Shovels and Rope – The Castle Theatre

On Sunday, September 29th, I got the fantastic experience of attending Shovels and Rope on their Something is Working Up Above My Head 2024 tour at the Castle Theater in Bloomington Illinois. I came in not familiar with their music or their opener Al Olender’s music and I was very pleasantly surprised.

 

For a Sunday night show the energy at the castle theater was great, the audience loved the music, and the band loved the crowd. Shovels and Rope is a two-person band, both members were switching between drums guitar, piano, and harmonica. If I wasn’t watching them live, I would guess the band consisted of at least four people. The word that comes to mind when I describe their sound is powerful, I could compare their music to the sound of the white stripes in their earlier albums.

 

My favorite song played by them that night was Two Wolves, a vocally beautiful song with a powerful gritty beat on guitar and drums accompanied by piano. While listening to this song I felt like I needed it in my life, just overall grateful for this moment I get to listen to amazing music. Not only did shovels and rope impress me, but their opener Al Oldener was also great, fantastic energy with the crowd and music that makes you want to dance. Overall, the show was incredible and if Shovels and Rope come back to Bloomington normal ill be there.