Warm Love Cool Dreams Pre-Festival Round-Up
Some anticipatory thoughts on Chicago’s thinking man’s festival
Back again! The good people over at the Empty Bottle Presents laced me with a light little press pass to their upcoming festival in the City of Midwestern Angels, Warm Love Cool Dreams. As such, this is the first of two articles about the fest.
It will be lit, so get in with me!
As always, tell them where you saw it and just how goddamn beautiful it was.
REQUIRED LISTENING
⬆️ APPLE MUSIC ⬆️
Concepts are not a thing that most people can handle these days. High concept, low concept, any concept — that heady shit just doesn’t connect with the masses. We want shit and we want that shit fast. Thus, the ideas guys have been left with no reason (or desire) to develop a concept just for people’s eyes to glaze over during its explanation and execution, especially when it comes to the dolts that attend music festivals.
The big festivals in their heyday weren’t super high concept, but for the most part, they had some sort of unifying theme. Lollapalooza used to be a massive cross-country tour that mixed alternative and hip-hop with the sideshow hijinks, and they stuck to it for years. Coachella, as an act of support for Pearl Jam’s coup against T*cketm*ster, cooked up an idea that centered around getting a ton of unchartable yet ultimately trending artists together and seeing what happened; heads were (now laughably) calling it the “anti-Woodstock.” I could go on.
Somewhere along the way, though, the concepts that separated the big festivals began to fade away, a process that was exacerbated by the COVID pandemic wiping away not just one festival season but two festival seasons. Now, every festival has the same fools play the same foolish game of musical chairs, performing the same foolish songs every year. It’s twisted, but, as with every art form, the mainstream fests are not indicative of the more subterranean. The big festivals are, by and large, the goal posts for every agent and marketer and manager and whoever else gives a fuck about sales, but there are plenty of conceptual, highly curated festivals around the country, many of which are doing things the right way.
Enter Warm Love Cool Dreams.
Warm Love Cool Dreams, anchored within Chicago’s most recently converted salt shed (aptly named the Salt Shed), a music compound-slash-arcade bar[? (sickening)], has only been iterated one time in fall of 2024, but don’t get it twisted — a time was had back then. The idea, concocted by the good people over at Empty Bottle Present, was simple:
Assemble a crew of legends, both established and in-the-making, each of whom is drenched in a tone that is at once hypnagogic and forward-looking
Organize them into either the turnt, electrified “Warm Love” or the mellowed, electro-fied “Cool Dreams” buckets based on sound and vibes
Arrange them all in such a way that there are very few, if any, overlapping sets.
Sounds like a recipe for success, right? Right as rain!
Back in 2024, success was served to the masses with ease, piping hot, too. These fools over at Empty Bottle Presents really put some thought into that shit. I only had the pleasure of going to the electrical and subdued “Cool Dreams” segment and am still kicking myself for missing the first day, but my god, was it electric! The acts of the day were SML, John Glacier, Sister Nancy(!), Shabaka, 454 with an extended appearance from Pig the Gemini, Floating Points, and Kelela. Each of them put on sets that were unique to themselves while still managing to fit the Cool Dreams aesthetic. I’ll spare the details, but it was biblical.
The second iteration, returning THIS WEEKEND, on May 23rd and 24th, is shaping up to bring the individuality and panache back to the Salt Shed in a very real way and turn that crap up to ten. This time around, there will be 15 eclectic, varied acts looking to make their presences to Chicago’s most tapped-in citizens (over the age of 25). I’m excited. In fact, I’m so excited that I’ve taken it upon myself to break down the line-up and share a few brief thoughts about it.
For ease of consumption and personal planning purposes, these thoughts will be rounded up into three timeless categories: broke, woke, and bespoke. Broke, of course, is for the busted-up acts brought in simply to hock tickets to the masses. Woke is attributed to the acts that simply make too much sense on this bill and simply had to be included. Bespoke is for the truly inspired decisions, the brain-expanders and the mind-melters. Bespoke is the absolute pinnacle, and broke is the filthy rock-bottom gum that exists on the sole of the festival’s proverbial shoe, on display for the world to see.
Let’s do this.
Broke
What’s understood does not need to be explained, so the broke performers will receive a mere blurb about what makes them…well, broke. Plus, the business of dogging someone out is not the business for me, so I will abstain as best I can.
YHWH Nailgun
Digi-inflected butt hardcore will never sit right with me, and this shit really does not sit right with me. Yes, the Philadelphia teeny punkers are hot, and yes, they have a controversial name, but the product is as flat as it is uninspired. They’re like Show Me The Body for the next generation, and that’s fine. Everyone deserves to catch an edge somehow, even the suits!
The kids will be pushing to this one.
Moin
An art-y band on a bill with several other art-y bands should make sense — why wouldn’t it? — but in my mind, we’ve had enough gruffly-delivered, math-y amplifier worship. People really like Moin, though, so maybe the band is an inspired selection and I’m simply a non-believer. Now, if only their labelmates GB were on the bill, then we’d be talking about something specal. But what do I even know? Only time will tell.
Courtney Barnett
I understand it — Courtney Barnett is a real legend when it comes to this timelessly cheugy singer-songwriter rock shit, but I just barely even see how she slots in with the others here. Here’s to hoping that I can open my eyes in time to see the vision.
Pixel Grip
Pixel Grip is local, yes, but that doesn’t mean that they needed to be included. I had some really nasty drivel here, but it is perhaps best left unsaid, so I’ll leave it at this: PG is not for me. And that is fine! But of all the broke acts in this line-up, they might be the brokest. Sorry, but we don’t need this anymore. We just don’t.
The kids better not be pushing to this one.
Woke
These are the acts that just make sense on the bill. Their selection was as painstaking as it was thoughtful, and they will certainly show out over the weekend.
The Jesus and Mary Chain
All-time favorite band? Maybe not, but I fuck with them and most reasonable people share that same sentiment. They’re simply legends. For me, the Jesus and Mary Chain is classic rock. Sure, these Brits are a touch overripe (just a touch!) but that doesn’t mean that they can’t/won’t throw down! And they certainly will throw down at Warm Love Cool Dreams. Great pick from the organizer. I can’t wait to leave the venue feeling like I’ve been wallowing underwater for three days. No lie!
Mark William Lewis
A guy signed to the brand new A24 Music division is, like, the platonic ideal of an artist that makes sense on a bill like this. MWL, despite his ghoulish, Lurch-like appearance and speech pattern, has a little something for everyone, thanks to his potent blend of hypnagogic soft rock and ambient ephemera. He’s got the hits, the chillers, and everything in between. Keep your eyes open for this one. Might just mess around and try to jump off the stage during “Skeletons Coupling.”
Whitney
Truly flabbergasted was I to see fucking Whitney on the lineup, but, I must say, I don’t hate it. I thought long and hard about this one, but they belong here. They slot pleasantly between the retro-futurists and the futuro-retroists that dominate the Warm Love Cool Dreams bill. Plus, they’re guaranteed to sell tickets to all the normals and twees that quietly exist all over Chicago.
Toro Y Moi
Similar to Whitney, Toro Y Moi was initially a shocking participant, but after taking a beat and re-visiting the highlights new and old, the artist known familiarly as Chaz Bear will be right at home. And he’ll be armed and ready to get the people in motion as he unleashes his singular brand of throwback chillwave.
Jimmy Note: I caught a Toro Y Moi show in Detroit when he was promoting the release of Outer Peace, and he put on a fun show! So shoutout to him for keeping his head down and grinding after all these years.
Smerz
I don’t get it, but other people certainly do. Smerz and their strange, blunt, occasionally dull music make perfect sense on this bill. They’ll bring the fun and the vibes, and they’ll deliver both in a way that is going to drive the people nuts (in a good way!). They fit right in with the Cool Dreams concept on Sunday. But I just don’t know if I get their whole thing, and that’s okay. Real recognizes real.
Being Dead
I feel that I’ve been nothing but transparent thus far, and I will continue being transparent by stating that Austin, Texas’s Being Dead is not my cup of tea. But, like every other act on this bill that isn’t my cup of tea, Being Dead is the perfect jigsaw piece to get the ball rolling on the puzzle that is Warm Love Cool Dreams. They have an early slot on Sunday, and their spacey, Beach Boys-y, psych-y, whisper-y vibe is the perfect, well, vibe for that situation. The heads will be rocking with this band in the moment, even if they never listen to them again. It just had to be done.
Bespoke
There are no two ways about it: the bands could have only been selected through divine intervention. It’s the only way. They’re weird, they’re off-kilter, and they’re simply perfect. Like, WHAT?
Let’s effing go.
Tobacco City
Tobacco City, an Americana-leaning five piece, does not make much sense on this bill, much like Courtney Barnett, but much unlike Courtney Barnett, they really rock — the fact that the main songwriter is named Chris Coleslaw be damned! The opening line on their recent album Horses is “We were smokin’ schwag behind the grocery store / We were huffin’ gas directly from the can.” That’s fire! Tobacco City is psychedelic, slow-burning band who are largely not aligned with the rest of the bill (apart from CB) whatsoever, but who fucking cares? No one is doing it like them. Rock with them.
Nourished by Time
For my dollar, Nourished by Time’s Marcus Brown is the pound-for-pound greatest musician of his generation. Nobody genre-morphs with the same reckless abandon as he does, and if anyone somehow does, they sure aren’t doing it with the same swagger! In Brown’s brief career, he’s jumped from outsider RnB to yacht-y, 80s-style soft rock to high-gloss disco, and he’s done it all in a manner that makes it feel like he’s been perfecting his craft for decades, not mere years. Truly, what a treat it is to be gifted a mid-day Sunday set from the young GOAT. I’m more than likely going to tell my children about this one day. Just watch me.
To say that I’m geeked is an understatement.
Tortoise
What even needs to be said? Tortoise are real-deal hometown heroes! They released their first album in nearly ten years just last summer! That album, Touch, fucking ruled! Tortoise really deserves this after grinding and grinding for damn near forty years or whatever!
My ass will be sat. Or stood, rather.
Jimmy Note: I just found out that Tortoise’s drummer, John Herndon, is the father of both 2hollis and the frontman of LA straight edge hardcore band Start Today! I wonder if he’s proud of his little boys…probably is.
Kumo 99
Now, punk-y breakbeat is something that I will always find passé to the highest degree, but Kumo 99 really put their soul into this shit! And I respect that, so dance and bump with glee. Good pull from the organizers, great way to set this entire shit off. I anticipate big things from them.
Lauren Auder
Lauren Auder is a tough piece to place in all of this. Her brand of baroque pop confoundingly crushes and combines hip hop, electronic, classical, and *checks notes* “Christian imagery,” at least according to her Apple biography, but the music really neither sounds nor looks like any of that at all. Yet, I’m still intrigued. Auder’s music feels “dusted off” in the way that all these acts do. It’s like they’re the sonic equivalents of a recently unearthed t-shirt or jacket that is about to be stunted in a fresh, new way. Regardless, she’s perfect for this bill, and she may just end up stealing the show.
What a gas!
IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO UP A TICKET OR TWO FOR YOU AND SOMEONE YOU LOVE!
Be back soon with extended Warm Love Cool Dreams post-game coverage some time after the festival has concluded.
Streets are saying that there is a free pontoon ride around the venue…could provide some serious fodder.
Toodles!
I can't believe that's how cheugy is being put on paper
This festival seems like fun! Toro y Moi is my second favorite Philippino-American musician!