Thu, Aug 11 - 7:30pm - $10

 Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson, Genesis etc.): I love the CD...the sheer skill and gusto with which they tackle it makes you laugh out loud. Great drumming. Jonathan plays and writes like a demon. Congratulations to them.John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Asia): 'Can't take you with me' is dynamite. I wish you luck, you're a good band, and deserve success, see you on the broad highway.Roine Stolt (Flower Kings, Transatlantic): Your band is one of the very few I can see a real true potential in and I'm sure you have many new fabulous albums coming in the near future.Jim Derogatis (NPR's "Sound Opinions", Rolling Stone Magazine): District 97 is a wildly ambitious progressive-rock group whose youth belies its accomplishments onstage and on its new "Hybrid Child" CD.District 97 is undoubtedly the most musically adventurous rock band in the world to feature an American Idol Top 10 Female Finalist. The release of 2012's critically-acclaimed Trouble With Machines ushered in an exciting era for the Chicago-based Progressive Rock band; In 2013, the band toured both Europe and the US with legendary bassist and vocalist John Wetton (King Crimson/UK/Asia), which was documented on 2014's live release, One More Red Night: Live in Chicago. 2013 also saw the band nominated for a Breakthrough Artist Award by Prog Magazine. Rather than rest on their laurels, District 97 took to the studio in 2014 to record the new material they'd been honing at home and on the road. The resulting album, In Vaults (due in June 2015), continues and accelerates the upward trajectory of great songwriting and incredible musicianship that's been evident since the band's 2010 debut, Hybrid Child. One listen perfectly illustrates why John Wetton says, “I've said it before, and I maintain that D97 is the best young progressive band around right now. Gifted players, great material, and a brilliant, charismatic singer in Leslie Hunt."DISTRICT 97 was formed in the fall of 2006 by drummer Jonathan Schang, keyboardist Rob Clearfield, bassist Patrick Mulcahy and guitarist Sam Krahn (replaced in 2008 by current guitarist Jim Tashjian). The foursome from Chicago honed a no-holds barred style of Liquid Tension Experiment-inspired Instrumental Rock before deciding the right vocalist was needed to complement their sound; enter 2007 American Idol Top 10 Female Finalist, Leslie Hunt. With a look, sound and stage presence comparable to a young Ann Wilson from Heart, Leslie's dynamic performances pushed the band into a new direction that forged a unique marriage between accessible, catchy vocal melodies and an adventurous instrumental prowess. She was followed shortly thereafter by one of Chicago's finest young guitarists, Jim Tashjian. With this new blend of charisma and stellar musicianship in place, their live shows over the past several years at festivals such as RoSfest and Prog Dreams II, and numerous appearances across the USA, UK and Europe cemented the band as a force to be reckoned with onstage, as well as in the recording studio.In August 2015, Rob Clearfield and Patrick Mulcahy left the group and were eventually succeeded by Andrew Lawrence and TIm Seisser, respectively. The new lineup will debut in tours across Europe and the US in 2016.

Mano is a heavy rock chimera breaking through beyond the gate, spewing flames from its neck, the inside of which is armored with scar tissue from infancy onwards. It has waited all its life for its righteous moment of power and is hell bent on annihilation. Completion is a vision bathed in embers; metamorphosing in an instant from middle eastern-grooves to tumultuous rock frenzies. The collective members of Mano push their razor-sharp tones to the limit in virtuosic group improvisation. At its core, Mano is a rock trio, but at its most barren, Mano brings the moment down to a simmer bustling with subterranean tension instituted largely in part by the [insert pretentious adjective] string section. A flute tops this most unholy concoction. The sonic tendencies invoke images of desolate sandscapes with the dusty copper only interrupted by the black of the ashen state of now dissolved life.

 Bad Forum consists of Larry Beers (Sonia Dada; Michael McDermott; Mavis Staples; Ulele, and Mucca Pazza) on drums, ace sound-man James Coffey (Dagnabbit; Urban Twang) on guitar, and Mitch Straeffer (Falstaff; Space Rhino; Motion to Fix; and Ziplock and the Body-bags) on bass. Formed By Coffey in 1999 from members of his favorite bands that he mixed for at numerous Chicago venues, the lineup has achieved a solid following of fans who enjoy the band’s unique instrumental rock. The music is based, according to Coffey, on jump blues and swing riffs, but quickly the band expanded from those beginnings into a type of experimental surf, with each player contributing to the compositions. Bad Forum consistently challenges the notion of what music is and can be."