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Concert Tue Jul 29 2014
Neon Marshmallow Provides 4-day Walk-free Alternative to Lolla
Missed out on tickets for Lollapalooza? Can't afford tickets for Lollapallooza? Pining for the good old days when Lolla hosted legitimately frightening acts like The Boredoms and Nick Cave and the Jesus Lizard? Don't like walking/daylight/the outdoors/Skrillex fans?
This Thursday through Sunday, The Burlington (3425 W. Fullerton Ave.) has your alternative as they host the 2014 Neon Marshmallow festival. With 16 acts for $30, you're unlikely to find a better jams-to-buxx ratio this weekend, with styles ranging from day-glo to funereal, garage-tastic to grave-shufflin'.
Weekend passes will be sold through Wednesday. They include access to all four days' worth of acts (four per night), an unreleased track by festival regulars Telecult Powers, and an hour of free select Stoli beverages each night. (Individual night tickets will be available at the doors as well.)
Below the jump, a night-by-night guide to everything.
Don't skip the inaugural night's events on Thursday because you assume it's some watery warm-up for completists. The night is bookended by two modern-day metal marauders, starting with a solo set by Locrian's André Foisy and ending with doom/drone unit Insect Ark (Dana Schechter of Angels of Light), who has been drawing raves from Rochester to Ragnarok in the music rags. Between them, Brett Nauke will build his synth edifices in the air, and Olivia Block will debut a new electronic composition. One of Chicago's greatest musical treasures, Block's precise, crisp, otherworldly electroacoustic compositions are best experienced live situation, and should absolutely not be missed.
Friday night switches the focus from solo acts to bands, sounds to songs, with Winter Bear providing luminous garage-pop action, Earring channeling some classic fuzz-psych, Today's Hits hushing it up and serenading their shoes, and Mines ending the night with a woozy, narcotic warble.
Saturday is the night of the Neon Marshmallow veterans. Chicago guitar wizard Ryley Walker performs in a rare full-band configuration; Telecult Powers have probably played more Neon Marshmallows than any other group, and with good reason...their incantory drones will timeshift you to strange, scary parts of your mind; Basic Cable bring it back to earth with their ass-punching sludge rock (inspirational song title: "I Drink Every Day"); and ending the night, the crypt-minded noise shockers Hair Police drag you into the depths. I can't stress this enough: Hair Police is must-not-miss experience. With each new record, they commit themselves more deeply to the depths of sonic despair, and as for live shows...well, let's just say the leave 0% back in the crematory when they move on. (Members include Rob Beatty, also of Three-Legged Race.)
Sunday is a brightly-colored day of hinky synth textures and sidestepped high-steppin' beats, with Headless Horse-Head's 8-bit chiptune iconography bathed in a wash of 1-bit feedback; Closet Heat (Samantha Glass & Golden Donna) doing...something (sorry, no info!); Alex Barnett putting beats into his somber synth melodies; and Dylan Ettinger trumping all aces by playing his last show ever. His own take on synth pop will make you sad, then happy, then sad again because you're hearing for the last time. But happy again because you got to hear it live while the rest of Chicago farted around waiting for Skrillex to push the "bass drop" button.
UPDATE: Here is the finalized lineup as of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 30.
THURSDAY, JULY 31
08:30pm Doors / Stoli Open Bar (1hr)
09:15pm Andre Foisy
10:00pm Olivia Block
11:00pm Brett Naucke
11:45pm Insect Ark (ex-Angels of Light)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 1
08:30pm Doors / Stoli Open Bar (1hr)
09:30pm Winter Bear
10:15pm Earring
11:00pm Mines
11:45pm Today's Hits
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2
08:30pm Doors / Stoli Open Bar (1hr)
09:30pm Basic Cable
10:10pm Ryley Walker
11:15pm Hair Police
12:00am Telecult Powers
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3
08:30pm Doors / Stoli Open Bar (1hr)
09:15pm Headless Horse Head
10:00pm Closet Heat (Samantha Glass + Golden Donna)
10:45pm Alex Barnett
11:30pm Dylan Ettinger (final performance)