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.
NEED A CONCERT FIX!? NPR HAS A DAILY UPDATED LIST OF LIVE STREAMS THAT WE ARE CHECKING EACH MORNING.
MAKE SURE TO CHECK YOUR FAVORITE ARTIST’S SOCIALS TO SEE IF THEY HAVE A STREAM ON THE WAY!
Added This Week: Brand new interviews with Missy Preston from The God Awful Small Affairs, house duo Bloodhype, and rock trio Chicken Happen in the interview section!
New Trash teamed up with local electro maven Bodyplex for a crazy new short film “Are You There, Sasha? It’s Me, Bodyplex”!
Check Out: New album reviews are in with write ups on the new records from Ester, Young Man in a Hurry, Mute Duo, Deeper, FACS, Chicken Happen, Sen Morimoto, T.G.A.S.A., and WAY more! Plenty of reviews on the way from quarantine!
Get a Load of: We did a feature on how the COVID-19 shut down is affecting the scene and what you can do to help. Check out our article: “Five Cent Deposit” below!
Keep Seeing Live Music!
Coming soon . . . Life in the great quarantine continues… follow us on Instagram for news on livestreams and new releases from Chicago!
Video
⬐ Premiere ⬎
New Trash has been producing and directing videos for artists in Chicago for several years, and this new work is a collaboration between the filmmaking duo and electronic maven Bodyplex. With its throwback graphics and Tim and Eric Awesome Show vibe, “Are You There, Sasha? It’s Me Bodyplex” is a blast from start to finish. We had a chance to talk to the guys from New Trash and are honored to premiere their first long form work.
READ The INTERVIEW AFTER YOU WATCH!
⬐ feature ⬎
Five Cent Deposit
COVID-19 and the
Chicago Music Scene
Hand Sanitizer on stage at Empty Bottle 3/11/20 / 📷 : Aaron Pylinski
Though we are apart as a community, it is in our blood to keep connected through our common musical interests.
⬐ Interviews ⬎
The God Awful Small Affairs
“I walked out of the session an hour later thinking: “I hope one of those songs turns out.” In that moment, I was so happy for how soft I had been with myself. I wanted to catch exactly how I was feeling that day and to do that I wanted to not chastise myself for any mistakes or any moments my voice felt constricted. I sat on my favorite seat in the back of the Pink Line thinking: “If just one of those songs is something I can be proud of, it’ll be a blessing and I could use it to promote my acoustic tour.” I floated home feeling loved by myself and dreaming of the cross-country solo tour I would take in 2 months time and the single I might be able to release beforehand. Both of those did not happen.”
- Missy Preston
📷 : Nando Espinosa Herrera
📷 : Aaron Pylinski
“This is our first record as a trio and honestly it feels so good to be back to power trio basics. We’ve gone through so many lineup changes but the constants have always been Zack and Mark, so it just feels right”
- Lilly Choi
Read The Interview!
****
Bloodhype
“Chris mastered my first album through a fucked up reel-to-reel which made it sound super awesome and warbly. We've been working together ever since in one capacity or another. Ether arP is great because it's the first time the two of us have really spent a lot of time honing the songs together”
- Maureen Neer
📷: Egon Schiele
📷: Ashleigh Dye
“A lot of our songs are pointing out different aspects of the absurdity of our lives under capitalism. We also write a lot about the internet and being online. We’re all in our late 20s or early 30s and we all grew up living much of our lives digitally. “
- Pledge Drive
read The INTERVIEW!
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!
⬐ SHOWS ⬎
SO Pretty
The God Awful Small Affairs
Diarrhea Sprinkles
Empty Bottle
March 11th
So Pretty / 📷 : Aaron Pylinski
It is always exciting when a band you love performs. When they are doing a record release there is a special energy. So Pretty took two years to make VS Me, and the atmosphere wasn’t just celebratory, it was a party. There was dancing and singing and thrashing, echoing the energy of So Pretty’s performance. They threw themselves around the stage with abandon. The way they moved balanced the violence with silliness. A pure expression of the music and emotions.
Sexfist
GMan Tavern
March 10th
Sexfist / 📷 : Tina Mead
Don’t be fooled by the squirm-inducing moniker, Sexfist is anything but painful or sadistically sexual. (That isn’t entirely true.) The entire preamble to the show included making up your Sexfist name and checking out merch in the Sexfist mini mart where you can purchase from a bevy of fist-themed shirts, non-functioning condoms, and stickers to say a few.
Elijah Berlow
Sophie Rae
Hungry Brain
March 6th
Elijah Berlow / 📷 : Aaron Pylinski
The Hungry Brain is a sleepy speakeasy and the perfect setting for laid back folk on a Friday night. As Elijah Barlow and crew warmed up over the soft reggae tones of Peter Tosh playing over the house speakers, the evening’s mood was subtly pouring out like molasses onto the cold Chicago pavement outside.
Cult of luna
Emma Ruth Rundle
Intronaught
House of Blues
March 4th
Cult of Luna / 📷 : Mick Reed
Cult of Luna was on stage and ready to go before I had finished the beer that I had ordered during the waning minutes of Rundle's set. Cult of Luna are god damned professionals, and if their record set up time for a six+ member band didn't sell you on this fact immediately, the meticulous cacophony they create should finish the job.
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.
NEWS & NOTES
Great new video from Ester! Check it out!
ROOKIE Livestream Record Release from Treehouse on New Trash YouTube channel!
New video from Sex No Babies! PRAISE ART!
See you at the show Chicago!