‘House City’ brings pop-up music events to Chicago locations
Summer in Chicago is salvageable for local “House Heads” after all. Instead of the Chicago House Music Festival — and the Chosen Few Picnic & House Music Festival, which has gone virtual for consecutive years — the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is highlighting the locally created genre’s contributions to modern music with “House City,” a free, 10-part pop-up series that began July 4.
The pop-up events will take place in neighborhoods such as South Shore, Englewood, North Lawndale, Humboldt Park and Lake View, among others. The Aug. 28 date is sponsored by the Protect Chicago Music Series, and Chicago Summer Dance in the Parks is a part of the Sept. 12 South Shore event.
While announcing the suspension of the popular house, jazz, gospel and blues festivals in Millennium Park, DCASE and Mayor Lori Lightfoot last month unveiled a summer slate of alternative cultural events that officials said will follow health and safety guidelines.
“Chicago’s arts landscape has been devastated by the pandemic, but I’m excited to see our music clubs, theaters and festivals come back to life and energize Chicago,” said DCASE commissioner Mark Kelly in a news release. “During this 2021 Year of Chicago Music, our ‘Chicago in Tune’ festival will emerge as a joyous . . . celebration of Chicago’s amazing music scene.”
Selah Say, a Chicago-based DJ, is headlining the North Lawndale slate of “House City” on July 16. Say says when she moved to Chicago, she heard all about house music when studying its importance to the city.
“When I first got to Chicago as a DJ, I had to take some time to really study house music because house music is an institution here in Chicago and I did not want to disrespect the movement,” said Say, a South Carolina native. “And once I realized what was going on in Chicago with house — and the spirit of it — and the legacy of house, to be asked to do an event like this, that is celebrating house music but also targeted to make sure that it goes to every corner of Chicago, I couldn’t be more thrilled because people need to know about house music and know about the roots, and actually get to experience it in sonic form.”
Say says she’s going to bring a different spin to the event because of her Southern heritage, and because so many Chicagoans have roots in that part of the country.
“It’s like playing for Southerners who don’t know that they are Southerners, and so it’s a different flavor that I can bring into it as a DJ,” said Say. “This is a series that’s gonna be outside, so that’s another great thing because once [music] is outside, you can’t control where the music goes; everybody [who] hears it is in that space or in that area. [Music] gives me an opportunity to put these jams on Earth and in a natural environment.”