One of the last shows Gossip Wolf saw before the pandemic brought live music to a halt was by Chicago indie-rock darlings Ratboys. They were at Lincoln Hall, celebrating the release of Printer’s Devil—and it’s too bad more people didn’t get the chance to see the band play songs from that great album in person. But as Tim Crisp wrote for the Reader last April, Ratboys have turned lemons into livestreams, becoming champions in the virtual performance arena—not least by broadcasting 40 episodes of Ratboys Virtual Tour. On April 1, the band marked ten years since their first EP, Ratboy, with the surprise release of Happy Birthday, Ratboy, an album of new recordings of their early songs (including all five tracks from that EP). On Thursday, April 29, Ratboys host a prerecorded concert and retrospective film on their Bandcamp page to belatedly celebrate their tin anniversary. The band played their set on the floor at Schubas, which they’d gussied up to look like a living room; tickets are $10 and available through Ratboys’ Bandcamp.
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