Indie-pop group Saint Motel performs intimate concert

By LEXI GOLDSTEIN the daily northwestern @lexipgoldstein

Cue the applause: Indie-pop band Saint Motel took the stage Monday at the intimate Metro Chicago for the first stop on its “The Awards Show” tour. The band is known to mesh cinema and music together, as seen in its albums “Saintmotelevision” and “The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.”

Prior to the performance, concert attendees could vote for four songs to be played during the show — each slot had three options from past albums. A playful way to bring old favorites back to the mainstage, the selection was a change of pace from most concerts, where a new album is typically the sole focus. Instead, the emphasis was on enjoying the band’s whole discography.

Before the award show began, opener Homes at Night delivered soulful notes on original “Bonnaroo,” a stripped-down cover of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” and “Texaco,” a track the alternative duo will release at midnight Friday.

In front of a golden curtain, Saint Motel members frontman AJ Jackson, guitarist Aaron Sharp, bassist Dak Lerdamornpong and drummer Greg Erwin emerged to greet the crowd with their hit song about a bar crush, “Van Horn.”

Then came time for the first of four envelopes to be opened, with each one containing the song that received the most votes from attendees. The winner for the first song was rock opera “Daydream/ Wetdream/Nightmare,” which transported audience members to three stages of a dream that corresponded to three distinct parts of the song.

Sticking with the 2012 album “Voyeur,” Saint Motel got the crowd moving with plastic surgery commentary in “Puzzle Pieces.” The second envelope and a collective drumroll on the thighs gave way to fan-favorite track “1997,” written about the Heaven’s Gate cult. The sweet piano is offset by sinister lyrics: “It’s gonna happen / In 1997” — later followed up with: “Then it happened / In 1997.”

After the nod to “Voyeur,” Jackson introduced the unreleased track, “Everyone’s a Guru Now.” This performance was the first time the band had played the track for a live audience, and though it was well received, the contrast between the group’s new and old sound was apparent, with the former veering more into pop than indie.

Throughout the night, Jackson’s studio-quality vocals and perfect belting elevated each and every song. A unique performer, Jackson juggled playing multiple instruments while delivering engaging frontman energy. Live saxophone and trumpet solos transformed the room into an electric atmosphere just in time for Sharp to open the third envelope and reveal “For Elise,” an ode to famous muses.

Most of the band’s commercial successes were tucked away in the second half of the show once the crowd was fully warmed up. Jackson led the crowd in singing “bah bah” for “Saintmotelevision” classic “Sweet Talk.” A crowd favorite, the lyrics tell of a hopeless romantic: “You could yell, ‘Piss off! Won’t you stay away?’ / It’ll still be sweet talk to my ears.”

Surprisingly, the crowd was most rowdy not when a favorite song was announced, but when an attendee was brought onstage to open the final envelope. The crowd was cheering for audience member “Dave” even after “Sisters” was introduced.

The crowd that stuck around for the encore was in for a treat. Staying true to the award show theme, once the band exited the stage, a projector started playing an orchestral medley of Saint Motel’s slower songs. lexigoldstein2026@u.northwestern.edu

After the “Balsa Wood Bones” instrumental came on, Jackson reentered to sing about taking down a bully. The few teary eyes in the crowd were immediately wiped in time to mosh for “Destroyer,” and then the main event: “My Type,” arguably Saint Motel’s most popular song. A fantastic closer with a catchy tune, Jackson took the song to the next level by stepping off the stage and wandering into the crowd. Dancing all the way up to the balcony, Jackson had incredible energy, truly reinforcing his reputation as an interactive and fun frontman.

The show was perfect for fans itching to hear some past material live again, especially if they did not get to see the tour for “The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” due to the pandemic. Adding in the quirk of onstage envelope song reveals, attendees got two experiences in one: A concert and true award show production.

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Ave., just two blocks from the previous location.

Jamba sells smoothies, juices, bowls and iced beverages at over 700 locations nationwide.

Laura Brown, the business development and marketing manager for the non-profit organization Downtown Evanston, said Jamba’s return addresses a common desire to see more “healthy options” downtown.

“I feel like it falls in line with that sort of food trend,” Brown said. “So I think it’ll be a great spot – right near Starbucks – just a quick grab and go.”

Jamba applied for a permit to remodel the location, which was most recently a T-Mobile store, on March 16, according to the city manager’s report.

Its return comes amid a push to revitalize Evanston’s downtown — an area that historically relied on workers commuting to offices for business and was thus hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The city is now reviewing two plans to boost funding for the downtown business district: one focusing on attracting a new demographic to downtown and another to fund small businesses affected by COVID-19.

Lifelong Evanston resident Melissa Lardner said she is excited to have a “classic” smoothie shop downtown again.

When she used to go to Jamba, her go-to order was the orange dream machine smoothie. After Jamba closed, Lardner said her daughter drank bubble tea instead, while she got a coffee.

She said the Jamba will fill the void of a shop

Climate Action

From page 1 pumps instead of gas-powered ones.

With national tax credits for sustainable improvements already available and national rebates from the Inflation Reduction Act on the horizon, Allen said Evanston homeowners are entering the best time to make home improvements. For example, he said a group created by CUB estimates a homeowner could pay just $13,000 on a $30,000 geothermal heat pump if they use tax credits and rebates.

The problem, presenters said, is the various credits and rebates can be confusing to access and compile.

“We’re in danger of leaving people behind in this transition,” Allen said.

Pratt said the event was part of the city’s strategy to educate people about home improvements and generate ideas for that strategy. Organizers asked attendees to gather in small groups and brainstorm ideas for better outreach.

Since rebates likely won’t be available until spring 2024, attendees and presenters alike said this year is a chance for residents to plan improvements ahead of time.

“The time to make these choices is not under duress when your heating goes out but it’s zero dedicated only to smoothies in downtown Evanston.

“I just think that’ll just be a nice little addition and just be a nice place for families to go,” Lardner said. “It’s a great little treat, and I feel like it’s a better start to the day than like, a Starbucks coffee.”

Brown said Jamba’s proximity to Northwestern’s campus and the Starbucks on Sherman Avenue could make it especially appealing to NU students.

She hopes to continue adding new businesses to downtown, especially ones that offer activities in addition to businesses like Jamba. An AMC movie theater reopened on Maple Avenue in November and a Sky Zone indoor trampoline park is set to open on the same block.

“We’ve always sort of talked about having more experience-based businesses,” Brown said. “So getting people more things to do.”

Customers like Holmes and Lardner, however, are ready to go back to Jamba as soon as it opens.

Holmes doesn’t credit his Instagram campaign, which racked up 48 followers and occasional comments from Jamba’s official account, for the smoothie shop’s return. But he said he’s looking forward to returning to one of his childhood favorites.

He plans on ordering three items and tasting each of them: the banana berry, mango-a-go-go and razzmatazz.

“I’m extremely excited to have Jamba Juice again,” Holmes said. “I have some gift card money to spend.” saulpink2025@u.northwestern.edu degrees, or when it’s 95 degrees and the air conditioning doesn’t work,” said Joel Freeman, who helped facilitate the event. “The idea of turning this into a planning process — kind of a strategic plan for yourself — is a key element.”

Many attendees agreed the lack of information on building sustainable infrastructure was at least in part to blame for the slow progress in reducing carbon emissions.

Osh Nissan, an owner of a local sustainable contracting firm, said many contractors are unfamiliar with energy-efficient technologies and hesitant to install them, a point echoed by others in the crowd. And for homeowners, information on appliance upgrades and climate improvements needs to be “streamlined” from the city, another attendee said.

Jack Jordan (Weinberg ’22), an energy analyst at Invenergy, suggested the city send each house a survey on their appliances. With the data collected, he said, Evanston could develop customized improvements for each house as a “Home Strategic Plan.”

“I think that’s a really good way to communicate all these opportunities to homeowners,” Jordan said, “Just physically say, ‘Here, we will help them come up with a plan.’” colereynolds2026@u.northwestern.edu

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pushing for sanctions. We should be pushing for people to be ashamed to advocate for expansion as racist ideology like Zionism.”

The language used to discuss the IsraelPalestine conflict in the media is reflective of respectability politics, El-Kurd said. Many news outlets under-exaggerate the degree of violence inflicted upon Palestinians, he said, using terms like “forced eviction” instead of “ethnic cleansing.”

As a reaction to widespread demonization of Palestinians in the media, El-Kurd said some academics, citizens and journalists started to practice humanization — a practice that can entail flattening the reality of someone’s life. In doing so, he said writers fail to encapsulate the entire scope of Palestinians’ humanity.

“The full spectrum includes disdain, rage, hatred, joy, revolution, fear and all those things,” he said.

Weinberg junior Muhammad Saleh, a member of SJP who attended the talk, said El-Kurd’s view on humanization stood out to him. He said he’d like to see activists take broader routes to empower Palestinians instead

Arab Heritage

From page 1

MENA Student Association introduced Associated Student Government legislation advocating for increased visibility of MENA communities on campus. Programming for Arab Heritage Month was among those demands.

Arab America, a national organization, pioneered the initiative to designate April as National Arab American Heritage Month in 2017. In 2021, the Biden administration recognized NAAHM for the first time.

SESP sophomore Eman Hamed, the incoming co-president of the MENA Student Association, said the process of gaining University recognition for Arab Heritage Month helped members bond.

“The collective endeavor that is getting ourselves seen on campus and establishing our presence brought us way closer than I think going to university with majorityMENA students would have,” Hamed said.

Hamed said MSA Assistant Director Matthew Abtahi provided useful informal advice in navigating University bureaucracy to gain recognition for Arab Heritage Month, though MSA still lacks a staff member dedicated to supporting MENA students.

On Wednesday, Hamed said she met with MSA Associate Director Alejandro Magaña to discuss the creation of that staff position next academic year. MSA told her it plans to include the position in its budget for the upcoming

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of limiting them by describing them as defenseless victims.

El-Kurd’s blunt willingness to tell the truth also stood out to SESP sophomore Eman Hamed, a member of SJP. She said this is a quality El-Kurd almost uses as “a weapon” while being interviewed by journalists and in his daily life.

“I took away the fact that I should be mindful of the conversations we have about Palestine and the ways in which we water down those experiences to make them digestible, which is not necessarily fair,” Hamed said.

Hamed also said El-Kurd reaffirmed the importance of student activism. She said she was surprised by El-Kurd’s support because he critiqued how performative some types of activism within institutions can be.

Saleh said he felt inspired and capable of making change after hearing El-Kurd speak.

“I’m glad that he introduces us to these complex ideas so that we can implement them in our own thinking, and the way we go about our own actions to help Palestine,” he said. “He still acknowledges how important we can be as an institution to our own communities.” kristenaxtman2025@u.northwestern.edu year, but the job still must be approved by the Office of Budget and Planning and other administrative entities, Hamed said.

Arabic Prof. Rana Raddawi said the MENA Studies and MENA Languages programs share the student association’s goal of celebrating MENA cultures.

“There is this beautiful relationship,” Raddawi said. “Whenever there is an event on their side, we support, we attend if we can, and the other way around.” avamandoli2025@u.northwestern.edu

McCormick senior Omar Khatib, who grew up in Jerusalem, said the MENA Student Association created a space he didn’t realize was missing: one where he could celebrate his heritage with others that shared it.

“(It) made me feel like I have a small community that emulates my life back home,” Khatib said.

MENA Student Association goes all-out in planning events, Hamed said, an attitude that makes large-scale celebrations like Arab Expressions and MENA Beats, a concert highlighting MENA artists and DJs, successful.

But Hamed also said she hopes to establish the MENA Students Association as an “informal space” where students can bond every day.

“The entire purpose of affinity groups is to have your representation on campus, but also to have that community as a safety net to fall back on,” she said.