Written By Megan Caruso
Labor Day Weekend is the last holiday weekend of the summer so pull out your planners and start thinking now, because this is your last chance to steal some outdoor summer fun with a day off (hopefully) on your company’s dime. North Coast Music Festival invades Chicago’s Union Park as “Summer’s last stand” from August 31 to September 1st.
The 3-day line up features musicians from a wide range of genres. Don’t miss the powerful R&B sounds of Miguel that will captivate your soul. Sing along and dance your hearts out to the indie outfits The Revivalists and The Strumbellas. Put your hands in the air and jump for DJ Snake and the Swedish house duo, Axwell ^ Ingrosso. Be sure to arrive early to roam the park and soak up the fleeting summer sunshine as you check out the beautiful art installations. While you’re there, do your ears a favor and check out some rare appearances to hit the Chicago festival scene.
Too Many Zooz
After years of performing in the New York City subway, Too Many Zooz finds themselves on the 2018 North Coast bill in between performances on tour in Europe and the U.S., including other festival stops at Electric Forest and another at Suwannee Hulaween later this year. The all-male trio creates a blaring ruckus of funky jazz under the self-proclaimed genre of “brasshouse” with a baritone saxophone, a trumpet and drums. The music is relentless and their energy never waivers; it’s almost as if they never stop to take a breath even though Leo Pellegrino is constantly bouncing and spinning with a saxophone more than half the size of him. Make sure to stop by Too Many Zooz’ set on Friday to experience a new, high-intensity approach to jazz and classical instruments and a show that won’t compare to any other artist’s this festival season.
The Polish Ambassador & the Diplomatic Scandal
Hailing from San Francisco, the Polish Ambassador (TPA) is usually an electronic DJ mixing future bass with an experimental cacophony of glitch sounds that induce contagious dancing. For his Saturday set at North Coast, TPA will be accompanied by his backing band, the Diplomatic Scandal. Together they’ll play his creations with special arrangements of live instruments, spanning reggae and roots tropical beats to spacey future-funk, all created on stage. After what’s sure to be a mesmerizing live-band performance, you can go online to TPA’s bandcamp.com site and download his full discography for FREE, or a donation listed as “name your price.” TPA refers to himself as a diplomat for nourishing art, the community and the planet and has started movements to inspire the music community to get involved in sustainable practices for our future. Enjoy his music, appreciate his message and be sure to thank him with a little donation of your choosing when you decide to binge-download his full catalogue.
Jamiroquai
That’s right, Jamiroquai! If you’re not shocked, it could be that you’ve forgotten who they are over the 7 years that they’d stopped producing music; a new album out in March 2017 titled Automation finally broke that silence and brought the band back to the stage. Remember the talent show scene from Napoleon Dynamite and that epic dance? And the final red-hot dance scene in the 2000 hit movie Center Stage? Both featured Jamiroquai’s groovy 1997 single, “Canned Heat.” Still nothing? This British jazz-funk band has experimented with pop, rock, jazz, disco, electronica and beyond since 1992. Their last performance in Chicago was way back in 2005, so this is a special treat for those of you who’ve been waiting a long 13 years to see them again. Throw on your Vote for Pedro shirt and close out the weekend on Sunday night with your best moves. Don’t miss the change to see them live – some of us thought we might never have it again.
The best part? There’s a good chance that you’re off work the following Monday (Labor Day). Spend a day in recovery laying by the pool and patting yourself on the back: you did summer right.
Check out the full lineup for North Coast Music Festival below. To purchase tickets click here.
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