The Tonic room is a well known local bar & venue in Chicago with an interesting history. It has been a brothel, Speakeasy, and an Occult Supply Store. Although small & linear in shape, a small but enthusiastic crowd can make for a good night here. Bassel & The Supernaturals, no strangers to the Chicago live scene, came prepared to groove with the intimate crowd.
They opened up with two original songs showcasing Bassel’s silky smooth voice, backed by a tight groove oriented unit. Strangely after this they played a Stevie Wonder cover, “Just the Two of Us,” that in my option doesn’t really suit the band or the voice of Bassel.
The third original song of the night started very slow, and kicked into high groove right at the end producing a nice change of feel for the evening. The fourth song of the night called “Hideout,” off their new upcoming release was haunting and very special. The ballad that came up next was long and slow with a nice finish to the song. Up next came “Loss,” a song written about and for Bassel’s cousin who was tragically murdered in Syria, caught in the crossfire of shots while she was going about her normal business. Very proud of his Syrian decent and passionate about what is going on in that part of the world, this song had a great bass line throughout which transformed into a Marching Militaristic middle section, and had lots of little subtle touches towards another fantastic band called Snarky Puppy via the keyboard and guitar.
Danny Howard is a photographer and musician based in Chicago. Check out his art work and his band while we wait for his next show!