We did it again, y’all. On Saturday, March 4th, we once again joined forces with our cronies at Goose Island and threw a block party on the frigid streets of the Ukrainian Village. To our delight, bout 2,000 well-behaved (subject to opinion) humans (plus a couple dogs and other mammals) came to party with us. In case you missed out, short recap below with pictures to boot!

Gates opened at 1pm, with the Goose Island beer a-flowin’. The inside of the Empty Bottle was a tropical paradise, complete with blow-up palm trees and cardboard tiki men. Lumpen Radio DJs were spinning throughout the day, starting with Sol Son, moving into Logan Bay, and closing out with SONORAMA.

Photo by: Christopher Alvarez

Chicago three-piece DIM took the stage first, captivating the crowd with their heavy, aggressive brand of shoegaze. SNEAKS, aka Eva Moolchan, performed next, bringing the unique blend of post-punk developed in her hometown of Washington, D.C. SNEAKS was like a nice shot of adrenaline on this chilly March day.

New Jersey trio SCREAMING FEMALES gave us a killer set, filled with wild vocal energy and raging guitar licks. Hell, we watched it from way up on the roof and it felt like we were front row center! After SCREAMING FEMALES came the unveiling of our surprise guest: legendary MC KOOL KEITH aka DR. OCTOGAN. For the true heads in the audience it was a welcome shock.  For those who have no idea who KOOL KEITH is, we can only assume they thought it was the strangest METZ intro they had ever seen.

The lovely Canadian gentlemen of METZ closed out the evening. By gentlemen, we mean blow your eardrums, strain your neck style noise-rockers. Couldn’t think of a better group of lads to close out our fourth Music, Frozen, Dancing block party.

Thank you to everyone who came out and especially to our neighbors for being down with this insane idea year after year. Shout out to Mike Broers, winner of the Synth-Chili Cook-Off, whose chili recipe we served at the fest via Bite Cafe.  Sales from said chili were donated to our friends at One Tail At A Time. We like dog. We like you.  Thanks also to Dark Matter for keeping us warm and jacked.  To our Goose Island people, we did it, let’s get lit.

Thank you Chicago, see you in the snowbanks in 2018.

-Empty Bottle Presents

#musicfrozendancing

(All photos credit to Sarah O'Neill unless otherwise stated)

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This past weekend of  LEVITATION CHICAGO at Thalia Hall was quite the time! Spring is upon us and we find ourselves on the other side of a killer three days of music at LEVITATION CHICAGO music festival.  Let's dive on in to revisit how great of a time we had music-friendly-dancing (and drinking LAGUNITAS beer)all over Thalia Hall. [Pictures by Allison Taich ]First things first, thank you to everyone that came out. We hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did!DAY 1Thursday began withthe jaw-dropping performance (both musically and acrobatic) by  EARTHEATER aka Alexandra Drewchin. Israeli shoegaze group VAADAT CHARIGIM followed, their strictly Hebrew lyrics resonate with us all. The always entertaining GARY WILSON came next with his taboo experimental performance, backed by an entirely local band, including favorites JIMMY WHISPERS and BEN BILLINGTON. LA metal dudes HEALTH played the crowd with a serious lesson in head-banging.. This set the scene perfectly for headliner ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER, who's experimental set is still thumping in our eardrums. HAUSU MOUNTAIN DJS killed it spinning between sets.VAADAT CHARIGIMGARY WILSONHEALTHONEOHTRIX POINT NEVERDAY 2Australian postpunk band NITE FIELDS began Friday night by propelling the crowd into outer space. Next was the electronic drone solo project of Benjamin John Power, aka BLANCK MASS, who was blowing minds and taking names. Chicago folk musician RYLEY WALKER made everyone feel at home before Sir Richard Bishops' latest project RANGDA burned that house down. LIGHTNING BOLT, probably the best known (and perhaps only) noise band of their kind, parked their set on the ground for a more intimate experience. The reunited ROYAL TRUX proved that one big breakup and a decade of barely speaking did not hinder their musical chemistry. Through it all, THRILL JOCKEY  DJS kept the party going in between sets.Additional photos + a recap of day two can be found via The Line of Best Fit.LIGHTNING BOLTRYLEY WALKERDAY  3The last day of LEVITATION CHICAGO began with METHYL ETHEL nailing it with their cozy indie-rock. NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY & BITCHIN' BAJAS were up next, a unbeatable combination with synths and sintir abounding. NIGHT BEATS were next, bringing along their garage-psych set, which made us feel like teens who just discovered their parents album collection. The awe-inspiring  CIRCUIT DES YEUX left her ethereal home planet to grace the crowd with her presence, and then Stoner-prog instrumentalist EARTHLESS lead the audience on a musically induced trip. Direct support German krautrock godfather's fAUst gave an unpredictable, experimental Psychedelic set that was a privilege to witness. Headliner doom-folk goddess CHELSEA WOLFE closed out LEVITATION CHICAGO 2016 breathing life into her haunting yet entrancing songwriting. PERMANENT RECORDS DJS kept the party going in between sets.CIRCUIT DES YEUXEARTHLESSFAUSTNIGHT BEATSPERMANENT RECORDS DJs----NEXT UP on our EBP festival radar is Do Division Fest:  Friday, June 3rd 5-10pm... Saturday & Sunday, June 4th & 5th 12-10 pm.

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Hoop Dreams Basketball Sportsmanship

This past Sunday, October 12th, rather than staying home and drinking Sambuca all day, we joined forces with Jimmy Whispers to host the first ever HOOP DREAMS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT. The tournament (and music fest) was located at 1834 W Chicago Ave and it was created to raise funds for CeaseFire, the Illinois branch of the Cure Violence Organization, which operates in 6 cities throughout the state – Chicago, Maywood, Rockford, East St. Louis, Springfield, and North Chicago/Waukegan.We opened the gates just after noon and the lot started filling up right away. Notable members of the community came by and sipped on beer from Revolution Brewing and enjoyed food from The Doner Men Truck and Soups in the Loop.The first game of the day got pretty heated as local record store heavyweights Reckless Records faced off against Permanent Records. Many picked PRex to go all the way since they had home court advantage (the tourney took place at a lot just a few doors down from Permanent's store). With the high-flying-heroics of the All-American Boi Chris Kramer (SLUSHY/THE LEMONS), their team looked in top form and they took an early lead.Reckless wasn't hearing it though. They kept their heads down, tightened up on D and proved the naysayers wrong. Coming out victorious, thanks in large part to the hard-nosed and wily playing of one called “Rascal” (BARE MUTANTS).The second game featured a couple of our favorite home-town record labels, with Hozac Records squaring off against Drag City. Leading the Drag City team was triple-threat Jimmy Whispers (JIMMY WHISPERS), who helped organize the event, performed a set of his music, and balled O.C. (that's outta control for all you noobs). Unfortunately for Drag City, Mr. Whispers was too busy to make many shots. Hozac jumped out to a large lead, led by strong efforts in the paint from James Swanberg (TODAYSHITS/THE LEMONS) and Spike Johnson (SPIKE AND THE SWEET SPOTS). With only two minutes left on the clock and down by 14 points, Drag City’s fate looked sealed. However, Brett Sova (AXIS: SOVA) wasn’t going to lie down and take it. He led his team back. With the help of a miracle buzzer beater, the teams headed to OVERTIME!The comeback was certainly one for the books, but Hozac proved to be far too much during OT. The clock had struck midnight on Drag City’s Cinderella Story. Such a loss could have been truly heart breaking for the Drag City dudes and all the fans that had been cheering them on during their come back, but RADAR EYES was there to rock all our troubles away. We cracked open another Revolution and it was like everybody was friends and no one was ever sad... Although it must be noted that many shooty-hoopers weren't too happy with the tournament's volunteer ref after the second game. So much for good sportsmanship!With the title match between Hozac and Reckless all set, Permanent and Drag City played each other in a consolation game. Permanent won, making them the 3rd place team in the first ever HOOP DREAMS CHARITY BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT. This game was a crowd favorite because both teams had black uniforms, which led to them inevitably going SHIRTS VS SKINS.  Hell yeah - lookin' good, fellas!Speaking of “Hell Yeah” moments, Jimmy Whispers serenaded the crowd with his uniquely honest and painfully-raw love songs. MAGIC MILK jumped on stage to play along with him for part of the set. We can’t show you pictures because Kenny wasn’t wearing any pants. Instead check out these other pics of Kenny from the day, and imagine him in his underwear on your own time, OK!Fine. We’ll show you one pic of Kenny in his underpants, but that's all you get.The title game was something truly special. Reckless started out hot, raining threes on team Hozac. The lead would not last, and following a sluggish start, Hozac started scoring in bunches. It looked like Hozac had an iron grip on the game. But then Kelly Nothinig (THE LEMONS/ANIMAL KINGDOM) started to drain 3 point shot after 3 point shot to give Reckless hope and get the crowd going NUTS! Guess they don't call her Kelly "Nothing But Net" 420 for nothing.In the end it was too little too late, and Hozac held off Reckless’s advances to become the winners of the first ever HOOP DREAMS CHARITY BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT. Here are the people behind all of Team Hozac’s glory: Todd & Robyn.Former Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan was in attendance, hanging out at the scorer’s table and doing a little announcing along with Joe Jeffers and Cullen from Smith Westerns.All agreed, that the reffing was really strong throughout the tournament, but truly the day was about community and charity.Photos by Sam Awesum & Roman Sobus

This past Saturday we hosted our First AnnualMusic Frozen Dancing. The winter block party went far beyond what we expected it might do, especially considering how much this winter has kicked our asses. Our head honcho, Bruce, has been wanting to host a winter festival/party-of-sorts for well over a decade, and sure enough, it finally came to fruition during the third worst winter Chicago has ever experienced.Hundreds of people were in attendance, sipping on Goose Island brews, Dark Matter Coffee, and some delicious home-made spiced cider. Bite Cafe provided some piping hot chili, along with Reigning Chili-Synth Lord Travis Thatcher, whose proceeds went to benefit PAWS Chicago. The bands all kicked total ass, not letting the 25° weather keep them from getting the crowd amped throughout the day. A mosh pit even broke out during DIARRHEA PLANET's set, though people were definitely moving and grooving during HEAVY TIMES' and MARNIE STERN's sets, as well. People were smiling throughout and having a great time, even as the snow started to fall. At one point we saw a dog riding his owner's back, so there's that!Needless to say, it was one of the most memorable winter afternoons we have had in a long time. We want to thank everyone involved, especially Goose Island for helping us put it all together. Of course, the fans are what made it so special, so big thanks to all of you fine folks who came out. We can't wait to do it again next year!

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 Check out some more post-festival coverage at 

Chicagoist

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Windy City Times

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Midwest Action

and 

On Warmer Music

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Mark your calendars, boyz and girlz, cause it's that time of year, when we throw a new spin on an old favorite - it's the Empty Bottle Friendly Family Block Party, coming to you LIVE and just outside our front door. We're shutting down the stretch of paved road south of our building to welcome any and all for a summer bash unlike any this city has seen before. Last year, as you may (or may not) remember, we had a few bands and some food trucks outside our doors. This year there will be seven bands, all of which feature a staff member of the Bottle! We'll be serving up delicious street food, courtesy of Bite Cafe chef Dave Cooper, and Revolution Brewing will be providing folks with frosty brews. Unfortunately we had to scrap the overly-expensive dunk tank, so we might just get a kiddie pool for people to relax in...The programming for this event, much like a week spent at the Bottle, is all over the map. The party's lineup will run the gamut - from arty metal to messy garage, indie-pop to thrashy punk, all your rock & roll desires will be fulfilled throughout the day. Here's the lineup:YAKUZA ** RABBLE RABBLE ** CIRCLES ** PLANETSEXPLODER ** PET LIONS ** GUZZLEMUG ** NUDE INTEUDERThe bar will be open throughout the day and, of course, there will be non-alcoholic drinks for our more responsible friends. "Street food," for those who don't know, is basically anything you can eat with one hand - sandwiches and sausages and all that good stuff. There will be vegetarian options available, too, so anyone and everyone can grab some food while they're poundin' delicious bevs.For those who need a break from the summer sun for some cool AC, we'll have activities inside the Bottle, as well. There will be a face painter, duh, and a nail artist who can turn your fingers and/or toes into graphic wonders. We'll also include an area for people to play Corn Hole (or Bags, depending on where you're from). Stay tuned for more, cause we're cookin' up more fun for the indoors.Gates will open at noon and it's a $5 (suggested donation). We'll be planning some late-night shenanigans, as well, so stay tuned and get ready. And as with every suggested donation, the $5 is mandatory. No, seriously - we're serious.

P4K Lolla

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Summer Festival Season is in full swing all over Chicago and two of the biggest fests, the annual Pitchfork & Lollapalooza music gatherings, are just around the corner. Say what you will about the fests (actually, don't), but we think it's great that they allow for us to have Aftershows at our venue. We get to welcome acts that have become popular enough to have outgrown our fair room, and whether you want to stand out in the heat and/or rain, you can still come rock the eff out with totally killer bands in an intimate space. WIN-WIN!This year we've got two more Aftershows to announce, one for Pitchfork and one for Lollapalooza, and we're damn excited for both of em!The Friday of PITCHFORK (7/19) we're hosting the first of three Panache Booking Aftershows, and this one will feature legendary punk band THE ZEROS!Making their first appearance ever on our stage, THE ZEROS will be supported by local psych/garage/rock heroes OUTER MINDS and Minneapolis rockers THE BLIND SHAKE. Tickets are $15 and you can get em NOW - grab em here!For Lollapalooza, we've teamed up with C3 & the Red Bull Sound Select Series to bring UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA back to our stage for their first time since 2011.UMO, as they're lovingly known, released their excellent sophomore album, appropriately titled II, on Jagjaguwar Records at the beginning of the year and tonight they'll be joined by two fantastic, steadily-rising Chicago bands BARE MUTANTS and NETHERFRIENDS. Tickets are on sale NOW and they're going fast - grab some here before they're gone!EB out.

As you may already know, we announced our Official Lollapalooza Aftershows at the beginning of June and we’ve got some real burners coming to our home that first weekend in August. Each show will all be starting at around 10pm as to not interfere with any fest-attendees travel plans from Grant Park to our humble abode. All three nights have already sold out, but we've got your chance to snag some tickets in this here post...On Thursday, August 1st we welcome Virginia-based dream-pop experts WILD NOTHING, who will be joined by Chicago/Milwaukee soft-rockers CIRCLES and Chicago-based powergazers PINK FROST.Wild Nothing - “A Dancing Shell”We’re welcoming back Brooklyn indie-rock band DIIV on Saturday, August 3rd – the band opened for WILD NOTHING in late 2012 and this will be their first headlining gig at the Bottle. Opening the show are a few local favorites: poppy rock mutants RADAR EYES and minimal synth-babe MATCHESS.DIIV - “Doused”To close out the weekend, we’re getting wet and wild with California alt-punks WAVVES, a band that last played the Bottle as an Official Lolla Aftershow in 2011. This time around they’re joined by Chicago-based space-rockers E.T. HABIT Milwaukee power-rockers CALL ME LIGHTNING.Wavves - “Demon To Lean On”

Like we said, tickets to each show are sold out, but we're gonna be giving away a pair of tickets to each show through this here blog, so now's when you find out how you can score tickets of your own...Now that we're half-way through the year, people are gonna start making their 

Best Records of the Year (So Far)

 lists - normally we'd mock such a thing and make a snarky Facebook post, and that still might happen in the coming weeks, BUT we're also quite curious about what our friends are listening to. In the comments section, tell us what your favorite record of the year is (so far), along with which show you're trying to see,

by noon on Monday, June 24th

and you'll be entered to win a pair of tickets. GOOD LUCK!

Greetings, Earthlings. Welcome to our new diary... it's a "Blog."This is where you can find the most up-to-date news on all the various happenings at the Empty Bottle. We’ll be using this platform to announce new events, give away tickets to upcoming and sold out shows, post photos and videos from past shows, and generally just riff on what’s going on around da club. We want to share things with you here, and honestly, we want you to share things with us. The comments section is open because we’d love to hear your opinion, as long as it’s respectful (and well-informed). Just don’t be a dick. This isn’t YouTube – all you internet Trolls should go back under your bridge and harass kids on the internet elsewhere. Actually, no – don’t do that. Stop doing that. Go outside and play – you could use some sunshine. Be friendly.Speaking of comments, there's a contest in the comments section of this post! List FIVE THINGS YOU KNOW by noon on Friday, June 21st and you'll be entered to win a pair of tickets to the sold out COLD CAVE show at the Bottle on June 24th. Seriously, just tell us five things that you are sure you know for your chance to win tickets. Good luck...Here’s a video for your eyes and ears...