When I was younger, and full of life and love, I’d dream of Chicago. And I’m not sure what I’d actually dream of, because I had no way of knowing what the windy city actually looked like, but I guess I used it as something to hang on to.
Something to work and try and struggle for. All the other stuff would be worth it, because one day I’d finally get to go to Chicago.
Looking back now, I laugh a bit, and I see how naïve and full of youth I really was, but I’m glad I had that to hang on to. How, could I tell myself, though, that yes, you’re going to get to Chicago, but you’re gonna have to take the long way, and it’s just not gonna be the city you thought it was going to be. It’s going to be something so much more real. Something you never had the heart to dream about.
I say all this because in just under two months I will return once again to the city, and I will go again for House music. Arc Music festival is nearly upon us and with it a long list of amazingly unique DJ’s playing in the city that made this sound we love so much.
Last year was as emotional and life changing a trip I’ve ever had in my life. It tested me in ways I didn’t expect, and yet at the same time, I know even with my failures, it was what I needed it to be. But now that we’re a year later, I’ll admit I wasn’t at full capacity.
Our first festival since the end of the quarantine, it was challenging in only a way Chicago can be, but then again I didn’t know that until I got there.
With other cities it’s not the same. Say, New York, it’s so big you just feel like an ant, and you just go about your business.
Detroit’s the kind of place that you just get lost in. Everybody forgets it’s there, and yet when you’re there you can’t let it go. Then when you’re flying back, you think, how am I gonna ever convince the rest of the world, that the best city on the planet, is Detroit. It’s so insane that you accept the outrageousness of it immediately, and you move on.
But with Chicago it’s different. With Chicago there’s the reputation of a Metropolitan, and yet a cultural history unmatched by nearly every city in America, outside of New York. But New York, it affects everything and everybody. Chicago speaks to the house in you.
You can feel it in its walls when you walk the streets. Or the people sleeping on the sidewalk as these giant buildings tower over them all. How can there be such a distance between the two? Such poor surrounded by such wealth? How did we become this?
Chicago forced me to see that as much as any city I’ve ever been to. You can feel the gap between the rich man and the poor more than anywhere I had been before. I went for the music and I was given a lesson on society. At least in this country.
I’m not sure what I’ll find this time, and yet I know I must go again. The plane tickets are bought, the hotel is reserved, and we have no reason to turn back. Again, Chicago. Again, for House music.
When looking at this lineup I can think of one set that cannot be missed, and of course it’s the b2b of Mark Farina and Derrick Carter. There are no two DJ’s that have introduced House Music to me more, and being able to see them together, in the city that made this sound, is more than a dream come true.
It’s a chance at hearing it exactly the way it was meant in exactly the place it was made. Any chance you have at seeing each DJ, you can’t overlook, but now to see them together is something that I’ll say again, just can’t be missed.
Another dope name on the lineup is the one and only Norman Cook, also known as Fatboy Slim. I cannot believe, after all these years, I am finally going to see Fatboy live, and it’s gonna be in Chicago. How does life turn out like this? How are the planets lined up to create such a moment?
I can remember being a teenage boy, and hearing ‘Praise You’ for the first time, having no real idea what it was, and yet knowing, it was something good. Something I still cherish now. I have never seen Fatboy Slim in my life, and yet that will change in September. And what if he plays the Elrow Stage?
From there the list goes on, with Honey Dijon at the top of it, another Chicago Legend, the mega duo that is Get Real, Ricardo freakin’ Villalobos, Carl Cox, and Paco Osuna. Along with some great British house DJ’s in Gorgon City, Skream and Chris Lake.
I LOVE CHRIS LAKE!
Don’t think Chicago can’t do Techno either, because included in this lineup are some techno titans in the legend Richie Hawtin, Brazilian powerhouse Anna, and two Italian maestros in Enrico Sangiuliano and Joseph Capriati. Also, don’t forget the great German duo, Pan Pot.
Last year’s Expansions stage was heavy on the techno and I expect it to go even further with these amazing DJ’s all agreeing to meet in Chicago. I’m beyond excited to see how the Techno goes.
If you have the chance to go to Chicago, go, and don’t just go for the music, go for the culture, and the life that goes on within it. Such an epicenter. Each building so unique.
And the Riverwalk. Or the House of Blues. Or maybe go get some spaghetti at Portillos. If they’re open.
Finally making it to a Cubs game even though deep down all I want is a black white sox hat. Feeling alive just one more time. Chicago, again. Chicago. Just like I dreamed of.
Maybe I’ll see you there?
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