Foxing Farewell Show in Chicago - Night Two
After a night that felt almost like a funeral, night two was much more light-hearted and celebratory.
If the first night of Foxing’s four-show run to hiatus was a bit heavy, the second was a much lighter celebration. Rather than dwell on the sadness of needing a break, Foxing entered in the most light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek fashion imaginable. You can’t get much better than playing “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion, in full, and entering the stage when the key change occurs. Conor Murphy joyously walked to the front of the stage and pumped up the crowd to get things headed in the right direction early. The music followed suit.
On night one, Foxing began the show with the first three tracks from their debut record, The Albatross. Night two, they began with their most recent record, 2024’s Foxing. “Secret History,” into “Spit,” into “Hell 99” to absolutely disintegrate any idea that we weren’t going to have a hell of a night. They followed that up with “Go Down Together.”
By the end of the night, they played six from their newest record, four from Draw Down the Moon, four from Nearer My God, and four from The Albatross. Dealer only got one small nod with “Night Channels.” The power of the night was the new stuff, most notably a rendition of “At Least We Found the Floor” to kick off the encore.
Rather than the entire band coming on stage, it was just Conor and Eric. Conor told a story about how difficult it is to be in a band, about compromising and letting people change your art. He talked about how difficult it is to deal with that, thinking about all those compromises each time you play these songs, recalling all the battles to make Foxing songs. And then he said that’s why he was so grateful that when he brought the demo for “At Least We Found the Floor” to Eric, rather than take it and change it, Eric told Conor they should keep his pandemic-era demo from his basement as-is.
Conor thanked him for being so selfless and said, “I appreciate that so much, Eric. I love you.” It was by far the most beautiful moment of the entire night. The song was incredible in its new rendition, with Eric playing complementary, atmospheric guitar parts.
But just to make sure the lighter tone of the night was maintained, while the rest of the band took the stage to finish the encore with “Rory,” and “Nearer My God,” Eric had one last word, and I have to paraphrase because I don’t remember the exact wording. “One of my toxic traits is that I am really bad at taking compliments, so it was really hard to take one in front of all these people.” Conor replied to the audience, “I’ve known Eric for over 20 years. I knew that would make him uncomfortable. That’s on me,” to the laughter of the audience.
The night ended with the band shaking hands and waving to the front rows of Thalia Hall. Today, they are headed to their hometown of St. Louis for the last two shows before the hiatus begins. How long will it last? Nobody knows, but if the love on the stage and their exact words about how this truly is just a break are to be believed, then this won’t be the last we see of Foxing.
I recorded the first part of the encore with Conor talking to Eric. It was one of the sweetest moments I’ve ever witnessed at a concert in my life. At 46 years old, I’ve seen an awful lot.
Apologies for my cropping. I just wanted to get this out there.