BENT NIGHTS Taste of Chicago wrap-up: Monae, AWOLNATION - 5570 - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News

The 34th Annual Taste of Chicago will go down in history as an artistic triumph, over all other considerations. The crowds were thinner, the weather was erratic, the main stage attractions were respectable if not stupendous, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel felt safe enough ( politically, at least ) in popping up in the crowd to shake hands and look like a music lover. Although the sold-out crowds from last year did not materialize, this edition found a way to overwhelm on many levels, at least musically.

The festival opened at the Petrillo Band Shell on July 9 with Texas alternative rockers Saints of Valory, who were tight and full of punch. The headliner, AWOLNATION ( particularly, frontman Aaron Bruno ) was full of something else altogether. With his laser-blue eyes and wispy blonde locks, Bruno roared through the hits "It's Not Your Fault" and "Kill Your Heroes" with disarming fury while previewing new music from an upcoming album. That Bruno kept striking man-child poses reminiscent of Dwight Frye fresh from rehab made the show sweet, nutty and entertainingly charming.

The second night was packed with an entirely different kind of star power. Grammy-winning blues rocker Gary Clark Jr. was so laid-back and immersed in his groove that he hardly broke a sweat. His set was so articulate, nuanced and subversive that he managed to turn the open air space of the band shell into a confined prison cell of lust and desire with an inescapably disturbing intimacy. Then, headliner Janelle Monae was wheeled out on a gurney wrapped in a straitjacket—and went haywire.

Coming off of her Electric Lady Tour which started last fall, Monae roared through "Giving 'Em What they Want" and brought the festival to a fever pitch. Even Emanuel could be seen shaking his ass in the audience, though it was a shame that he bolted before Monae acknowledged her icons with a saucy rip through James Brown's "I Feel Good" and a frolicsome mash-up of The Jackson 5 nuggets "I Want You Back" and "ABC."

The July 11 "country night" brought the unexpected surprise of sleepy-eyed Oklahoma native Parker Milsap's hard twang and diamond-clear voice and he managed to enrapture a small crowd who sat through his set in the rain. If there was a martyr for this edition of the festival, Milsap was certainly it since the 21-year-old is so naturally original and witty he deserves to be heard by a far wider audience. White-haired Emmylou Harris' set was a perfect counterpoint to Milsap, with her trademark musical subtly bordering on the vaporous.

By the middle of Harris' set, the drizzle had turned to rain, which clearly had an effect on Nickel Creek's headlining set. This critic did not stay for that set and the cranky weather caused the cancellation of the festival for July 12. It was a bummer not to see Lucinda Williams in a large setting or Jeff Tweedy on his home turf for a solo gig in front of a bunch of longtime fans, but the city could not be blamed for being cautious.

July 13, the final night of the festival, ended with a big thumping bass line. The Wailers performed its classic album Legends—recorded with the late Bob Marley—and got the small crowd on its feet. Headliner Aloe Blacc, fronting an energetic and youthful band, ran with the sunny vibes and literally danced through his "Want to be With You," and "The Answer Is Love."

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985