All photos by: Kristine Sherred

Chicago presented a beautiful hot and sunny day for the annual Green Music Street Festival held in the heart of the Windy City’s Wicker Park district the other week. Recycling and going green are what this two day street festival is all about as more than 15 mostly local, with a couple national, bands geared up to jam out to the eco-friendly crowd.

With so many music and street festivals booked in Chicago during the summer, it’s slim pickings in terms of some of the larger bands other festivals can bring in. However, what GMSF lacks in this department it more than makes up for in local talent. With the exception of Manchester Orchestra on Saturday night, groups such as the Carbon Tigers, Future Monarchs, and This Must Be The Band (A Talking Heads cover group) made the weekend an enjoyable place to discover some new sounds.
 

 
With environmentally-sustainable companies and products lining the street, we made our way over to see one band in particular: The Western. An indie-rock troupe based in Chicago, The Western has been hard at work evolving their sound and working on a new EP, name TBD. Green Music Street Festival was the first time I had the chance to catch up with the group for more than a year as they rocked the South stage to early afternoon fest goers.

With an updated sound, The Western rocked out to new singles such as “Captain” and “Zombie Mom,” giving the growing audience a taste of the indie-rock sounds from their upcoming EP. Interspersed with some of their older material, including crowd favorites such as “Welcome to the 70’s” and “Utah Song,” the group didn’t need much help from the midday sun to heat up festival attendees. By the end of their set, not one band member had a dry shirt – a sure sign that these guys take the job of their performances very seriously while still have a great time.

While you may not yet have heard of The Western, rest assured that they are working very hard to change that. Watch for these guys to only get bigger as they continue rocking Chicago’s burgeoning music scene one stage at a time. Check out two tracks off their upcoming EP below, “Captain” and “Reminders,” and if you like what you hear, be sure to check them out on their Bandcamp page.

 

 

 

 

 

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