THE WORLD IS KARLY HARTZMAN’S NIGHTMARE, AND WE’RE JUST LIVING IN IT
Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL | November 17th, 2025
Written by River Epperson
Countrygaze trailblazers Wednesday played their largest headline show to date at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre.
‘Sweet song is a long con,’ are the opening lyrics to “Elderberry Wine,” the lead single from Bleeds, the fourth studio album from countrygaze pioneers Wednesday. While the lyric aptly summarizes singer-songwriter Karly Hartzman’s newfound jaded perspective on love across the album, it also serves as a descriptor of the album as a whole. Fans who were won over by acoustic guitars and pedal steel twanging alongside Hartzman’s bittersweet lyrics will soon be surprised to find that most of Wednesday’s discography sounds like something completely different. Hailing from Asheville, North Carolina and inspired by the Southern gothic, the storytelling of the country legends of the twentieth century, the descriptive lyricism and blaring sound of acts rock acts like the Drive-By Truckers, and the overwhelming soundscapes of shoegaze, the term “countrygaze,” has been coined to describe how Hartzman’s projects weaves together aspects of the country and shoegaze genres to achieve a singular sound.
Wednesday’s fourth studio album Bleeds, released September 19, 2025, via Dead Oceans, chronicles (among other things) something most up-and-coming rock bands can only dream of, and most rock stars would not wish on anyone else: the dissolution of a years-long romantic relationship between Hartzman and guitarist MJ Lenderman, mirroring the likes of 70s rock legends Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. “Say I wanna have your baby / ‘Cause I freckle and you tan,” croons Hartzman on “Elderberry Wine,” only to be followed later on by “The Way Love Goes,” a melancholic reflection on love written for Lenderman before the end of their relationship. By the time recording sessions rolled around, Hartzman and Lenderman had broken up, though the pair decided to continue moving in together, according to an essay penned by Hartzman for Vulture. “I know it's not been easy / And I know it can’t always be / And that’s the way love goes…” While Lenderman still records with the project, he has left the touring band, replaced by Jake Pugh. Alongside Hartzman and Pugh are Alan Miller (drums), Xandy Chelmis (pedal steel), and Ethan Baechtold (bass) to round out the band.
While Wednesday’s quieter, headphone-friendly songs across Bleeds have become popularized, the band’s live set highlighted the aggressive, high-energy sound that cemented them as indie rock pioneers. Hartzman led the crowd in a collective scream during the eight-minute-long eardrum pulverizer “Bull Believer,” a mosh pit started during the frenetic ankle-biter “Bitter Everyday,” and the band concluded their 90-minute set with “Wasp,” a post-punk song fueled by blaring guitars and non-stop screaming. “I love seeing pits in a fancy-ass place like this,” Hartzman said while complimenting the crowd. Wednesday drew a nearly sold-out crowd to Chicago’s Riviera Theatre, which has an occupancy of 2,500, on November 17, making it the band’s largest headline show to date, a profound change for the group that rose to prominence playing basements, holes-in-the-walls, and other DIY venues across the South and Midwest. If Monday’s show is any sign, the band will continue to haunt the industry for decades to come, forging a path for themselves in the murky sea of sounds between genres.
New fans of Wednesday struggling to describe their sound for others might take a stab at it like this: “If Nirvana and My Bloody Valentine had a love child, but both bands were from the South, made country music sometimes, and if that child is a bit of a sadist and maybe likes to fry ants with a magnifying glass…” While words fail to summarize the band’s pioneering countrygaze sound, the music remains endlessly captivating. Hartzman’s haunting lyricism, poeticism, and bloodcurdling screams blended with the twang of pedal steel and the overwhelming droning of distorted guitars leave listeners discovering something new on each listen. New fans wooed by Wednesday’s gentler country moments will stick around for the unpredictability and singularity of the band’s discography. The world is Karly Hartzman’s nightmare, and we’re just living in it.
‘Bleeds,’ the fourth studio album from Wednesday, was released September 19, 2025, via Dead Oceans. Having just concluded a headline North American tour promoting the album, Wednesday will embark on another North American run in the spring. Wednesday played their largest headline show to date on November 17, 2025, at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre.
