Rock Around the Block Festival

dude, RABF is lame. i love chicago summer fests, and this is one the lamer ones by far. yeah, it’s not crowded, but it’s not happenin’, either. vendors are lame. food is lame. maybe come for too white crew/​16 candles. ive been here twice and been underwhelmed each time.

This street fest is predictable and well, craptacular. It features the same horrible bands playing 80s covers, etc. every single year. With all the great music in Chicago, Oh Star Events, I will never understand why they don’t get better music. The food and beer options are terrible, too, with deep fried crud that leaves you wondering why you are there. The location is great, the fest absolutely not worth going to.

2011 EVENT IS CANCELED!!!

I feel like a proud papa watching this festival grow over the years. For you festival junkies, heading into 2011 this is clearly one of the Top 3 in the city. A decade ago this wasn’t the case.
Former giants such as Old St. Pat’s (does this still exist?), Sheffield Garden Walk, and Taste of Randolph are now moving over for this All star extravaganza.
All the big names play this gig:
Hairbangers
Mike & Joe
Too White Crew
Sixteen Candles
Maggie Speaks
Wedding Banned
And with the vast layout, there is plenty of room for beer vendors and the lines are never long.
For you non-​junkies, if a few a Summer does the trick for you, make this one of them. Basically, anything in Lakeview is a can’t-miss, that alone makes it worth the trip.
Thanks Rock Around The Block, looking forward to 2011 already!

Umm, no thanks. It’s not even a block. Its basically a T-​shaped intersection that is blocked off. Paid $ 5 per person to walk around in the heat, the bands had lengthy intermissions so it got really boring waiting… and there was nowhere to sit! No beer garden either, c’mon. The vendors didn’t have good things to peruse, so four of us left within an hour.

I had a lot of fun at this festival both days! Wedding Banned was awesome on Saturday night. Biggest disappointment I had that night was my corn dog & fries for $ 8. If I would have just looked to my right, I would have seen Nicholas Quality Meats with all that juicy kebobs and delicious looking meats compared to my dry greasy sorry looking corn dog.
So on Sunday, you are telling me that you can walk from Hairbangers Ball, to Sixteen Candles, then to Mike & Joe all in one night?! Normally I would say «Get the fuck outta here, no way» but it’s totally «Yes way!» It’s a fun time, Even though there were plenty of people present, I never felt like I couldn’t walk around (i.e. Taste of Chicago). If you couldn’t make it this year, you missed out on a good time but luckily, there’s always next year!

3 reasons to go to this festival:
1. Maggie Speaks (Dave, you still rock!)
2. Hairbangers Ball (but we miss Tyler)
3. No long lines for beer
The booths were okay but the 3 stages for the bands was a great idea.

I’m only giving it 4 stars since my rating is based completely on the festival entertainment and not much else. However, it may be a sign that I’ve hit too many festivals this summer, but at quick glance there seem to be many of the same stands I’ve seen at others. As always the hideous outfits and odd people did not disappoint (senior citizen lady (who thought she was a lot younger) dressed in all hot pink and couple «waltzing to MJ tracks).
Our group hung out at the center stage all night (kudos to the fest for having 3 stages to choose from). The fest served beer and Sangria. In my opinion the beer and sangria stands shouldn’t have been so close to each other it got really packed with people trying to squeeze through the sangria line to the beer line! The port-​a-​pottie situation was a bit of a bummer, they could’ve used more stalls, a few friends went to the potties and then to grab a drink/​snack and they were gone so long I began to think they left!
We went to hear Who’s Bad, a Michael Jackson cover band, who should not be missed. This was the second time I’ve seen them and they don’t disappoint. They get the crowd going with all of your MJ faves. My favorite part about cover bands is you don’t get stuck listening to newer, unknown tracks like you sometimes have to when you see the real deal — they just stick to the hits!
I’m glad we decided to stick around for 16 Candles because they were awesome and Who’s Bad was the perfect band to get us in the 80’s classics mood. Everyone totally got into them, dancing and singing along. When they did Sunglasses at Night they had flashing, light-​up sunglasses. The only negative was it seemed they ended rather abruptly, they finished a song, said goodnight and were done without any advance warning.
Bottom line — great time and 16 Candles closes the show again on Sunday!

I wish I hadn’t been running late, because I would have loved to wander the booths and streets pre-​band. Alas, I mismanaged my time and was behind.
$ 5 sangria, which I got a refill for $ 4 because I used the same glass. Save the environment, people, and save yourself some cash! Delicious! There was a preponderance of food choices, none of which (unfortunately) I got to sample.
The bands rocked it out, true to the name of the fest. Who’s Bad (Michael Jackson Cover Band) and 16 Candles (a fun 80s cover band) totally made my night awesome! They got the crowd into it, everyone was jumping around and dancing, and it was just a great night! My ears are still ringing!
4 stars instead of 5 (which I really wanted to give) since there didn’t seem to be enough port-​o-​potties. The lines were at least 20 minutes long, most of them upwards of a half-​hour. Maybe they didn’t plan on the festival being so busy? Hope they make a note of that for next year.