Live, from Evanston, Illinois, it’s Friday Night starring this week’s host, Space and featuring special guest stars, Amber and Joe and musical guest stars, The Handcuffs!

Now please welcome, all the way from Evanston, Illinois, this week’s host, Space!

Okay, this is an exciting day, my favorite band from Chicago, The Handcuffs are playing a show in Evanston, Illinois and we’re taking a road trip to go see the show!

I’m going with two friends who are driving and I repeatedly tried to take photos of them in the front seat and the stupid sunshine kept silhouetting them into darkness.

One more reason I hate the sunshine. HATE HATE HATE the sunshine!

Well, for now they’ll remain the “Mystery Couple” and their identity will be revealed soon. Keep on scrolling!

Did I mention I hate the sunshine? Oh…good. Well then…let’s just keep moving along here…

Here we are at Space and there’s Union Pizzeria in the same building. We may have to sample the pizza there after the show.

For now, let’s go through the box office and get seated and reveal the identities of the infamous “Mystery Couple…”

It’s my friends, Amber and Joe, who are frequent guest stars on the blog!

They’re looking fabulous and it’s always a ton of fun to hang out with them!

We found my friend and drummer for The Handcuffs, Brad Elvis over at their merch table with The Handcuffs Merch Manager, Di.

Wonderful to see Brad and to meet Di and now for a special treat, Brad said he’d take us backstage to say hi to the entire band!

Backstage With The Handcuffs!

Mett The Handcuffs! From left to right: Jeffrey Kmieciak - Guitar, Vocals; Chloe F Orwell - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Sax, Flute; Alison Hinderliter - Piano, Organ, Synth; Emily Togni - Bass, Vocals and Brad Elvis - Drums, Drums, Drums, Backing Vocals.

I’ve seen lots of bands and met lots of musicians in my many years of existence on this planet I like to call “earth” and The Handcuffs are some of the most talented musicians I’ve ever met and listened to.

The band is led by Brad and Chloe who write the songs and point the band in exact and certain Handcufferly directions. Emily, Alison and Jeffrey are the super-talented musicians that complete The Handcuffs in a most quintetly manner.

And they’re some of the nicest people I’ve ever met! As you can see from the photos, it’s lots of laughs, silliness and fun with The Handcuffs! Nothing is taken seriously and that’s the way it should be!

Martyfoolery With The Handcuffs!

Amber suggested I pose with The Handcuffs while she took a picture and I thought rather than pose with the band, why not pose on top of The Handcuffs!

This way I’m the center of attention and that’s the way it should be. I mean it should always be about me. Right? ME ME ME!

The Handcuffs - Burn The Rails

Burn The Rails is The Handcuffs fourth and latest musical offering on Pravda Records. It’s available to stream or you can buy a physical CD as well by clicking right here.

As the title implies it’s a scorching and quite impressive work of musical greatness!

I wrote about the Burn The Rails when it was first released here on MBIP along with some other Handcuffs links and you can read my review (scroll to the bottom of the post for the review) by clicking right here!

Okay, Amber, Joe and I are back in our seats, the stage is set and it’s just about showtime!

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Chicago recording artists…

The Handcuffs!

The Handcuffs thunder on to the stage at 101 MPH and they’re a collective five-headed rock ‘n roll whirling dervish of musical prowess and power!

All of the songs are original tunes written by Brad and Chloe and they’re all infectious as seven pandemics without the fear of hospitalization.

The show is as much fun to watch as it is to listen to.

Chloe is a ball of fire on stage and an energetic and magnetic front person. Brad is a one man show on drums with sticks flying, twirling and being balanced on his hand all without missing a beat.

Emily, Alison and Jeffery round the sound out with solid musical chops and fun stage energy!

Photos By Amber!

Amber took these photos from where we were seated and they turned out great! It also offers a glimpse of the crowd, which was a sold-out show.

The crowd went wild for The Handcuffs as they always do and you should definitely make the effort to go and see them. They’re definitely worth the road trip from Peoria! Click here to see their show schedule.

After the show I wandered next door to the Union Pizzeria to get some pizza and a drink after that fun and energetic show!

Hey, who’s the mysterious couple over there at the bar…

It’s my friends, Amber and Joe…oh wait, we did this already! I forgot to take a picture of the pizza but it was delicious! This was such a wonderful and fun Friday night!

Thanks to Amber and Joe for driving and going to the show with me. I had a blast hanging out with them, as I always do!

And thanks to The Handcuffs for a fantastic and entertaining concert and for letting us hang out backstage and take photos. It was a real treat and a lot of fun to see all of you!

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Connect With The Handcuffs

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1245 Chicago Avenue

Evanston, Illinois