Review: Kim Deal gets warm welcome in Chicago, her creative home away from home

Kim Deal is an artist who needs no introduction. Especially in Chicago.

Over nearly 40 years, the city has become a creative home away from home for the Pixies/Breeders/solo whiz who often set up base camp at Electrical Audio recording studio in Avondale to work with the late Steve Albini and crew on some of the most revered albums of the ’90s and beyond. So, naturally, it didn’t take long for excited fans and allies to make Deal feel welcome during her solo show at Thalia Hall Wednesday night. “I love you, Kim!” shouted one. “Me too!” chirped another. “We all do!” a third piped up.

“We probably know three-quarters of you guys … most of you are on the guest list,” Deal joked, waving off the adulation in her characteristic nonchalant way. “You better enjoy the show!”

That was never up for debate. As Deal and her expansive nine-piece band started carefully unfurling the material of her 2024 album — and first true solo record — “Nobody Loves You More,” it wasn’t hard to get caught in the harmonious tidal wave. The gorgeous arrangements flowed on experimental noise track “Crystal Breath,” took pause on the soft ballad “Wish I Was” and all but crested on the luscious orchestral title track. Other standouts came in the soft lullaby “Are You Mine?,” written by Deal during the time she was caring for her mother who was battling Alzheimer’s, as well as a “love song” called “Summerland,” featuring a prized arrangement on a ukulele that Deal said was once a gift from Albini and his wife, Heather Whinna.

Like the pink flamingo that has become the album’s unofficial mascot (a plastic one was featured in one of the music videos and a stitched version proudly adorned Deal’s shirt on this night), “Nobody Loves You More” is a colorful, whimsical romp in line with the bird’s symbolic representation of beauty, confidence and new potential. Deal wisely opted to play the album in full from start to finish, the way it was intended to be heard and harkening back to that gilded time when an album was a true art package, before we collectively got sucked into the industry’s status quo singles model.

Yet, recreating the layered and nuanced studio magic on “Nobody Loves You More” had to be no easy feat and took the handiwork of the incredible instrumental frontline, which included three guitars, two horns, drums, keys, cello and violin, plus a backup vocalist — with several of the personnel pulled from Chicago’s talent pool. In addition to violinist Susan Voelz and guitarist Rob Bochnik, another accomplished local was cellist Alison Chesley, aka Helen Money who Deal recalled first meeting during a Shellac show. “Do you know them?” Deal sarcastically asked the crowd of her local tribe. Judging by the loud response, it was clear many did.

Even the opener Bnny was a homegrown hand-pick. The group’s atmospheric lo-fi indie rock whet the palette for the night with music that would’ve fit well in the late ’80s and ’90s milieu, including one track, “Blind,” that was a dead ringer for Cowboy Junkies’ “Sweet Jane.” The project of Downers Grove native Jessica Viscius, Deal had tapped them for previous Midwest dates. And wouldn’t you know it, but like Deal, Viscius has a twin sister, Alexa, who has worked on her music projects though she is now part of her cheering squad. “I pay my sister, she flies in from California to be at my shows to respond when I say, Hi, how are you guys,’ ” Viscius joked when she received her own batch of loud approval during the set.

This overwhelming sense of pride and family (blood or chosen) was constant during the show, making the headline set feel like a record release celebration, even though “Nobody Loves You More” has been out since November. Many in attendance were the same people who worked behind the scenes on the album at Electrical Audio and took a stake in the night’s ownership. Just a day prior, Deal also performed the album in full at a surprise show at the studio’s performance space. Coincidentally, it happened to be Albini’s birthday.

The producer/engineer’s magnanimous spirit all but loomed over the night, including when Deal moved the set into a second-half smorgasbord of The Breeders material, a cover of Ed’s Redeeming Qualities’ “Drivin' on 9,” and a sole Pixies song. “This was the first one Steve and I recorded. … I sang the whole thing out of pitch and when I walked into the control room, I don’t think he knew and I don’t think he cared either,” Deal recalled before a walloping delivery of “Gigantic” that developed into a pure wall of sound with the mini-orchestra behind her.

Blessed with this same symphonic splendor, timestamped classics like The Breeders’ chugging “Safari” and ever-quirky “Cannonball” all but reinvigorated the tracks at a time they are finding new audiences thanks to the evangelizing of Gen Z fans like Olivia Rodrigo. Fingers crossed that's a sign Deal isn’t done exploring the full capabilities of her songbook and continues finding the inspiration for new material – hopefully she still does so in Chicago.

Kim Deal set list at Thalia Hall July 23, 2025

Nobody Loves You More

Coast

Crystal Breath

Are You Mine?

Disobedience

Wish I Was

Big Ben Beat

Bats in the Afternoon Sky

Summerland

Come Running

A Good Time Pushed

Beautiful Moon

Safari (The Breeders)

Biker Gone

Off You (The Breeders)

No Aloha (The Breeders)

Drivin' on 9 (Ed’s Redeeming Qualities cover)

Gigantic (Pixies)

Encore

Do You Love Me Now? (The Breeders)

Cannonball (The Breeders)