North Coast Music Festival

In its inaugural year, the North Coast Fest acts as a means to close out the summer concert season with one last hurrah. Taking place in Union Park over Labor Day weekend (Sept. 3-5), bands and artists from all over the world will make “summer’s last stand” a reality.

The versatile fest features indie rock, hip-hop, electronic and jam band groups from both up and coming artists and more established ones. UK electro duo the Chemical Brothers, who’ve been conquering the world with their energetic performances since the ‘90s, headline the first night of the three-day fest.

Moby, another stalwart, contributes his rave culture meshed with pop music when he DJs Saturday night. Several local acts hit the fest including indie rockers Loyal Divide, Van Ghost, Future Rock and famous House musician Green Velvet. Hip-hop is well-represented with Damian Marley (son of the great Bob Marley) performing with Nas and legendary hip-hop trio De La Soul picking choice cuts from their seminal 1989 record Three Feet and Rising.

And what would the fest be without a little country thrown into the mix? Newbie Mayor Hawthorne wins the crowd over with his country crooning, and Bob Dylan’s son, Jakob Dylan, debuts his new backing group Three Legs. With more than 30 acts on the bill and more to be announced soon, hopefully North Coast will exceed expectations enough for a second annual fest. Join in the fun to say goodbye to summer and hello to the busy fall concert season.

HelloChicago Tip: A percentage of ticket sales will go to charity.

- by Garin Pirnia, Chicago Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Garin Pirnia

Garin was raised on a healthy diet of MTV and Top 40 radio in the suburbs of Dayton, Ohio, but one day found herself going to college in Los Angeles. After getting a writing degree, she somehow landed in Chicago. She's written about art, music, food and general interest for The Onion AV Club, Time Out Chicago, Chicago Innerview, The Wall Street Journal and AOL's music site Spinner.com.