Photos: The Orwells at the Teragram Ballroom

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The Orwells at the Teragram Ballroom (Photo by Michelle Shiers)
The Orwells at the Teragram Ballroom (Photo by Michelle Shiers)

Suburban Chicago rabble-rousers the Orwells brought their in-your-face live show to the Teragram Ballroom on Tuesday night for a free show that, owing to its being 21-and-older, wasn’t quite as unchained as their past dates in L.A.

The crowd started out somewhat sparse, but once the headliners did take the stage, the floor had filled in and the first few rows were ready to thrash and mosh along with frontman Mario Cuomo’s bratty-meets-campy punk performance. Cuomo barked through an 18-song set wearing leopard-print tights and showing off his money-print underwear. The band opened their set with “Dirty Sheets” from their sophomore album, 2014’s “Disgraceland.” Fans in the front reached out to Cuomo, who waved his hair at them and didn’t seem to care about being grabbed in various places.

The band performed a handful of new songs and made comments about whether or not their new album would ever drop. Cuomo showed off his practiced punk nonchalance by swinging the mic, writhing on the floor and sloppily singing the tune to The Fratellis’ “Chelsea Dagger” and then claiming not to know the band or song title. They closed their set, which included their gruff rendition of “Build Me Up Buttercup,” with “Who Needs You” and returned for an encore which sounded like Cuomo was throwing up for several minutes into the microphone while at the same time throwing a can of trash over the audience. Unsurprisingly, their fans didn’t seem to mind at all.

The Orwells were preceded by local indie-rock quartet LA Font. The show was part of a tour presented by Converse Rubber Tracks.

Photos by Michelle Shiers