The Silver Room Block Party says farewell

I UNDERSTAND WHY people are sad that this year’s Silver Room Sound System Block Party will be the last. When Silver Room owner Eric Williams started the block party in 2002, he did so in part to address the fact that neighborhood street festivals routinely overlooked the Black musicians and artists in his community—if no one else would showcase these talented Chicagoans, he’d do it himself. He grew the festival from an informal party in a Wicker Park alley into a Hyde Park blowout on 53rd Street with several stages and a draw of 40,000 people. For years the Silver Room Block Party was a single-day street fest, and admission was free or by suggested donation. Last year, though, after a couple years o due to the pandemic, Williams and the organizers in his orbit decided to make a change, hoping to help manage the crowd and cover some of the event’s costs: the 2022 Silver Room Block Party was a ticketed two-day event on Oakwood Beach with a gated perimeter. Tickets cost $30 for one day, $50 for both, and according to the TRiiBE, about 15,000 people attended. Given how costly and challenging the party has been for Williams—he spends the entire year planning it—I wasn’t surprised that he’d decided to end it.

I can’t say I’m happy about that choice, but I remain in awe of what Williams has accomplished on his own terms. This summer Live Nation and NASCAR have monopolized Grant Park for high-priced ticketed events, and the street race forced the postponement of Taste of Chicago, one of the city’s biggest traditional summertime celebrations (which is, I must point out, free to attend). Corporate interests increasingly treat us as grapes to be squeezed in an ever-tightening vise, but Williams has pulled o his event 17 times with nothing on his side but the strength of the community he’s built. The 18th Silver Room Block Party is something to celebrate.

The great lineup that Williams and company have assembled should make it easy to get in the spirit one last time. Throughout the weekend, its three stages feature 50 sets by musicians, the- ater performers, dancers, and poets. True to the fest’s origins, Chicagoans are heavily represented, and the bookings weave together di erent generations and scenes. DJ Ca$h Era has recently become a first-call artist when street fests want a hip-hop set, but I can’t think of another event that would follow her with Gene Hunt, a house veteran who got his start in the early 1980s (they perform back-to-back sets on the Block Stage on Sunday afternoon). North Carolina hip-hop producer 9th Wonder and New York garage pioneer Tony Humphries are among the big draws from out of town, and other notable Chicagoans include rapper Mick Jenkins and longtime house-music figures Boo Williams and DJ Lady D. And of course it wouldn’t be a Silver Room Block Party without deep-house artist Ron Trent, who headlines the Sound System Stage on Saturday. He and Williams are close friends, and he’s performed at the block party every time—considering that long history, Trent’s set ought to be one of the summer’s most important local

Thursday27

Frsh Waters Shawnee Dez and Senite open. 7 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $20, $15 in advance. b

Pivot Gang will go down as one of the most important and prolific artist collectives in Chicago hiphop history, even though most casual fans haven’t caught on to their music yet. These seasoned westside rappers come together to create a distinctly soulful sound, and the tapestries of drill-inspired flash and winsome alt-rap on individual members’ solo efforts prove that they’re just as powerful on their own.

Pivot cofounder Frsh Waters has been gliding over tracks for the better part of a decade, even lending his government name to the group’s debut mixtape, 2013’s Jimmy. He’s the brother of late crew member Squeak, killed in 2021, and that connection is always present in Frsh’s music. His lyrics express earnest concern for the well-being of his loved ones: on recent single “Light Work” he raps, “Lord willin’ / My boy makin’ a killin’ / He just had another baby / His girl ’bout to be three / Told him same sun shinin’ in him, shinin’ in me / Ain’t no envy in the circle.”

Frsh is road tested and fan approved. Throughout his career he’s displayed consistent artistic growth, resulting in a small yet mighty solo discography filled with thoughtful beats, ambitious lyrics, and choice collaborations. His recent single “Velour Sweatsuit,” produced by the eccentric Joseph Chilliams (also a Pivot cofounder), sounds exactly like you’d expect from that title—it’s a breezy, pianolaced scorcher with an impressive guest verse by Brooklyn MC Radamiz.

Over the past few years, Frsh has been teasing a new project on his Instagram, and earlier this month he announced the July 25 release of The Aqua Lounge, a double single consisting of “Grace Look Good” (featuring Ohana Bam and Benjamin Earl Turner) and “Not Knowing.” Making the news even sweeter, he offered local fans a chance to stream the new material early by sending him a message with proof of ticket purchase to this release show at Schubas. I haven’t heard either song yet, but if Frsh’s latest tracks are any indication of what he has in store on The Aqua Lounge, we’ll get eclectic grooves, smart collaborations, and that signature Pivot Gang thump we’ve all come to know and love.

—CRISTALLE BOWEN

Bill Mackay & Ryley Walker See also Fri 7/28. Azita opens. 8 PM, Judson & Moore Distillery, 3057 N. Rockwell, building #5, $25, $20 in advance. 21+

When Bill MacKay told me it’d been five years since he played with Ryley Walker—something they used to do all the time—it reminded me once again how badly the pandemic era has shaken our collective grip on time. Getting back to real life, relationships, and projects has been slow going, and on top of that everyone has seemingly been working to establish new routines and playing mad catch-up with one another. But at long last these two journeyman guitarists will meet again.

Anyone with good taste in local guitar heroes is familiar with Walker, the Rockford boy turned globe-wandering bard and progster. The same is true of MacKay, a man of one million sublime sixstring projects—last month his supergroup with bassist Douglas McCombs and drummer Charles Rumback, a trio called Black Duck, released their debut album. Both guitarists are perpetual multitaskers, and Walker also runs the ambitious Husky Pants label (which recently released a collaboration with sadly defunct Japanese psych band Kikagaku Moyo).

MacKay says he and Walker will perform songs from the duo’s two LPs together, 2015’s Land of Plenty and 2017’s SpiderBeetleBee , plus a few brand-spanking-new compositions. He says he’s “looking forward to expanding on our repertoire improvisation-wise, and with new arrangements for various songs.” I’m especially excited to hear him mention improvisation—MacKay and Walker’s exalted guitar interaction lends itself divinely to spacey exploration. Both of their duo albums dig into the past and complicated present of roots music, and their endearing tunefulness and sparkling beauty recall other famous pairings—British folkies John Renbourn and Bert Jansch, for instance, or American stoner heroes Jerry Garcia and David Grisman.

“Come watch me get smoked by Bill,” Walker says, in a classic bit of midwestern self-deprecation. “I’ll do my best to keep up!” MacKay and Walker may be humble about it, but as far as I’m concerned they’re two of the most talented musicians not just in the heartland but in the whole freakin’ world. Watching them spar once again should be a gas of epic proportions. Opening night one is abstract pop singer and pianist Azita Youseffi; opening night two is multi-instrumentalist Jake Acosta, who released an album of kosmische guitar-and-synth explorations, Rehearsal Park , on Husky Pants last fall.

—STEVE KRAKOW

Friday28

Bill Mackay & Ryley Walker See Thu 7/27. Jake Acosta opens. 8 PM, Judson & Moore Distillery, 3057 N. Rockwell, building #5, $25, $20 in advance. 21+

SATURDAY29

The Silver Room Sound System Block Party See Pick of the Week at le and also Sun 7/30. The first day of the final installment of this beloved festival includes performances across three stages by Ron Trent, Party Noire, Angel Meléndez & the 911 Mambo Orchestra, Kami, Meagan McNeal, Oveous, and many more. Noon-10 PM, Oakwood Beach, 39th Street (aka

Pershing/Oakwood) and Lake Michigan, $60 per day, $95 two-day pass, free for children 13 and under. b

SUNDAY30

CUsp OK Cool headline; the Dreaded Laramie, Cusp, and Hard Femme open. 7 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, $13. 17+

So far this summer, few new indie-rock songs have affected me as much as “You Can’t Do It All,” the not-quite-title track from Cusp’s self-released debut album, You Can Do It All. Jen Bender’s sweet, straightforward vocals snuggle up against a fogbank of guitar fuzz, a quietly humming bass line, a waltz-time beat, and an almost birdlike keyboard loop. She offers reassurance with two simple repeated lines: “You can do anything you want / But you can’t do it all.” I often have to remind myself of that, especially in the summer, when my calendar always seems so packed with weddings, hangouts, film screenings, and outdoor concerts that once I’ve factored in work there’s barely time for sleep. Cusp started out in Rochester, New York, and last year moved to Chicago, putting together a new lineup here. They’ve done more to remind me of my limits and my place in the world than I can usually do myself, and I’ve revisited You Can Do It All over and over since Cusp released it in May. The album is so engrossing that it challenges my perception of time—how does such a relaxed-sounding band make 33 minutes fly by as quickly as a three-minute single? I can get wrapped up in the details of a single song for days or even weeks, and I cherish that experience all the more now that the dominance of streaming and playlist-based listening has eroded the lifespan of new releases—an album that might’ve held the public’s attention for months disappears like a raindrop falling into Lake Michigan. I’m happy to accept that I can’t do everything I want this summer, but it’s a top priority to see Cusp play songs