In August, neo-classical cello-rock band Rasputina took to Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park. The diverse audience, befitting a free summertime show, spread across the lawn and listened intently until triggered into laughter periodically by lead singer Melora Creager’s quaint, endearing banter between songs.
At one point in the band’s set, Creager explained what a song was actually about, declared that it was not a “popular” theme, and asked that the audience help her fabricate a new, more popular song. It was all in jest, but the audience ate it up and bellowed absurd topics, which the band fused to create an even more absurd introduction to the song. Later, right before plucking into “Secret Message,” Creager said, “I think, next, I will play one of our many science songs, this being the physics department of our [music].”
– Text by Mojdeh Stoakley / photos by Lauren Hermann.
