Feature photo by Don Idio
Dirtybird’s Birdhouse Festival is returning to Chicago for a second installment on September 7th with another day-long run of deep house and bass bumpin’. This year, the carnival is posting up by the water.
Where last year’s fest was nestled in the corner of a parking lot, this year’s is on a grassy lawn, pinched perfectly between Chicago’s Lincoln Park and Lake Michigan on a jutting peninsula known as Lakefront Green. The views will be many, the carnival food and games will be plenty, and the music will be dirtier than ever.
Last year, Claude VonStroke surprised everyone when he brought out Chicago house music legend Derrick Carter for a surprise B2B set to close out the inaugural run. This year, the surprise was announced early: Claude VonStroke’s extended headlining set will feature a B2B portion with another local legend, Paul Johnson.
A south side native, Johnson has been spinning in Chicago since the mid-‘80s, producing house since the ‘90s and has since released more than 445 EPs for various dance labels. In Daft Punk’s 1997 track “Teachers,” Paul Johnson is the first artist mentioned in a long list that salutes the artists who laid the foundations for electronic music. His single “Get Get Down” reached number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart in 1999. Need I say more? This set is a once in a lifetime collab, and a definite can’t miss.
Dirtybird duo Walker & Royce will warm up the crowd for this legendary set. The two have been jet-setting from Michigan, to the U.K., to Florida, to Japan and so on all summer. Catch them after sets by Chambray vs. DJ Deeon, Mason Maynard and VNSSA.
VNSSA takes the opening spot on the 2019. The indie-rock drummer turned producer was handpicked by Claude himself to play at Campout and has been on heaps of Dirtybird lineups ever since. In Claude we trust: the boss man would never lead us astray.
Get ready for a bigger, better carnival this time around with games, carnival fare and signed Dirtybird prizes for the winning. Right now, official Birdhouse merch is up for pre-order online so you can pay ahead, skip the line and pick up your gear at the fest. If you don’t want to miss out, this is a guaranteed way to get your goodies — last year most regular-sale items sold out just a couple hours after gates opened!
The fest did sell out last year, so grab tickets here before they’re gone. 18+ Chicago birds – it’s time to get dirty!