California rock/metal nomads Stitched Up Heart made their way to Bada Brew in the Chicago suburb of Crest Hill on Sunday night opening up for Lacey Sturm, formerly of Flyleaf. Why am I calling them nomads? They have been on the road since early 2016 and Sunday was at least their fifth trip to the Chicago area since May.
Each show has been very well attended and Sunday night was sold out to see four bands on the bill.
Unfortunately, I missed out on seeing Letters From The Fire but made it about 10 minutes before the members of Stitched Up Heart made their way on stage. Decker first made his presence known on stage and settled in behind the drum kit, then Merritt, Randy and Nick wandered up and snagged their guitars as the room quieted up. From out of the left side of the stage strolled in Mixi, with a glowing smile on her face, the throng of fans gave her a metal welcome as she took her place with the microphone.
Mixi captivates an audience as well as anyone i’ve ever seen, getting up close and personal with her adoring fans as she is singing to them and knocking out crowd favorites “Monster,” “Never Alone” and “Catch Me When I Fall” as well as a handful of other tracks. About half way through their set, Mixi made it known to those in attendance that the band came to Chicago with no gear since the engine on their touring van blew up. The other bands on the bill came to their aid in letting them borrow what they needed to make the set work.
After their set, Mixi and her band mates made it out to the merch table to make sure they met with fans who were wanting autographs and photos.
Headlining the show was former Flyleaf vocalist Lacey Sturm and her touring band. I was enthralled with the fans in front of the stage as they were mesmerized by the mere presence of Lacey as she connected with those holding on every word. Lacey gave a heartfelt praise to her military brother who is overseas in Afghanistan prior to her song “The Soldier;” she also gave the masses what they wanted by belting out some of her most famous Flyleaf tunes like “I’m So Sick,” “Chasm” and “Call You Out”.
Sunday was a great night of live music and female fronted bands. Make sure the next time Stitched Up Heart comes to your area, hit up their show. It is well worth the ticket costs.
