by Caitlin Dennis | November 1st, 2025

All images are from Grandson’s -Inertia Tour Chicago, IL on 11/1/25.

Grandson is an American-Canadian singer/songwriter and rapper. His first major release was his EP a modern tragedy vol. 1 back in 2018. This EP included Blood//Water which topped charts in Canada and the US. Grandson is very much an artist of his genre. His music details mental health struggles and many topical political issues that face the world today. He has been incredibly vocal with his platform and lyrics about the state of the current politics, giving voice to those who don’t have one. His sound falls into an alternative sound blend, with elements of rock, alternative hip-hop, and a sprinkle of electronic sounds.

Fans trickled into the Rivera Theatre early to catch the opener ho9o99 (read as horror). Ho9o99 is a punk rap duo that blends electronic music elements with punk-rock and rap. And boy do these guys know how to put on a show, between the lights, the sounds, and the dances, they had the early birds to the show fully entertained. There was a live drummer, who killed it, and one of the duo manned what looked to me as a dj board, while the other lead the vocals. While mixing mashups and beats live, the two ran around the stage with so much energy. The crowd was moving and jumping, even moshing a few times throughout the set. Some of my favorite parts of their set were their interpretive dance breaks. They just let the music move them and did whatever came to them. They said “Yall need to learn how to just have fun.” following a dance break, and you could tell they were having fun. That is a big part of love music, have fun and let the beat move your feet. Okay, now that we have gotten the cheesy rhyme out of the way, and the crowd warmed up, grandson was soon to take the stage.

Grandson released his latest album Inertia back in early September. This album is also his latest release as a newly independent artist. It is full of anger and frustration, making for a quite cathartic love performance, though I think most of his music does that. I saw grandson perform back in 2023 on his co-headlining tour with K-Flay, and his stage presence has stayed continuous, if not more engaging. When the lights went out the screams were deafening, the crowd was excited. Grandson appeared on stage energized and ready to rock. And so was the crowd! I could practically feel the ground moving as people jumped around. The man never stopped moving the whole show. The angst in the room was palpable all night, with a shared catharsis in the crowd as they shouted the lyrics along with him. The whole band was jumping around the stage all night, high off rock music and verve. His banter with the audience was fueled with upset with the current political state of the world, touching on many different issues domestically in the US and overseas. One issue of which was his originally booked British opener for the tour was no longer able to join the tour after their visas were revoked following a performance of them speaking out against the current government’s complicity in the genocide in Isreal. He encouraged his audience to not be silent in these issues, and stand together in these trying times. On a bit of a lighter note, later in the set for the encore, he came back out in his halloween costume, ‘granny-son’, which was quite the sight as he sang ‘Stick-up’ in a moo-moo and grey wig (a grandma costume). I’ll definitely keep him on my radar for his future projects, and he is a solid choice to add some punk-rock anger to your playlist.