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Hideout Block Party

LouieB

By LouieB,
in Someone Else's Song

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LouieB

LouieB

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...and the friendliest and most fun as far as I am concerned.

 

Samorama didn't post that Lauries is selling merch there (I am helping...). Everyone needs to stop by and say hi.

 

Here is the line-up.

 

Saturday

 

11:30a Plastic Crimewave's Vision Celestial Guitarkestra

12:30 Wee Hairy Beasties

1:15 The KatJon Band

1:45 Giant Sand

2:45 Little Cow Hungary

3:45 Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip UK

4:30 Plastic People of the Universe Czech Republic

5:30 Monotonix Israel

6:00 Neil Hamburger

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alison the wilca

alison the wilca

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i am scheduled to help out 10am saturday but i have to take my car in to the shop that morning and will probably need to pick it up while i am supposed to be volunteering. so, i may or may not come. in any case, i either want to see or hear all about the drunken spelling bee.

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LouieB

LouieB

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Seems like a bargain for the acts involved.

Really...it is all day and includes many acts. It is also a benefit which means some money needs to be made after expenses so that the beneficiaries actually benefit by it. Not sure what that other guy's beef is.

 

LouieB

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Gorgeous and Alone

Gorgeous and Alone

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I saw Plastic People of the Universe at Hideout last night. It was really incredible...only about thirty people showed up and the band (7 members) were all cramped up on stage. But they played wildly and magnificently. It truly felt like an underground experience. I felt privileged to be witnessing rock revolutionaries, 40 years after their initial start.

 

Anyone going to the Block Party should be sure to catch their performance on Saturday at 4:30PM.

 

Here is their incredible story: http://www.furious.com/PERFECT/pulnoc.html

 

And as GoGo says, Tom Stoppard's "Rock N' Roll" highlights the bands influence. It will be produced here by the Goodman Theatre next Spring.

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alison the wilca

alison the wilca

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I was at the Block Party today and it was pretty great. There was a nice variety of music from around the world. There were also some extremely interesting fashion ensembles. We could have removed a certain 10% of the population, put them in a separate room, and had an 80s theme party. Aside from that, I think Giant Sand was my favorite of the day... it is too bad they weren't allowed to play longer (I guess they had to get on the road). Another highlight was the Puppet Bike. I like fuzzy little puppets that dance. Lowlight of the day? The drunken spelling bee should have been outside somewhere... the line to get into it was insane. Also, I think they ran out of water?

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LouieB

LouieB

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Yikes..could I be more exhausted??

 

Totally fun day selling merch to the masses and meeting band people and seeing Giant Sand, Neko etc. The surprise band of the day was Little Cow from Hungary. Plastic People sounded good and Monotonix was a hit and sold a ton of merch.

 

Also met some nice Neko fans I talked to over on Porchlight.

 

Hope y'all come today.

 

LouieB

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LouieB

LouieB

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What a crazy cool time... No time to write about it now, but the New Pornos were certainly a highlight for me. Surprise group of the second day was Ugly Suit and Robbie Fulks tribute to Michael Jackson was certainly pretty cool. Also a highlight, Tim Fite's most unusual act. Crazy stuff, blowing all the hiphop cliches out of the water.

 

But selling merch was certainly fun in and of itself. I can no longer simply go to a fest like this and stand around all day on hot pavement waiting for acts.

 

LouieB

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LouieB

LouieB

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Tim Fite gave me a slice of watermelon.
And you didn't give me any.....or come by the merch tent and say hello to me and all the other VCers?? (The watermelon did end up in the VIP area however...)

 

The watermelon thing was pretty darned clever and a bit fraught with a high degree of rather incindiary symbolism, I thought. I discussed this with some fans and they didn't get it but I think I did (not all that smart or anything, but still...) and I wonder if any of Tim's black rap "associates" ever threaten him about this?? Tim's subject matter is highly controversial and coming from a geeky white dude I really have to wonder. I can just seem him being cornered some day by some not so friendly black rap artist who doesn't take kindly to the layers of meaning being throw about in the watermelon. I mean seriously.....

 

LouieB

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MrRain422

MrRain422

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Now that you mention it I can see it, but that symbolism didn't occur to me at the time. I think he really just needed something to replace the normal slide show he has behind him, and probably just walked by the fruit market on North Ave. 2 blocks away and thought he'd feed the crowd. I could be wrong of course -- it may have been completely intentional and just went over my head.

 

I've been a big fan of Tim Fite for a while now -- his lyrics and arrangements are just so smart and layered.

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LouieB

LouieB

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Okay I am going to debrief on all this as well as I can before total fatigue and needing to work over take me. I must admit, that while the Block Party is still one of my favorite events, I do miss the old days when it was on the street and there were a few less hipsters clogging up the place, but given that everything that is really cool is ultimately going to attract a larger crowd I suppose it is inevitable. Having said that and having said I really am glad I was not simply hanging out all day, but had a tent to sit under and a volunteer job to go to the entire time, I will return again next year, but standing on pavement watching groups can get rather wearying. But ultimately, unlike Pitchfork, the Hideout does attract at least a wider degree of ages and is both kid friendly and geriatric friendly as well.

 

11:30a Plastic Crimewave's Vision Celestial Guitarkestra - A major drone, although not a major drag, this event gave everyone an opportunity to be a star at least for an hour as long as they brought a guitar and an amp. Even with little musical ability you can join in on this.

12:30 Wee Hairy Beasties - Fun for the kids by way of Jon Langford, Sally Timms and Devil in a Woodpile (maybe some other Bloodshot folks as well. This attracted a small but enthusiastic group of kids and parents.

1:15 The KatJon Band - The second appearance in the last few years for this Jon Langford and Kat of The Ex. Sounded good and I bought their new LP, which is now available.

1:45 Giant Sand - I had never seen Howie Gelb and his troop before and he was rather droll and low key in this appearance, but tuneful and a bit experimental. Seemed like a nice guy too when he came to drop off his new CD and his piano CD as well. Funny banter between songs too.

2:45 Little Cow - This was the surprise group of the first day. We had no idea what to expect and these guys (also super nice) spun out some eastern european, rock with folk overtones and a relatively generous amount of ska thrown in for good measure. They played later at an after fest and apparently impressed that crowd too.

3:45 Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - They have a rather OCD road manager who wanted to make sure everything we sold he got money for. As fairly standard DJ fare I thought they were okay and the crowd seemed to dig them alot.

4:30 Plastic People of the Universe Czech Republic - I totally fucked up on this one. I think I have seen these guys before, but somehow I was so busy selling shit that I was kind of unaware they were really on. I liked what I heard, but really wished I had gone up to the stage to see what they were doing. Also nice people and we sold a bunch of merch for them, including books.

5:30 Monotonix - The band that would not die (inside joke), this punk band from Israel ripped it up by doing their set on the pavement, with the lead singer stripping to his underwear and being hoisted aloft by the crowd. Also the drummer got hoisted up drum kit and all. Loud, crazy and half insane, these guys sold the most merch on day one and insisted on helping us sell it, which was a touch irritating. Not the nicest folks around but then an Israeli punk band shouldn't be too nice anyway. They sold the most merch of anyone Saturday.

6:00 Neil Hamburger

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Dr. Steve Brule

Dr. Steve Brule

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Lou summed it up well. I had an awesome time running the merch, and must give extra special thanks to the volunteers: Paul, Alison, Jeremy and especially Lou for staying sober Sunday nite. The Hideout was one of the first clubs I ended up in when I moved to Chicago, and for some reason Tim and Katie have always treated me so well. It's my other home.

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