This past Saturday, Sophie Cates brought her first ever headlining tour, SUPERNOVA, to Chicago’s Beat Kitchen!  The cozy Chicago Bar was packed in with fans eager to see the indie singer-songwriter following the announcement of her upcoming sophomore LP, SUPERNOVA.

The night started off with LAN Party (aka Wyatt), a house DJ who also served as Sophie Cates producer for her recent project. He started the set with what I can only describe as “floaty vibey” ambient like music, and gradually shifting into dance music to get the crowd excited for the headliner.  As soon as Wyatt closed his set, fans started inching up to the stage and catching glimpses of Cates’ setlist via reaching their phones over the stage and referencing the photos.

Sophie’s set was an extremely intimate experience, as the multi-instrumentalist had the stage all to herself, playing tracks off her laptop and occasionally accompanying herself with electric guitar and synth throughout the night. Cates started her set with early work from her discography, describing the concept for the show as “I really wanted to do my own eras tour.”

When Sophie wasn’t showing off her guitar chops, she spun freely around the stage and encouraged the crowd to do the same. Adding to the ethereal and emotional vibe of her music.

Taking charge of the stage the entire night, she brought us through that musical journey. Some highlights of the setlist include “Nasty,” which was the first song of the night she brought out her Fender - fan favorite “Cardigan,” which the crowd didn’t miss a word of. Cates even exclaiming “Chicago likes Cardigan!” 

For the last section of the show, she began with vocoder accompanied acapella cover of Taylor Swift’s “My Tears Richochet,” which Cates described as “Taylor Swift with Imogen Heap swag,” as well as matching the theme of her own work of growing up and understanding emotions. To close out the night she played songs from the aforementioned “like that” as well as sprinkling unreleased songs “Maybe She Was The One” and a song she dubbed a “sit down and think song,” and closing out with the title track of the EP, “like that.”

As the show came to an end, Cates expressed her gratitude for the city, exclaiming that she will be selling the merch she made herself to all the fans after the show. I can only hope Sophie Cates comes back to the city soon as her free dance moves and ethereal music stuck with me for the rest of the weekend. For fans of Billie Eilish, Soccer Mommy, and Elohim, Sophie Cates is certainly one to watch.

Article and Photo Gallery by Mollie Menuck