Chicago Cranks Up Summer Festival Lineups

Modern Rock

By Kristi Kates | March 25, 2017

While it’s always exciting to look forward to, Lollapalooza isn’t the only game in town as far as big Chicago summer festivals go. Two more fests are returning for 2017, and both have already announced part of their lineup of performers. June 24–25 will bring you the Mamby on the Beach Festival, which takes full advantage of the shores of Lake Michigan and adds music from headliners MGMT, Miike Snow, Flying Lotus, Cut Copy, Local Natives and more; this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival, now set for July 14–16 in Chi–Town, is welcoming big names A Tribe Called Quest, LCD Soundsystem, Solange Knowles (Beyonce’s sister) and more. Get tickets and all the info at mambyonthebeach.com and pitchfork.com/festival/Chicago.

In other festival news, North Carolina’s Moogfest (moogfest.com) is returning this year as a major fun fest for electronic music fans and EDM performers, too. This year’s Moog will run May 18–21 with a long lineup of performances, workshops, lectures and equipment demos, including a master class with Detroit techno pioneer Derrick May. As far as those performances go, you’ll be able to catch the music of Animal Collective Flying Lotus, Jessy Lanza, 808 State and the always entertaining Simian Mobile Disco.

Michigan artists made a big showing at the 2017 SXSW (South by Southwest) Festival last week, with the major music conference’s stages playing host to a plethora of home-state musicians. Not only was one of the roundtable discussions dedicated to a conversation between Michigan musicians and those from Austin, Texas (SXSW’s host state), as hosted by Billboard music writer Gary Graff, but there was also a lengthy evening showcase at the Stay Gold nightclub of live performances featuring sets from The Go Rounds, ONEFREQ, Michigander, Flint Eastwood and more. Fellow Michigan singer–songwriter Seth Bernard played at SXSW, too, at a different venue.

Actor Dolph Lundgren teamed up with indie rockers Imagine Dragons (ID) for a new music video for ID’s latest single, “Believer” – the video was directed by Matt Eastin, who previously helmed the band’s “Roots” and “On Top of the World” clips. In the “Believer” vid, Lundgren preps to fight ID lead singer Dan Reynolds in a boxing match, with the idea being a look into “how a man faces his inner self, which is the toughest critic of all.”

Modern Rock Link of the Week
If you’ve missed the mashups, you’re missing out – Jimmy Kimmel’s new live performance mixes bring together two songs by bands with little in common but names that work well together, like Joss Stone Temple Pilots and Lady AnteBell Biv Devoe (see how that works?). Kimmel’s latest Mash Up Monday featured two iconic bands of pop music: check out the video of OK Go–Go’s “Here It Goes Again”/“Our Lips Are Sealed” at http://tinyurl.com/haq87bw and watch more on Mondays on Kimmel’s late–night ABC talk show.

The Buzz
Time for local musicians to get those demos and press kits ready – a new Detroit–based record conglomerate has just been launched by Nate Harasim and Sandy McGraw, whose M–1 Music plans to release everything from hip–hop and R&B to pop.
West Michigan country singer Brian Lorente has announced he’s leaving his band, The Usual Suspects, in order to devote more time to his own songwriting.
Ann Arbor blues–pop musician Angela Predhomme has had several of her tunes snagged for advertisements and TV productions; her track “Let It Fall” was just featured on Lifetime TV’s series Dance Moms.
Lil Wayne will be passing through Detroit this spring – he’s kicking off his Kloser 2 U tour in about a month, with that trek wrapping up in the Motor City May 11.
The Feelies is heading for Detroit, too, with a dedicated show of its own scheduled for Detroit’s El Club Sun., July 16…And that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Comments, questions, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com.