Music
Red Bull Music Festival Chicago Highlights Influential Artists
Red Bull Music Festival returns to Chicago for two action-packed weeks of music, art and conversations in venues all over the city. Check out the full lineup and get your tickets now.
After two weeks of music, culture, art and inspiring stories in Atlanta, Red Bull Music Festival closes out the year in Chicago with performances you don't want to miss. From Nov. 17-30, venues all over the city will host unique musical and cultural events that highlight purpose-driven creatives who are inspiring community and creative change through their work, such as Lupe Fiasco, Jamila Woods, Tierra Whack and more.
Check out the full lineup and schedule below and get your tickets here.
Red Bull Music Festival Chicago Schedule
Gramaphone 50
RED BULL MUSIC FESTIVAL CHICAGO GRAMAPHONE 50
© Red Bull
- Date: Sunday, Nov. 17
- Time: 9 p.m.
- Venue: Metro & smartbar (3730 N. Clark St.)
The 2019 Chicago festival edition begins with Gramaphone 50. Honoring 50 years of the legendary record shop and its indelible impact on Chicago’s house music scene, the festival presents an all-night dual-venue takeover at Metro and smartbar with a stacked line-up of DJs that includes Derrick Carter, Ron Trent, Mark Farina, Colette, DJ Heather, JR of the Molemen, G Most, Jesse De La Pena, Justin Aulis Long, DJ Psycho-Bitch, Hector Lopez, Michael Serafini, Garrett David and many more.
Black Monastic
RED BULL MUSIC FESTIVAL CHICAGO BLACK MONASTIC
© Red Bull
- Date: Tuesday, Nov. 19
- Time: 8 p.m.
- Venue: Garfield Park Conservatory (300 N. Central Park Ave.)
Chicago native, professor and social practice artist Theaster Gates curates Black Monastic, a live event at the picturesque Garfield Park Conservatory that will explore the history of black sounds via a collaborative performance with leading Chicago musicians Kiara Lanier, Ben LaMar Gay, Joshua Abrams and more. Gates’ Rebuild Foundation seeks to preserve black art, music, culture and physical spaces and this event extends this important practice. Complementing Gates’ curation is Peter CottonTale, best known as Chance the Rapper’s musical director; CatchPeter presents Praise Break with The JuJu Exchange, Ron Poindexter and Jay Arnold, bringing together a host of young talent infusing gospel into Chicago’s current sound.
Lupe Fiasco Presents: "Food & Liquor"
Red Bull Music Festival Chicago Lupe Fiasco's 'Food & Liquor'
© Red Bull
- Date: Thursday, Nov. 21
- Time: 8 p.m.
- Venue: The Riviera (4746 N. Racine Ave.)
For the first time ever in his home city, Lupe Fiasco will perform the entirety of his 2006 debut studio album "Food & Liquor." A hip-hop record that was unlike any other being released during its time, "Food & Liquor" represented a new era of Chicago rap, with the reverberations of its influence still being felt today.
Zero Fatigue
Red Bull Music Festival Chicago Zero Fatigue
© Red Bull
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 23
- Time: 8 p.m.
- Venue: Thalia Hall (1807 S. Allport St.)
Smino has made waves in the Chicago music scene with his deliberate blend of future funk and melodic rapping. For Red Bull Music Festival Chicago, he invites producer Monte Booker and other artists from his Zero Fatigue collective to take the stage in their hometown city at Chicago’s Thalia Hall for a one-of-a-kind group performance.
Tierra Whack Presents: Whack Factory
Red Bull Music Festival Chicago Whack Factory
© Red Bull
- Date: Tuesday, Nov. 26
- Time: 8 p.m.
- Venue: The Concord Music Hall (2051 N. Milwaukee Ave.)
Things will get whacky at the Concord Music Hall when Tierra Whack presents Whack Factory. After a breakout year of inventive music and creative output, Tierra Whack brings her psychedelic brainscape to the stage for this, her Chicago headline debut and the premiere of her latest, grand-scale live format. Performing music off Whack World, the audiovisual album that shook hip-hop and cemented Whack’s status as one of the most original new artists working today, the immersive night will give audiences a peek into Whack’s mind in all its colorful and bizarre glory.
Jamila Woods Legacy! Legacy! Unfolded
Red Bull Music Festival Chicago Jamila Woods Legacy! Legacy! Unfolded
© Red Bull
- Date: Wednesday, Nov. 27
- Time: 8 p.m.
- Venue: The Geraghty (2520 S. Hoyne Ave.)
Jamila Woods offers a stripped down look at her latest acclaimed project with Legacy! Legacy! Unfolded. The personal examination of her acclaimed studio album will expand on its tribute to the black artists that have shaped Woods’ life and art. Woods will perform in The Geraghty, exploring the album augmented by film collage, found footage, audio clips, photographs and new commentary.
Saba & Pivot Gang Present: John Walt Day
Red Bull Music Festival Chicago Saba and Pivot Gang Present John Walt Day
© Red Bull
- Date: Friday, Nov. 29 & Saturday, Nov. 30
- Time: 8 p.m.
- Venue: Metro (3730 N. Clark St.)
The festival closes with a two-day celebration of John Walt Day. Created by rapper Saba and his Pivot Gang collective, John Walt Day is a remembrance dedicated to fellow Pivot Gang member John Walt. For the third year running, Saba and Pivot Gang will put on a tribute concert to celebrate Walt’s life and legacy. All ticket sales will go to the John Walt Foundation, which was launched by Saba and Walt’s mother to offer mentorship and scholarships to young artists in Chicago.
Tickets are on sale now at redbull.com/chicago. Follow @RedBullMusic to stay in the know about upcoming festivals, shows and happenings.
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