Making former emo 20-somethings everywhere really start to feel their age, in July 2014, Cartel, an Atlanta-based pop-punk band, announced they were beginning to plan their 10th anniversary tour for their 2005 album “Chroma.”
“Chroma” was the height of Cartel’s success as a band, producing singles such as “Honestly” and “Say Anything (Else),” the former of which was featured on MTV’s Total Request Live and the movie “John Tucker Must Die.” “Say Anything (Else)” was featured on the video game Madden NFL 07. The band is also known for the way they wrote their second album, by being featured on the MTV show “Band in a Bubble.” Throughout the duration of the show, the band lived in a bubble in New York City and were not allowed to leave until they wrote and recorded their second album “Cartel.”
On April 12, the band stopped in Chicago to play their most well-known album to a sold out crowd at the Bottom Lounge with support from Driver Friendly, Team* and Hit the Lights.
“This is our first sold-out show on this tour,” lead singer and guitarist Will Pugh said to the crowd, which resulted in numerous cheers. The band had high energy which was reflected in the crowd of mostly 20-somethings throughout the duration of their set, in which they played the entirety of “Chroma.”
Although the crowd was enthusiastic for Cartel, the energy of the crowd was lackluster for the opening bands, notably for Team*. Their singer Caleb Turman, formerly of Forever the Sickest Kids, responded to this by saying to the crowd “If you’re not going to give energy to us, at least give it to Hit the Lights.”Despite the odd critique of the crowd, the rest of Team*’s set went well. They had a laid-back, beachy feel to them, which was appreciated as a break between the three other pop-punk bands.
The most notable opening band was Driver Friendly. The Austin, Texas-based five piece was incredibly energetic and played well, even getting the crowd to dance along with their cover of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” Although it did not sound like it was the band’s first tour, the musicianship was on point, especially their trumpeter, every member looked ecstatic to be performing, making it seem as if they were on tour for the first time. This was endearing, and their excitement carried through the venue.
While Driver Friendly, Team* and Hit the Lights all performed well, the crowd was there to see Cartel, and this was made evident as soon as the lights went down and the first chords of “Say Anything (Else)” were played, all the way through the final song off “Chroma,” “A.”
Cartel has released two more albums since their follow-up self-titled in 2007, but haven’t really made as big of a splash in the music scene as they did with “Chroma,” but if anything, Cartel’s performance at the Bottom Lounge proved that no matter how much time has passed, a good album will always be recognized.