Live For Live Music

Chicago party-funk septet Sneezy squeezed into the cozy backyard confines of the Sugarshack for an intimate performance earlier this year. The full nine-song set is available now on the ‘Sugarshack Sessions’ YouTube channel.

Over the past 11 years, the hallmark of the ‘Sugarshack Sessions’ has been bands stripping down their live sounds and unwinding in Bonita Springs, FL. Those who have seen Sneezy, however, can attest that “unwinding” isn’t necessarily in the band’s toolbox. At festivals nationwide, the band has built a reputation on daytime sets that get the blood flowing or late-night shows that are impossible to walk away from, no matter how tired you may be.

Filling the Sugarshack stage, the band’s setup looks about the same as usual, save for Austin Lutter switching from electric to acoustic guitar. Setting the vibe for the video, Destiny Pivonka lets it rip for the first 90 seconds of the opening “Not Sorry.”

Beyond instrumentation, the band’s onstage chemistry is what defines Sneezy, and that loose atmosphere breeds the feeling of a backyard kickback—something central to the mission of the ‘Sugarshack Sessions.’ But, missions aside, dynamic frontman Brett O’Connor can only keep his kinetic energy bottled up for so long before he goes testing the limits of a “seated performance” on the band’s trademark interpretation of BJ The Chicago Kid and Chance the Rapper‘s “Church in the Morning.”

Rather than some simplified acoustic rendering, the Sneezy ‘Sugarshack Sessions’ performance is the band being itself—because that’s all it can be. While the septet can fluctuate from vintage R&B to gospel to jam-funk, there’s only one level for Sneezy to be at. That might not always be Brett O’Connor hopping around the stage serenading you with his shirt off, but it is acoustic guitarist/backing vocalist/scarf guy Jack Holland squeaking rubber ducks into the mic. It’s keyboardist Danny Bauer doing robot noises while Brett smacks random notes on Danny’s keyboard. It’s all the ad-libs and smiles they do backing Brett up on “She’s So Hawt.” It’s Sneezy having the most fun out of anyone, any time the band plays onstage.

Watch the full Sneezy ‘Sugarshack Sessions’ performance at the link in the comments.