On March 21, Welsh rock band Stereophonics hit the road for their first tour in three years and their first North American jaunt since 2018.

Kicking off in Montreal, the veteran band, led by original members guitarist and singer Kelly Jones and bassist Richard Jones, returned to The Vic Theater on Chicago’s North Side where they played the last time ‘round, too.

The tour anticipates Stereophonics’ new LP, “Make ‘em Laugh, Make ‘em Cry, Make ‘em Wait,” due out on April 26, adds lots of well-known tunes and even includes a ukelele performance of one of them (“I Wouldn’t Believe Your Radio”).

Here are five reasons you shouldn’t have missed the Stereophonics’ return to the upper Midwest, where they drew a sell-out or close to sell-out crowd on a rainy Sunday night.

X

Sneak peek at the new album

Though they only played two of the upcoming record’s eight tunes – “There's Always Gonna Be Something” and “Seems Like You Don't Know Me” – that’s a full quarter of the album, offering a glimpse of what’s to come via two songs that slip neatly into the band’s catalog, suggesting the new record – the band’s 13th – will please fans.

Hits!

“Dakota,” “Maybe Tomorrow,” “Traffic,” “Have a Nice Day,” “Hurry Up and Wait” – anyone at all familiar with the band would have known the lion’s share of music performed during Sunday night’s two-hour show. Perhaps only I went home disappointed that two of my favorites,” Pick A Part That’s New” – performed at earlier shows on the tour – and “A Thousand Trees” didn’t make the cut.

“Being on the road again with my best friends, playing all the hits of this band’s catalog, for people in 2025 makes me so excited,” Kelly Jones said, “we should make a new album … oh wait … we already did that! See ya there for more good times ... TUNE!!! TUNE!!! TUNE!!”

One of the great rock ‘n’ roll voices

Kelly Jones has one of those classic rock ‘n’ roll voices – gritty, emotive and distinctive. Think Faces-era Rod Stewart. A few years back he underwent vocal cord surgery to remove a growth, leading him to fear that voice was gone, but thanks to his hard work and determination, Jones sounds as good as ever.

Solid backing

If the six-piece Stereophonics 2025 doesn’t have the same hungry fire as the original trio – whose shows made this guy think of the spirit of gigs by British legends The Jam – the two Joneses (not related, though friends since they were toddlers) – augmented by guitarist Adam Zindani, multi-instrumentalists Tony Kirkham and Gavin Fitzjohn, and drummer Jamie Morrison – have matured into a tight foundation for Kelly’s voice.

The opener

Some folks try to skip the opener when they go to shows, or they talk throughout the first band’s set (or as Sunday night, some of these people chit chat loudly even when the headliner is introducing songs), but I like hearing new music and I like seeing young bands, even when it’s not to my taste. Keep the big band’s nostalgia tour or the legend with a bunch of pickup musicians’ cash-grab reunion, I’d rather hear five young musicians from Austin, like Witches Exist, playing their hearts out on original material that, in this case, was guitar-heavy rock drawing on post-punk and ‘90s “alternative” bands to create a diverse and interesting sound.

SETLIST

•     Vegas Two Times
•     I Wanna Get Lost With You
•     Do Ya Feel My Love
•     Have a Nice Day
•     There's Always Gonna Be Something
•     Just Looking
•     Graffiti on the Train
•     Boy on a Bike
•     Superman
•     Geronimo
•     Maybe Tomorrow
•     Traffic
•     Mr. & Mrs. Smith
•     I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio
•     Seems Like You Don't Know Me
•     Fly Like an Eagle
•     C'est la vie
•     Local Boy in the Photograph

    Encore:

•     Mr Writer
•     Hurry Up and Wait
•     Dakota