In this installment of We Listen, we finally address that 98% of the survey responses ask for free stuff. We understand, you want everything to be free because you were amazed by your recent trek to Burning Man and why can't we all just live in a trade-based economy, you know? Yeah, man, we know... Enough hippie-talk, we have over a dozen shows and events coming up that are FREE or FREE w/ RSVP this fall, so there - free stuff for you all. Now come up with more suggestions about not free things. Also, we would like to address that 100% of the responses request free beer and while we can't do that, we do have special vouchers for drinks in the PRIZE MACHINE and we know that it is technically not free but it is still kind of free. Remember: If everything was free, we would've closed 20 years ago. Think about how sad you'd be! Now wipe those tears and keep reading - there's lots to learn.TONIGHT (9/15) Scott and Charlene’s Wedding make their Empty Bottle debut! These New York-via-Australia rabble-rousers are in the midst of their first US tour and hitting our stage on their way to GONERFEST. Joining in on this international GONER night is Ireland's So Cow, who formed in South Korea and have albums on TIC TAC TOTALLY and an upcoming/tomorrow release on GONER. Check 'em out below.
TOMORROW (9/16) we're hosting a *SIDEWALK SLAM* before the
LEE FIELDS & THE EXPRESSIONS
show w/ food, a dance off, prizes and more! (
)
lee fields sidewalk slam
You probably know this by now but EVERY FRIDAY at 5:30 we have the
THE
HOYLE BROTHERS
come in and play honky tonk music. They've been playing the Bottle for over a decade now and it's always a good ol' time if you like country back when it was still
country
(and dancing, lots of dancing). If you don't think this is your thing then why not try something new? IT'S FREE you've got nothing to lose!
Next MONDAY (9/ 22) North Carolina's husband-wife duo
Lowland Hum
grace our stage with the kind of folk-ish music you wanna ring fall in with. Joining them are
Sünken Ships
(members of SYBRIS, MY COLD DEAD HAND, QUATRE TETE and MUCHACHA) and the sweet, hopeful, tunes of
Darling.
TUESDAY (9/23) Portland's
Drunk Dad
turns it up with sludgy hardcore free-jazz noise rock that breaks down the stifling genre walls of yore and rewires the wreckage into a mega-heavy alloy of scuzz, filth, and noise in a knock-down, drag-out war of ill will wrapped in a nasty bow. It rips, it kills, and Portland's
Honduran
join them - powergrind / hardcore / powerviolence / grindcore / noise / thrash - "formed like Voltron to destroy shit, and that about all there is to it." If you have any more adjectives you'd like to see in this description please let us know. This one's
and there might be another free thing involved so stay tuned.SATURDAY (10/11) we bring back the
because the holidays are coming so you might as well stock up on cool gifts before you spend it all or just treat yoself. Over 30 excellent vendors will be there slanging their wares and it starts at 11 a.m. You could also just make a day of it and grab brunch / mimosas / bloody marys next door at Bite Cafe to aid you in your perusing.MONDAY (10/13) we bring Chicago locals
Lamp
/
Hollow Mountain
/
Le Tour
/ and
Strawberry Jacuzzi
to our stage. And maybe that slug looking thing, who knows? Support your local music scene. We do.
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THURSDAY (10/16) is the latest curation of
Curbside Splendor (
recently named Best Chicago Indie Publisher in 2014 by Chicago Magazine
) Words+Music
#6
, celebrating their release of their Fall 2014 books, including
Crazy Horse’s Girlfriend
by Erika T. Wurth,
Does Not Love
by James Tadd Adcox, and
Kill Manual
by Cassandra Troyan. Special guests: Chicago best-selling author
Joe Meno
, and touring L.A. author
Jim Ruland
. Performances by
Fashion Brigade
and
The Peekaboos
.
.
csfallbooks
MONDAY (10/20) Chicago synth-punk trio
Absolutely Not
return to headline the Bottle, playing their first show here since we had them twice in one month back in the spring. These enthusiastic, fuzzy, indie-leaning garage rockers are always a delight when they bring their snotty, charismatic and lean punk tunes to our stage.
Time Out Chicago
has praised them for generating “infectious one-two beat punk chords. It's an IGGY POP meets KEVIN BARNES approach to jagged garage-rock."
Fire Retarded
is a loud garage-punk band from Madison, Wisconsin. They wowed us with their speedy riffs, big breakdowns and even bigger stage presence last October and we’ve been hoping they’d come back to our fair stage ever since.
Swimsuit Addition
return and are bringing all the shenanigans with their version of dirty surf-pop/cheerleader grunge. These ladies have been hailed by the
Chicago Reader
for their "apocryphal-Halloween-scare-story bubblegum that's full of broken glass." YUM.
Mr. Ma'am
is a two-piece garage rock meets surfer grunge band from Chicago - and it's damn good.SUNDAY (10/26) is the Two-Year Anniversary of the Beat Swap Meet and this one's free with a canned food donation. Come dig around and buy / sell / trade records.
.
BEAT SWAP MEET
MONDAY (10/27)
Permanent Records
celebrates their Bronze Anniversary with a FREE
Oozing Wound
Record Release Show
with
Rectal Hygenics
and one more band that's TBA. This is going to be a shit show. Come roll around in it with us.
FRIDAY (11/7)
Tall Pat Records
brings a triple release show w/
Negative Scanner
,
Son of a Gun
,
Hollow Mountain,
and
Comm to Black
. Tall Pat Records has proven to be one of the most important record labels or things to emerge from the brain of Pat Sullivan in the last 20 years. In celebration of its meteoric rise to power in and around Chicago, the label is bringing its epic stable of bands to the Bottle for a night of endless Rock and Roll that will go until we legally have to close our doors at 2am.
.
No weak pits.SUNDAY (11/9)
Curbside Splendor
presents an afternoon with 30+ of the finest local and regional independent publishers, presses, & booksellers. The bar will be open, the music system will be going, so grab a cocktail as you ogle some books and satiate your bibliophiliac and holiday shopping needs - because we are smart people and smart people read books.
.MONDAY (11/10)
Maximum Pelt
brings
Foul Tip
,
Lil' Tits
, and
Perfume
for another local hot 'n heavy showcase.
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS. FREE STUFF FOR YOU ONLY.
