Events Search – 18+
Electric Daisy Carnival: Avicii, Armin van Buuren, Benny Benassi, Cassy, Culture Shock, and others
Sat., May 25, 5 p.m.Fairs & Festivals
The Electric Daisy Carnival has its roots in the 90s underground rave scene in southern California, but since the 2008 edition—which by the estimate of its promoter, Insomnia, brought out 65,000 attendees, or twice the expected number—it’s become the preeminent name-brand festival in stateside EDM culture. Every year it expands into new cities, and this year is its inaugural Chicago edition. True to the Electric Daisy Carnival’s reputation as a mecca for spray-tanned cornballs, the bill features a busload of the world’s most mainstream-famous superstar DJs, including Tiesto, David Guetta, Avicii, and Kaskade. But lower on the bill the organizers have booked a number of acts that will appeal to the discerning dance-music fan, among them the psychedelically slanted Run DMT, legendary drum ’n’ bass DJs Ed Rush & Optical, modern house visionary L-Vis 1990, trap-music phenomenon UZ, Chicago juke godfather DJ Gant-Man, and D.C.-born, LA-based DJ-and-production duo Nadastrom, who laid much of the groundwork for the moombahton sound that’s begun creeping up from the underground toward the pop charts. —Miles Raymer $175 three-day pass, $295 three-day pass plus camping
815-722-5500Anamanaguchi, Chrome Sparks, Infinity Shred, Sharpless
Sat., May 25, 9 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
The sophomore album from prolific chiptune band Anamanaguchi, Endless Fantasy, is an endurance test. Yes, you could probably parlay that statement into a load of analogies to eight-bit video games, but the more relevant fact is that listening to 22 songs of glitchy synths, galloping rhythms, and what occasionally amounts to Nintendo-based dubstep—the title track has its fair share of “drops”—is like parking in front of an orchestra of strobe lights for nearly 80 minutes. But that’s the idea, of course. A band that develops an instrumental pop sound based on digging into a Game Boy and deforming its insides probably isn’t concerned with mass appeal so much as with developing and mastering its own eccentricities. That’s not to say Endless Fantasy doesn’t have some catchy numbers—my favorites are the too-fun “Meow,” which takes its name from the sound it cartoonishly mimics, and the clubby guest-vocal jam “Prom Night.” Think of them like power-ups to help get you through the album’s seriously schizo levels. —Kevin Warwick Chrome Sparks, Infinity Shred, and Sharpless open.
$12
JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, Yoko & the Oh No's, Ye Ye's, Absolutely Not
Sat., May 25, 9 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Barber Greene, On Again Off Again, Everything's Alright, Sunjacket
Sat., May 25, 8 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Electric Daisy Carnival: Tiesto, L-Vis 1990, Sebastian Ingrosso, Dash Berlin, Popof, and others
Sun., May 26, 5 p.m.Fairs & Festivals
The Electric Daisy Carnival has its roots in the 90s underground rave scene in southern California, but since the 2008 edition—which by the estimate of its promoter, Insomnia, brought out 65,000 attendees, or twice the expected number—it’s become the preeminent name-brand festival in stateside EDM culture. Every year it expands into new cities, and this year is its inaugural Chicago edition. True to the Electric Daisy Carnival’s reputation as a mecca for spray-tanned cornballs, the bill features a busload of the world’s most mainstream-famous superstar DJs, including Tiesto, David Guetta, Avicii, and Kaskade. But lower on the bill the organizers have booked a number of acts that will appeal to the discerning dance-music fan, among them the psychedelically slanted Run DMT, legendary drum ’n’ bass DJs Ed Rush & Optical, modern house visionary L-Vis 1990, trap-music phenomenon UZ, Chicago juke godfather DJ Gant-Man, and D.C.-born, LA-based DJ-and-production duo Nadastrom, who laid much of the groundwork for the moombahton sound that’s begun creeping up from the underground toward the pop charts. —Miles Raymer $175 three-day pass, $295 three-day pass plus camping
Electric Daisy Carnival: Above & Beyond, Benny Benassi, David Guetta, Kaskade, Michael Mayer, and others
5/24-5/26, Fri-Sun 5 PM-4 AMMusic Festivals, Fairs & Festivals
Dust off your glow sticks and plastic baby pacifier 'cause we've got ourselves a rave to hit up at the Electric Daisy Carnival, a three-day EDM extravaganza in Joliet (note: campsites are available for day-sleeping). Big names like David Guetta, Nadastrom, Tiesto, and Empire of the Sun perform while you dance like a spaz and kiss a bunch of strangers.
$175 three-day regular admission, $295 three-day regular + camping
Murder Junkies, Fighting for Scraps, Sleeze, Morons, Last Chance Boyz
Sun., May 26, 7:30 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Gorod, Kamikabe, Vale of Pnath, Inanimate Existence, Wet the Steel, Epitasis
Mon., May 27, 6:30 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Mer, Todd Kessler, Chris Mathien, Anthony Bagnara, Top Shelf Lickers
Wed., May 29, 8 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Devendra Banhart, Rodrigo Amarante
Fri., May 31, 8 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
I’m pretty sure that in the mid-aughts I was a high-ranking member of the unofficial Devendra Banhart Haters Club, so nobody’s more surprised than I am that over the past five years I’ve enjoyed his newer music more and more. He’s seriously toned down his hippie affectations, overripe vocals, and distracting self-consciousness, all without changing who he is at heart. I still rolled my eyes a few times listening to his terrific new album, Mala (Nonesuch)—on “Für Hildegard Von Bingen” he imagines the abbess and composer in modern times, where she leaves religion to become a VJ, and on “Hatchet Wound” he returns to the overdone vibrato of his early days—but the lyrics are mostly relatable in their descriptions of the ups, downs, and stalemates of a romantic relationship, and the low-key, strummy arrangements are modest and appealing. Recorded on a vintage four-track in Banhart’s Los Angeles home with longtime sidekick Noah Georgeson, the songs pair simple, strolling guitars with muted drums (or restrained drum machine), with the occasional analog synth brightening the lo-fi sound. The melodies, carried by Banhart’s whispery, conversational voice, unsurprisingly provide the songs’ focal points; they’re rooted in pop and disco, but a dose of psychedelia prevents them from sounding too breezy. “Your Fine Petting Duck” (which features the flat but charming vocals of Banhart’s fiancee, photographer Ana Kras) mimics a squabble between ex-lovers, starting out like Mickey & Sylvia covering “Baby It’s You” and then kicking into a house groove with German-language singing; the album’s closer, “Taurobolium,” demonstrates just how well Banhart has learned to control his formerly off-the-rails falsetto. —Peter Margasak Rodrigo Amarante (Los Hermanos, Little Joy) opens.
$25
