Front Woman Fest....Deathrock night

     Front Woman Fest is in its third year at Burlington. Its just the best. This was where I first heard Impulsive Hearts. And the exposure to all these bands is for a good cause. And after that I went to Sarah's Back To The Grave Death rock night at the upstairs to Bottom Lounge. It was the last time we were to have it there, they are making that space into a restaurant. So I was fortunate enough to make it to two events. FWF started early at 1pm I think with Axons. I didn't make it there until around Jovan played. The front bar of Burlington sometimes barely offers space to move around. But at least the crowd seemed huge. I forgot which newspaper featured or mentioned in an article FWF. I read it online and was happy to see them get the exposure. I remember Jovan from Resistor, Rani Young's place, and again at Cole's with Natalie Grace. This was the first I see her with a full band, and she was a power to behold. I felt empowered with coolness I did not feel before.  There were so many performers that I did not get to see but I know played there and in a way I feel like I was there for them. FWF was for a cause, and so to see some was to support them all if that makes sense. I bought the CD from the Cell Phones! I arrived just after No Men played. I believe there will be chances to see them later. Elaine from Spaces Of Disappearance , I had lost a CD of hers that I bought before and she was kind and wonderful enough to just give me a new one. I believe she also helped organized the whole thing along with Adele.
  The two performers I would concentrate on here for me still represent this whole awesome show with a righteous cause. So Axons played first at around 1:15, the first band. Adele was still there when I arrived. You would not know that she was there since afternoon. Did not looked weathered at all. She is taking Axons in a new direction....well at least new for me. When I first heard her music, it was heavily electronic. It was part of her signature sound, and I loved it with tracks like....hmm, the beautiful defiance Bastards and Not Afraid Of The Dark, the sweetness of Gadolinium ....like a humming bird...oh and her darkness is much scarier than yours.  No, ....you won't even make it to the bathroom. Yeah...go fucking change yourself. Adele is taking Axons in a new direction away from this electronic phase. And I heard her play her new work at least twice and its great. I look forward to hearing it more. This is the bad ass that organized Front Woman Fest. You wanna meet more? Oh hi Elaine, I was just thinking of you. I am a massive fan of There Is No Loss, but I think you know that already.
  So let me circle back to the empowering Jovan, and behold her in sunglasses and afro. I'm hearing her songs as I write this and phrases I hear just jump out in front like on a screen, bold powerful statements that are burned onto a screen like its Denzel in Man On Fire. Seriously, I want to have Denzel's accent when speaking spanish. Still, let us walk this back to Ms Jovan. I'm hearing her Conscious EP and it's not just her rapping, her words but its also what she raps over, the music I mean. The imprint this is leaving on me....my words of praise here are perhaps too poor to describe how awesome I find Jovan to be. Its really biting, observant social commentary that is current and still timeless. It compels one to change behavior. I've observed the videos of her songs as well and its great to see a background that looks familiar to me like home.  I'm really thrilled that she is from Chicago.
  So then I stayed to hear and see Danielle from Impulsive Hearts. Sorry In The Summer is the full length LP she is singing from. The record...the physical record I am happy to have. It looks so retro with the picture like it was actually from the 70's. I cannot get enough. You feel compelled to go surfing with her music.....there is no where to fucking surf in Chicago but here is Impulsive Hearts to make you wanna make the best of in Lake Michigan. From there I went to Back To The Grave to finish off the night with some death rock/goth. I wanted to tell them, these friends from Front Woman Fest "Hey....death rock," but they were probably exhausted. These death rock nights are rare and so as soon as Danielle was done, I said my goodbyes to her Adele, and Elaine.... I think? I know I saw Adele outside and briefly talked to Danielle about the music that she just played and in what path she is taking with Impulsive Hearts. We talked about Sophie's band Fauvely when they played Burlington. And then I was off to Bottom Lounge, a few minutes and in some ways a rip in time/space away from where I just came from. Or perhaps not. Sarah is as much a front woman as those who played in Burlington, and is every bit as empowering as they.  Just ask her kid Nocturna, the goth night she has held at Metro for over twenty years.
Zig