The house lights went down at The Vic Theatre and you could just feel the room lean forward a little. Sons of Legion, the Nashville band built on soul, rock, and blues, fronted by Adam McInnis with guitarist Daddy Jack Crenshaw beside him, walked out like they’d carried a piece of Lower Broadway north with them to Chicago. The Vic, the old Lakeview theater on Sheffield, turned out to be exactly the right place for it. Just fancy enough to feel like an event, small enough that you could hear every drum hit land. A few songs in, it stopped feeling like a concert and started feeling more like weather rolling through.
The band came out swinging. “Wheels Fall Off” hit first and got the crowd moving right away, and before it even had a chance to cool off, the band slid straight into “Born to Be Free.” That one landed like a match to gas. A big, wide open chorus with just enough Southern grit in the guitars to give it teeth. Bassist Michael J, keyboardist Doran Danoff, rhythm guitarist Joey McClellan, and drummer Reagan Kretz kept it barreling forward, and by the chorus people weren’t just singing along…they were shouting it. Early in the set and already a highlight.
“Outlaw” pulled the mood somewhere darker right after. Less of a sprint, more of a strut. A nasty little riff, drums that felt like a train picking up speed, lights slicing across the stage. The crowd threw their hands up and yelled the lines back, and for a few minutes it stopped being a song on a setlist and started feeling more like a challenge.
The middle of the set is where the band really showed they’ve got more than one gear. “Wild Horse” kept things restless, “Promised Land” reached for something bigger and more hopeful, and “One of These Days” might’ve been the most cinematic moment of the night, as the band held back just enough to let the melody breathe before building it up, slow and heavy, like storm clouds coming in off the lake to the east. It’s the kind of song that belongs in an old theater like this one. It doesn’t feel rushed, it feels lived in. “Fall from Grace” cut a little deeper emotionally, caught somewhere between vulnerable and defiant, and it set up a nice contrast before the band eased into a cover of “Stand by Me”. Not a note for note tribute, more like a campfire singalong that still had their fingerprints on it.
“Remember My Name” came in with the swagger of a mission statement. But the real crowd favorite was their version of “In the Air Tonight,” and they didn’t play safe with it. The tension built slow, almost uncomfortably so, and Adam McInnis wandered up to the balcony to sing the pre-crescendo section from up there. Suddenly the whole theater was part of the song, everyone craning their necks, waiting. When that drum hit finally landed, it actually meant something.
Then things got fun. A cover of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” turned into a full on band party, with each member stepping up to take a verse. It had that loose, barroom jam feel, but was tight enough that you could tell they knew exactly how far to push it. More than anything, it let the crowd see the personalities behind all that noise.
The band closed the evening with “Power,” and by that point the title said it all. Big, loud, and triumphant, it felt like the whole night – the soul, the road worn grit, the connection with the crowd, was getting funneled through the speakers one last time. Sons of Legion didn’t just play Chicago. They shook the place up and left it buzzing on their way out.
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SETLIST:
Wheels Fall Off
Born To Be Free
Outlaw
Wild Horse
Promised Land
One Of These Days
Fall From Grace
Stand By Me (Ben E. King cover)
Remember My Name
In The Air Tonight (Phil Collins cover)
Walking On The Edge
Johnny B. Goode (band Chuck Berry cover)
Firestarter
Power
Show Date: 9.12.2026
