IPO - Chicago 2023: The Finale

It seems like only a week ago I was hanging out at Montrose Saloon on the north side watching the first four acts of the opening night of International Pop Overthrow - Chicago showcase. And now it’s coming to an end. Actually, is was a week ago, since IPO - Chicago is a nine-day festival. It’s going to wrap up with a six-act showcase Saturday night at Montrose Saloon, just an hour after the afternoon showcase is finished. All the acts for the final showcase are from Chicago.

North Of Stuntman kicks things off at 7:30. The indie rock quintet sets satiric lyrics to bare bones arrangements on songs such as “Let The Sin Shine In,” but its ballad “Whether You Know It Or Not (Being Five)” seems to seriously offer an encouraging message. Paul Coady And The Edsel Brothers recorded an album titled Sixty Cycle Hum - Live At Montrose Saloon so it’s more than fitting for them to perform songs from it at the venue. The quartet offers guitar-driven rock tunes such as “Before The Blood Runs Out” and “Time Rolls On.” The Band Calderisi’s 2018 album Songs For The Years Gone By is especially impressive on the tracks “Nothing Left To Save” and “Pent Up Frustrations,” which feature chiming guitars and fetching melodies. Lead vocalist-guitarist Anthony Calderisi performed with The Critics at the very first International Pop Overthrow festival in Los Angeles. Michael Galassini from Magnaphonic was also at the very first IPO with the band 92 Degrees. He’ll be filling in on bass guitar for The Band Calderisi Saturday night at Montrose Saloon.

Forbidden Kingdom has been around for about a year now, and is very much a family affair. The band features Eric Chial from Bon Mots on guitar and his son Gustaf on drums; Ellis Clark from Social Act on keyboards and his son Andrew on bass; and Jared Chase Eisenmann on guitar. All five members sing. Hopefully, these guys will be performing songs from an upcoming debut album, although I wasn’t able to find anything online to confirm this. The Locals have been performing on the local club scene for 26 years, and released a Best of compilation titled 1997 – 2022 - The Retelling Of A Dream last month. The hard-edged trio, led by vocalist-guitarist Yvonne Doll, specializes in aggressive tracks such as “Eyes Wide Open” and “The Willful Suspension Of Disbelief.” Rent Party bills themselves as “a feminist garage folk power trio,” and their 2019 album Burn It Down includes the melodic folk of “Welcome To Catastrophe” and the slinky “Toledo,” as well as a faithful though foreign language (sorry, I don’t know which one) take on The Byrds’ “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better.” 

Congratulations to International Pop Overthrow CFO/Founder David Bash for another successful run in the Windy City. And hats off to the 60+ acts that performed at Montrose Saloon this year. Most of them were local, but there were some very welcome out-of-state visitors as well. Check the official website for the full schedule, and you’ll find links for just about all the acts who participated in Chicago this year. Many have Bandcamp pages, so even if you weren’t able to attend in person, you can still use the site as a  to discover new music.