Field Medic: FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN THE HAPPINESS I FELT THAT SO OFTEN SEEMS LOST Tour
This week I got to bask in the talent that is Kevin Sullivan of Field Medic on his first-ever headline tour, titled FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN THE HAPPINESS I FELT THAT SO OFTEN SEEMS LOST. Until recently, Field Medic was a one-man-show: Kevin had recorded his previous albums with zero accompaniment, driven his own van to his live shows, and manned his own merch tables. His newest album, grow your hair long if you’re wanting to see something that you can change, features some fresh faces, namely, Nate Lich on the drums and Dakota Floeter on bass. The trio took the stage this Wednesday at Roscoe Village’s Beat Kitchen, a venue with standing room capacity of ~200 people. It was my ideal concert setting: intimate and lively; small but with ample room to sway and/or line dance, when applicable (on this night, it just so happened to be!).
Sullivan manages to pair devastatingly honest lyrics about self-loathing and personal struggle with impossibly FUN instrumentals —mostly reliant upon a simple collaboration of guitar, bass, drums, and, on thrilling occasion, harmonica.
Some of Field Medic’s older and more recognizable hits include “i want you so bad it hurts” and “uuu” from his albums Floral Prince (2020) and Songs from the Sunroom (2017), respectively. These acoustic psalms center around themes of external yearning and romantic love. grow your hair long if you’re wanting to see something that you can change marks a more introspective body of work, focusing on Sullivan’s battle with substance abuse, coping with loneliness, and balancing efforts of self-improvement with self-compassion. His nuanced lyricism and charming self-deprecation make the album’s songs more painfully relatable with each listen.
The live performance is now in my books for one of my favorite concert experiences. Somehow, the band seemed to have so much fun performing these bluntly depressing songs — enough to make the audience have fun along with them. There was certainly something about the smaller venue and audience size that made it feel like we were in on something really special and almost exclusive, despite the fact that Sullivan has been releasing music as Field Medic for almost a decade, and has toured with some pretty huge artists like Indigo de Souza and The Neighborhood.
The crowd went wild every time Sullivan donned his harmonica, which he played simultaneously with his acoustic guitar. I’d say it’s a pretty good indicator of an artist’s talent and an audience’s enjoyment when you can alternate between swaying slowly to a sad folk ballad one minute and busting into an improvised kind of hoedown throwdown the next. I highly recommend giving the new Field Medic a listen and catching them at a live show before they start playing venues larger than the backroom of a dive bar…
