Chicago Vinyl Connection celebrates one year of bringing independent record sellers, vintage vendors, and music lovers together with today’s latest edition of their nomadic gatherings of good times dealers. Thousands of new and used albums will be for sale this afternoon at Chicago Vinyl Connection 010 from a long list of locals, including South Rhodes […]
Tag: Ruido Fest
Posted inMusic
Patrixia, in-person and livestream DJ
Patrixia reigns supreme in digital clubspace. It’s where the 29-year-old DJ feels empowered to be her spookiest, silliest Latinx self. Locally, she’s known for DJing goth and industrial parties at venues such as Berlin and House of Vans, but online she has a rabid Twitch following who tune in three days a week to hear […]
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Ruido Fest celebrates the diverse sounds of Latin alternative music in its return to Union Park
Ruido Fest stands out as more intentional and visionary than most of Chicago’s destination festivals. When it launched in 2015, it was billed as the country’s only three-day outdoor music event focused entirely on Latin alternative music, though that description only hints at what to expect. Ruido Fest’s eclectic international lineup crosses generations and genres, […]
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The ‘new normal’ hangs over another summer of live music
It’s music festival season again, and of course we’re still in the middle of a pandemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 222.3 million U.S. residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19—roughly 67 percent of the population. Vaccination is a great safeguard against serious illness or death, but it’s less effective against infection […]
Posted inBest of Chicago
Best Latin alternative music festival
Ruido Fest debuted in 2015 with a phenomenal lineup of Latin alternative music that’s been hard to match, with Café Tacvba, Molotov, Kinky, Ozomatli, Kali Uchis, the Nortec Collective, Chicano Batman, and dozens more. (The recent announcement of the Besame Mucho festival, scheduled for Dodger Stadium in December 2022, also sets a very high bar.) […]
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How live music looks during COVID
Live music is back, though it looks different today than when it went away in March 2020. For 16 months we carried on without the collaborative magic of artist and audience. We’ve watched musicians find creative ways to keep gigging and be safe, whether delivering livestreams from their homes or playing on porches. Our favorite […]
Posted inPublic Service Announcement
Festivals, fairies, and free shows in the parks
Labor Day is coming up, but there’s plenty of summer left to enjoy. Here are a few things to get you out and about (and several of these events are free). Your weekend outdoor festival watch: Ruido Fest happens in Union Park this weekend (Fri 8/20, gates open at 3 PM, Sat 8/21 and Sun […]
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The Reader’s guide to Chicago in Tune
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events originally planned to celebrate the Year of Chicago Music in 2020. Then the pandemic diminished those festivities to the point that the city declared 2021 the Year of Chicago Music too. The ongoing surge of the Delta variant means the U.S. won’t be rid of the pandemic […]
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Mexican Institute of Sound electrifies traditional Latin rhythms
Camilo Lara, who makes music as Mexican Institute of Sound, is hardly the only Latinx artist to meld traditional rhythms with contemporary electronic dance genres (Colombian group Bomba Estéreo, Ecuador-based producer Nicola Cruz, and fellow Ruido Festers Los Amigos Invisibles immediately come to mind). Lara is one of the most high-profile, though; he’s done production […]
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George Arthur Calendar takes you to the beach on DMT
The suavely psychedelic synth-pop on George Arthur Calendar’s new Paradox has a Chicago flavor and a Guadalajara groove.
Posted inMusic
Music workers’ jobs disappeared, but their bills didn’t
With federal aid to venues only now arriving, how are tour managers, stagehands, bookers, and their colleagues in the concert business making ends meet?
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Chicago bedroom-pop wonder Victor Internet caps off a banner year with Victor’s Debut
For those who frequent the spaces where Chicago’s hip-hop, indie-pop, and dance scenes converge, the title of Victor Internet’s latest release, last month’s EP Victor’s Debut, will seem like a misnomer. Known to his family as Victor Cervantes, he launched his grassroots music career a little more than two years ago, uploading romantic bedroom-pop songs […]
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Photos from Ruido Fest’s dazzling opening day
Last weekend this ambitious festival brought together several generations and even more genres of Latinx music.
Posted inMusic
Ruido Fest brings joyful Latinx noise to Union Park
From Friday, June 21, though Sunday, June 23, the fifth annual Ruido Fest comes to Union Park to serve up contemporary Latinx sounds and tasty treats that go well beyond typical festival fare (with any luck, the zucchini-blossom tacos in handmade tortillas will make an appearance again this year). Latinx music has 21 Spanish-speaking countries, […]
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Demolición makes room in the north-side scene for Latinx rock
Dumpster Tapes books the Demolición festival to make room for Latinx rock in the self-segregated north-side scene.