North Coast Music Festival Announces First Wave Of Artists

By Jake Guidry in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 17, 2012 6:20PM

Late last night the first wave of artists were announced for the third annual North Coast Music Festival. The three-day event, which takes place in Union Park over Labor Day Weekend, features a mix of electronic, hip-hop, and jam bands. The first wave of artists announced includes Pretty Lights, Big Boi, The Rapture, Steve Aoki, YACHT, Dan Deacon, Maya Jane Coles, and Com Truise.

Though the festival has many more names to announce, including additional headliners, this initial announcement is less punchy than its first two years. With Chicago festival mainstays Lollapalooza and Pitchfork growing, and the emergence of two dance-focused festivals, Spring Awakening and Wavefront, North Coast's identity is being challenged. Undoubtedly, both Spring Awakening and Wavefront boast artists that otherwise would have found their name on the North Coast bill. This saturation leaves the fest with a difficult, albeit interesting conundrum: how does it differentiate itself?

Expanding the focus on hip-hop is a start. It's the most popular genre that gets no attention from Chicago's other big festivals, and it's a prime opportunity to corner this market. Including various styles helps, too.

Expanding the focus on riskier sounds should also be considered. North Coast has shown an ability to be forward-thinking, specifically with the SBTRKT booking from last year. Since then, the UK-based bass producer has blown up, including a spot on this year's Lollapalooza bill. The organizers at North Coast should dig even deeper into the growing bass music scene, and other underground electronic music, to position itself as an alternative to the city's more mainstream options.

Of course, most of this has likely already been decided. So we play the waiting game.

Both general admission and VIP tickets are on sale now at Clubtix, starting at $110.