Welcome to Dancing About Architecture. I see you’re in for pride. Your Melissa Etheride ’97 tour shirt tells me you may be here for music as well as getting your gay on. Glad to see you know that Pride is not only a great time to see a cross section of the Midwest gays or good lesbian spotting, but also a chance to see some great live music over the weekend.
Pride Weekend used to just be about the parade on Sunday, leaving the other days open for you to troll the bars. One year our pals at Northalsted Area Merchants Association decided a Pridefest, in the style of the successful Milwaukee one, was just the thing. They were right. After a few shaky years, they seemed to have started to bring it. This year they’ll be bringing you stars like Ultra Nate and Deborah Cox on Friday night; Mya, Crystal Waters and Kim English on Saturday. While a little ’90s-diva-heavy in my opinion, you can’t deny the star power and consistency, especially when there’s drag shows in between each act. If you need a break from all that weave, come with me and catch Chicago crowd pleasers Sixteen Candles and Rock Candy. So tasty.
A little drunk now on the music and warm Miller Lite? Let’s dance! You can hit some of Boystown’s best clubs with the locals. Start at Scarlet where early is best and the DJs are always edgy and addicting. When Scarlet closes, you can go south for craziness at Berlin, or more straightforward top-notch spinning at Hydrate. Don’t stay out too, too late. The parade is the next day.
Post parade, I’ll give you two amazing options. You can follow me up north and avoid the bars and messiness for Pride North, a one-night street party featuring live music by Sixteen Candles with opening DJ Voxbox. If you’re not ready to pass out, join the legendary Circuit Mom as he presents Evolution, a new dawn in dance parties featuring DJ Brett Henrichsen and Matthew Harvat’s always stunning visuals. If you make it out of Chicago unstimulated by all this audio, don’t say I didn’t try! Thanks for coming, girl!
See Moose at The Glenwood’s Pride North Festival June 26 at 4 p.m.