11 Mar 14

"Turn the music up!" ~ Mod Sun

Hey, blogspot readers, it's a one exciting (busy) week for this roving party scene queen of local music! Tonight, kicks off record number of five shows happening ...with two happening in one night. Will she survive on little sleep and intense partying with bands like Mr. Russia, The Disclaimers and The Hot Sauce Committee? Well, it wouldn't be the first time SouthSide has overly booked her calendar to support bands locally as well as touring nationally because blogspot readers, it's not just a job but an adventure! On this particular night, she traveled to the Southside of town where fans of all ages packed Reggie's Rock Club to see the young hip/pop sensation T. Mills bring his "All I Wanna Do" tour with his free-love, hippie pal Mod Sun and Blackbear who opened the show. 

Now granted, this reviewer isn't a huge fan of the hip hop/pop scene but she did enjoy the show especially when Mod Sun performed on stage. This act had the entire main floor energetically bursting to life with its homage to the late 60s/early 70s Woodstock vibe yet within a boom-bastic bass sound, rhythmic flow and tight lyrical verse. Basically, blogspot readers, it's "hippy hop" according to the official Mod Sun site page since the band's mission is to be "happy". And after watching these "hippy" hopsters, it goes beyond the 'happy" phase. The artist behind Mod Sun strongly advocates for the simple things in life that keep him in a constant state of this "happy" groove like smoking marijuana, drinking lemonade with vodka and more - as heard from the lyrics to "Happy As Fuck" but it's all about having the power of positive thinking and outlook on life. It's the main reason why he doesn't have fans per se. He treats them as friends. Performing songs like "Stoner Girl" (which had the Reggie's security detail working overtime because of the strong presence of weed floating around the venue which was coming from the fog machine) and "Never Quit Smoking", Mod somewhat did have a positive message for the youth of this millennial age mixed within his style of hip hop/rap combined inside the intense electric guitar riffs and unique digital rhythmic beats. If you think it was crazy on stage during his performance, you should have been lost amongst the many teenage to young adults crowding around the rock side of Reggie's. It was cra, cra crazy, blogspot readers! It was like an intense workout watching both Mod Sun and crowd feed off each other throughout this fast and furious set ...watching every single moment how he constantly kept them in a "happy" state of motion especially when he emphatically declared "...I'll never quit smoking ...I'll be getting high til the day I die..." to all of his friends. Yep, he's the modern day hippie who enjoys having a good time in the sunshine while seeing his glass half full with a twist. SouthSide highly recommends catching this act at his next performance. Expect Mod's first EP Hippy Hop to drop in May. For more information about Mod Sun, visit http://www.modsun.com.

"You fuckin' sound like a Friday night" ~ T. Mills

All it took was for the road crew to set up the T. Mills promotional photo shots on stage for the entire venue to erupt into frantic  nonstop screaming, blogspot readers, to which got SouthSide wondering - is this what it's like at a Justin Bieber concert? It must be because there was a lot of screaming to be heard throughout T. Mills' headlining performance which didn't stop until it was over. The hip/pop artist had the right look ...almost the same Bieber haircut ...suave moves and debonair charm - yep, he had it all including the right amount of ballad to have each girl at Reggie's thinking he was singing exclusively to them. Having survived her own teenaged pop fascination (and this reviewer is not revealing who it was), she can understand how special they felt  whenever he would lean over the stage to briefly touch their outstretched hands to personally connect with them. It was utterly amazing to watch T. Mills and his stage persona charm the heck out of them during songs like "Friday Night", "Leaving Home" (it may be an "old" song but liked the R&B groove)  and "Diamonds" (a special song dedicated to his grandmother - "...we're gonna shine forever...") before intensely rockin' the stage with fast hip/pop songs. What made his stage performance almost like a rock show, blogspot readers, was the live drum/percussion that accompanied his programmed music and tight lyrical flow but nothing as highly energetic compared to Mod Sun's set. This was more of a laid back with the momentum felt at the right particular moments in between his ultra smooth vocals at the chorus and lyrical flow. After teaching the crowd his ad lib for 2014 (which they got on the first try), it was time to "Pump Up the Volume" (need to turn down the bass just a little) to which had fans returning to the state of frantic frenzy while "Riverside Girl" had them mellowing to a cold R&B/funk groove amidst a bounce rhythmic beat. It was an awesome example of chill-out, blogspot readers, that had some ladies around SouthSide swooning. And for one lucky fan name Danielle - T. Mills dedicated "All I Wanna Do" to her. SouthSide highly recommends checking out T. Mills while he's currently on tour. For more information, visit http://www.tmillsmusic.com.

Since it was an early show, SouthSide headed to Lakeview's Elbo Room for some angry robotic music, blogpsot readers. It was Wire-Tripped night at the upstairs lounge where Circuitry and Sean Payne (of Cyanotic) were spinning the best in industrial/synthpop/cold wave/electro/ebm music while under a relaxed atmosphere with the cult movie classic Blade Runner playing on the screen. For a wet, dreary and then snowy night, it nice to see people coming out to attend this free event. Meanwhile downstairs, bands like Semple, Breaking Through and Silverside were rockin' the stage beneath the dazzling lights until midnight. This reviewer plans to review more of Chicago's EDM/dance scene such as Queen (happening at Smartbar), NOCTURNA, Convergence and more in the coming months. So stay tuned. Also, check out Sean Payne and others spinning more angry robotic noises at NEO every second Friday of the month.

Until next time, support your local scene,

SouthSide