Jack’s Mannequin performs at The Salt Shed in Chicago on June 20, 2025.
By Nina Tadic
For those who know Andrew McMahon and what he’s all about, they know the man loves nothing more than putting on a phenomenal show, regardless of what project or band it’s with. This most certainly rang true at Chicago’s Salt Shed on Friday night, for Jack’s Mannequin’s MFEO Tour.
Jack’s Mannequin, a project McMahon started after his first project Something Corporate went on hiatus, saw insane success, even though it just started as a project for fun. “There are a lot of memories attached to these songs – I’ve definitely shed some tears on this tour, so if that happens tonight, don’t be surprised” McMahon chimed in a few songs into the band’s set. But rewinding to the start of the night, well before Jack’s Mannequin hit the stage, the fans were already flooding one of the city’s best concert venues in waves.
The Salt Shed, previously a Morton Salt storage and production factory, may be fairly new as a music venue, but it has very quickly become a fan-favorite of concertgoers in Chicagoland. The Shed is split into two performance areas, one indoors, and one outdoors – and on a true summer day like Friday, an outdoor concert at the Salt Shed’s Fairgrounds was exactly what everyone needed. Not a cloud in the sky, sunshine for miles, the Fairgrounds pavement filled up quick. Couples on dates shared Goose Island drinks from the bar, families with small children sat at the picnic tables and munched on pizza from the Shed’s arcade. The bleachers filled quickly, folks mingling and laughing, and everyone was over the moon for the night’s festivities.
The breeze off the river was the perfect accompaniment for a set by New Jersey emo veterans The Early November. Vocalist Ace Enders gushed to the crowd about how lucky the band was to be out with Jack’s Mannequin, a band that The Early November “have [listened to] for years.” By the time their set was finished, any gaps in the crowd started to fill, and the hum of excitement in the air was growing.
The Early November performs at The Salt Shed in Chicago on June 20, 2025.
As soon as McMahon’s rich brown grand piano was moved out to the front of the stage, the hooting and hollering was deafening – without the band even taking the stage. (It’s definitely worth noting that one of the things that makes McMahon’s performances so memorable is his piano in the spotlight – not many alternative artists use a full piano, upright or not, as a centerpiece of their stage, but McMahon and his piano are the bread and butter of every project he does, and it wouldn’t be one of his shows without it).
At 7:50, the band takes the stage to endless cheers – McMahon in a Grateful Dead shirt and bandana around his neck, smiling ear to ear. Seconds in, his red-Converse’d foot is going to town on the piano peddle, fingers on the keys as he stares out into the crowd, belting the lyrics to “I’m Ready” in time with his audience.
“I started doing this twenty-seven years ago” McMahon exclaims at some point, dating everyone in the crowd. “Jack’s Mannequin came about twenty years ago” he says, as well. There are kids in the audience younger than the last Jack’s Mannequin release (but they still know every word) and there are forty-somethings that have been listening to Andrew’s voice since high school. Regardless, everyone is over the moon to hear this band. Bobby Anderson sings backup and throws his whole body into his guitar, while Mikey Wagner plays it cool on his bass across the stage – and behind the three of them is Jay McMillan, drumming his heart out and not missing a beat the entire night. These four together have a synergy that moves the crowd, makes them feel every note as if it’s for the first time.
Andrew also makes note to the crowd that this performance is his largest headlining show of all time (a sold-out five thousand person crowd in this genre, especially performing albums that have been around for between ten and twenty years, is a huge deal), and thanks them incessantly throughout the night. The ultimate thanks, though, is the nearly two-hour set comprised of the entirety of Everything in Transit, along with another nine beautiful pieces of music off of The Glass Passenger and People and Things.
Jack’s Mannequin performs at The Salt Shed in Chicago on June 20, 2025.
In the midst of all of that, the stage is lit with three LED screens that show visuals pertaining to each song (during “Holiday from Real,” palm leaves and sunset beaches show, while during “Swim,” there is beautiful, rippling ocean water. The entire night, a backdrop is painted for each song, something fun, wild, or soothing, designed specifically to set the tone for each moment – and it does. During the ballad that is “Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)”, the crowd sways in unison, completely captivated by McMahon’s voice and piano. During “Bruised,” though, everyone is jumping, moving, and dancing like there’s no tomorrow. Each moment is lived differently, each song acknowledged for what it is and felt as it was intended to be.
Another thing worth noting about McMahon is that he always wants his crowd to feel seen – during “MFEO: Pt. 1 – Made for Each Other / Pt. 2 – You Can Breathe” he made his way into the crowd, taking turns singing into the mic with fans, and making it a point to head over to the side where he’d seen two children singing along. He hugged and welcomed nine year old J.P. and twelve year old Sebastian, thanking them for singing along to every word, and reminding both of them that he wanted to be a musician his whole life, so he did, and they, too, can be anything they want in life. A heart-melting moment, this part of the night really served as a reminder that McMahon is not just a man with a band, he is also a husband and a father with a daughter of his own, and genuinely cares for his fans’ families the same way he does his own.
Jack’s Mannequin performs at The Salt Shed in Chicago on June 20, 2025.
Those who’ve seen McMahon live also know he’s known for his adventures over the crowd on his giant blow-up llama (alpaca?) during “La La Lie”, and Friday night was business as usual. Andrew introduced the crowd to a woman who had been out for the show representing the Dear Jack Foundation (McMahon’s nonprofit that supports young adults going through cancer, founded after his own leukemia diagnosis as a young adult), and then challenged the fans in the crowd to transport him, on this giant llama pool floaty, across the ocean of people back to the soundboard, where she’d be waiting for him with a shot, and then back to the stage. Once he was met with success on his adventure, he jumped back onto the stage, following up with half of a shooter of Malört (gifted to him by a man in the front row), shook his head in disgust at the taste (while laughing), and finished the song.
To tie up the fantastic performance, the band smashed a two-song encore of “Restless Dream” (acoustic) off of People and Things, and then another insanely-well received fan favorite: “Dark Blue”. Friday night, Jack’s Mannequin managed to perform a huge portion of their discography, leave fans wanting more, and do it all with a show ending before 10 PM – plenty of time to get the kids home, let the adults hit up a bar or late dinner date, and leave everyone in a fantastic mood. Andrew McMahon is a next level performer, and the band he has in Jack’s Mannequin is one that is like lightning in a bottle.
(Photos and review by Nina Tadic – follow Nina on Instagram at @ninatadiccreative)
