BRONCHO Gave Us A Night of ‘Natural Pleasure’ at Thalia Hall Chicago
By Colette Custin Bevard
Indie rockers BRONCHO brought their Natural Pleasure tour to Chicago’s Thalia Hall on Saturday, delivering a dreamy, psychedelic set heavily focused on the new album of the same name, while diving into their discography for some deep cuts.
Eschewing an opener for a puzzling, twenty-minute art film that mainly featured the band members showing off BRONCHO-branded perfume bottles (which were also available at the merch table), the Oklahoma four-piece led things off with the new album in sequential order, always a treat for diehard fans of any band, before moving into cuts from 2014’s outstanding Just Enough Hip to Be Woman (“Stay Loose,” infectious earworm “Class Historian”) as well as material from Bad Behavior (2018) and a few from Double Vanity (2016).
Musically, the band’s style continues to evolve, at times evoking elements of shoegaze that wouldn’t feel out of place on a My Bloody Valentine album, though vocalist Ryan Lindsey’s delivery—sometimes howling, sometimes a sweet, barely-there falsetto—sets them apart, defying easy genre classifications. Certainly, the new material is a conscious step away from the band’s clever, hooky new-wave pop of their earlier days, showcased on “It’s On” and “What,” a stylistic shift that most bands have a hard time pulling off.
Judging from the rabid crowd reaction at Thalia Hall, they’ve moved in a direction that satisfies their fanbase and opens the door for further experimentation.
8/9/25, Thalia Hall Chicago
