The homegrown record labels and tastemakers who have defined Chicago’s vibrant music scene for the past four decades will find the spotlight at this September’s Chicago Live! at Navy Pier. A new addition to the Midwest’s largest free performing arts festival, the Chicago Sound Stage will feature an eclectic line-up of local bands and DJs hand-picked by seminal powerhouses including Alligator Records, Jesse de la Pena’s Blue Groove Lounge Reunion, Closed Sessions, Delmark Records, Eric Williams & Silver Room Productions, The Numero Group, 8Matikrecordz, Drag City, Galapogos4, and The Oh’My’s and Friends.
From hip-hop to indie rock, Blues to funk, the Chicago Sound Stage, located in the Navy Pier Beer Garden, will provide fans with a rare opportunity to see their favorite local recording artists live in-person. There’ll also be a Chicago Sound Stage Record Mart offering rare, unpublished, and newly released titles, and vinyl, alongside band merchandise, with 100 percent of proceeds going to the artists.
“All we have to do is open our backdoors to hear the music that democratized an industry,” said Chicago Live! Artistic Director Steve Abrams. “The Chicago Live! Sound Stage will not only connect fans with their favorite Chicago recording artists in new ways, it will shine a spotlight on our city’s vibrant indie artists and labels still recovering from the devastating one-two punch of music sharing platforms and the pandemic.”
The largest free performing arts festival in the Midwest, this year’s fourth-annual Chicago Live!, slated for Sept. 21-22, will welcome more than 100 Chicago-centric artists and performing groups in back-to-back performances across five Navy Pier stages. Over the course of the two-day festival, the Chicago Sound Stage will invite 10 local record labels and big-name tastemakers to curate 90-minute sets featuring their top artists. The lineup includes:
Drag City – 12 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21
A prolific Chicago indie label putting out an eclectic roster of local artists since 1989, Drag City will present recording artists AZITA (edgy rock/soul/R&B), Bill MacKay (Blues/folk/country/rock), and Axis:Sova (neo-psychedelic/alt/indie rock/garage punk) live on-stage.
8Matikrecordz – 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21
As controversial as he is beloved, Chicago rapper 8matiklogan recently launched his own record label on a musician-first platform of community and collaboration. The rapper himself will be joined during his Chicago Live! set by Chicago underground legend Young Jasper and punk rock up-and-comer Gina Marï.
Delmark Records – 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21
The oldest continuously operating jazz and Blues independent record label in the United States, Delmark will present a rapid-fire lineup of Chicago all-stars, including Dave Specter, Mike Wheeler, Larry Williams, Roosevelt Purifoy, and Pookie Styx with Jamiah Rogers and Sheryl Youngblood.
The Numero Group – 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21
For more than two decades, The Numero Group has been mining the archives of forgotten 20th century R&B, soul, and early hip-hop and re-releasing their discoveries for a new generation of listeners. Numero’s Chicago Live! showcase will feature a 40th anniversary reunion of the wildly popular Universal Togetherness Band, a pioneering, early-80s party band out of Columbia College Chicago that reimagined the permutations of soul, disco, jazz-fusion, and new wave.
Galapogos4 – 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21
Chicago’s premiere indie underground hip-hop label in the 1990s and early 2000s, Galapogos4 helped create the sound that ushered in local artists like Chance, Saba, and Noname a decade later. Galapogos4 will present Qwel & Maker, whose “The Harvest” is widely considered one of the greatest underground hip-hop albums of all time, alongside Chicago hip-hop stalwarts Robust and Royce featuring Dove Rock.
Jesse de la Pena’s Blue Groove Lounge Reunion – 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21
It’s been years since Chicago DJ Jesse de la Pena gathered the crew for his legendary weekly hip-hop parties. Hosted by Dirty MF and Mario Smith, the Blue Groove Lounge reunion at Chicago Live! will feature Blue Groove all-stars Ang13, Akbar, Urbanized Music, and Karma 360, along with DJs Pumpin Pete, Nonstop, and the icon himself, Jesse de la Pena.
Eric Williams & Silver Room Productions – 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 22
Eric Williams, owner of the Silver Room in Hyde Park, is one of our city’s original House music afficionados. From 2003 to 2022, his block parties were a Chicago institution, drawing upwards of 40,000 fans from across the city. Williams’ specially curated Chicago Live! set will welcome a talented roster of local singers offering their own interpretations of classic House tracks, accompanied by a live House band.
Alligator Records – 1:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 22
One of the most enduring and revered independent Blues labels in the world, Alligator Records has been at the forefront of defining and preserving Chicago’s indigenous sound. Alligator will bring world-renowned Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials and one of the exciting new voices of Blues, The Nick Moss Band, to the Chicago Live! stage.
The Oh’My’s and Friends – 3 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 22
Rooted in the classic sound of Chicago soul music, The Oh’My’s are at the center of our city’s hip-hop renaissance. Having collaborated and co-written with Chicago’s biggest names, the band will invite some of their favorite acts to join them on-stage at Chicago Live!
Closed Sessions – 4:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 22
A record label with deep roots in Chicago’s hip-hop community, Closed Sessions will showcase a “live mixtape” of local artists surrounding DJ/Producer BoatHouse. Featured artists will include DJ RTC, rappers Kipp Stone and Defcee, the Mother Nature duo, alongside BoatHouse and emcee Recoechi.
Note: All artists, times, and dates are subject to change.
Navy Pier announced last month that Wilco front man Jeff Tweedy will headline this September’s Chicago Live! festival. Featured artists will range from Chicago’s world-class stalwarts, including The Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Second City, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Chicago Philharmonic, Black Ensemble Theater, and the perennially popular Blue Man Group, to pop culture icons like Ginger Minj from RuPaul’s Drag Race, Tony-nominated Felicia Fields, The Voice’s Oliv Blu, and many exciting up-and-comers. More than 50,000 Chicago-area residents and out-of-town guests are expected to take in free Chicago Live! performances over the course of the two-day festival.
Chicago Live! was launched in 2021, following the pandemic, to reconnect audiences with Chicago's performing arts community after a devastating 18-month closure that left many in the industry in limbo. Exclusively showcasing Chicago-based artists, the festival has grown from 43 performing companies in its inaugural year to 111 groups and individual artists on-deck to appear at this September’s event.
Click here for Chicago Live! photos from 2023 performances.
ABOUT NAVY PIER
Located on Lake Michigan, Navy Pier is the top nonprofit tourism destination in the Midwest, stretching more than six city blocks and typically welcoming nearly 9 million annual guests. Originally opened in 1916 as a shipping and recreation facility, this Chicago landmark showcases more than 50 acres of parks, restaurants, attractions, retail shops, sightseeing and dining cruise boats, exposition facilities, and more. The Pier celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016 with the unveiling of the iconic Centennial Wheel, Polk Bros Park, Family Pavilion and Peoples Energy Welcome Pavilion. Today, Navy Pier continues to usher in its second century with ongoing Pier-wide redevelopment efforts – including Sable, a 223-room Hilton hotel, new restaurant and retail partnerships, and thrilling new attractions such as Flyover Chicago and Illuminarium. The Pier is proud to present free, year-round cultural programming designed to inspire, educate, and connect communities across the city and globe. Click here to donate to Navy Pier, a mission-driven 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, visit NavyPier.org.