Concert Review: Belmont, Major League and Spite House at House of Blues Chicago
- Dennis Stafiej
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Chicago welcomed home Belmont for an explosive end to their most recent tour on August 8th. The show was held at the iconic House of Blues along the Chicago River, a beautiful venue in the heart of the city where music legends from all over the world have been rocking out since 1996.
Belmont is a pop-punk band from Chicago, IL. Formed in 2014, the band comprises three core members Jason Inguagiato on guitar, Brian Lada on the drums, and Taz Johnson with his high energy vocals. The band is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their debut EP, “Between You And Me”, released under their first label, Mutant League Records. The record was them starting with their best foot forward, it's a raw expression of emotion and a display of artistic ability. It features a few of their most popular tracks such as “Overstepping” and “731”.
On this tour, Belmont was supported by heavy hitters in the alternative space. This includes Major League, a punk band from New Jersey, who recently reunited in 2025 after a 10-year hiatus announced back in 2016. Spite House is a post hardcore band from Montreal, formed in 2019.
Opening the show was All in your Head, a pop-punk band from Portland who I unfortunately missed due to heavy Chicago traffic.
Walking into the venue was quite the sight, I hadn't been there since I saw Chappel Roan perform there in 2023. It’s decorated like a grand theater similar to an opera house. Getting up the stairs I walked into a full house of people ready to rock and I could tell there was excitement in the air. The floor was packed, the bar was lively, providing the perfect setup for a pop-punk show.
The first band I saw take the stage was Spite House. They delivered a fantastic performance with an amazing message of hope and perseverance.
Major League came in next, starting off their show laying down the heat and got the crowd moving. I was dodging crowd surfers left and right in the photo pit. Later on, into their set, Brian, the band's guitarist, shared stories of the band's inception, break-up, and reunion. It was a heartwarming story about caring for your friends and a shared passion for music.
Last but certainly not least, Belmont took the stage by storm the moment they came out it made the first wave of crowd surfers seem like nothing. The whole crowd went electric when they opened up with their hit song “Bowsers Castle”. The whole set maintained this ruthless energy all the way up to about the halfway point where they slowed down for a brief moment to bring out the vocalist of Major League, Nick Trask, to sing one of my favorite songs “Shackles”, a song off the tour's namesake record. This dip in the energy level was just to give way to the slow and beautiful song, which rarely finds its way into setlists. The energy subsequently doubled once Brian came in on drums, bringing the crowd to almost a roar with the whole house singing along to the lyrics.
It was a beautiful night in Chicago.
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