There’s nothing like a chilly night with the type of breeze that one might deem “sweater weather.”  It was a Thursday: the stars were out, the temperatures were low and I felt electrified as I headed into the city to see three bands.

Two weeks ago, I got the opportunity to see one of my favorite groups, The Neighbourhood, live at the Riviera Theater. As I thanked my cab driver and stepped out into the brisk Chicago night air, my eardrums were filled with the overwhelming sounds of cars honking and people chattering. My excitement carried me through the line and onto the general admission main floor.

The lights dimmed and the crowd felt electric as the opening band stepped out. It was Hunny, an indie rock band from Southern California. The lead singer greeted the fans and shared his love for Chicago, as most of his family are natives of the city. They started out with their most popular song, “Cry For Me.” For an opening band, they were able to impressively get the crowd jumping with their catchy melodies and infectious guitar riffs; a perfect band to lead into the night.

Bad Suns was up next. The lead singer, Christo Bowman, with his laid-back demeanor, sported a leather jacket, black skinny jeans and cherry red guitar. They also started out with their most popular song, “Transpose,” and you could tell that the whole band was feeding off the elation of the crowd. They played every song off their album Language and Perspective before ending their set, instigating a roar of applause. They were the last band to play before the headliner, The Neighbourhood.

With each new band that went up, the crowd inched closer to the stage–a parallel to the climbing anticipation I felt. Hands pushed me from behind, and I could feel that this was going to be a show to remember.

Jesse Rutherford, the lead singer, received a lot of praise for his black pinstripe Chicago Bulls jersey, but it was incomparable to the screams he got from fans as he opened his set. They began with their lighter songs like “Warm” and “Silver” and progressed to their bass-heavy songs such as “Jealou$y,” “Afraid,” “The Beach” and my personal favorite, “R.I.P 2 My Youth.”

Throughout the night, the bands used a giant LED display screen to add effects to their set, such as a contrast of white lights on a black background to emulate ocean waves and deep space. They also used video game footage from the popular game Grand Theft Auto V placing Rutherford in the game scene, walking through the virtual city “Los Santos.”

After this spectacular display, we were left speechless. The only thing left to do was the homework that was waiting for us back in Naperville.