Live: SLIFT and Cor de Lux – Outset – Chicago, IL – October 13, 2026

A SLIFT show is always an experience. You’re in for a trip through space, another dimension, a wormhole from there to another planet, and back again before you get your breath back. It was no exception in Chicago on October 13th when they turned Outset into a rocket ship.

Setting the launch pad were Cor de Lux, a wild noise / post-punk band who had a good set with intense drumming by Jacob Richardson that kept the band locked-in and always powerful.

Cor de Lux. L-R: Tim Lusk, Jacob Richardson, Dawn Moraga, John Bliven

SLIFT hit warp drive with the title track to their newest album, Fantasia, and played several tracks from it. The power generated by the two brothers and their longtime friend is something to behold. You’re never sure how just three people are making all of that sound.

SLIFT opening a wormhole in space-time.

“Ummon” and “Hyperion” never disappoint. Hearing and feeling both live is like having your astral form knocked out of your body and then reuniting with it in a zero-gravity environment.

Ending with “The Day of Execution” and “Secret Mirror” from Fantasia was like a one-two punch or the jettisoning of two rocket stages as we escaped the planet’s hold on us. We were left, as one is after any SLIFT show, feeling both connected to everything around us and somehow free of all of it.

It’s always an experience, and one worth seeking.

Keep your mind open.

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Published by

Nik Havert

I've been a music fan since my parents gave me a record player for Christmas when I was still in grade school. The first record I remember owning was "Sesame Street Disco." I've been a professional writer since 2004, but writing long before that. My first published work was in a middle school literary magazine and was a story about a zoo in which the animals could talk.

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