Where are all the bands these days? Where is rock and roll going? These are common questions posed about the viability or relevance of rock music. Well, apparently, the folks over at Live Nation have the answer (in the form of a question) with their stacked lineup of psychedelic and indie rock groups for their Where Is The Cool? show slated for December 19at Uptown’s historic Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom.
The organizers are bringing in psych bands from every corner of the country, with a few California groups joining Portland headliner Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Austin’s Black Angels, and Brooklyn’s Crumb. The mid-December show represents a nice cap-off for scenesters and yuppies about to depart Chicago for the holidays, but this sort of mega lineup feels better suited for a New Year's Eve blowout or Halloween. Even so, this is one way to get your kicks in before dealing with in-laws and hyperconsumerism.
There are different flavors of psych up and down the lineup, but there’s a throughline that will make the entire evening palatable for anyone interested in this scene. It’s the sort of lineup that’s (perhaps) too on-the-nose, but the sort of rock fans taking out second mortgages to fill their shelves with King Gizzard vinyl might deem seeing this collection of bands all in one place as a “can’t-miss” experience. Let’s take a look!
There’s nothing even remotely direct about the headliner. Buried under a pedal-driven blur of weaving guitar licks lies UMO frontman Ruban Nielson’s highly inventive pop music. Across five albums and a few oddball EPs, the band dresses up potent neo-soul burners with globetrotting beats and fuzzed-out production.
Operating out of Portland, New Zealand transplant Nielson has quietly been one of modern psychedelia’s most compelling success stories. Pitchfork cosigns and festival appearances helped expand their audience in the 2010s. But the hype train never derailed the band as UMO effortlessly straddle the threshold of DIY cred and mainstream accessibility.
Recent efforts like 2025 EP Curse and 2023 double album V are highly underrated, but fans will undoubtedly be anticipating cuts like “So Good at Being in Trouble,” “Multi-Love,” and “Ffunny Ffrends” from their back catalog. There will be plenty of hooks, if you know where to find them.
Crumb
Ascendant Brooklyn quartet Crumb is the night’s curveball (and perhaps most exciting) booking. Equally hypnotic and danceable, their dreamy synth-driven moodboard features esoteric textures and trip hop-esque beats. For fans of Beach House or Blonde Redhead, there’s a lot to like about Crumb. Lila Ramani’s icy vocals haunt each track, making their live presentation all the more intriguing. The band’s technical prowess is plain to see, as they base their shimmery textures on tight performances and intricate rhythms. Even if precise, it’s certainly never stale. If Crumb isn’t the only dream-pop group to bust out free-jazz saxophone solos, they’re one of the few.
After touring throughout 2024 in support of their excellent LP AMAMA, Crumb have been taking their tunes to larger venues like Red Rocks and Forest Hills Stadium as an opener. In this setting, their left-of-center pop will find readier ears as their keyboards provide the audience with a nice break from all those jangly guitars.
The Black Angels
Garage rock heads have been raving about The Black Angels for over two decades, and their members have earned plenty of goodwill over the years for their involvement in Texas festivals Levitation and Austin Psych Fest.
Chunky riffs abound, but their grooves are accented with eerie organs and trance-inducing percussion. On record, tracks like “Young Men Dead” and “Manipulation” sound both familiar and otherworldly, and their echoe-y effects make you feel like you’re in the room with them. When you’re actually in the room with The Black Angels, their layers of dusty guitar licks and murky bass grooves just might guide you somewhere else….
This band being fourth on the bill demonstrates how stacked this lineup is. These surf-y SoCal bards infuse their surprisingly extensive catalog with sunny but pointed guitar rhythms and lo-fi textures to fully encapsulate their LA-slacker aesthetic. If this music isn’t “chill,” then nothing is. Listening to an Allah-Las record is the musical equivalent of ordering a shot of mezcal with your hipster tacos. Their mid-tempo burners are beach-ready, which will be fully necessary for thawing out the shivering audience still filing in from the frigid Chicago winter.
Marlon Funaki
This Southern California singer-songwriter brings wistful indie-rock songs accented by reverb-drenched (and highly technical) guitar playing along with impassioned singing. On a night filled with cryptic lyrics and heady musicality, his sincere pop music will provide a refreshing brightness amidst the haze.
Mystic Braves
Infusing vintage psychedelia (a la Iron Butterfly or the Zombies) with modern sensibilities, Mystic Braves efficiently capture the essence of what all fans of this sort of rock music look for. It’s hard to imagine these guys being from anywhere other than California. This is high praise, by the way.
With the show’s cryptic questioning, fun VHS-tape branding, and vintage imagery, the event at least feels like a festival. But, there’s so little marketing behind it that it’s not quite clear if this is a one-off showcase or something we can expect more of. With the successes of co-headlining tours and fans wanting to squeeze every ounce of music out of their increasingly expensive tickets, this sort of experience appears to make more and more sense. It’ll be interesting to see if we get another edition of Where Is The Cool? Rock institutions like Osees, Ty Segall, or even local psych-leaning bands like Post Animal, Glyders, or the recently reformed Twin Peaks certainly fit the bill. Only time will tell, but the organizers are giving it the old college try with a hell of an inaugural lineup…
"Where Is The Cool?" will be taking over Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom on December 19. Tickets start at $40 and are available now!
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