Five years without a visit to Baltimore is too many for any band that understands the place and its insatiable craving for live music.

It had been that long since Ratboys made their way to the Charm City, but the Chicago-based indie rock outfit made up for it recently with a sold-out, blasting performance at Ottobar — a venue perfectly suited to the cutting-edge sounds that this four-piece group has sharpened since forming back in 2010.

Ratboys began at the University of Notre Dame when then-students Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan met and began writing songs together. It now features Steiner as lead vocalist and on guitar, Sagan playing lead guitar, Sean Neumann on bass and backup vocals, and Marcus Nuccio playing drums, and the group has five studio albums to its name, including 2023’s The Window.

Listen to Ratboys’ 2023 studio album, The Window, via Spotify:

Performing songs from the latest record and more, Ratboys is currently traveling like it often does: with another talented band. At Ottobar, the night of April 4 gave ticketholders the chance to enjoy not just one fantastic Great Lakes act, but two, as Ducks Ltd. out of Toronto opened the highly anticipated — and in Ratboys’ case, long overdue — show with its own thrilling set of original songs.

Liten to Ducks Ltd.’s new album, Harm’s Way, via Spotify:

Ratboys Setlist

Making Noise for the Ones You Love
Morning Zoo
It’s Alive!
Elvis is in the Freezer
I Want You
Charles Bernstein
Go Outside
Crossed That Line
Space Blows
Now Way
The Window
I Go Out at Night
Empty
Break
Black Earth, WI
Bad Reaction
Alien with a Sleep Mask On
Look To

Ducks Ltd. Setlist

How Lonely Are You?
Train Full of Gasoline
On Our Way to the Rave
Cathedral City
Deleted Scenes
Hollowed Out
Heavy Bag/The Main Thing
Under the Rolling Moon

Below are handspun, home-developed and scanned 35mm film photos of Ratboys and Ducks Ltd. performing at Ottobar in Baltimore the night of April 4, 2024. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Casey Ryan Vock.

Ducks Ltd.