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)

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

, 

Windy City Times

,

Midwest Action

and 

On Warmer Music

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