Don’t Start Your Year Taking a Shot of Malort, Or Do: New Years in Chicago

by Natalie Leonard & Rachel Cabitt

We rang in 2018 in one of the coldest parts of the country: Chicago, Illinois (pretty sure the city recorded its coldest New Year’s Day to date). Chicago’s very own Twin Peaks, the 5 piece band, held a three night run at Thalia Hall over New Years weekend - bringing along fellow Chicago acts and friends, Sun Cop, Knox Fortune, Dehd, Post Animal, Today’s Hits and NE-HI.

The Chicago music scene intrigued us the most in 2017. The stereotype that Midwesterners are the nicest held true, so of course their music scene replicated that sense of sincerity and solidarity: artists supporting other artists. While we most definitely froze our asses off, we were warmed right back up by all of the new friends we made at Thalia Hall and the Freehand Hotel. Take a look for yourself at what makes Chicago the city to keep an eye out for in 2018.

Freehand Chicago, the hotel we called home for our stay.

One margarita, two margarita, three margarita, floor.

Night 1 at Thalia Hall:

Sun Cops

Knox Fortune

Twin Peaks

Nat's hands were just as unstable as this bench foresaw. She dropped her Polaroid in the snow, thus ending our series of Polaroids in Chicago on our first night...

Drinks at The Broken Shaker at The Freehand.

Nat at The Eggsperience - a pretty horrible experience to be quite honest. At least they have a nice flower wall.

Nat turned 24 at midnight. We celebrated this New Year's Eve baby at the Rainbo Club where drinks were $3.50 and they had a photo booth. 10/10 would go again.

4 am.

Ran into our girl Crystal Zapata at Rainbo Club the night before and then got Mexican at The Lonely Rose to cure our hangover the next day.

A weird reoccurrence, but almost everywhere Nat travels she finds stray playing cards in the street and has a collection on a wall in her apartment. She found this one on the subway platform on her birthday.

Met up with NE-HI backstage before their set. They played the third show on New Years Eve with Today's Hits.

Photographer buds Cooper Fox and Tim Nagle after the show. This was either before or after our first Malort shot (Chicago's signature liquor/ initiation ritual).