by Caitlin Dennis | April 19th , 2025

All images are from Chase Petras- Lullabies For Dogs Tour in Chicago, IL on 4/19/25.

This past Saturday Chase Petra made a pit stop in Chicago for their Lullabies For Dogs tour. Chase Petra released their latest album (Lullabies For Dogs) back in March. The 13 track album has some of my favorite tracks from the band and I am excited to see what the band has in store for fans in the future. The self described “quarter-life-crisis pop rock band from California” has one of my favorite types of alternative sounds, telling stories of growing up and growing pains and just making you wanna scream the lyrics as loud as you can.

The band made their stop at Cobra lounge, a fun little dive in the west town area of Chicago. Fans eagerly piled into the bar and quickly filled the whole space before doors opened to grab merch before the show. You could even hear the band's soundchecking while we waited for the doors to open.

Fans slowly but surely piled into the stage area, and before they knew it it was time for Sorry Mom to take the stage. Sorry Mom is a relatively new New York based queer punk band, who recently just signed with Hopeless Records. Their fast and fun beats and raunchy lyrics are sort of addictive. They put on a great show, and after their break from touring I have a feeling they will come back with even more excitement from fans!

Small Crush was next, an indie-rock, surf-pop genre blend from California. They have this really fun blend of a surf-y, rock-y, indie sound that makes you want to keep listening, and I’ll definitely be going through and listening to more of their music! Definitely a more ‘chill’ vibe compared to Sorry Mom, but they brought Sorry Mom back onto the stage to perform together! They definitely still kept the energy up for the show to come!

And then, before anyone knew it, Chase Petra was on stage! I have been to a couple of Chase Petra shows before, both when they were opening for other bands, so I was pretty excited to see what a Chase Petra headline show would be like, and they didn’t disappoint. They played a great mix of old tunes and new tunes, and had so much fun interacting with the audience. It was almost like we were getting a conversational stand up comedy show in between songs, and it made the already intimate show feel that much more personal. Then came the inevitable mosh pit, and everyone was glad to oblige. Fans were jumping and dancing the whole show, and really let everything out in that mosh pit. Hunter (the band's lead singer) even decided tonight was the night to finally stage dive!

There was truly not a dull moment during this show and it reminded me why I enjoy smaller bands in smaller venues (even if you are packed in like sardines and on your tiptoes to see the whole time, it reminds you that it's about the music and the community you find!). I have no doubt Chase Petra will continue to ride this high and I highly suggest checking them out!