Friday evening kicked off the weekend with great music coming to Chicago, Lotus brought a stunning performance to the Vic Theater. Word of mouth has truly spread about this band attracting a large following over the past couple years. Live shows hooking those who attend, Chicago's fall tour closer brought thrilling entertainment that flowed through the mind and body. A musical collaboration building throughout the whole show held the attendees till the final notes dwindled from the stage.

Rhythms burst outward from the stage as the band began to play. The thing about Lotus is you get a mixture of instrumental talent, a touch of electronic along with smooth jazz styles. The band kicked off with a very funky "Grayrigg" into the song "Simian", a song having a spaced out reggae root sound; both songs from their newly released EP "Oil on Glass," which came out early October. The song "Nematode," from their first album was played next. This showing the diversity Lotus has playing songs from their new releases to their older songs, keeping true to their roots while still striving to move foward as musicians and build on their highly addictive sound. The audience was thriving at the start of the set, glancing across the crowd you could see everyone feeding off energy from the band and others. Lotus did not have their regular light rigs with them, but still had attractive lighting in addition to subdue fog spiced things up. Lotus is a tranquil experience with consistent buildup and styles intermixing. The first set showed the audience that the band can still thrive with the temporary loss of their drummer, Steve Clemens, this past summer. Mike Greenfield stepped in this fall to bust out the heady beats this band passionately extracts. The chemistry on stage is hard to ignore with this band, the ambient noises and dazzling flow is what brought people to the nearly sold out show to experience.

The first set was mind blowing, The Vic Theater added a club essence to the night. The theater isn't small by any means yet the close knit following of this band is shown with the population of those attending. Continuing the set with "Invincibility of Youth" and "Livingstron Storm," the crowd was hooked. Seeing the rapid, eager movements of hands in the air and bodies in the crowd immersed you to the music. Closing the first set with the song "Tarasque", the band stepped off. The crowd left lingering in stance awaiting their return wearing.

Stepping back to the stage, Lotus surged into the song "Jaggernaut". Kicking off another steller set. The band streamed energy into the crowd with every note. It is a beautiful thing to see these fellas on stage having such desire to please and move those who are willing to listen. "Hammerstrike" a song off their 2008 album was busted into. The second set continued with diversity between older and new material. These guys have a lot of fun putting their music out and are very talented individually as well as synchronized together. The set closed with a heightened build up and a well known favorite of fans and a perfect end to a second set, "Spiritualize". The awe struck audience was prancing around waiting from closure of this show. It would come and finalize the show fantastically.

An astounding performance was coming to an end as the band came out one final time for an encore. The beginning chords of the song "Marisol," off of another EP released the beginning of October, "Feather on Wood". Drifting from the stage calming melodies swayed the crowd, an intense vibe of anticipation was built in the music . The alteration of traditional and new music went on throughout the show with the final song played "Flower Sermon". The marvel this band feeds is truly a gift which is enjoyed when shared. Impressive and riveting live shows are a specialty for Lotus, they will be around to share their brilliant form for time to come and did I mention great music to dance to, so don't miss out and look for them to come to your area. Check out some Video's from their past tour, pictures and music at; http://www.myspace.com/lotusemail

Also check out their recent Through the Mirror episode catching them at The Fillmore in Denver, CO;

Lotus: Through the Mirror Episode 6 from LotusVibes on Vimeo.

Set 1: Grayrigg, Simian, Nematode, Invincibility Of Youth, Livingston Storm, Golden Ghost, Age of Inexperience, Tarasque

Set 2: Juggernaut, Hammerstrike, 128, Did Fatt > Intro To A Cell, Blacklight Sunflare, Spiritualize
Encore: Marisol, Flower Sermon