Empire of the Sun electrify Radius Chicago - Ask That God Tour

Thursday night at Chicago’s very own Radius transported us to an electric, subtronic and technicolored kind of night under the strobe lights for the coveted Ask That God tour featuring Empire of the Sun with the support of Roi Turbo.

Roi Turbo is an English electronic dance music duo with brothers Benjamin and Conor McCarthy. They draw inspiration from funk and African disco creating this ethereal concoction of sounds that mark the perfect prelude to the very kaleidoscopic ride that Empire engulfs us in.

Back in November of last year, we experienced the Eras tour and the unexpected rebirth of club music in an arena setting while culminated and kickstarted an era of the “BRATS” and thus the brat tour commenced followed by its collaboration with Troye Sivan on Sweat Tour…and so it was a summer/autumn of ultraflourescence and puke green…friendship bracelets finding their place amongst cartons of half-smoked cigarettes and half-finished 7/11 Big Gulps of Cherry Cola.

Then…it was time for the Empyryans to indulge. I had the pleasure of traveling to the west coast, all the way to Los Angeles, California to catch one of the two concert tour dates announced by Empire of the Sun in 2024. The show took place at the Hollywood Bowl and was, according to Luke Steele, one of his biggest dreams to come true…and while that leg of the tour felt very self actualizing, this tour felt more like an ode to the last decade of their artistry.

It was a memorabilia tour in which the VIP lounge showcased some of the band’s most eclectic and colorful looks, encompassing their album themes, cherry blossom trees and of course the half broken guitars after each performance.

The showcase paid homage to the venue’s acoustics and their electronic, underground, fish-net rave type vibe by remixing and remastering the songs we all came to know and love. The electronic riffs gave the melodies range and brought the tempo without abandoning its mystical charm.

The Ask That God tour has been trailing from Tasmania to New Zealand to South America then Mexico, Hawaii and finally making its way to the continental United States. After much acclaim and success from their album, the band believes that this was something they had intrinsically longed for, searched for and were finally blessed with. With well over a decade in the music business and seeing the infamous track “We Are The People” followed by “Alive” take the American ears by storm, Empire of the Sun has amassed quite the following honoring their fandom with the Empyryan moniker…and that night solidified that the pre-summer music season was well adjourned.

The set kicked off with “Changes” which is an upbeat anthem, but is a lot deeper in its consistency. This is the first song that had been written and released after nearly an 8 year long hiatus from the stage and it encompasses the themes of transformation, rebirth, and the inevitable passage of time…referencing that empires rise and fall, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, the subtle streak of a sun ray, and the abundance of euphoria that the glow of the sun brings after a period of gloomy melancholia. It also marks the beginning of a new creative musical journey that the band is inviting us to embark on.

This rendition was followed by “The Feeling You Get” and “Half Mast” from the We Are The People EP and the set list did a phenomenal job of blending both old with the new; the new tracks keep their signature dreamy, lush electric style, but it also reinforces the polished nuance of their sound as well as their maturity through their lyricism.

We danced, we swayed, we embraced the sheer shock of the lasers and meticulously synchronized lights; everything was by design…including the set which transported us to different galaxies of the universe, the sun and moon being the most pivotal characters, the delicate texture of the silky smooth fabrics of the costumes that illuminated the stage, and not to mention the emotional tug at the heart strings during the performance of “Ask That God”, the ambiance of “Swordfish Hotkiss Night” and the futuristic feel of “Television”’s superstition.

This was a tour date that electrified the entire venue, warped the minds of at least three different generations and left a pool of people dancing way past its curtain fall.

You can check out the full set list and more photos from the show on the pachelbellpresents instagram page. Relish in the set list below: