CANASTA - WED. 12/8 - Chi. Pop Renaissance @ BEAT KITCHEN

(sent on 2004-11-30)

Hi everyone... Matt Priest here. Please excuse my use of the "first person" for this announcement, but I'm just too excited. If you've got a second, please read this one all the way thru... Thanks!

Canasta's next performance is happening Wednesday, December 8th, at Beat Kitchen, the site of our very first show! Now as most of you know, that's the venue I've been booking for about three months now and I swear it's one of the coziest and best-sounding venues in town. So my goal is to bring back the quality local music for which it used to be famous and as a first step, we've assembled 16 of the most talented and notable local indie pop artists and booked them over four straight nights: Wednesday, December 8th - Saturday, December 11th. We're calling it the "Chicago Pop Renaissance" and to be honest, I was floored by the list of artists who agreed to play: The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, The New Constitution,Tenki, Low Skies, Lying In States, Satellite 66, Cameron McGill, The Lesser Birds of Paradise, Velvetron, Stephanie Morris & The Rest, The Turnpike Down, and a band called New Sense, who are technically from Milwaukee, but boast former members of The Promise Ring and will own both you and the Chi-town floor you're dancing on.

In case you've been counting, we've got three great bands left and actually, they're the ones playing before us that first night: 1) Branches, the Hideout heroes whose music The reader calls "the sort of airy pop favored by the Shins... bubbling over with bright guitars, velvety synths, and plinking xylophones" (mmm...), 2) my good friends Palaxy Tracks, who write some of the most beautiful music you will EVER hear and literally had me tearing up when we gigged with them in NYC and 3) The Lesser Scene, who are the youngest group in the festival, but impressed me from the get-go with their driving, string-heavy chamber pop, which will certainly earn new fans here. There's not enough room to go on raving about the other 12, but just know that a finer selection of local talent hasn't been offered like this all year. Now's your chance to take in all those bands you've been hearing about in a single crash-course!

Now we're headlining our show, so we'll be going on later than you're used to. And I realize it's a weeknight and all, but it would mean a lot to us (and a *whole* lot to me) if you'd come early, stay late and help us kick off the new future of Beat Kitchen! The detailed line-ups follow below, but a quick FYI: a ticket to any one of the shows is just $8, but if you're thinking about attending a few of them, 4-day passes are only $20. Both are already available in advance at Beat Kitchen itself (2100 W. Belmont), as well as Hard Boiled Records & Videos (2008 W. Roscoe). Hope you can make it out!

~ Canasta
www.canastamusic.com

Wednesday, December 8th - Saturday, December 11th
CHICAGO POP RENAISSANCE
@ BEAT KITCHEN

4 straight nights of the city's best indie pop
...presented by WLUW, WNUR, WRDP,
Run With It Mgmt. & House Call Entertainment!

Show #1 of 4
Wednesday, December 8th
CANASTA
BRANCHES
PALAXY TRACKS
THE LESSER SCENE
8:30 PM / 21+

Show #2 of 4
Thursday, December 9th
THE SCOTLAND YARD GOSPEL CHOIR
SATELLITE 66
THE LESSER BIRDS OF PARADISE
STEPHANIE MORRIS & THE REST
8:30 PM / 21+

Show #3 of 4
Friday, December 10th
TENKI
LOW SKIES
CAMERON McGILL
THE TURNPIKE DOWN
9:00 PM / 21+

Show #4 of 4
Saturday, December 11th
THE NEW CONSTITUTION
LYING IN STATES
NEW SENSE
(members of Decibully & ex-The Promise Ring)
 VELVETRON
9:00 PM / 21+

SINGLE SHOW TICKETS - $8
4-DAY PASSES - $20
On sale now at:
Beat Kitchen - 2100 W. Belmont Ave. - Chicago
Hard Boiled Records & Videos - 2008 W. Roscoe St. - Chicago

____