🎵 Summer festivals can be a burden

There's no reason for a private company to have that much control of what happens in a public park. [READER]( The Daily Reader On Monday, the [Tribune reported]( a little more details on the city's clandestine contract with Lollapalooza promoter C3, which would keep the four-day megafest in Grant Park for another ten years. I was appalled by what little any of us in the public knew about the contract a week ago, [for all the reasons Kelly Garcia wrote about in her thoughtful newsletter last week](. According to the Tribune, the new contract gives C3 license to approve or deny plans for other potential music festivals in Grant Park that would draw more than 20,000 attendees and last more than two days, with some exemptions for city-run fests. (The Park District has since told the Tribune that the contract is "currently in draft status" [in a follow-up story]( There's no reason for a private company to have that much control of what happens in a public park. I don't care how much you love seeing Muse or Red Hot Chili Peppers headline Lollapalooza. There is no worthwhile argument for ceding decision-making power over public land to a private company, never mind one that is owned by the largest multinational company in live entertainment: Live Nation. If the city is interested in music festivals because these mega-events bring in big cash infusions, who does it help to give decision-making power to an arm of a company that's consistently charged with behaving like a monopoly? ([In January, a group of Ticketmaster customers filed a class-action lawsuit against Live Nation]( Why is the city hamstringing other promoters from planning something unique in Grant Park? The issue of festivals in public parks is much greater than just Lollapalooza in Grant Park, because festivals blot out the summer calendar. I missed an entire month of fests when I put together a fest overview [in July]( and I still left off plenty of for-profit, multi-day music events. [I've often wondered if Chicago has too many music festivals.]( One of the benefits of having so many fests is, technically, hopefully there's something for everyone, or at least anyone who likes seeing live music on a nice (or, let's face it, too hot) summer day. But what if a music festival is not your ideal way to spend time in a park? What if Richmond's intergalactic metal band GWAR playing in your neighborhood is not your bag, because experiencing GWAR under any circumstances just isn't your cup of tea? What if you have no choice but to hear GWAR for an hour straight in your home because it's in the vicinity of Douglass Park, parts of which you're restricted from enjoying because you didn't buy a ticket to Riot Fest because you don't want to go? I'm not immune to the joys of a festival—and of Riot Fest and GWAR more specifically—but I also don't care for how these gigantic festivals interfere with the communities who've been forced to play host to several different festivals. A lot of news outlets have covered the festival controversy in Douglass Park, which is host to three mega-events this summer. Kelly Garcia's ongoing reporting on the impact in Douglass Park is essential to me, because she's elevating the experiences of the people who are impacted by these fests. Her profile of youth soccer coach [Ernie Alvarez]( and [her report from Riot Fest's recent community meeting]( should be read by anyone who has strapped on a wristband to walk into a gated section of a Chicago park to see a band they love play. I've seen a few folks on Twitter toss around the idea of putting aside a plot of land in the city to serve as the de facto festival grounds, à la Henry Maier Festival Park in Milwaukee. Which is a great concept, though the city's coziness with C3 and the future of Grant Park give me pause. Could there be a world where every festival in the city shares the same plot of land? And, on another note, if that world exists, what does Lollapalooza do to differentiate itself from all the other fests? What's its character now, other than serving as a platform for the mayor, selling NFTs, and [giving Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon a slot]( to DJ a [remix of "We Are the Champions"]( All of this tests my love of music. Summer festivals can be a burden even when I'm not attending them; there's no shortage of people and brands telling you the only way to experience music is by spending money on a festival ticket. But, as I often remind myself, there's no shortage of avenues to experience the thrills I often find in music. A couple weeks ago I dropped in on [Signals Records]( a new shop occupying the corner boutique on Diversey and Kimball in Avondale that previously housed Bric-a-Brac Records. It's run by Blake Karlson, founder of [soon-to-be-defunct]( industrial label [Chicago Research](. When I profiled Karlson's label in early 2020, I interviewed him among an unspeakably large collection of records in his home, so I knew his shop would be well stocked. And Signals did not disappoint me. I walked away with a small pile of records, a few I didn't realize existed before I walked in the door, and I left eager to return to dig through the $2 selections sitting beneath the rows of marquee records. For about a week I played [Solo Flight]( a 1971 private-press recording by an Aurora rock band called Onstage Majority; I became obsessed with the band's cheeky keyboard flourishes, and how those touches take hold of the most pedestrian rock melodies and turn those passages upside down. And that's part of what I love about music; you never know what direction it can send you in next. Sincerely, ["Béyonce's 'Renaissance' Embodies Decades of Dance Music. Here's a Guide."]( by Michaelangelo Matos (New York Times) ["JMK's Two Favorite Emo Songs of Every Year, 1985-2022,"]( by Joshua Minsoo Kim (Friendly Witness) ["How Pinky Ann Rihal Brought New Wave to South Asia,"]( by Megan Iacobini de Fazio (Bandcamp Daily) Jungheim, [Yonic Sooth]( Emily Jane Powers, [Always]( Fat Money, [Money Got Wings]( Sonnenzimmer & Coupler, [Cat Pose]( [Chicago singer-songwriter Claude makes dream pop for the youth, young and old]( by [Noah Berlatsky]( [WLUW’s Abstract Science celebrates 25 years with a 25-hour marathon broadcast]( Plus: Americana-influenced singer-songwriter Bridey plays a farewell show, jazz drummer Jeremy Cunningham releases a tribute to his father, and more. by [J.R. Nelson]( and [Leor Galil]( [A rally, a concert, a podcast, a reading]( Things to do in Chicago on Wednesday 8/10/2022 by [Micco Caporale]( and [Salem Collo-Julin]( 🍽️ Sign up for a weekly newsletter featuring exclusive new writing by our critic Mike Sula and the latest restaurant reviews, chef profiles, and more from our site. 🧑‍🍳 [Hot off the grill every Friday!]( [Issue of August 4 - 17, 2022 Vol. 51, No.]( [Download Issue]( [View this e-mail as a web page]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2022 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616