The Beach Boys couldn't wait for June in "Surfin' USA" all those years ago. Suffice it to say, they've returned to their happy place. And so have we, as it's finally time for the first sizable music festival of the summer. (We would have said "of the year," but Tomorrow Never Knows kicked some ass in January).
Without further ado, your Chicago Curated Weekend:
THURSDAY, JUNE 2ND
Yonatan Gat @ The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave., 9:00 PM
WHAT: Israeli-American avant-garde guitar maestro Yonatan Gat brings his band back to Chicago for another mind-melting performance.
SO WHAT: I’ve seen Yonatan Gat once before—last September—and it was one of the most memorable shows I’ve ever attended. He and his band set up in the middle of the floor and faced each other instead of the audience as they ripped through an hourlong set of intense instrumental punk-jazz. You’ll be mesmerized the entire time.
NOW WHAT: Tickets are $10. Get ’em
here.
FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD-SUNDAY, JUNE 5TH
Do Division Fest, Division St. between Ashland and Leavitt
WHAT: One of Chicago’s best street festivals returns for another year of sidewalk sales, excellent music, and general summer-ness. It'll run from Friday afternoon all the way through Sunday night, and you should spend as much time there as you can this weekend.
SO WHAT: Do Division has booked a pretty amazing lineup thanks to the Empty Bottle and Subterranean. Among the acts playing the festival are Al Scorch, Nikki Lane, BADBADNOTGOOD, NE-HI, Fruit Bats, and Doomtree. And the cost of all this is a $5 suggested donation. Check out the full schedule
here.
NOW WHAT: Go! And be sure to donate so this can keep happening every year.
ALSO FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD
More great music stuff is happening. There are still some
tickets to see rising rapper Aesop Rock at Metro, and the Chicago Gospel Music Festival gets underway at Millennium Park. As a four-year bassist for the Vanderbilt Voices of Praise gospel choir—and its only
Jewish member—I have a peculiar appreciation and love for gospel music, which transcends religion and strikes straight at the heart when it's well-made. Plus, with Chance the Rapper bringing God into the mainstream on
Coloring Book, it's never been more crucial to experience gospel music.
SATURDAY, JUNE 4TH
Xanadu @ American Theater Company
WHAT: Check out a preview performance of Xanadu, the roller disco musical with music by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, at the American Theater Company.
SO WHAT: Previews are typically cheaper than the actual performances and just as good, so this is night to see the show. Lynne and Farrar are huge hitters in the songwriting world—Lynne achieved fame in leading Electric Light Orchestra, Farrar wrote many of Olivia Newton-John’s hits. Oh, and the American Theater Company usually puts on shows far more serious than this one, so it’ll be a solid breath of fresh, June air.
NOW WHAT: Tickets are $48 and you can get them
here.
SUNDAY, JUNE 5TH
Go back to Do Division. Easy.
