ATTN Chicagoans: They're BACK in town!

Don't miss out on the intimate performance - space is limited and it's filling up QUICK

The NEW Old

Fresh off of the heels of a spectacular performance in New York, Indie Hip-Hop trio The New Old plans on setting the stratosphere ablaze yet again in Chicago with a show at Subterranean located in the bustling Wicker Park neighborhood, 2011 West North avenue. Be sure to check them out tonight, doors open at 9pm. Also checkout their latest self-titled project available on iTunes.

It's confirmed....it's in the water!

I have always joked with fellow friends that 'there's something in the water' in Rockford, Illinois - not E. coli (like Lake Michigan) or oil (damn BP!) but something more along the lines of Willy Wonka's Chocolate River mixed with that eternal youth potion from the early 90's Bruce Willis, Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn flick, 'Death Becomes Her'

Let's face it, 'Cheap Trick' hails from this Northern Illinois town and it doesn't get much bigger than them. Those guys from the synth-heavy, dance-pop band, 'Hey Champ' claims strong ties to "The Rock" and then there's 'Miles Nielsen', that soulful stud that graces us all with his rich blend of folk/Americana-pop sounds complete with lyrics laden with 'Beatles' overtones. Oh! and how could I forget the jack-of-all-trades: engineer, producer, multi-instrumentalist (my personal lead guitar crush), 'Dan "The Man" McMahon'- seen playing with the likes of 'Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons' and 'Cameron McGill and What Army'.

And NOW....the next Mozart?!!

Who's a 'Star' Now?!?

...RELEASED TODAY.....NEW 'Hey Champ' Album...get down with them...

Biodegradable Tent Could Solve Festival Waste Problems ::.

via* The Green Thing

The problem: a massive amount of tent waste left in fields at the end of a festival. Few people want to bring good quality tents as they may get ruined so most people opt for the cheap stuff. For less than £20 one can get their hands on a tent that will provide shelter for a weekend but then it gets left behind. Abandoned. Put to landfill. Complete waste.

And we thought surely there has to be a better way.

Designer extraodinaire, Vanessa Harden has been spending the past few months working alongside Green Thing and others to tackle the brief. Without further hesitation, we bring you Future Tents.

Future Tents are the world's first festival tents that will last three days then biodegrade. Embedded with local seeds the tents disintegrate to reveal rejuvenated green spaces.

Over the next 4 days, Vanessa will be living in the tent and documenting how the design is holding up and the feedback people have.

Green Thing are headed north to T in the Park to trial the world's first biodegradable tent! If you'd like to follow our future tents adventure, you follow us on twitter or click on the tag 'Future Tents' below to see blog entries. We'd love to hear your suggestions, impressions and thoughts!

What to do this weekend....

The first event of its kind in the US, created by American Contemporary Artist Scott Helbach and bear.illa CEO Lonnie Edwards. Paint Wars is a North American tour that focuses on challenging talented artists in friendly competitions of live improvised art using paint markers (Krink, Montana, Pilot, Molotow et cetera...) to raise money for different charity organizations within the host city. Each artist gets 90mins to come up with an amazing image, and the audience chooses the winner(s) via "ballot box" style vote. Paint Wars will be coming to a city near you, who knows, your city may be next on the tour. Stay Tuned...

PAINT WARS CHICAGO

July 9th, 2010 - July 10th, 2010
Anode Gallery 718 West 18th St, Chicago, IL 60616
5pm - 1am
15$* (includes all you can eat and drink)
20$* (2 day entry all you can eat and drink BOTH DAYS)

*Proceeds to benefit the Arts of Life Foundation (artsoflife.org)

Gift BAGS will be given to the FIRST 30 guests and GIVEAWAYS will be handed out throughout the night

Guest DJs
DOTS
TOP KEY
JOHN SIMMONS

SPECIAL MUSIC PERFORMANCE BY:
THE NEW OLD
NEAK

FEATURED ARTISTS IN THE CHICAGO EVENT
Ian Bennett
Rocio Urbano (Director of the ConNatural Artists urban arts organization)
Dense83
Kevin Lahvic
Mario Mena
Rooster
Salena Restos
Amish
Eric Stenberg
Arturo Lopez
Micheal "Mist" Bahana
Hansel De La Cruz
Jose Rerales
Roberto Saucedo

Hosted by: Lonnie Edwards and Ennis Alexander Martin III

(via becomebearilla.com)

"Let's always stay in the moment..."

Daydreaming ::.

"I became a DJ because I couldn't breakdance and I was no good at graffiti." - James Lavelle

I have always respected James Lavelle. Mo' Wax records had the best DJ line up of the 1990's. DJ Shadow, DJ KRUSH, and numerous others. He assisted in over 200 record releases in less than 5 years. Most of them are still timeless today.

Daydreaming is a a fluid attempt to bring many different artists together in one space. Each artist will create a brand new artwork inspired by new music composed for the project by UNKLE. He's the Curator for this unprecedented pop-up exhibition at HAUNCH OF VENISON gallery which takes place in Mayfair, London, over the summer bank holiday weekend, 27 – 30 August 2010.

Experience the Color Reform Collection by ABC Carpet

"It began as a vision to salvage imperfect, vintage carpets and it resulted in a revolutionary movement of color" -ABC Carpet & Home

We have had our eyes on the ABC Home & Planet Foundation since we read about their 'Gifts of Compassion' in the now discontinued Home & Lifestyle magazine, Domino. We couldn't help but fall hard for their new carpet collection, Color Reform. Just imagine these revamped vintage rugs layered under Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons during an acoustic set- the ideal fusion of past and present design.

Which brings us to another point, mark your calendars for February 16- Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons at Double Door. No doubt, we'll be there!