Alvvays’ Return a Reality, Showcases at Chicago's Newest Outdoor Music Venue
Molly Rankin and Alvvays elevating The Salt Shed’s summer scene.
Alvvays is the first band I shot with “permission” thanks to the graciousness of Thalia Hall as a house photographer in 2017. I had a previous single, paltry photoshoot to show them, yet for an unknown reason I’m still indebted to, they agreed to let me do it. It’s a favorite shoot of mine for so many reasons. It’s a time and memory I wish I can relive. To see Alvvays for the first time again and again. Tuesday night, it somehow felt that way.
Alvvays became an immediate favorite of mine in 2017. It’s difficult to describe the joy in their return to touring, rising from an intermittent absence, still resonating as a rumor, unreal and fueled by rabid fans to collectively will the group back together into their waiting anxious worlds.
Tuesday night, Alvvays’ return to Chicago materialized, with my mind still somehow in doubt that they would take the stage, but they did. Performing at the city’s newly minted venue, The Salt Shed, it seemed appropriate for the group to re-emerge within a new structure, a place currently transformative and full of further promise, that to me mirrors Molly Rankin and Alvvays’ return. Their performance was flawless, new but familiar, to the delight of those still wondering if the rumors are true, myself included.
Full gallery: Alvvays '22 at The Salt Shed
Alvvays’ return to Chicago warranting a collective exhalation of relief from long inquiring fans.