Indie Ribs!
Ribfest Chicago: A Festivus For The Rest Of Ya’s
Being from Lombard (and ostensibly Chicago), I’m well aware of the script for the Taste Of/county fair/Fourth Of July summer spectacle: hire an aging classic rock band with half the original members (or a tribute) and consider entertainment taken care of. If memory serves the Edgar Winter Group played Taste Of Lombard in the mid ’90s and reeled the 10-minute “Frankenstein” off twice. This type of thing still goes on, but Ribfest is really going out of its way to alter that perception.
This year’s lineup has a quality of indie rock acts (mostly local, but some national) that should make most of Chicago’s other street festivals blush. Among them are the Wilco-ish alt-country of Palliard, the spry bass-as-melodic-instrument fare of This Is Me Smiling, sugar-high mini-orchestra Head Of Femur, chamber pop elder statesmen The Chamber Strings, pop artstars Chin Up Chin Up, and their melodic assassin cousins Bound Stems.
Also appearing will be The Blacks, Lucky Boys Confusion, Baby Teeth, Deadstring Brothers, The Dark Romantics, Dolly Varden, and Backyard Tire Fire. You can show up whenever and not be disappointed. Oh, and there’s ribs.
Ribfest takes place June 9th and 10th on the 4000 to 4200 block of N. Lincoln Ave. in the North Center neighborhood. A $5 donation is requested.
— Steve Forstneger
