we were being looked at as being "against" someone else. Even when we weren’t trying to make a statement, we were.

For Peoria Music Live I often took video and photos from strange angles in order to keep everyone but the band out of the shot, in hopes of dampening any backlash for the venues and the people who were there.

Don’t misunderstand, we have seen some absolutely amazing music in the last fifteen months, online and in person both. But the constant conflict that seems to be in the air took the shine off, honestly. It just hasn't felt the same as before. So I knew going into last night's show either there would be tears because it didn't feel the same as before Covid or tears of gratefulness because it did.

The courtyard filled slowly at first, but we had stationed ourselves in the front and at one point I looked behind me, shocked to see it was completely full.

The guarded hopefulness I had going in, stuck with me through a lot of the show. The music was fantastic, right from the start. These guys have always sounded great, but there was a melding of sound that took them to a new level together.

That photo with Jaik Willis in mid-air might be one of my favorites to represent their performance. It wasn’t just the night or the crowd. The Fieldnotes bring a high level of energy that one wouldn’t necessarily expect from a Chicago Farmer performance.

I’m glad they didn’t get lost (or pulled over, or have a flat tire) on the way to the show. ;-)

A little emotional when Robbie welcomed everyone and again when Cody got started and people began to dance, the feeling I went in hoping to find hit me part way through the second set.

I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to the musicians to hear hundreds of people singing along with them as opposed to playing to a camera or a computer screen, but I fought tears as we sang about grandma's $20 bill, not being able to hit a deer in the sky, and of course the chorus of Old Crow Medicine Show’s song, “We’re All In This Together.”

I’m not sure how the guys on stage did it without breaking down. After all this time, hundreds of people in the same place, singing the same song. Not caring about any other thought or belief or fear or trait of the person next to the them. Just dancing and singing together.

I knew that I would wish I had video of that eventually (and I do), but sometimes you just have to put the camera down and feel it… and that’s exactly what happened.

There will be other shows and other teary moments (at least for me, that’s just what I do) as we move back towards normalcy, including the upcoming re-opening weekend for live music at Kenny’s Westside Pub on June 11th and Summer Camp August 19th-22nd. But it felt fitting that it was Chicago Farmer who brought us all together to sing and dance again.

Thank you to Robbie Mathisen of Pour Bros Craft Taproom for creating this experience. We needed it. And thank you to Chicago Farmer and the Fieldnotes, you brought back something I wasn’t sure we’d find in Peoria any time soon.

The video below is Indiana Line by Chicago Farmer and the Fieldnotes at the Pour Bros Craft Taproom Heritage Square Courtyard Concert Series, May 29, 2021