[1]01 WKQX hosted night one of their fifth annual concert series, “The Nights We Stole Christmas,” on Dec. 1, at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. Before the start of the concert at 7 p.m., fans could get photos with Santa Claus and Salty the Snowman, a #TNWSC icon.

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness kicked off the night, opening with “All Our Lives,” track number four on his self-titled debut album. One of the things that made his portion of the concert so great, was his lack of fear of breaking his piano. Multiple times, he jumped onto it, slamming his feet on the keys, which totally freaked me out, but made his stage presence all the more. Later, he played a song, that I had no idea was by him; Jack’s Mannequin’s “Dark Blue” is just one of the many popular Andrew McMahon songs. The coolest part about his concert was when he took us back to his favorite childhood memories and threw a giant multi-colored parachute into the audience, and then proceeded to join us all under it, all while singing “Synesthesia.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIGPL2TcEps

I mean, I may be biased; he literally walked right by me, like I could have hugged him. McMahon closed with none other than “Cecilia and the Satellite,” with the entire audience singing along to every word.

We impatiently waited as the stage crew switched from McMahon’s set to Phantogram’s, and let me tell you, our patience was rewarded because that was a dang good show. Phantogram opened with “Funeral Pyre,” a song that takes full advantage of a synth board. Their next song, “Black Out Days,” one of my personal favorites, was done with intense strobe lights, and some deep bass.

Phantogram’s entire concert was loud, high-energy, and phenomenally done. Lead singers Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter sound just as good live as they do on my headphones.

A majority of the people at night one were there for the opening act, Weezer. Many fans held up their fingers in the shape of a W to show their support for Weezer. The stage set up took a little more time, with a few technical difficulties, but man, when they came on stage, the crowd went nuts. Opening with “California Kids” and closing with “Buddy Holly,” all in all, they played a great show. Personally, I only knew a couple of their songs, but they had an amazing stage presence and a lot of fun props. They of course played “Thank God For Girls,” one of the few songs I knew by them.

WKQX’s night one of “The Nights We Stole Christmas” was a huge success.