Concert Review: Smoking Popes

Smoking Popes
March 9, 2007
Champs Rock Room
Burbank, IL
@@@@ (out of 5)

OK, so the Smoking Popes aren't British. But other than some acclaim across Chicagoland -- they hail from northwest suburban Lake In The Hills -- they probably could be considered "Hidden." After releasing two near perfect albums of power pop gems in the mid-'90s, they disbanded as lead singer and songwriter Josh Caterer wanted to explore his Christianity (and formed a band called Duvall, like the Popes accompanied by his brother Eli). Now they've reunited and I caught them for the first time since in a smoky room full of Bud Light drinkers in the lovely burg of Burbank, IL. A couple of opening bands called The Arrivals and Dead Town Revival were listenable but nothing exceptional, but the Popes made the excursion to the southwest burbs quite worthwhile. The stuff from the aforementioned albums -- Born To Quit and Destination Failure -- sounded wonderful, while some songs they played from an upcoming album didn't completely "wow" me. But though I enjoyed the show throughout, I was blown away by a show closing cover of Springsteen's "Born To Run." I'm not sure if the entire crowd loved it as much as I did, but I'd never heard anyone cover it before and I got a kick out of it.