File: April 2008
A Festivus For The Rest Of Us
If Lollapalooza packs ’em in with the rumored announcement of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails as headliners, us Chicago folk might be crowded out of our own festival. Pitchfork Music Fest has already squashed the one that gave it birth (Intonation) — you’ll have to excuse us if we’re feeling a smidge overpowered. Escape to Bonnaroo? Summer? In Tennessee? Next.
For respite we look to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota (10-hour drive or only one after flying to Fargo) and the sixth annual 10,000 Lakes Festival, July 23rd to 26th. You’re looking cockeyed, right? Well part of our rationale is five Chicago bands will be selected to join The Flaming Lips, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Phil Lesh & Friends, Medeski Martin & Wood, and others after an April 26th showdown at Kinetic Playground.
Who? Well, all bands had to have their entries in by March 23rd which pinched our deadline. But the winners are chosen by fans — the very people being squeezed out by the other fests.
Would Smell As Sweet
International Pop Overthrow begins its seventh year in Chicago on Tax Day at Abbey Pub. Power pop standbys such as the reunited Krinkles, Ted Ansani, Enuff Z’Nuff, The Locals, Doleful Lions, and Off Broadway tackle clubs as far and wide as Elbo Room, Double Door, The Spot, and Bird’s Nest until the 26th. Check Internationalpopoverthrow.com for complete schedules. IPO partakers Gringo Star landed on The Onion’s “Worst Band Names Of ’07,” along with Springfield’s The Graduate, Berwyn’s General Patton & His Privates, Oak Lawn’s May This Day Perish, northwest suburban Enjoy The Massacre, and Chicago’s Into The Light Carol Anne, Mister Fuckhead, Slut Barf, Juzt Nutz, The Pussy Pirates, Curse This Metal Body, Bullet Called Life, and Desecrate The Hour. Congratulations everyone!
You Gretsch Your Ass
Through a complex series of graphs and algorithms, IE can state, without hesitation, 125 years is a long time. So we feel proud to writhe suggestively while singing “Happy Birthday” to Gretsch Guitars. The Brooklyn-born/Savannah-based manufacturer was founded by a German immigrant in 1883 and eventually wove itself into the repertoires of Bo Diddley, George Harrison, Neil Young, Brian Setzer, and hundreds more. Beginning May 1st, head to www.gretsch125th.com to enter the “Next Gretsch Greats” contest to be one of three to share a $21,000 stash of Gretsch gear or a time slot at a coming New York concert celebration alongside some legends who’ve helped write the Gretsch legend.
Evanston’s Country Club Of Rock
The City Of Evanston is suffering these days; citizens angrily contest the prospect of skyscrapers launching downtown. Caught up in this building boom is a hybrid music edifice at 1245 Chicago Avenue. How do you know it’s not some cynical developer’s ploy? One of the three tenants is Union Pizzeria — they thought of everything.
Spaces one and two are filled by The League Of Creative Musicians and Society For The Preservation Of Arts And Culture In Evanston (S.P.A.C.E.). The former is a membership club housing a state-of-the-art recording studio/rehearsal space with vintage instruments and the occasional class or seminar. S.P.A.C.E.’s space will host concerts and other assorted gatherings — 3,000 square feet of fun. All it needs now is a rehab clinic and away we go!
— Steve Forstneger
