Last night, Chat Pile kicked off their tour in support of their new album, Who Loves the Sun, at First Avenue in Minneapolis. As you can see in my unimpressive photos, it was a barebones performance, with the band performing in front of a black curtain - no graphic backdrop, no fancy lighting, no other gimmicks. That says a lot about where Chat Pile are as a live band at this point - the music is all they need to keep an audience enraptured, and they know it. 

After solid opening performances from Minneapolis' Prize Horse and touring opener Soul Glo, Chat Pile took the stage and immediately launched into "PEN I S MALL," the heaviest track on the new album (and, as I argued in my review, the heaviest song in their catalog). It was the first of many tracks from the new album - "Deep Blue," "Creature," "Intruder," and "Family Funeral" all made the cut (Note that I'm working off memory here and I may be missing a couple songs. There's a setlist online that I've seen, but it is at least partially incorrect). So too did several songs from their debut album, God's Country, including one of my favorites, "Tropical Beaches, Inc.," and their first breakout song, "Why?"

"Why?" came pretty early in the set, and it was a genuinely striking moment. The band has been performing this song for years now, and yet singer Raygun Busch seemed genuinely angry during the performance. Not that he was singing a song that he was tired of performing, but that he was angry that the issues of homelessness the song addresses are still an issue. "Horror story/ A real American horror story," he sang, and you could feel that he truly meant it. 

The sincerity of Chat Pile is a big part of why they've gained such a big following in a relatively short time. Their songs tackle real issues - homelessness, climate change, genocide, technology addiction - and their live performances make it clear that this is not posturing. They are genuinely concerned and angry about these issues, and they feel that you should be, too. 

Of course, there are plenty of bands that care about real issues, and oftentimes they can feel preachy, sermonizing, or sanctimonious. Chat Pile never does, largely because they also inject absurdity and humor into their performances. Raygun famously talks about movies between songs that have a connection to the city they're performing in, so we got references to films like "Mallrats," "Young Adult," "Trauma," and of course "Purple Rain." The dearly missed Palmer's Bar in Minneapolis' Cedar Riverside neighborhood bar also got a shout-out - Chat Pile's first two Minneapolis shows were at the bar as part of the annual Caterwaul Festival. 

I saw Chat Pile for the first time at their first Caterwaul performance (still kicking myself for not buying those first presses of their first two EPs), and they've grown as performers since then. They've always put on an entertaining show, but they weren't the most polished band on the bill either of the previous two times I've seen them. They've improved tremendously on that front - Ray's live vocals have gotten stronger and more varied, and special praise needs to be given to guitarist Luther Manhole - the guitar work on Who Loves the Sun is the most complex yet from the band, and he delivered it live with aplomb. Raygun is understandably the face of the band, and bass player Stin gets a lot of attention for his driving, industrial-tinged performing, but this show convinced me that Luther may be the secret weapon to the band's sound. Lest I leave anyone out, Cap't Ron was also excellent, drumming with almost mechanical precision.

Chat Pile delivered everything I wanted from them last night: an engaged, tight performance, a phenomenal setlist spanning highlights from all three albums and their EPs, movie banter, and a few pointed political jabs ("You all hate ICE here right? We hate them, too!). A few of my friends will be seeing them again later this year in Boston at the Saddest Day festival, and I'm excited for them to see how the tour changes between now and then. Chat Pile are firing on all cylinders right now, and I have a feeling the tour is only going to get better as it goes. If you have a chance to catch this tour, absolutely do not miss it.