OCTOBER 2019
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 Today: Beach Bunny was a grand time at Thalia Hall on Halloween and Tina Mead was there to document the moment, while Mark Morrissey hit The Hideout for the new post NE-HI project Spun Out. Plus a special article on local jazz singer Emmaline by our co-founder John Barnard!
Get a Load of: Sleeping Village got down on the super weird and awesome Jonathan Bree, Shilpa Ray, and Andrew Sa bill last Sunday and Tina Mead was there to soak it all in!
Check Out: Elk Walking talked to our contributor Mick Reed about new single “Over The Hills.”
Keep Seeing Live Music!
Coming soon . . . We’re catching up in the next couple days so stay tuned for all the new releases and fresh tracks from the past couple weeks! We got a little behind. Life happens. But we love ya Chicago and we got tons of local music coming your way! Along with Kyle hitting a double album release last Saturday and the incomparable Djunah giving us the lowdown on new record Ex Voto!
FRESH TRACK PREMIERe
Savanna Dickhut is a local singer/songwriter known for both her solo work under the name Burr Oak, as well as her work with the phenomenal folk-rock ensemble Elk Walking, which she co-leads with her collaborator Julian Daniell. Elk Walking is debuting their brand new single “Over the Hills” on Chicago Crowd Surfer this Halloween and Savanna was gracious enough to sit down with our features interviewer Mick Reed to talk about the new release, her inspirations, and writing style.
Video Premiere
We adore the punk infused rock ‘n’ roll throwback masters Bleach Party, and think you should too! Which is why we’re premiering their new video for “New Fashion”. Filmed at the now defunct Hollywood Mirror during its final days, its a fitting goodbye to a Chicago institution and a damn fun video. Check out “New Fashion” on all streaming services on last year’s excellent NOLA LP, you won’t regret it!
📷 : Edrece Stansberry
Emmaline
Live music, to Emmaline, is about living in that moment of creation, when you can truly feel the artist’s message, and she wants every listener to walk out of the club knowing a bit more about her and feeling good about themselves.
Field Day
“If you want something, chances are you're gonna have to grind it out to make it happen. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. I'm fortunate enough to really enjoy what I do musically and wise enough to except the drama that goes along with the gig.”
⬐ SHOWS ⬎
Beach Bunny
Prince Daddy and the Hyena
Another Michael
Thalia Hall
October 31st
Beach Bunny / 📷 : Tina Mead
Beach Bunny was celebrating the release of a new single the day before “Dream Boy” and had also just announced that their first full-length album, Honeymoon will be released on Valentine’s Day, 2020. So appropriate for these hopeless romantics to give us a reason to be less lonely on a day that holds so much tension for the singles and lovers alike.
Spun Out
Mia Joy
The Hideout
October 24th
Spun Out / 📷 : Mark Morrissey
The post Ne-Hi era continues with three quarters of the group moving on to form Spun Out. With the help of friends from around the city, Spun Out has created a super group that takes Mikey Wells, James Weir, Alex Otake, and adds Sean Page(Mantra Blues), Nic Gohl(Deeper), and Jake Gold(Creepy Band). Gohl could not be at the performance as Deeper is out on tour, but he played the first show back in August at the Empty Bottle.
Jonathan Bree
Shilpa Ray
Andrew Sa
Sleeping Village
October 27th
Jonathan Bree / 📷 : Tina Mead
This Sleeping Village show featured three vintage vocalists unconcerned with current trends in music. Their performances felt like pure expressions of who they are and experimentations with how to go about that.
Harvey Fox
Daydream Review
Space Gators
Sleeping Village
October 20th
Harvey Fox / 📷 : Kyle Land
A core group of fans and friends turned up at Sleeping Village on Sunday to celebrate the release of Chicago rock outfit Harvey Fox’s second record Lullabies For The Restless, their first with local imprint Midwest Action. The crisp fall evening fell away as the fog pumped into the back room venue (so much fog!) creating a swampy atmosphere that fit the psych inspired jams of the evening like a hazy glove. Since opening last year Sleeping Village’s light shows get better each time we’re lucky enough to catch a show at the Avondale venue, and the flashy presentation during all three acts, accentuated by the endless amounts of stage fog, gave the whole night an arena rock vibe.
Ian Noe
Jeremy Ivy
Sleeping Village
October 19th
Ian Noe / 📷 : Tina Mead
“I’m going to start with a song my wife does better than me.” Jeremy Ivey didn’t have to tell us that his wife is Margo Price as the greater part of the audience sang along to the chorus of “All American Made.” Even if you didn’t know Price or the song they wrote together, it’s still a sweet way to introduce it. His rendition felt lived-in, which makes sense. After all, it wasn’t a cover
Blacker Face
Why? Footclan
Augustine Esterhammer-Fic
The Hideout
October 18th
Blacker Face / 📷 : Kyle Land
Considering all of the history of social protest The Hideout embodies, and the iconic venues uncertain fate in the wave of gentrification sweeping the surrounding area due to the Lincoln Yards fiasco, it was the perfect venue for the record release party of one of Chicago’s most interesting and politically outspoken art rock bands. The night was full of anticipation for Blacker Face’s performance, fresh off the release of their Sooper Records debut Distinctive Juju, but there was plenty to entertain before the local powerhouse took the stage.
Big Thief
Palehound
Metro
October 18th
Big Thief / 📷 : Mark Morrissey
It’s not often you get the chance to catch a band on tour in support of two new albums. Those of us lucky enough to get into the sold-out show on Friday at the Metro were treated to this rarity by Big Thief. U.F.O.F., the group’s first release up for album of the year, gave way for Two Hands. In awe-inspiring efforts it is impossible to pick one album over the other; the two complement one another so well it’s as if they’ve created one long album.
B Boys
The Knees / Aitis Band
The Empty Bottle
October 15th
B Boys / 📷 : Tina Mead
Chicago is known for its number of venues. Any night of the week one can see music at a plethora of establishments throughout the city. It’s even possible to pull off seeing more than one show in a night if you time it out correctly. Attempting to pull off the double feature, we jetted right as MEUTE’s all ages show ended at The Bottom Lounge and headed straight for The Empty Bottle for a vasty different experience.
Meute
Mr. Automatic
Bottom Lounge
October 15th
MEUTE / 📷 : Tina Mead
As the house lights came down, and the white sidelights slowly came to life, the glowing glockenspiel standard marched onstage to begin the set with a ping (imagine a small metal xylophone on a long pole and you’ve got the picture). The sousaphone followed, producing the bellowing bass that makes up the floor of all EDM, and then the bass drum pounds and the stage came alive with teaming bodies as the horns join in for the first of what is to be over an hour and a half of searing energy and rapturous delight.
Jimmy Whispers
Jungle Green / Claude
The Hideout
October 13th
Jimmy Whispers / 📷 : Kyle Land
The Hideout’s backroom venue is one of the most magical rooms in Chicago, filled to the brim with the type of energy that only comes from countless years of creative endeavor. What an evening was in store for those lucky enough to spend last Sunday taking in the acts to grace the storied stage at one of the cities most iconic venues. As a version of the classic Tiffany tune “I Think We’re Along Now” blared from the speakers, thanks to Lillie West of Lala Lala and Grapetooth’s Chris Bailoni, who supplied an eclectic mix of tunes between bands; the early arrivers milled about the christmas light illuminated space, finding friends and eagerly awaiting the nights entertainment.
The Hecks
Record Release
with Juiceboxxx and Fire-Toolz
Empty Bottle
October 7th
The Hecks / 📷 : Tina Mead
The Chicago music scene was out in force to celebrate and support The Hecks’ album release show that included Fran, fresh off a set at SubT that same night. The full litany would be as long as this article, so we will skip that and just make note of what a truly beautifully supportive crowd it was.
Sir Babygirl
Nyssa / CJ Run
Empty Bottle
October 4th
Sir Babygirl / 📷 : Tina Mead
This isn’t just a story of live music and merrymaking. It’s much more than that. This particular Friday night was a showcase of all that is good in humankind, shown through the power of music and open-minded camaraderie.
NEWS & NOTES
Congrats to Deeper, KAINA, and Sen Morimoto for being chosen as featured acts at this years SXSW fest!
Checkout:
V.V. Lightbody’s new video for “Car Alarm”
Deeper’s video for “Run”
Dehd’s video for “Letter”
What are you waiting for Chicago! Support Local Music!For more Chicago music news, check out our friends at Midwest Action and ANCHR Magazine.
Make sure to listen to What About Chicago? Podcast every week for Rahim Salaam and Ben Moroney’s takes on all the walks they make scoping out local art. #praiseart
Stay tuned for more each and every week from us. We’re on our way to more content just for you Chicago.
See you at the show Chicago!