Every summer, interesting festivals overtake the music landscape in and around Chicago. While the festival calendar dries up after Labor Day, leave it to the area's best venues to make our holidays seem like mini-festivals of their own. And with Thanksgiving more of a homecoming style occasion, the program leans delightfully local.
We've already seen how Halloween was transformed this year, even while falling on a Wednesday. With the Thanksgiving holiday allowing for an extended weekend for many, the music potential definitely increases to festival like proportions. I'll recommend some of the best options availale, feel free to create your own Turkey Day Music Festival -- and you can even get a chance to get into a few of these shows for free.
Wednesday, November 21st
It's traditionally the biggest party night of the year, and a perfect time to revisit the Strange Arrangement / Greensky Bluegrass pairing at the Park West from earlier this year. This was an incredible show in January, and it'll be the last show before an extended hiatus for Strange, so get on this one if you love their jammy funk.
Meanwhile, our friends at Reggie's will host another awesome double bill, with Mr. Blotto & Chicago Zappa Collective (performing Joe's Garage in its entirety!) sharing the stage. We're happy to be able to give away a pair of tickets to this one, click HERE for details.
JC Brooks & Uptown Sound will perform an XRT concert for the kids at Mero. I would have thought that this one would have been sold out for a while now, but last I checked tickets were still available (and reasonable). Hop on this one if you want to catch on of Chicago's most rising stars at their soulful and charitable best.
If covers are your game, two of the best in the business will be at it on Wednesday. Tributosaurus becomes The Who at Martyr's, while American English will bring their finely tuned Beatles act to Fitzgeralds.
If the holiday has you tied to the south side, Brown Bag will perform at Harte's in Evergreen Park.
(Black) Friday, November 23rd
Is Wednesday considered "Black", too? With the talent lineup this evening, you'll be able to shrug off doorbuster madness with no problem. Much of it is assembling on he same stage at The Vic. Thanksgiving has always been Cornmeal's time to do it up right in Chicago. We were pleased to see them add more Chicagoans as support, with Van Ghost providing an opening set and native son (via the Rocky Mountains) Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band joining Cornmeal for a special acoustic set.
Two longtime Chicago favorites will also set up shop at our favorite clubs on Friday. Liquid Soul will get folks moving at The Abbey and Ralph Covert's Bad Examples will deliver their old school power pop at Fitzgeralds.
Meanwhile, our friends in Old Shoe will jam out at the awesome Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora with Chicago Farmer (who will also make a cameo at the Park West on Wednesday night) on the bill as well.
Mavis Staples makes her City Winery debut for the first of two consecutive nights at the toney new venue.
Saturday, November 24th
There'll be plenty of jams throughout the weekend but Saturday is where folks may really have tough choices to make. We'll make it easy for you by offering a pair to tickets to Family Groove Company and Henhouse Prowlers, who will share the stage at Martyrs, to one lucky winner who clicks HERE.
If you're looking for something bit more intense, Michigan's Ultraviolet Hippopatumus will bring their heavy, prog-based jamming to the Double Door. We think so highly of these Midwesterners that we included them in our Pink Floyd covers mix tape. This could be their breakout gig in Chicago.
Meanwhile, those looking for a second (or first) dose of Mr. Blotto can get it at Fitzgeralds. Two younger bands looking to cultivate a similar niche, Catfish & The Dogstars and Lakeshore Vibe will play on a double bill at The Abbey.
The biggest show of Saturday is probably one of the weekend's most intriguing. The adolescent genre mashers in Kids These Days take a big step up in a showcase at The Vic. Thia talented hometown crew mixes up rock, jazz, fnnk and hip hop in a way that is utterly unique and inspiring.
If you'vw still got anything left in the take by Sunday, Brown Bag comes up from the south side to play a weekend capping gig with Sean Shiel at the Tonic Room.
That's a lot of shows, but I'm sure I missed something. What else is going on Thanksgiving 2012?Rich Text AreaToolbarBold (Ctrl / Alt+Shift + B)Italic (Ctrl / Alt+Shift + I)Strikethrough (Alt+Shift+D)Unordered list (Alt+Shift+U)Ordered list (Alt+Shift+O)Blockquote (Alt+Shift+Q)Align Left (Alt+Shift+L)Align Center (Alt+Shift+C)Align Right (Alt+Shift+R)Insert/edit link (Alt+Shift+A)Unlink (Alt+Shift+S)Insert More Tag (Alt+Shift+T)Toggle spellchecker (Alt+Shift+N)▼
Toggle fullscreen mode (Alt+Shift+G)Show/Hide Kitchen Sink (Alt+Shift+Z)Insert Form_MakerTypePad emojiInsert WooThemes Shortcode
FormatFormat▼
UnderlineAlign Full (Alt+Shift+J)Select text color▼
Paste as Plain TextPaste from WordRemove formattingInsert custom characterOutdentIndentUndo (Ctrl+Z)Redo (Ctrl+Y)Help (Alt+Shift+H)
Every summer, interesting festivals overtake the music landscape in and around Chicago. While the festival calendar dries up after Labor Day, leave it to the area's best venues to make our holidays seem like mini-festivals of their own. And with Thanksgiving more of a homecoming style occasion, the program leans delightfully local.
We've already seen how Halloween was transformed this year, even while falling on a Wednesday. With the Thanksgiving holiday allowing for an extended weekend for many, the music potential definitely increases to festival like proportions. I'll recommend some of the best options availale, feel free to create your own Turkey Day Music Festival -- and you can even get a chance to get into a few of these shows for free.
Wednesday, November 21st
Click for a chance to win tickets!It's traditionally the biggest party night of the year, and a perfect time to revisit the Strange Arrangement / Greensky Bluegrass pairing at the Park West from earlier this year. This was an incredible show in January, and it'll be the last show before an extended hiatus for Strange, so get on this one if you love their jammy funk.
Meanwhile, our friends at Reggie's will host another awesome double bill, with Mr. Blotto & Chicago Zappa Collective (performing Joe's Garage in its entirety!) sharing the stage. We're happy to be able to give away a pair of tickets to this one, click HERE for details.
JC Brooks & Uptown Sound will perform an XRT concert for the kids at Mero. I would have thought that this one would have been sold out for a while now, but last I checked tickets were still available (and reasonable). Hop on this one if you want to catch on of Chicago's most rising stars at their soulful and charitable best.
If covers are your game, two of the best in the business will be at it on Wednesday. Tributosaurus becomes The Who at Martyr's, while American English will bring their finely tuned Beatles act to Fitzgeralds.
If the holiday has you tied to the south side, Brown Bag will perform at Harte's in Evergreen Park.
(Black) Friday, November 23rd
Is Wednesday considered "Black", too? With the talent lineup this evening, you'll be able to shrug off doorbuster madness with no problem. Much of it is assembling on he same stage at The Vic. Thanksgiving has always been Cornmeal's time to do it up right in Chicago. We were pleased to see them add more Chicagoans as support, with Van Ghost providing an opening set and native son (via the Rocky Mountains) Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band joining Cornmeal for a special acoustic set.
Two longtime Chicago favorites will also set up shop at our favorite clubs on Friday. Liquid Soul will get folks moving at The Abbey and Ralph Covert's Bad Examples will deliver their old school power pop at Fitzgeralds.
Meanwhile, our friends in Old Shoe will jam out at the awesome Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora with Chicago Farmer (who will also make a cameo at the Park West on Wednesday night) on the bill as well.
Mavis Staples makes her City Winery debut for the first of two consecutive nights at the toney new venue.
Click here for a chance to win tickets! Saturday, November 24th
There'll be plenty of jams throughout the weekend but Saturday is where folks may really have tough choices to make. We'll make it easy for you by offering a pair to tickets to Family Groove Company and Henhouse Prowlers, who will share the stage at Martyrs, to one lucky winner who clicks HERE.
If you're looking for something bit more intense, Michigan's Ultraviolet Hippopatumus will bring their heavy, prog-based jamming to the Double Door. We think so highly of these Midwesterners that we included them in our Pink Floyd covers mix tape. This could be their breakout gig in Chicago.
Meanwhile, those looking for a second (or first) dose of Mr. Blotto can get it at Fitzgeralds. Two younger bands looking to cultivate s similar niche, Catfish & The Dogstars and Lakeshore Vibe will play on a double bill at The Abbey.
The biggest show of Saturday is probably one of the weekend's most intriguing. The adolescent genre mashers in Kids These Days take a big step up in a showcase at The Vic. Thia talented hometown crew mixes up rock, jazz, funk and hip hop in a way that is utterly unique and inspiring.
If you'vw still got anything left in the take by Sunday, Brown Bag comes up from the south side to play a weekend capping gig with Sean Shiel at the Tonic Room.
That's a lot of shows, but I'm sure I missed something. What else is going on Thanksgiving 2012?
Path:
