Windy City Rock Presents: a benefit for Intuit, the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

By Gene Wagendorf III

Regular readers of Windy City Rock will know that we love the strange, the weird, the out there, and the confrontational. Luckily for us, Chicago is home to an incredible experimental music scene that thrives both in traditional venues and in various basements, warehouses and gallery spaces. These bands are outsiders in the sense that their music sheds convention and predictability, defying genres and constantly crafting some of the most fascinating tunes in existence. 

Chicago also happens to be home to Intuit, an incredible organization devoted to self-taught and outsider art. The Center presents "self-taught and outsider art with world class exhibitions; resources for scholars and students; a permanent collection with holdings of more than 1,100 works of art... and educational programming for people of all interest levels and backgrounds." They're a unique group that does something we at WCR believe in firmly. Their focus and aesthetic is in-line with that of many of the experimental musicians we love, and they continue to operate thanks to the generosity of both donors and their members. In a unique twist, Intuit currently occupies a space that legendary and influential avant-gospel group ONO played thirty years ago, in July of 1983. 

It is with this in mind that we're happy to partner again with Chicago's best rock club, The Empty Bottle, in hosting a benefit show for our friends at Intuit. This charity concert will take place on Sunday, December 8th (7pm, 21+, $8), with proceeds going directly to Intuit. We've put together an amazing lineup featuring some of the city's best experimental musicians, and we'd love for you to join us for a mind-expanding, ear-shattering good time.

Windy City Rock Presents: an Intuit Benefit Show

Sunday, December 8th
7pm, $8 donation 

Crown Larks

Official Website  Facebook  Bandcamp

 

Mako Sica

Official Website  Facebook  Bandcamp

DJPTSD [members of ONO]

Official Website  Facebook  SoundCloud

The Humminbird

Official Website  Bandcamp

The bands have generously offered to donate their sets, and The Bottle is joining them by donating the door. With that in mind, we ask you join us, buy some records/tapes, have a few drinks and jam out for a good cause. 

Tickets are on sale at The Empty Bottle's website, and you can join the action on Facebook here.

If you enjoyed this, like us on Facebook and follow Gene on Twitter. 

Windy City Rock Presents: a Mercy Home benefit at The Burlington, 10/22

By Gene Wagendorf III   

Any time you have a chance to combine great music and the opportunity to raise money for a great cause, how can you say no?

When community organizer Brendon Troutman approached us about helping with a benefit for Mercy Home, we said yes!

Mercy Home provides therapeutic, academic and vocational support to kids who have been neglected, abused and abandoned; giving the, the tools to grow into healthy, successful adults. Through their residential, aftercare, referral, and community-based mentoring programs, they offer critical, life-saving services to more than 650 young men and women every year. The organization has been a solution for kids in crisis in Chicago since 1887, and we here at Windy City Rock are incredibly proud to do anything we can to help them out.

On that note, we're proud to join one of Chicago's best rock clubs, The Burlington, in hosting this benefit concert. The show will take place on Tuesday, October 22nd (9pm, 21+, $8) and proceeds will go directly to Mercy Home for Boys and Girls. You can RSVP and invite your friends on Facebook here. Your donation gets you an evening of excellent music from three of Chicago's most exciting young bands:

Peoples Temple of America

Earth Program

Frozen Pizza Disaster

The bands have generously offered to donate their sets, and The Burlington is joining them by donating the door. With that in mind, we ask you join us, buy some records/tapes, have a few drinks and jam out for a good cause. 

If you enjoyed this, like us on Facebook and follow Gene on Twitter. 

WCR and The Empty Bottle Present: A Rock For Kids Charity Jam

By Gene Wagendorf III  

Where does the music you love come from?

It's a simple question, with an equally simple and completely obvious answer: It comes from musicians.

Chicago's music scene is experiencing a creative swell unlike almost any time in its history; there are new, incredible bands being born seemingly every day. Whether you're into punk, art-rock, garage-pop, folk or just anything that sounds great in a sweaty basement, this city has dozens of killer bands to meet your taste. But even a scene that's flourishing the way Chicago's is can't sustain itself without new ideas and new creators to give those ideas life. That's where Rock For Kids comes in.

Rock For Kids is an inspiring and wholly necessary local non-profit that provides music education to underserved youth. Quite literally, they're putting guitars and drum sticks in the hands of children who might not otherwise get a hold of them. They're teaching critical thinking and musical theory. They're offering kids an outlet for their creativity, and, lucky for you, laying the foundation for the next generation of Chicago bands that you'll be rocking out to. As important as it is to support already existing bands by seeing shows and buying records, it's equally important to invest in the scene's future.

On that note, Windy City Rock is beyond proud to join Chicago's best rock club, The Empty Bottle, in hosting A Rock For Kids Charity Jam. The benefit show will take place on Sunday, November 25th (6pm, 21+), and proceeds from the show will go directly to R4K. We're asking for a $15 donation at the door, but we also understand that times are tough, and have provided smaller donation options that will still allow you the help out and enjoy a night of fantastic local music.

That music will be provided by 7 bands who, in this writer's opinion, are some of the best acts making music in Chicago. The lineup is as follows.

Windy City Rock and The Empty Bottle Present: A Rock 4 Kids Charity Jam
Sunday, November 25th
6pm, $15 donation

Rambos
Official Website Facebook Bandcamp
Panda Riot
Official Website Facebook Bandcamp
We Repel Each Other
Facebook Bandcamp
The Hecks
Facebook Soundcloud
Massive Ego
Facebook Bandcamp
Shiloh
Facebook Bandcamp
Tiny Fireflies
Official Website Facebook Bandcamp

and special guest DJ Miss Alex White 

The bands have generously offered to donate their sets, and The Bottle is joining them by donating the door. With that in mind, we ask you join us, buy some records, have a few drinks and jam out for a good cause. 

Tickets are on sale at The Empty Bottle's website, and you can join the action on Facebook here.

If you enjoyed this, like us on Facebook and follow Gene on Twitter.