Ratboys | Vivarium | Milwaukee, WI
March 14, 2026
Photographed by Eva McNally
It’s been sixteen years since the Chicago-based Ratboys began making music — and they show no signs of stopping anytime soon. Earlier this March, the band brought their When The Sun Explodes Tour to the Vivarium in Milwaukee for a sold-out show following the release of their sixth studio album, Singin’ to an Empty Chair.
Refusing to be defined by genre, Ratboy’s expansive sound, many years in the making, seamlessly braids elements of alternative country, indie rock, midwest emo and folk together with an unabashedly DIY spirit that comes to fruition with Singin’ to an Empty Chair. The highly anticipated album, released in early February, solidifies them as a band at the height of its powers. An 11-track album 50 minutes in length, it’s lyrically expansive, sonically distinct, undeniably fresh, and fits together to form Ratboy’s most cohesive body of work yet.
The four-piece consists of members guitarist and lead vocalist Julia Steiner, lead guitarist David Sagan, bassist and background vocalist Sean Neumann and drummer Marcus Nuccio.
For the first leg of the tour, covering the East Coast and Midwest, Ratboys were joined by Philadelphia’s self-proclaimed “rising alt-country collective” band Florry. They performed a handful of songs, including tracks from their latest album, Sounds Like…, which was released in May of last year. Fronted by Francie Medosch, the band’s joyous energy was infectious, warming up the audience for the evening of music ahead by playing songs like “First it was a movie, then it was a book,” “Hey Baby” and “Truck Flipped Over ‘19” with dynamism and zeal.
By the time 9 p.m. rolled around, the room was completely packed. The four members of Ratboys, joined by Andy “Red PK” on the guitar and pedal steel, kicked off their 17-song set with four tracks from Singin’ to an Empty Chair: “Open Up,” “Anywhere,” Penny in the Lake” and “Know You Then.” A tapestry of the album cover, a pastoral scene with two empty chairs facing each other, served as a tasteful stage backdrop. “Open Up,” also the first track on Singin’ to an Empty Chair, underscores Steiner’s big question that punctuates every song on the record: “What is it gonna take to bridge this gap or make a connection?”
With this in mind, the air of the evening was set, and the limitless potential of live music’s power to bring people together, if only for a fleeting moment, lay bare.
“Anywhere,” an upbeat, playful track, is inspired by Sagan’s family dog and his anxious attachment to his mother. By adopting the perspective of an obsessive, one-track-minded animal, the song intentionally circumvents deep or complex thought. Though lyrically straightforward and repetitive, this track carries the emotional weight of something heavier, tinged with the fear of abandonment and the need for constant reassurance in a relationship. The hypnotizing guitar riffs and energetic drums in this track were especially prevalent in its live rendition, adding to the feelings of disorientation and illuminating the primal, animalistic instincts present within us all. The crowd sang along and bopped to the catchy tune.
A sister song to “Open Up,” the following track “Know You Then” rounded out the opening sequence. “This one’s for my swayers,” Steiner chided before launching into the song, encouraging the audience to move along to the music. Sonically, this track leans into that distinctive country twang with layered pick slides, but expands by incorporating elements of pop-punk to make the choruses in particular more dense, driven by Nuccio’s steadfast, animated drumming. It was impossible to look away as the addictive, pulsating beat struck through the audience’s core.
Next were the tracks “Morning Zoo” and “It’s Alive!”, both of which appear on the band’s 2023 release The Window. In the chorus of “Morning Zoo,” Steiner poignantly asks: “But how long does it take / To find the peace I want? / And how long must I wait / To decide that it’s over?” As Steiner sang, deftly strumming her guitar and moving in time with the song, the crowd did so too, their voices echoing Steiner’s own, reflecting the sentiment of feeling stuck when grappling with anxiety-ridden indecision.
“It’s Alive!,” the first track Steiner wrote during the 2020 lockdown, details similar nagging feelings of unpinpointable anxiety. The pandemic certainly made room for lots of introspection, and this track captures the dizzying reality of living what felt like the same day over and over again, while outside, the seasons changed and nature continued its ceaseless cycle of rebirth, drilling forward despite our detachment from it. Steiner’s airy vocals in this track, especially in a live setting, filled every corner of the room. Though the song was made in isolation, a room full of people singing along was a subtle yet profound reminder that as long as music exists, we are never truly alone.
Eighth on the setlist came “Light Night Mountains All That,” a standout track that marked the beginning of Ratboys’ next chapter after signing to New West Records. Rich in texture and noise, the song ebbs and flows — swelling, crashing and receding like a wave. Steiner shared that this is her favorite song to play live, and it practically radiated off of her as she stood on stage, singing passionately. It was hard not to feel how much the band genuinely enjoys performing. Between songs and instrument switches, Steiner engaged in friendly banter with the audience, contributing to the light, intimate atmosphere in the 250-capacity room.
After playing “Elvis is in the Freezer,” the only song on the setlist from the band’s sophomore album GN, Ratboys began “The World, So Madly.” The crowd slowed down as Steiner sang about the complex feelings of realizing nothing lasts forever, leaning on each other’s shoulders and taking in the emotional, intimate moment inside the Vivarium. This song creates the perfect tension between the emotive, lyrical content and the deceptively happy and light sound, paralleling how it feels to grapple with understanding that the fleeting nature of life isn’t an inherently sad thing.
“I Go Out at Night,” from the band’s 2020 album Printer’s Devil and their most popular song to date, came next. The audience came alive, dancing and singing along. Steiner’s ability to straightforwardly articulate difficult-to-name emotions offers comfort and solace for people of any demographic. Their music has the potential to reach something within us all, only further reinforced as friends and strangers alike moved together.
As the longest song on the album, “Just Want You to Know the Truth” clocks in at eight and a half minutes; however, it hardly felt that way, especially when performed live. As time itself seemed to slow down and stretch out, the audience gave the band their full and undivided attention, swaying along to the beat. Sagan’s epic guitar solo at the end of the track skillfully bridges the body of the song and the outro. Paired with sliding, twangy pedal steel sounds, this song is absolutely one that is meant to be performed and heard live.
Before closing out the main set with “Burn It Down,” the band paused to acknowledge the frightening reality of our current political regime, inviting members of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression on stage to share a few words. Condemning ICE and its barbaric actions against humanity, the grassroots organization is making important strides in the local Milwaukee community, fighting for community control of the police to end violence that disproportionately affects the poor, as well as Black, brown and Indigenous people. By partnering with local organizations in each city on the tour, Ratboys is using their platform and the inherent political dimension of art to inspire change.
Despite its rather dark and foreboding title and lyrics, “Burn It Down” offers a sense of hope amidst a rather bleak reality. The song itself is structured like a fire burning; At its peak, it’s hot, intense, bordering on uncontrollable, then dies down for a quiet conclusion, like watching the glowing embers slowly burn out. The audience, bathed in harsh yet warm orange light, drank the moment down. In the aftermath of a forest fire, nature undergoes a remarkable process of transformation and renewal. From the ashes, nature finds a way. “Burn it Down” reminds us that we will too. With that, the band expressed their gratitude to the audience and stepped off stage, noise from Sagan’s guitar pedals hanging in the air, thick like smoke amidst the crowd’s thunderous applause and cheering.
For the encore, the band returned to the stage for two more songs. First was “Go Outside,” the lone track on the setlist from their 2021 album Happy Birthday, Ratboy. The song, which appears as the closing track on the album, encapsulates what the first spring day in the Midwest feels like.
The band closed out the evening with their magnum opus and fan favorite, “Black Earth, WI.” What a treat to hear the song in a live setting, not too far from the location it’s inspired by. Steiner shared an anecdote about the song’s origins in an exclusive Radio Milwaukee interview back in 2023, following the release of The Window, on which the song appears. For her birthday in 2019, she and Sagan drove through Black Earth on their way to the House on the Rock. The town’s name struck Steiner, so she wrote it down on her phone.
“At that same time we were working on the original, very nebulous idea for that song, the lyrics that were presenting themselves for that song struck me as being very pastoral, and that memory of driving through southern Wisconsin, aimlessly road tripping, really stood out to me,” Steiner said. Another track that clears the eight-minute mark, this song has a jam-band-esque feel, only truly captured in a live setting. The crowd gave the band everything they had one last time. As the band left the stage and the lights came on, there was a palpable sense of fullness, collectivity, and gratitude in the room.
Ratboys is currently in the midst of an extensive 34-stop American tour, which will conclude in their hometown on April 18 at the iconic Chicago venue, The Vic Theatre. In May, they are headed across the pond, beginning their European tour in Copenhagen and closing out the leg in Manchester. They announced a handful of shows for a summer tour around the East Coast and the Midwest, hitting even more cities across the U.S. and Canada, which include the Green River Festival in June and a Toronto performance in August alongside Jimmy Eat World and PUP. To round out a busy several months of touring, Ratboys is headed back to England for the End Of The Road Festival at the beginning of September.
No matter what genre one may be partial to, Ratboys is a band that has something for everyone. Catch them in a city near you!
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Setlist:
“Open Up”
“Anywhere”
“Penny in the Lake”
“Know You Then”
“Morning Zoo”
“It’s Alive!”
“Strange Love”
“Light Night Mountains All That”
“Elvis is in the Freezer”
“The World, So Madly”
“The Window”
“I Go Out at Night”
“Just Want You to Know the Truth”
“What’s Right?”
“Burn It Down”
Encore:
“Go Outside”
“Black Earth, WI”
