Bloodshot Records Takes Over The Hideout!
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 11, 2009 5:20PM
In these trying times everyone is cutting back where they can, even awesome block parties. The Hideout has trimmed their two-day affair to a single day -- though to be fair, until a few years ago it was always that way -- and have brought in Bloodshot Records to curate the day and celebrate their 15th birthday with a big ol' party. In many ways this is a return to form for The Hideout; after a couple years of putting together jaw dropping weekends that rivaled most smaller music festivals tomorrow's shindig a return to the more relaxed vibe of earlier years. The block was always a place where you could take your kids, have a lot of fun, and hear a bunch of great music from national and local acts with deep roots to The Hideout's scene.
Allowing Bloodshot free reign of the place this year makes total sense. No other bar in Chicago has been more supportive of the label, and hell, most of the acts on the label have supported The Hideout through the years through performances and high drink tabs. And Bloodshot has brought in in their A-game by getting The Blacks to reunite, wrangling Bobby Bare Jr.'s explosive energy onto the stage, teaming Rico Bell with The Waco Brothers (and with Sally Timms there maybe we'll get a few Mekons tunes?), enlisting the the Detroit honky-tonk crunch of Deadstring Brothers ... and that's just scraping the surface of the line-up. Personally we're most excited to hear Tim Tuten is MCing since we have to admit we've missed his colorful introductions since he relocated to Washington D.C. earlier this year to work in Obama's administration.
And there's lots of stuff to keep adults and kids happy when your favorite band isn't on the stage. There's a kids area with art supplies and toys so maybe in future years they can get their work featured at Yard Dog Gallery, the curators of the onsite art show. And for the adults you can check out the belt sander races or try and show your spelling skills under the influence in the drunken spelling bee.
And the whole thing is tied together with goodwill since all proceeds from the $10 donation (and entrance fees to various contests) go to support Rock For Kids and 826 Chicago! (Kids under 10 are free, but if they want to throw in some quarters from their allowance it's never to early to get them in the charitable frame of mind.)
The forecast for tomorrow is beautiful and we can't think of a better way to spend one of the last summer weekends we'll see until next August.
The Bloodshot Records 15th Birthday Party is tomorrow, September 12 inside and outside The Hideout, 1354 W Wabansia, starting at noon, $10 suggested donation, all ages!