This is a big music weekend! There are so many interesting musicians putting on some great shows and it also happens to be Record Store Day on Saturday. Tons of vinyl shops will be selling exclusive titles, having excellent deals, and putting on some amazing in-store performances!
Check out our guide to RSD in Chicago and start planning! Beyond the music there are plenty of art, book and market events for you to enjoy this supposed season we call "spring"!
Let's get on with your curated weekend!
THURSDAY, APRIL 19th
Drop-In Workshop: Kid Koala presents: Music To Draw To @ The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S Michigan Ave., 6:00pm, All Ages
WHAT: Another chance to hang with Kid Koala
SO WHAT: Sketch in the gallery as world-renowned scratch DJ
Kid Koala plays some of his favorite quiet time records that he has collected on his travels around the world.
NOW WHAT: Free to Illinois residents or with museum admission.
FRIDAY - SUNDAY, APRIL 2oth - APRIL 22nd
International Pop Overthrow @ Heartland Cafe, 7006 N Glenwood Ave., 2:00pm - 6:00pm, 18+
WHAT: Tons of great bands sharing the stage over the span of a week!
SO WHAT: International Pop Overthrow is a pop music festival featuring some of the best pop bands from around the world. IPO is trying to bring pop music the attention it so richly deserves. This year, they will be taking over
Heartland Cafe with locals like
Bad Bad Meow (April 20th),
Sam Vicari (April 23th), and
Gal Gun (April 28th) and international acts including
Rose Cora Perry & The Truth Untold (April 21th) and
Dave Rave (April 28th) .
Check their the full lineup and schedule on their website!
NOW WHAT: Admission for each day of the festival is $10.
FRIDAY, APRIL 2oth
¡Pachanga! LIVE ft. El Dusty @ Subterranean, 2011 W North Ave., 8:00pm, 21+
WHAT: An evening full of dancing, art, and fun times!
SO WHAT: ¡Pachanga! is changing things up up a new monthly concert series with live featured performances by some of the biggest names and rising musicians in Latin America. at SubT! Pachanga will be welcoming
El Dusty spininng hi fusion of Cumbia Trap alongside local latin music performers
Emil Rojo y Los Seres de Luz and
Tatiana Hazel! Plus Live painting by Bel2!
Check out all the details on their event page!
NOW WHAT: Tickets are $17 in advance, $20 at the door
Fell Runner & V.V. Lightbody @ Co-Prosperity Sphere, 3219 S Morgan St., 8:00pm, 18+
WHAT: Beautiful sounds for you Friday night
SO WHAT: The Co-Prosperity Sphere is proud to present live sets from experimental rockers
Fell Runner & the graceful and sublime sounds of
V.V Lightbody.
NOW WHAT: Tickets are $10!
ANCHR Mag Presents: Blue Dream, Engine Summer, Faux Furrs @ Sleeping Village, 3734 W Belmont Ave., 9:00pm, 21+
WHAT: An ANCHR Mag show on 4/20, yes please!
SO WHAT: Stop by ANCHR Mag’s expertly curated lineup of bands doing what they do best, rocking out so that you have a good time! You’ll get to see and hear the likes of
Blue Dream and their heavy psychedelic jams,
Engine Summer‘s energetic psych punk,
Faux Furrs‘ dreamy garage rock.
NOW WHAT: Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door for this cool lineup
Varsity (Record Release) / Divino Niño / Beach Bunny @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N Western Ave, 21+
WHAT: Local band jamming out
SO WHAT: Varsity will be celebrating the release of their new album of vibrant tunes
Parallel Person with this awesome record release party! Joining them will be the alluring dream pop of
Divino Niño and
Beach Bunny‘s fun power pop tunes!
NOW WHAT: Tickets are $18 in advance, $10 day of!
Sam Trump & The Soul Vortex @ The California Clipper, 1002 N California Ave., 10:30pm, 21+
WHAT: Two sets of exceptional music
SO WHAT: Sam Trump is a multi-instrumentalist/ singer/songwriter who has become heavily involved in Chicago’s live music scene as a band leader, sideman, and show curator. He is known for creating soulful experiences that you won’t forget. Joining him on stage will be the neo-soul and jazz fusion band The Soul Vortex!
NOW WHAT: There is a $5 cover, so don’t miss this!
SATURDAY, APRIL 21st
Record Store Day @ Various Venues, All day, All Ages
WHAT: Record Store Day, a worldwide event that brings record store staff, customers, and artists together in a celebration of the music community.
SO WHAT: This is the 11th edition of RSD, the awesome vinyl holiday wher you can go to your favorite participating record store and get exclusive releases, giveaways, and in store performances! This event typically fills up record stores for what is usually their biggest day of the year.
NOW WHAT: Check out our guide to Record Store Day! It’s full of great events that will keep you busy all RSD!
Speculative Relationships 3 Release Party @ Challengers Comics + Conversation, 1845 N Western Ave., 5:00pm- 8:00pm, All Ages
WHAT: Romance! Comics! Science Fiction!
SO WHAT: The 3rd and final volume of the Speculative Relationships trilogy, the science fiction romance anthology, is out, and Challengers will be presenting a Retrospective/Release Party to celebrate the 3rd volume and commemorate all the ground that the series has covered! They’ll have copies of all 3 volumes and a host of creators from all 3 volumes including Tyrell Cannon, Scott Kroll, Matthew Sargent, Jacob Bouvet, Isabella Rotman, Landis Blair, Andrew Misisco, & Daniel Warren Johnson! Plus, there will be snacks!
NOW WHAT: The event is free! Stop by, buy some comics, and support these creators!
Lock & Load: Armed Fiction @ The Book Cellar, 6:00pm - 8:00pm, All Ages
WHAT: Editors Deirdra McAfee (left) and BettyJoyce Nash (a former Chicagoan) will discuss their short story anthology,
Lock & Load: Armed Fiction, published by University of New Mexico Press..
SO WHAT: The book is made up of “complicated stories with complicated characters who are often dealing with conflicted emotions. What the stories all have in common is the presence of a gun and all that it suggests and embodies.” See June Sawyers’
review.
NOW WHAT: The event is free. Come for the readings, buy a book and have it signed by the authors.
Contours & Constellations: Kevin Lucius & Molly Costello @ All Star Press, 2775 N Milwaukee Ave., 6:00pm - 9:00pm, All Ages
WHAT: An excellent exhibition made possible by a partnership between
IPaintMyMind and
All Star Press
SO WHAT: Contours & Constellations is IPaintMyMind’s first show hosted at All Star Press Gallery and will bring together
Kevin Lucius &
Molly Costello. Both of their work in collage shows just how wide open the medium is. Lucius works digitally while Costello works with paper, both yielding a range that will make the show vibrant, colorful, and shapely, with one half of the room a displaying Lucius’s amalgamation of abstract and design elements, and the other half representing Costello’s take on community & interconnectedness.
NOW WHAT: This exhibition opening is free and there will be drinks provided by Revolution Brewing, stop by and enjoy the wonderful locally sourced art!
New Canyons, Star Tropics, Pixel Grip @ Sleeping Village, 3734 W Belmont Ave., 9:00pm, 21+
WHAT: More sounds to live you life by
SO WHAT: Stop by Sleeping Village for some chill sounds from New Canyons, who specialize in ambient dreampop that you absolutely need o here. Joining them will be Star Tropics and their fuzzy indie pop tunes, and synth masters
Pixel Grip and their irresistible grooves!
NOW WHAT: Tickets are $10
SUNDAY, APRIL 22nd
Lumpen Radio Spring Record Swap @ Co-Prosperity Sphere, 3219 S Morgan St, 11:00am - 6:00pm, All Ages
WHAT: It’s the Spring Lumpen Record Swap
SO WHAT: The Lumpen Radio Record Swap is as vendors and vinyl enthusiasts from across Chicagoland will converge on the Co-Prosperity Sphere for this semi-annual swapathon. Lumpen Radio DJs will provide the soundtrack to your browsing, all you have to do is bring a bad yet totally healthy vinyl obsession.
NOW WHAT: It’s free and helps support the programs on Lumpen Radio.
Indie-Press Pop Up Book Fair @ The Empty Bottle,1035 N Western Ave, 11:00am
WHAT: Books! Books! BOOKS!
SO WHAT: It’s been a little while/years, but Empty Bottle has teamed up with Curbside & Featherproof once again to host a Sunday afternoon Pop Up Book Fair! No like actual popup book, they’re regular books. I digress. This is an afternoon with some of the best and coolest local and regional independent publishers, presses, & booksellers selling their wares. The bar will be open for you to grab a cocktail and the music hill be lightly blaring as you peruse some books and hopefully find something to satiate your bibliophilia and book shopping needs!
NOW WHAT: It’s free! Go get yourself some books!
Check out some of the vendor attending at their event page!
The Funky Brunch w/ Oliver @ Headquarters Beercade, 213 W Institute Pl, , Noon, 21+
WHAT: Dance the midday away with an
Oliver DJ set
SO WHAT: The Funky Brunch, presented by Paradigm and
Headquarters, is on a mission to make America funky again and for this Valentine’s Fay affair they have enlisted the help of Oliver! Fresh of his album
Full Circle, Oliver will be on hand as he creates some great dance music vibes that are poised to be the perfect way to spend the Sunday after Record Store Day. Redux, Kosmo, & Chess Knight will also be DJing throughout the day!
NOW WHAT:
Tickets are available for $15 or 2 for $25! Get on this day of brunch and dancing as quick as you can!
