Shadow Work, Daisy Chain and Romantica rocked out on Monday at The Space, a relatively new music venue and restaurant in downtown Champaign.
Romantica, a local alternative trio, kicked off the night with “Outta the Sky,” a low-tempo song with heavy bass lines and a guitar solo from their self-entitled extended play.
The four-track EP “Romantica” was published Sept. 1 and includes “Tales from Neptune,” “Cloverpicker” and “Fade to Grey,” which were also performed at The Space.
Romantica consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Owen Anderson, bassist and vocalist Lou Marsden and drummer Ava Stanhope.
The band said they value community and acceptance of individuality.
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“We believe so deeply in music and art as a force to create community, to draw people together, to help us carve out our own spaces that we feel safe existing within,” Romantica said on their Bandcamp webpage. “This EP is a love letter to that idea.”
Punk-rock trio Daisy Chain hit the stage next, kicking off their set with songs from their self-entitled EP, including “Breakfast,” their most popular song on Apple Music.
They also performed tracks from their first album “Burning Up” and their new single “Deep Shit,” which was released this summer.
Daisy Chain’s punk-rock performance included high-energy songs, with band members dancing to the music on stage. Their set included compositions with quick tempos, which had many audience members moving to the music.
The local band is a regular at music venues and house shows and consists of drummer Will Vanderlaan, guitarist Wolfie Burtner and bassist Dominic Mini.
Shadow Work closed out the night with mellow tunes, including in their set “Old Cartoons” and “Peek-a-Boo,” smooth indie songs with raw and emotional vocals.
Hailing from Denver, Colorado, Shadow Work “channels a novel form of dark indie psych-rock” in their music, according to their Spotify profile.
The band includes lead vocalist and guitarist Rafael Nava, bassist and vocalist Joseph Szlanic and drummer Ben Zickau.
This show was a part of Shadow Work’s Midwest Halloween tour.
To celebrate their tour, The Space ran a special for Shadow Work on the night of their performance called “Shadow Work Fries,” which included “hand-cut fries topped with shepherd’s pie filling and mashed potatoes,” according to The Space’s Instagram.
After the show, Mini said Daisy Chain had written new songs.
“It’s always important for us to develop and play new songs as a band so that we’re not the same act every time,” Mini said.
Wolfie Burtner says that these songs are taking on a new theme and draw inspiration from Courtney Barnett, an Australian rock singer.
However, Will Vanderlaan says that one musical influence will always have a place in their heart and within their songs.
“Nirvana is always foundational,” Vanderlaan said.
