Fox Lake @ The Cobra Lounge, Chicago (December 9, 2025)
Concert Experience
My forever concert companion (my wife) and I were really excited about this show. We had been listening to Fox Lake for quite some time now. She was the one who initially discovered the band and as soon as I heard them, I was hooked.
Anyway, they joined Greyhaven on their North American Keep it Quiet Tour and they so happened to make a stop in Chicago for a show at the Cobra Lounge (located off of N Ashland Ave in Chicago’s West Town).
When we first got there, we sat at the bar and I drank my Spiteful Lager while we waited for the doors to open to the stage at 6 PM. And when they eventually did, we entered a room with a small stage and a floor that could probably hold a maximum of a couple hundred people.
The first opening band was Heaving from Peoria, Illinois. They were followed by Commoner from Tucson, Arizona. Then Fox Lake from Denver Colorado. And finally, Greyhaven from Louisville, Kentucky.
Again, even though I do listen to Greyhaven and enjoy quite a few of their songs, our main purpose of the evening was to watch Fox Lake. Therefore, I won’t be reviewing my experience with the other bands aside from mentioning that Commoner was troubled by audio quality issues which made hearing the vocals near impossible.
Fox Lake’s sound is basically a mix of heavy styles — hardcore and nu-metal at the core — with touches of metalcore, hip-hop, and rock. It ends up being high-energy, aggressive, and super groove-driven.
Band Members
Nathan Johnson: Vocals.
Griffith Johnson: Drums.
Zach Swafford: Bass.
Brandon Kemp: Guitar.
Fox Lake’s Set list
Cold Hard Truth
Pure Adrenaline
Tough Luck
For the Love of the Game
Headshot
Savior
Gaslight
Dog Eat Dog
Freestyle
Fox Lake’s Performance on Stage
By the time Fox Lake went on stage, the room started to get crowded (and hot). Everyone was shoulder-to-shoulder and a circle pit opened up in the middle of the room.
The band opened up with their high-energy, aggressive track, Cold Hard Truth from the album New World Heat. The sound immediately hits you in the face and lays down the vibe for the rest of their adrenaline-fueled set.
People were being thrown into one another and at some point early on in their performance, someone slammed into my wife (she was unharmed).
One thing that I always appreciate is stage presence and the band definitely interacted with the crowd. Nathan (vocals) really knew how to work the crowd and keep them pumped the entire time. Even Griffith (drums) and Brandon (guitar) engaged to keep that hype going. The crowd was engaged, reciting lyrics when prompted.
Halfway through the show, Nathan called for people to get up on stage and start crowd surfing, and with the small stage, it looked pretty entertaining. It is this type of engagement that spectators enjoy.
At no point did things slow down either, the high-octane energy kept going all the way to the end.
After their set, most of the band came down to hang out by the merch table. That’s where I caught up with Fox Lake’s vocalist, Nathan Johnson, told him what an amazing performance it was, and asked for this picture.
If you haven’t seen them live yet, you definitely should. And if they haven’t hit your state on this tour, there’s still a chance to catch them.