I’m getting ready to head out the door and induce a music coma at North Coast Festival but before I do let’s talk about some of the fun stuff going on around town this long weekend:

First up is Brighton Park Fest. Starting tomorrow you can head out to Archer Ave (between Sacramento & Kedzie) for food, rides and 2 stages of live music featuring local acts: [.DESCARGA.] (my favorite latin alternative band), Maladicto, Legion, Soul Pollution, Maria Blues Trio, the lovely La Gitana, Malafacha and DJs Angelfuk and Nando to name just a few.  Descarga’s very own Jose Calvo says, “people should come out and enjoy this festival because it’s something special for the community, there are few festivals like this in the city that celebrate latino unity, but the number of them is growin! So come out and enjoy the food, the rides, the arts, and the music, which will be awesome because the line ups are made up of talented local latino bands. I am very honored to be part of this great festival.”

Also, don’t forget that last weekend’s featured girl crush, Rita J will be at Schuba’s Saturday night with Bumpus.

Jazz Fest returns to Grant Park and the always awesome Chuchito Valdez goes on Saturday at 5.

Lastly, the inaugural run of Joyous Outdoor Event (J.O.E.) kicks off at South Belmont Harbor this weekend featuring a main stage ‘curated’ by the Metro and Smart Bar and will include hometown rocks The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir Saturday at 7p.  A $15 ticket gets you all day general admission, for $25 you get all day access plus entrance to that evening’s main stage.  You can get the full schedule and more info HERE.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Labor Day Weekend! Check back for North Coast recaps, follow me on Twitter for live updates and check out the Facebook page for more photos and video.

Back again at Cobra Lounge another Sunday, another night of fun.

Yvonne and Luis were back and introduced us to: Skamorfosis.  This 8 member group played a tried and true ska set.  Forgive the pictures, these kids didn’t stand around long enough for yours truly to take a decent photo.  They treated the crowd to Detective Ska and Desubicado.  A fun set lead by the oh so adorable Chucho and Paty who rocked one of the fiercest mohawks you’ll ever see and Gillo (sax) danced up a storm onstage. Methinks we need ska to make a comback.  Check out their MySpace page here.

Ay! Maladicto!  Where do I even begin?!  Playing Soy El Demonio and Salsatanico off their debut album, Salsatanico, it was frightening, mesmerizing, loud, aggressive, hot and sweaty.  Are you starting to get it?? Si?? No?? Maybe??  Manuel Nieves (lead vocals) lead the band through a heavy set, Juan Contreras set it off with thrashing guitar solos. Scroll down for pictures and you’ll start to get the idea.  Fred (bass) told yours truly that the band already has about 6 songs for album #2, hopefully we’ll have new music from Maladicto real soon!  You can catch them on May 3 at Reggie’s Rock Club and check them out here for more info.

And last but not least we had Stank Star. Oh boys…how cute were you?  Otoniel (lead vocals/guitar) , Paul (bass/congas), Adrian (percussion) and Juan (drums) gave us Only Me, Tablas and Perdidos.  They’re my obsession this week, they own Estrella Negra and now I’m more in love and can’t wait to check out the restaurant.  Follow Stank Star here.

Skamorfosis: Chucho & Paty

Skamorfosis

Maladicto - Carlos & Juan

Maladicto - Manuel doing his thing

Stank Star - Juan

Stank Star - Paul & Adrian

Stank Star - Otoniel

And that was that. Next week’s line up: Benjamin Anaya & Los Extranos Unidos + La Brecha. 

See you there!