It was a quiet and intimate show Thursday night for Perfume Genius, who performed at Lincoln Hall as part of the Tomorrow Never Knows festival. Fans expecting a spectacle of past hits may have been disappointed by the song selection, but that didn’t take away from the show’s charms. Despite his major role in the festival, last night’s set was a true gift for hardcore Perfume Genius fans. Deep cuts, one-offs and never-performed-before songs were on the menu, and Michael Hadreas played them with warmth and charm. Luckily, audiences were fully on board for the experience.

The show opened with a true throwback, “Perry,” from his debut album, “Learning.” Moments like this would frame the rest of the evening. Later, he transitioned into “No Front Teeth,” from the 2025 album “Glory.” This got to the essence of the concert. Hadreas’s body of work is rich and vast, spanning decades of performance and artistry. Yet despite selecting tracks from his many different eras, all aligned to tell a singular story of Perfume Genius, one about the immense power of a man and a piano.

“Valley,” from his 2017 breakthrough album, “No Shape,” was one of the most stripped-down tracks of the evening. Thursday night’s rendition was light yet mournful. Gorgeous and sumptuous in its simplicity, “Valley’s” typical bombast instead sounded pulled from the ether, transported through the brilliant vessel that is Perfume Genius.

Situated in the back of the room, I took in the mood and temperament of the crowd, which seemed fully immersed in the concert. With just a few keyboards and synths, Hadreas, along with his performing partner, Alan Wyffels, created a beautiful experience. It was their first time performing like this, just the two of them, in years, he said.

I was reminded of the tiny jazz clubs and open mics that permeate the city. That’s how special the show felt. And that’s how engrossed the audience was in the show. Minus a quick video capture on their cellphones, most folks in the crowd were silent and face-forward.

This was felt most during tracks like “Die 4 You.” Hadreas’s whispery, haunting vocals were not unlike the recorded version of the track. Yet here, they also sounded like a lullaby of love, something more sweet than yearning and raw.

Despite the intimacies of the show, there was still a level of humor and casualness present. He often cracked jokes between songs and, in a meta play for the setting, acknowledged that he should and would be talking between many of the songs. Early on in the set, the two got their set list wrong and jumped into “On the Floor.” Noting the mixup, Hadreas sang the words “switch” and “switch it” as the audience laughed along.

During the performance, the two performers took “On the Floor,” from the 2020 masterpiece “Set My Heart on Fire Immediately,” from an upbeat slice of jangly indie pop into a soft ballad, just synth instrumentation and a steady beat. This made for the perfect accompaniment to “Full On,” the track they originally intended to play. This was the first time they’d ever played the song live, Hadreas said. And in the end, their hiccup was not awkward, and instead felt like a cheeky glimpse behind the curtain.

I couldn’t help but think of the show as something of a time machine. As fans, we generally have no clue how the songs we love grew from point A to point B. But Perfume Genius’s show felt like a trip back in time to the quiet moments when these songs were first written — just a man and his voice and a piano. No flourishes or production tweaks or excessive instrumental imaginations. No, it was just a show of warmth and openness, a journey to the heart of the music.

Britt Julious is a freelance critic.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/23/review-perfume-genius-chicago/