Tomorrow Never Knows
Festival Preview
Various Venues/ Chicago, IL

Publicity Photo - Review By Andy Argyrakis

Winter is always the hardest season for music lovers because so few bands hit the road and who can blame them? After all, the below freezing temperatures, blustery snow and icy roads are enough to make even the proudest polar bear wish they were somewhere south. Thankfully though, there is one relatively recent development in the indie rock scene that’s giving faithful a much needed new year concert fix. Enter Chicago’s Tomorrow Never Knows, a festival spanning January 11-15 that’s spread across prominent venues like Schubas, Lincoln Hall, Metro, Smartbar and Hideout, bringing a mix of national and local bands, plus a handful of DJs and stand-up comics.

“It started in 2005, essentially out of Jeremiah Wallace from Paper Airplane Pilots, who worked here [at Schubas], looking to find support for a record release show,” recalls Matt Rucins, talent buyer and promoter for both Lincoln Hall and Schubas. “We figured it would be best to make it two nights of local bands, and by naming it, it would be easier to promote. It went well, so the next year we stuck to local bands, but added a third night and the idea stuck."

Though acts continue to be added, confirmed artists include headliners The Walkmen (performing a tenth anniversary concert), along with Grouplove, Glass Candy, Chromatics, Theophilus London, Two Gallants, Tycho, Active Child and Chairlift (amongst many others). Of course, there’s also a slew of even less familiar faces, but Rucins recommends showing up early because chances are one of the future’s most beloved bands could emerge from the event.

“Some of the stuff you might not be aware of unless you do some research, but if you know and like the headliner, you’re probably going to be fairly happy with who goes on before them,” he confirms. “Bon Iver did his first show in Chicago as part of Tomorrow Never Knows. We’ve also had Tapes ‘n Tapes, Dr. Dog, Handsome Furs, The Helio Sequence, Atlas Sound, Freelance Whales, Maps & Atlases, White Rabbits and The Redwalls, to name a few.”

Given the event’s Chicago roots, it’s understandable for prospective attendees to draw a mental parallel to Lollapalooza or Pitchfork Music Festival, but Rucins likens it loosely to SxSW in Austin or CMJ Music Marathon in New York. “I think this is for pretty serious music fans,” he continues. “Pavement’s not headlining and you’ve got to come out in the depths of winter in Chicago to see it. It also takes more effort from you and it’s not all one stop shopping. We provide a trolley to all venues, but there are also buses, trains and cabs. That makes it more along the lines of CMJ and SxSW, but it’s much, much smaller and it’s not a music conference. We don’t have panels and I don’t envision us going that route, but we do hope to keep up a diverse line-up and continuing partnering with other venues.”