MOBFest Preview

MOBFest
Various Venues, Chicagoland
Thursday, June 22 to Saturday, June 24, 2006

How often does $90 get you access to 15 different Chicagoland music venues featuring, like, a billion bands?

It’s a rhetorical question, so make a mental note that Mobfest ’06 goes down this weekend. Now in its 10th year, Mobfest serves as both a music business seminar for acts aspiring to gain national exposure and as a concert smorgasbord for fans. The aforementioned $90 gets you a laminate pass that will serve as a golden ticket for the whole weekend, allowing you entrance to every single showcase, plus a full day of panels (featuring industry professionals from across the country) Saturday at Metro.

The showcases can be a great place for bands to be seen and heard by important label types (past Mobfest success stories include Disturbed, Rachael Yamagata, Kill Hannah, and The Killers) but an even better way for live music fiends to get their fix. With more than 130 bands to choose from, narrowing the roster down to any kind of must-see list is difficult, but we can throw a few names and recommendations out there. Japanese born indie rapper Lyrics Born headlines a night of hip-hop at Abbey Thursday that also includes Verbal Kent and Eratik Statik. Gritty Chicago rockers Suffrajett headline that night’s Breakthrough Network show at Double Door, and local art poppers Raised On Zenith play Elbo Room. The most anticipated show of MOBFest may be Friday’s Metro appearance by Calexico and Jason Collett (Broken Social Scene). Local singer-songwriter Cameron McGill somehow evaded the “no playing more than one MOBFest showcase” rule: He plays a set at both Double Door and The Note Friday night. Traditional honky tonker/country musician Dale Watson tops Martyrs’ bill the same evening. Spacy rockers Sunday Morning Chameleon, who just finished recording a song for the upcoming movie Wait Til This Year, play the Elbo Room Saturday night, and brother/sister indie rock team The Fiery Furnaces will be at Metro. Not old enough for the clubs but don’t want to be left out? Logan Square Auditorium will host a Saturday night all-ages show headlined by Inept and featuring Liftpoint and Shades Of Fiction among others. Out in the ‘burbs and don’t want to make the trip in? Both The Pearl Room in Mokena and Jay’s in Crestwood host MOBFest shows Thursday through Saturday.

For more information, including a complete schedule and online registration, visit www.chicagomobfest.com.

— Trevor Fisher

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly