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player ready...Major festivals like Lollapalooza and Pitchfork may reign supreme in the consciousness of the average Chicagoan, but the city also has an abundance of new, underground and emerging festivals that celebrate the breadth of Chicago’s music community. ARC Music Festival, an immersive new dance music festival this weekend, is one of them.
The festival is the brainchild of Auris Presents and event company Loud Crowd. Organizers say now was the right time to celebrate Chicago’s musical legacy in house and electronic music, as well as recognize the global impact of the genre.
“We need to build a festival here that’s representative of the city’s history of house and other forms of underground music. And so we started putting that together and building out what we thought would be an event that can be successful in the city,” said Stuart Hackley of Loud Crowd.
Although Chicago is the birthplace of house music, it often lacks the international recognition within the global electronic music communities. First emerging in the city in the post-disco era of the ’80s, house music quickly found a community of global fans, especially in Europe. Since then, the genre has exploded and spawned numerous subgenres and sounds all built around the propulsive energy of house music’s original four-on-the-floor rhythms. Cities such as New York, London and Berlin are typically cited as the current home bases for the diverse genre.
ARC Music Festival organizers aim to rectify that reputation by placing Chicago on its rightful pedestal.
“It started so long ago. And I would say that within the last five to 10 years, it’s really started to come into its own as a sound in the mainstream,” said John Curley, an ARC Music Festival organizer, about the popularity of electronic music. “So in that context, we’d like to bring some of that back and showcase it next to some of the originators in such a way that not only pays homage to the city, but also acts as a gateway for people who are not avid followers. Bring them back into the heartland of the music and where it started.”
The “heartland” focus also extends to some of the scheduled acts for the festival.
“It started out more of a niche, more European essence of a lineup where it was very true to the established names of the house and techno worlds,” recalled Hackley. Festival organizers were interested in championing the sort of acts one wouldn’t see take the headlining slots during other major music festivals such as Electric Daisy Carnival or Spring Awakening. Scheduled acts for ARC Music Festival include Seth Troxler, DJ Holographic, Nicole Moudaber, Hot Since 82, Deborah de Luca, and the Martinez Brothers. Additionally, Elrow, the popular and colorful Spanish party creators, will make their North American debut at the festival with a multi-day stage takeover.
“Once we kind of had that on paper and looked at it, we said to ourselves, OK, we think we can make this bigger? And how do we build an event that is something that will not only be appealing to those who are established fans in this music scene, but how do we help progress this culture and build the sounds in the U. S.?” added Hackley.
Building out the event included adding beloved locals like DJ Heather, DJ Pierre, Derrick Carter, Gene Farris and Hiroko Yamamura. The result, as organizers emphasize, is an event they hope bridges the gaps between the past and the present, ultimately building a new kind of local music festival that is strong and rooted into the legacy of Chicago while continuing to build its importance in the future. In some ways, the ARC Music Festival is an educational event — a rarity among the corporatization of music festivals around the globe — making it a rare treat for dance music fans of all stripes.
“We built this as a music-forward, music-first event, meaning that we want the talent and the music to do the speaking along with the experience,” said Hackley. “So we really want people to take away a great cultural experience.”
ARC Music Festival runs 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph St.; tickets (ages 18+) $154+; arcmusicfestival.com
COVID protocols: Proof of full vaccination or negative COVID-19 test results from the past 72 hours required for admission. Masks are encouraged; required for those without proof of vaccine.
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.