As the owner of the Arcada and DesPlaines Theater and organizer of popular Chicago-area festivals including Hillside Summer Nights, Addison’s Rock and Wheels and the long-running Taylor Street Festival, local impresario Ron Onesti seems to live by P.T Barnum’s adage to “give the People What they Want.”
This certainly was the case with the recent booking of Larkin Poe, who played Onesti’s Arcada Theater in St. Charles for the very first time on Friday, June 26th. Onesti came on before the band’s performance and told the audience that he received many requests to have Larkin Poe play at his 100-year-old theater. So, he signed them. In a move that would have made PT proud, Onesti then polled the crowd to determine who had seen the band before. It was a fifty-fifty split.
I saw Larkin Poe for the first (and only time) at the Chicago Blues Festival in 2019, where they played the Jay Pritzker stage. They blew the crowd away with their passion and later received many glowing reviews for their performance and showmanship. While they put on a stellar show for the thousands who flocked to the Chicago Blues Festival, there is something to be said about seeing this band play in a 900-seat theater like the Arcada.
After Onesti addressed the crowd, Cardinal Bloom came out. This pairing with Larkin Poe was fitting since the Lovell sisters are touring in support of their Bloom album, which was released in January of 2025. The tour has been going strong since April of 2025, with lead guitarist and vocalist, Rebecca Lovell famously posting a video of her “rocking the third trimester.” After taking a brief maternity leave, Larkin Poe was back on the road with “the baby squad” in tow. This included their mother, and sister Megan who has been a huge source of support for her and the baby.
Back to the supporting act, Cardinal Bloom. They are a four-piece indie rock band out of Salt Lake City, Utah whose sound has been compared to the Arctic Monkeys mixed in with some heavy garage band vibes. There’s been a buzz building for this band after they played South by Southwest in March of this year, and Cardinal Bloom will soon be embarking on a Fall tour. The band first caught on after winning the Velour Live Music Gallery’s Winter 2021 Battle of the Bands in Provo, Utah with their single, “She’s Just a Friend” going viral on TikTok. Their first full-length LP, The Only Place I’ve Ever Known was released in September of 2024.
Cardinal Bloom is composed of Joey St. John on guitar and vocals, Jacob Silverster on bass and vocals, Josh Thomas on guitar, and Nate Adair on drums. They also brought along a cheering section of “special guests” from Salt Lake City, who were there to celebrate the close of Cardinal Bloom’s successful tour.
Following Cardinal Bloom’s well-received set, it was time for the main act. While they might have been on stage in front of a floral backdrop, the first song showed that the blue-jean wearing Lovell sisters are no shrinking violets. They immediately ripped into “Nowhere Fast,” which is a rocking homage to their home state of Georgia. This was followed by a sizzling rendition of “Summertime Sunset” which allowed time for Rebecca to shine on guitar while Megan went wild on the lap steel guitar. This cut came off their album, Blood Harmony, which won the 2024 Grammy for the Best Contemporary Blues Album.
The Lovell sisters have cited the guitar-driven riffs from another set of Georgia-based siblings as one of their musical influences. Fittingly, they took on a cover of the Allman Brothers “Jessica” as part of their multi-faceted set list. Whether it was showcasing their ethereal harmonies on “Bluephoria” and “Mockingbird” or circling back to their North Georgia bluegrass roots with an acoustic set that included “Southern Comfort,” Larkin Poe seamlessly demonstrated their mastery of many musical genres and showed why they have been championed by the likes of Elvis Costello and embraced by critics and fans alike.
Larkin Poe wrapped up their show with more diverse offerings as they went with an AC/DC cover (“Wanted Woman”) before doing “Bloom Again” for their final encore. But, for those who wanted to linger at the Arcada a little longer, there was a “lagniappe” on the theater’s Legends stage. Here, we found local blues favorites the Downtown Charlie Brown Band still going strong and playing some traditional Chicago blues in the heart of St. Charles.
