Touring in 2021 is a complicated prospect! Consider the case of Lucy Dacus, who recently released the excellent album Home Video and whose live show is consistently wonderful. Earlier this year, Dacus was announced as the opening act for the long-delayed Bright Eyes reunion tour, but when the delta variant started spreading, Bright Eyes postponed all of that tour’s indoor shows. (I saw one of the outdoor ones. It ruled.) Now, Dacus is out on her own headlining tour, but she was forced to postpone some of her shows after her guitarist Jacob Blizard caught a case of breakthrough COVID. (Blizard wrote on Twitter about his experience with the illness.) Last night, as Brooklyn Vegan points out, Dacus resumed her tour without Blizard, and she was forced to play a relatively unconventional set.

Playing at Chicago’s Vic Theatre last night, Dacus played a bunch of the songs that she usually plays, but some of those were entirely solo. According to Setlist.FM, she also played a few new songs, as well as her cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark.” One of the things that Dacus played was a solo cover of Regina Spektor’s “Summer In The City,” a song from her 2006 album Begin To Hope. It appears to be the first time that Dacus has ever done that song live. Here, via Brooklyn Vegan, is a fan-made version of Dacus’ cover:

Dacus also ended her pre-encores set with her song “Night Shift,” which has become a huge singalong anthem whenever she plays it live. At last night’s show, opener Bartees Strange joined in on guitar, and the crowd really sang the hell out of it. Here’s a video:

So yeah, go see Lucy Dacus live if you get a chance.