Whitney at Rough Trade
photo by Ester Segretto

Whitney made their TV debut on 'Colbert' (watch), played Rough Trade w/ Julie Byrne (pics)

Whitney are in NYC for a couple TV tapings — they played The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night and will be on CBS This Morning Saturday — and celebrated at Rough Trade on Thursday night (1/5). The rapidly rising Chicago band has already outgrown spaces the size of Rough Trade so it was a nice opportunity to see them there, where they were still buzzing on the energy of making their TV debut. “We got drunk to play Colbert, then got re-drunk to play this,” singer/drummer Julien Ehrlich joked. “It’s been a weird day.” They played most if not all of their debut album, plus covers of Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You” and NRBQ’s “Magnet.” Erlich then invited everyone to stick around and watch their Colbert performance — they did “Golden Days” — on Rough Trade’s projection screen. You can watch their Colbert performance below.

You can catch Whitney on tomorrow’s CBS This Morning Saturday (1/7) which airs from 7 – 9 AM EST. Whitney are not resting much, with much of this year already full of upcoming shows, and their next NYC visit will be at Bowery Presents’ soon-to-open Brooklyn Steel on May 24 and tickets are on sale. Updated tour dates, which include Primavera Sound and Coachella, are listed below.

Opening the show was Julie Byrne whose delicate folk made for a gentle lead-in to Whitney. The first part of the set was just her and her guitar, which is more than enough and had the place pin-drop quiet. A keyboardist and violinist then joined her for a few songs, adding more texture and atmosphere than what you’d call traditional accompaniment. Byrne’s warm smile and spiritual aura made for a very welcoming vibe. Her set included new single “I Live Now as a Singer” which is on her new album that’s out soon (1/27) via Ba Da Bing. (Stream it below.) She’ll be playing a record release show at Rough Trade on release day. Tickets are still available.

Pictures from Julie’s set, and more of Whitney’s, are in the gallery above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4ndEPUWKfI

Whitney — 2017 Tour Dates
JAN 16 MON – Hanatour V-hall – Seoul, South Korea
JAN 18 WED – Astro Hall – Tokyo, Japan
JAN 19 THU – Shangri-La – Osaka, Japan
JAN 21 SAT – Laneway Festival – Singapore, Singapore
JAN 26 THU – Laneway Festival – Brisbane, Australia
JAN 27 FRI – Howler – Brunswick, Australia
JAN 28 SAT – Laneway Festival – Melbourne, Australia
JAN 30 MON – Laneway Festival – Auckland, New Zealand
FEB 2 THU – Oxford Art Factory – Sydney, Australia
FEB 3 FRI – Laneway Festival – Adelaide Sa, Australia
FEB 4 SAT – Laneway Festival – Sydney, Australia
FEB 5 SUN – Laneway Festival – Fremantle, Australia
FEB 21 TUE – Orpheum Theatre w/ The Head and The Heart – Madison, WI
FEB 22 WED – Orpheum Theatre w/ The Head and The Heart – Madison, WI
FEB 23 THU – Murat Theatre w/ The Head and The Heart – Indianapolis, IN
FEB 24 FRI – Peoria Civic Center w/ The Head and The Heart – Peoria, IL
FEB 25 SAT – The Palace Theater w/ The Head and The Heart – Columbus, OH
FEB 27 MON – Grand Rapids Music Hall w/ The Head and The Heart – Grand Rapids, MI
FEB 28 TUE – Hill Auditorium w/ The Head and The Heart – Ann Arbor, MI
MAR 1 WED – Benedum Center for the Performing Arts w/ The Head and The Heart – Pittsburgh, PA
APR 1 SAT – The Mill – Iowa City, IA
APR 2 SUN – Triple Rock Social Club – Minneapolis, MN
APR 3 MON – The Aquarium – Fargo, ND
APR 4 TUE – WECC – Winnipeg, Canada
APR 6 THU – Amigos Cantina – Saskatoon, Canada
APR 7 FRI – The Needle Vinyl Tavern – Edmonton, Canada
APR 8 SAT – Commonwealth Bar – Calgary, Canada
APR 10 MON – Biltmore Cabaret – Vancouver, Canada
APR 11 TUE – Neumos – Seattle, WA
APR 12 WED – Revolution Hall – Portland, OR
APR 16 SUN – Coachella – Indio, CA
APR 18 TUE – The Independent – San Francisco, CA
APR 23 SUN – Coachella – Indio, CA
APR 25 TUE – Meow Wolf – Santa Fe, NM
APR 27 THU – The Secret Group – Houston, TX
APR 28 FRI – Tulane University – LBC Quad – New Orleans, LA FREE
MAY 1 MON – The Bottleneck – Lawrence, KS
MAY 8 MON – The Bluebird – Bloomington, IN
MAY 9 TUE – Delmar Hall – Saint Louis, MO
MAY 10 WED – Proud Larry’s – Oxford, MS
MAY 16 TUE – Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC
MAY 20 SAT – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
MAY 22 MON – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
MAY 24 WED – Brooklyn Steel – Brookln, NY
MAY 31 WED – Primavera Sound Fest – Barcelona, Spain
JUN 1 THU – Primavera Sound Fest – Barcelona, Spain
JUN 2 FRI – Primavera Sound Fest – Barcelona, Spain
JUN 3 SAT – Primavera Sound Fest – Barcelona, Spain
JUN 3 SAT – Field Day 2017 – Victoria Park – London, United Kingdom
JUN 4 SUN – Primavera Sound Fest – Barcelona, Spain
JUN 9 FRI – Primavera Porto – Porto, Portugal
JUN 16 FRI – Maifeld Derby – Mannheim, Germany
JUN 17 SAT – Maifeld Derby – Mannheim, Germany
JUN 18 SUN – Maifeld Derby – Mannheim, Germany

photos by Ester Segretto