This week’s featured gig poster advertises the Chicago “stop” on Steve Wynn’s Impossible Tour: a seven-week concert series that’s virtually hosted by 13 music venues and broadcast by livestreaming platform StageIt. Wynn, a founding member of Los Angeles alternative-rock band the Dream Syndicate, put together a series of popular concert streams on his Facebook page last year. For his Impossible Tour, he decided to invite some of his favorite international independent venues to host dates—it’s a way for him to show support for their work and to introduce his fans to venues in cities that COVID-19 may prevent them from visiting. Wynn and drummer Linda Pitmon (his wife and collaborator) will stay safe by performing live from the Chimp Factory, their rehearsal space in Queens, New York.
The poster for Sunday’s shows—the early gig is presented by the Tiki Bar in Athens, Greece, and the late one by Evanston’s SPACE—was created by artist and musician Misisipi Mike Wolf. Wolf has been making posters and music in San Francisco for more than ten years, but he’s currently quarantining in Duluth, Minnesota. “Like everyone else in the music business, my work has basically gone to zilch recently, but creative folks like Steve Wynn have given me things to do here and there,” he says. “Oh, and yes, I am originally from Mississippi, and yeah, I know I can’t spell!”
The Reader continues to accept submissions of made-up posters for made-up gigs, made-up posters for shows that really happened, posters for livestreamed shows, and posters for concerts where the audience can attend in person (with safety guidelines in place).
To participate, please e-mail scollojulin@chicagoreader.com with your name, contact information, and original design or drawing. We won’t be able to publish everything we receive, but we’ll feature as many as possible. Your submission can also include a nonprofit, fundraiser, or action campaign that you’d like to bring to the attention of our readers.
Not everybody can make a gig poster, of course, but it’s simple and free to take action through the website of the National Independent Venue Association—click here to tell your representatives to save our homegrown music ecosystems. You can also pitch in using the Reader‘s list of fundraisers for out-of-work or underemployed staffers at Chicago’s venues. And don’t forget record stores! We’ve also published a list of local stores that will let you shop remotely.
ARTIST: Misisipi Mike
GIG: Steve Wynn with Linda Pitmon, Sun 1/31, 7 PM, presented by SPACE via livestream platform StageIt, pay what you can
ARTIST INFO: instagram.com/misisipi_mike_wolf
NPO TO KNOW: National Independent Venue Association