John McCarten, otherwise known as Manic Focus, is calling his upcoming Chicago show at the House of Blues on Saturday, March 21 his biggest show yet. Manic Focused minds and lots of other festival fans are really looking forward to this show and taking guesses at who may be a part of the full live band debuting for Chicago next Saturday.
Manic has been through Illinois already on this tour, taking a stop at Champaign-Urbana\’s Canopy Club for their Unofficial St. Patrick\’s Day to throw down a finale show on the campus holiday. In true Illini spirit, 2009 University of Illinois Alum Jake Barinholtz accompanied Manic on stage for a jumpstart on the live performance component of this tour. Jake, also a part of The Coop, drummed alongside JmaC for the duration of the show, delivering that perfect balance of live instrumentals and electronic weight. The full live band, complete with a variety of other instruments is sure to achieve that balance even more beautifully at the House of Blues show. This performance is Manic\’s opportunity to associate more with the jam band side of his music\’s scene, as he does not really see himself as a stereotypical EDM artist. He knows a lot of his fan base came to him via jam band community from Midwestern festivals. Chicago and live instrumentals only seem like the most perfect combination Manic could deliver to his listeners. Details as to who exactly will be joining Manic on the big stage will remaining a surprise until the big show, though we can definitely expect to see the the sweet audio-syrup synthesizer Russ Liquid on some brass and/or woodwind.
Why did Chicago get so lucky as to have this full live band spectacle? John, a Minnesota native, recently relocated to Chicago. Now that he calls the Windy City home, it seemed like the right place to present the full band. Perched with a killer opening line-up by space travelin\’, beat slangin\’ youngin\’s Lindsay Lowend and Marvel Years, the night is guaranteed to indeed be Manic\’s biggest show to date.
Source: Chicagoist
