The Onion's Chicago-based A.V. Club hosted is inaugural (and aptly-named) A.V. Club Fest over the weekend, featuring such bands as Hum, The Thermals, Archers of Loaf, Cloud Nothings, and Tokyo Police Club. Situated on Wabansia, just outside The Hideout, it was more of a typical Chicago-summer street festival than a destination music fest. This was a fact fully acknowledged by the promotors, which took careful pains to make sure the public did not confuse it with the Hideout's own Block Party which takes place 9/24. In typical Onion fashion, the festival was announced with a "Screw it, we're doing a music festival, too" statement. Unfortunately, such apathy was seemingly shared by the viewing public which mostly stayed away. I only attended Sunday, but even with discounted beer and a moderately impressive lineup, attendance was conspicuously light. In interviews before the festival began, the promotors admitted to hoping only for a break-even this year and a reevaluation for future years depending on the final tally. My guess is that the lineup wasn't strong enough to entice concertgoers who typically go to destination music fests and the location was too remote/commercial to lure the typical street festival patrons. It'll be curious to see what happens next year.
As for the bands, I only stuck around to see Maps and Atlases and Tokyo Police Club on Sunday. Let's just say that the food from the curated food trucks was more enlightening. Particularly everything from Tamalli Space Charros.
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