Chicago Crowd Surfer provides a glimpse into the Chicago music scene with all sorts of content. Featuring interviews, premieres, show experiences, and album reviews from Chicago artists and acts touring through our deep scene and storied city.
Added This Week: Ratboys album release at Lincoln Hall was a not to be missed end of winter event. Tina and Aaron were there for all the magical moments, while Kyle hit up Sex No Babies EP Release at Sleeping Village earlier in the week!
Check Out: Music Frozen Dancing was an event! With such a diverse lineup there was something for everyone! We had four contributors on the ground for the annual outdoor frozen fest. Plus Aaron hit up Schubas for a folky night with The Brother Brothers and Dead Horses and Mick rocked out with Truckfighters and company at The Empty Bottle.
Get a Load of: Tina’s killer write up on the BIPOC Punk Takeover at the Art Institute last Friday and Kyle checked out Pitchfork’s 15 Anniversary bash. All in the shows section. Go read up on two once in a lifetime shows!
Keep Seeing Live Music!
Coming soon . . . More album reviews we missed from local and touring artists, plus more show reviews every week! Just what you’ve come to expect from trusty CCS!
Track Premiere
NONE OF YOUR CONCERn REMix Daymaker’s “MPC”
Check out our exclusive interview with the masked electronic duo as you take in their atmospheric remix of “MPC” from local post punk maven’s Daymaker.
Album Reviews
Album Reviews keep rollin in! We had to take a month break from publishing album reviews and are now playing catch up! Plenty more on the way as 2020 keeps rolling with so much new music!
Read the Reviews!
📷 : Victor Von Goethe
The Tomblands
“It’s always a question of what is our band supposed to sound like? How do we make this sound like a cohesive thing..”
Inner Decay
“Death metal never really went away. You just need to know where to find it.”
⬐ SHOWS ⬎
Ratboys
Slow Mass / Advance Base
Lincoln Hall
February 28th
Ratboys / 📷 : Tina Mead
The Ratboys album release at Lincoln Hall on February 28th was a musical slurry of hard, soft, and everything in between.
Sex No Babies
Little Church / Cozy
Sleeping Village
February 24th
Sex No Babies / 📷 : Kyle Land
Praise Art! Literally. Praise Art, in everything you do. This is the mantra of Sex No Babies. The art hop trio of scenester allstars dropped their second in a three piece vinette series, and we were on hand at Sleeping Village last Monday to celebrate. They brought along the laid back jazz of Cozy and the amped up psych pop of Little Church for what was a soulfully generous evening at the comfortably spacious Avondale venue.
The Brother
Brothers
Dead Horses
Schubas
February 23rd
The Brother Brothers / 📷 : Tina Mead
American folk flavors collided at Schubas Tavern on February 23rd bringing together the spiritual tunings of Dead Horses from Wisconsin and the sweet, southern-sounding Brother Brothers hailing from Peoria, by way of Brooklyn.
Music Frozen
Dancing
Outside The Empty Bottle
February 22nd
HIDE / 📷 : Tina Mead
The Empty Bottle’s sixth Music Frozen Dancing welcomed warmer weather than usual last Saturday as Chicago’s only annual outdoor winter music festival outdid itself once again with a stacked lineup. Mixing local and touring talent is The Bottles modus operandi and they hit it out of the park with something for everyone in an incredibly diverse lineup ranging from the dark gothic industrial of HIDE, to the gleaming indie rock of The Hecks, to the hardcore punk of Pissed Jeans and Hot Snakes. Four of our crew hit the concrete at Cortez and Western for a full day of Chicago music glory.
Truckfighters
Valley of the Sun
Cloud Cruiser
Empty Bottle
February 18th
Truckfighters / 📷 : Mick Reed
The Empty Bottle the night of Truckfighters's set was actually quite full. Ironic, I know. Men in beanies, button-down work shirts, and muddy jeans were stacked thick, from stage to bar, like sliced salami in a plastic tube. The former Polish dance hall was about as packed as I've ever seen it on a Tuesday night, a fact that seemed to supercharge the sonic claps of thunder echoing from the stage
BIPOC Punk Takeover
Blacker Face / Uhuruverse /
The Breathing Light / Mermaid N.V.
Art Institute
February 21st
The Breathing Light / 📷 : Tina Mead
As the bodies collided and water began spraying into the crowd, I couldn't help but wonder if The Art Institute knew what they were in for when they decided to open their doors to a punk show. Punks will be punks after all, but someone was smart enough to limit the drinks to water.
Ohmme
Dehd / Spencer Tweedy
Chicago Athletic Association
February 20th
Ohmme / 📷 : Kyle Land
Pitchfork Music Festival, the Chicago based music entity that has spawned sister fests in Paris and now Berlin, celebrated their 15th anniversary last week with a two day local showcase at Chicago Athletic Association that brought out the crowds to the posh downtown club/hotel.
Faux Furrs
Daydream Review (Single Release)
Flora / Breether
Subterranean Downstairs
February 19th
Faux Furrs / 📷 : Aaron Pylinski
Wednesday night downstairs at the Subterranean was a trip-a-delic funky psyche-fest. Three musical talents plus a very pleasant surprise as a fourth met at the headwaters of Chicago music and laid down one delicious set after another.
Girl K
Sports Boyfriend
Floatie
Sleeping Village
February 16th
Girl K / 📷 : Kyle Land
Girl K had a fantastic 2019, releasing one of the year’s best local records in For Now, opening for countless major acts including a sold out two night run with Charly Bliss and Cherry Glazerr to close out the year, and steadily growing a rabid fan base. All before their magnetic leader and songwriter Kathy Patino even reached twenty one. A milestone the infectiously positive scenester celebrated with a stacked lineup at Sleeping Village last week.
Panache’s
Village Of Love
Planned
Parenthood
Benefit
Lincoln Hall
February 14th
Woongi / 📷 : Kyle Land
Valentines Day may be the ultimate corporate holiday. While every major American holiday has an air of capitalistic greed, the lovers holiday exists to bolster the chocolate, jewelry, and florist industries. So what better way to buck the system than to support a cause and enjoy some fantastic local music? That’s why we celebrated the king of “hallmark holidays” at Panache’s Village Of Love Planned Parenthood Benefit at Lincoln Hall last frigid Friday for what was an excellent evening of love song covers by some of the best Chicago has to offer.
Beach Bunny
Reckless Records
February 14th
Beach Bunny / 📷 : Tina Mead
Reckless Records was packed with young people crowded in and excited to get close to their fav pop punk prom queen. Hand clapping and singing brought riding the bus to high school marching band events to mind. Let's be clear, a Beach Bunny crowd is made of art, theatre, and band kids. Not so many jocks. While her music is universal, not everyone wants to be so painfully honest about their heartbreak and insecurities.
Telethon
Devon Kay and the Solutions
Big Sky Hunters
GMan Tavern
February 6th
Telethon / 📷 : Tina Mead
Last Thursday was a special evening at The GMan Tavern. The convergence of very serious rock and power pop punk for the kids proved why Chicago is a great boiling pot for talent, pageantry, and community.
j fernandez
Peel Dream Magazine
Claude
Sleeping Village
February 5th
J Fernandez / 📷 : Kyle Land
Another blizzard, another night at Sleeping Village. It’s become a pattern of the winter, and last Wednesday’s $1 beer night was a smooth groove evening of gentle folk and psych-pop bliss that scooped us up in its warm embrace, providing a momentary solace from the tundra whipping at the walls of the Avondale venue.
Chirp Radio And
Smashed Plastic Anniversary
SuperKnova / The Dyes
Space Gators
Sleeping Village - February 2nd
Chirp Swag / 📷 : Mick Reed
A lot can happen in a decade. Hell, a lot can happen in one year, to be honest. But after you’ve been stacking annuals for awhile, it can get hard to remember where you started. That’s why it’s important to put a popsicle stick in the hamster wheel of life every once in a while and throw yourself a party.
Calexico And
Iron & Wine
Gia Margaret
Thalia Hall
January 29th
Calexico and Iron & Wine / 📷 : Tina Mead
Honestly, I find myself at these Wednesday night shows and I know I’m the lucky one. A packed Thalia Hall and a showcase of supreme musical talent is the way to go after a long day of work. But there’s more to this past Wednesday night than a post-work wind-down. It’s much deeper than that.
TNK Fest 2020
Schubas / Lincoln Hall
Sleeping Village / The Hideout / Metro
January 15th - 19th
Lille West and NNAMDI / 📷 : Tina Mead
Tomorrow Never Knows (TNK) proves Chicago can roll with winter. Over five days in mid-January, the annual club fest spreads across the North Side, with Schubas, Lincoln Hall, Sleeping Village, The Hideout, and Metro all participating in the festivities. We caught a few shows a night, in order to highlight the excellent local artists the fest was featuring and the incredible talent the fest brought in for the 15th iteration of the winter classic.
NEWS & NOTES
New video from Sex No Babies! PRAISE ART!
If you haven’t seen this new NNAMDÏ video, you’ve been living under a rock. We cannot WAIT! for more from this record! Brat is due out April 3rd.
See you at the show Chicago!