Down In Heaven's 10th anniversary -Twin Peaks Return!

Legendary Chicago rock band from the late 2010s make their return for an eight-night run at Thalia Hall.

Twin Peaks, 2026

Twin Peaks just pulled off the impossible. They announced a pair of reunion shows at Thalia Hall to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Down in Heaven, and tickets sold out within minutes. Then they added six more shows. Those sold out too. Eight consecutive nights at Thalia Hall. The longest residency ever at the Pilsen venue. Bruno Mars was in town, but you know, everyone was flocking to Chicago to see the mighty return of the Chicago Boys. They are back home where it all started!

I myself did not get tickets. I tried. I failed. I have friends who got in and they said it was absolutely amazing, which was both great to hear and deeply painful to process.

The well-known wild crowds of Twin Peaks

But I was sort of in luck here. Due to such high demand, Twin Peaks did something that doesn't happen very often. They put out a live stream you could actually pay for and watch from home. And I know that sounds like a consolation prize, but I wish more bands did this. It reminded me of the Covid era when that was just how you saw shows. I had some buddies come over, we watched the whole thing together, slammed some brewskis, and it was a great night. It looked amazing with fun, interesting visuals. It sounded great. Full credit to whoever produced that stream.

Down in Heaven came out in 2016, and it seems like yesterday. It's one of those albums that just feels like Chi-town. It was the record that saw Twin Peaks step out of the basements they were forged in, rooted in the warmth of late-60s rock and the looseness of good company, capturing the band at a moment of quiet expansion. This record had a lush horn section and beautifully arranged backing vocals while remaining chaotic and fun. If you grew up listening to music in this city during the 2010s, that album is in your bones somewhere. And the band hadn't been seen or heard from in six years before this. So yeah, people lost their minds when the shows were announced out of nowhere.

The live stream wasn't just Twin Peaks by themselves, either. They brought out a whole crew of collaborators, and it turned into a real celebration of the Chicago music scene.

VV Light Body was there doing flute and background vocals. Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart from the band Finom were both on stage — Macie on violin, Sima on vocals, and both of them adding so much to the sound. Sofia Jensen from Free Range sang a song, which was just a beautiful moment. And then — in the encore — Jeff Tweedy walked out. I’ve seen Tweedy play with Finom before and in other local Chicago shows, but in this show, he did some great guitar work, and they ended in a full jam. I'm really happy to know that Jeff is still very involved in the local Chicago music scene.

Tweedy joining Twin Peaks felt like a passing of the torch, or maybe more like an older Chicago legend putting his arm around the next generation and saying yeah, Twin Peaks is the full package, baby.

I'll be honest, not being in that room felt like an arrow shot right in my heart. Thalia Hall on a night like that, packed with people who have loved this band for ten years, with that lineup on stage? That's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of night. But the live stream was genuinely great, and I'm really glad they did it. More bands should do this. Not as a replacement for being there — nothing replaces being there — but as a way to include the people who couldn't make it.

Twin Peaks, welcome back. Don't wait another six years.