Chicago's Sound & Gravity festival returns with 50+ acts
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Chicago Underground Duo at last year's Sound & Gravity festival. Photo: Courtesy of Colin Gahungu
Experimental, jazz, modern classical and more take center stage at Chicago's Sound & Gravity festival this weekend.
What to expect: Now in its second year, the festival will feature more than 50 acts — including Grouper, Son Lux, American Analog Set, Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas, Dagmar Zuniga, and many more — performing Thursday through Sunday.
The details: Performances will take place at venues across Bricktown and Avondale, including Constellation, Hungry Brain, Beat Kitchen, Guild Row, Athenaeum Center, and Rockwell on the River.
What they're saying: "Chicago has always had extraordinary, adventurous musicians and small rooms that support them, but no festival that treated that as the main event," Mike Reed, Sound & Gravity presenter and owner of Constellation Performing Arts, tells Axios.
- "We wanted something that used the city itself as the venue; you walk between neighborhood rooms and hear artists genuinely expanding what music can be."
Zoom out: Reed looked to events like Big Ears in Knoxville and Le Guess Who? in Utrecht as inspiration in creating the fest.
- Sound & Gravity already has international reach, with last year's festgoers traveling from 34 states and six foreign countries, Reed says.
If you go: Tickets range from $35 for venue-specific performances to $250 for multiday passes.