The last time record label Mad Decent brought its annual block party to town was in 2012, and even though the free blowout hit capacity in the afternoon, that didn’t stop people from showing up and trying to get in. Enough successfully crashed—the gates that organizers were forced to end the event early due to safety issues. It’s been widely speculated (though never publicly confirmed) that the shutdown is what’s kept Diplo’s label from bringing the daylong event back to Chicago the past couple years; whatever the case may be, the Mad Decent Block Party returns at the end of September to bid a belated adieu to summer. It’s no longer free; in fact, the fee’s nearly as much as a single-day ticket for Pitchfork, but if you go nuts for Diplo’s taste he cost doesn’t seem all that high. French house producer Klingande headlines, with Diplo’s genre-hopping dance project Major Lazer claiming the penultimate spot. Part of the bill is still under wraps, but I’d recommend showing up early to see two of the best names on the lineup: masked trap DJ and producer UZ and Save Money rapper cum singer Towkio—whose recent Wav Theory mixtape sparkles—have enough panache to make an afternoon set feel like a club that’s hitting its peak hours.
Klingande headlines; Major Lazer, Martin Solveig, Towkio, Uz and more open. September 26, 1:30 PM, Hawthorne Race Course,
3301 S. Laramie, Cicero, 708-780-3700, maddecentblockparty.com, $58.49 in advance. 18+