Red Bull Music Festival returns to Chicago in November 2018. Rather than a single-site long weekend, the event is scattered across Chicago with 15 events taking place over the course of 30 days.
I usually get wacky emails from the PR firms Red Bull pays whenever they have an event to list (typically they ask me to interview someone I’ve already recently interviewed, showing their scrupulous dedication to the scene).
Not this time, and I think I see why. Hip Hop, with G.O.O.D. Music and Vic Mensa among the headliners, is heavily represented. But there’s a fairly thin representation of electronic music among the slate of events announced this week (and by “electronic music” I mostly mean “house” because only two of the artists represented can be called in any sense “Techno.”)
Overall, just 3 out of 15 events address electronic music, though it should be stated that a couple of them are breaking previously undisturbed ground and look extremely interesting.
Also notable: all of these three events are daytime or evening, and ticketed. Among the events we’re showcasing here:
Monday November 5, 2018
Red Bull Radio Live: Peak Time: A live radio broadcast featuring the leading women of the midwestern rave scene.
Smartbar, Doors: 8pm, with DJ Heather, Noncompliant, Eris Drew
This is the most interesting of the events, with Vivian Host “exploring the often overlooked impact of women and non-binary persons on the history of US and Midwestern dance music.” [ $10 ]
Monday November 19, 2018
Red Bull Radio Live: Interdimensional Transmissions
Smartbar, Doors: 7pm, with Robert Williams and Ron Trent
BMG and Erika interview Warehouse and Muzik Box founder Robert Williams and Ron Trent. [ $10 ]
Sunday November 25, 2018
Last Night A DJ Saved My Soul
Thalia Hall, Doors: 4pm, with Farley Jackmaster Funk, DJ Pierre, Byron Stingily, Ann Nesby, Mark S. Hubbard and The Voices
Thus far at least, the only event in which dance music might feature dancing (though note the start time). Last Night A DJ Saved My Soul “celebrates the sanctity of the dancefloor” with several DJs and performers who put forth religious themes in their work and lives, with vocal performances from Byron Stingily, Ann Nesby and gospel choir Mark Hubbard and The Voices. [ $12 ]
