|
|
|
chicago home
events calendar
bars & clubs movie clock restaurants specials best of chicago 
art
film and video food and drink music and clubs stage style words sports features |
|
|
 Click for music events Fest Quest Two new street festivals put the music first
The Pitchfork Music Festival may have had more of an impact than we thought.
This weekend, two brand new street festivals hit Chicago streets, one in Humboldt Park, the other in Roscoe Village, both boasting band lineups that feature heavy doses of indie rock and local hipster chic, rather than your average street-fair fare, that of irrelevant cover bands and washed-up nineties alt-rockers. It’s a relief in many ways, as traditional street festivals, as popular as they are to the beer-swiggin’ crowd, had become all but unbearable in recent years, but have since had a resurgence of sorts, at least in the quality of talent they offer. Just last weekend, the Randolph Street festival featured performances by Smoking Popes, The Walkmen and The Broken West, as well as Fountains of Wayne.
In one of its original press releases, the Switchyard Festival actually promoted itself as being more akin to Pitchfork’s summer jaunt than anything else—sparked by 4am bar The Continental owners Chris and Susan Ongkiko (Darkroom’s Arunas Ingaunis is also involved), the festival serves as a benefit for the McCormick Tribune YMCA. The location—at Chicago and California, literally right outside the bar—makes perfect sense, as the late-late-night watering hole has become a destination for the Wicker Park/ Humboldt Park/Logan Square crowd of artists and musicians. A fest by artists, for artists, so to speak.
The Belmont Arts and Music Festival (BAM!), roughly located at Belmont and Damen in Roscoe Village, landed House Call Entertainment’s Derron Swan to help book half of the bands, and the move paid off—the fest’s lineup is one of the summer’s best. Of course, the other parts of the festival seem typical—street vendors, arts and crafts, food, booze—but the music is decidedly skewed towards the indie crowd. It’ll be intriguing to see how it plays with the passersby, and how each of these festivals will do pitted against each other, in a crowded weekend that also includes the Pride Parade and all of its supplemental events, plus a South Side series between the Cubs and the White Sox, which will inevitably bring many North Siders down to 35th Street and keep them there, as long as there’s beer.
Switchyard Festival 2007
Boasting a mostly local lineup, both days at the Switchyard Festival should be crawling with Chicago’s hipster elite. Saturday’s headlined by the intense, sexy and soulful Suffrajett, whose new "Black Glitter" is sweaty and full of punch and growl. Also performing are the respectable The Prairie Cartel and Ultra Sonic Edukators, but only after The A-Sides, Slings & Arrows, Milk at Midnight (a great band to see live) and Reptoids have their say. Sunday is the better day for my money, as the strange, but somehow appropriate, headliner choice is Canada’s The Stills, whose slick indie art-rock has always impressed, especially on the band’s "Logic Will Break Your Heart." Also performing are local critical sensations The 1900s, who keep getting better and better with each show, and who are also playing just about everywhere around town this summer, including Lollapalooza. Rounding out the day are The Strange Young Lovers, Airiel, the promising The Assembly, Tight Phantomz and Sound on Sound. Both evenings continue after 10pm, of course, in The Continental, which will be open for another seven hours on Saturday and six on Sunday.
Belmont Arts & Music Festival>/b>
Partly sponsored by WXRT, one of the only radio stations left in Chicago that’s dedicated to playing local music, BAM! boasts inspired stages on both days. On Saturday, Heartless Bastards headlines the East Stage, and the band’s helped by The Crying Shame, the fine pop rock of The Saps, The Drams and Hey Champ. The West Stage features performances by the Husker Du songwriting great Bob Mould, the faux-Beatles mash-up The Redwalls, Robbers on High Street and the Bon Mots. Sunday’s East Stage is alarmingly good—headlining are the under-appreciated The Wrens, who’ve been making fantastic, classic indie-rock records for years but have yet to catch on despite a devoted fanbase. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin plays before them, another promising up-and-coming local act. The wonderful Brighton, MA also plays, whose new, self-titled EP is magnificent, all Replacements-meet-Dylan rock. Also on the stage—Palomar and Satin Peaches. The Sunday West Stage is the weakest of the lineups with Omega Moos, Michael McDermott, Bumpus and Dave Tamkin Trio, but does feature the rollicking country-rock of local act Catfish Haven, smack dab in the middle.
Switchyard Festival 2007 runs June 23-24 from 2pm-10pm at Chicago and California; Belmont Arts and Music Festival also runs June 23-24, from noon-10pm both days, at Damen and Belmont.
Also by Tom Lynch Can We Sing a Little Higher Please?
Soundcheck
Tip of the Week
Soundcheck
Songcraft
Tip of the Week
Soundcheck
Long Time Gone
Tip of the Week
Three Records
Tip of the Week
The Great Whale
|
|
about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment |
