CHICAGO (WGN) — From the ruins of disco, house music emerged from Chicago’s South Side.
A music genre soon became a community of cultures that celebrates the city’s impact on electronic dance music decades later at ARC Music Festival.
“When we talked about (creating) this during the pandemic, we thought, ‘Why doesn’t this already exist?'” ARC Music Festival Founder John Curley said. “There’s no better way to put the city on a pedestal then put its musical heritage and culture that goes back now 40 years.”
For three days over Labor Day weekend, Union Park in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood transformed into a gigantic dance party mere blocks away from the birthplace of house music.
In 1977, pioneering DJ Frankie Knuckles opened “The Warehouse” at 206 South Jefferson Street in Chicago. Over the next several years, the New York native along with a handful of talented artists worked to create the sound that became house music.
The world got its taste of Chicago’s new sound in 1984 with the release of the first house music record “On and On” by Jesse Sauders. The single was pressed at TRAX Records on Chicago’s South Side before being distributed to the masses.
“Many of the artists that helped create the DNA that is house music are still here and still playing that music,” ARC Music Festival Co-Founder Stuart Hackley said. “It was important for us to incorporate those founders into everything that ARC is because you have house and techno and all these other (dance music) genres becoming so much more popular and having this renaissance so to speak. To be able to have the founders apart of that new story that house music is writing, it just made all of the sense.”
Grammy Award winner Fatboy Slim has called Chicago “the most important dance music city in the world.” And ARC Music Festival honors that to be true, year after year.
“It’s a way to connect the dots between the generations and really lean into telling that story through music,” Curley said. “Let’s say you came to see Dom Dolla, well what he is doing now is directly connected to what started here 40 years ago.”
Performers and festival-goers from around the world filed into Union by the thousands just two miles away from where house music first started.
“This year, 60% of tickets sold are from outside of the United States,” Curley said. “It’s from the coasts, from the Latin Americas, from Europe, people are making that pilgrimage here. Not just from the booking perspective, but also from getting that global mix of people to Chicago right here on sight.”
Challenges presented themselves, but organizers worked through them with their production team. From DNC protesters pushing their move-in day, to last minute artist cancelations, Curley, Hackley, along with co-founder Nick Karounos and the rest of the Auris Presents team made what felt like seamless transitions to ensure the show went on.
Unlike many festivals in the modern era, ARC Music Festival pairs the old with the new in a way that tells the story of house music and its connection to the new wave. With artists being paired together during a back-to-back set, or founders of the music genre being scheduled ahead of the most popular artists at this time, artists seem to look forward to how ARC approaches their weekend of festivities.
“We use the phrase ‘ARC has your favorite DJ’s DJ,” Hackley said. “There is a recognition and purpose that ARC is serving and the artists are on board with it.”
But, the party doesn’t stop when Union Park closes down. ARC After Dark allows festivalgoers the chance to experience Chicago’s top venues for electronic dance music, while keeping the party going from Thursday afternoon until Labor Day night.
“We consider it as a part of the festival, we don’t just consider it as an after party. We book it with intention as the second half of the festival,” Curley said. “We want people to see the city and part of that is to see these great venues that we have in our backyard. I think it would be a shame to not spotlight them as well.”
From the Metro and Smartbar in Wrigleyville, to Cermak Hall and Radius down the street from Chinatown, along with a handful of the top dance clubs around the city, ARC After Dark provides an opportunity for visitors to explore Chicago beyond festival hours.
“(House music) started in the clubs, so the after parties let us take it back to clubs at night,” Hackley said. “It allows us to mix up the experience for fans and the artists.”
While each day proved to outperform the previous, ARC Music Festival solidified itself as an event of pure celebration for Chicago’s creation of house music and its impact on electronic dance music around the world.
Organizers aren’t looking to predict the future of ARC Music Festival, but they hope to keep hosting the event at Union Park as a way to keep the celebration close to the location where it all started, “The Warehouse.”
A few new events will also soon be announced to honor house music beyond Labor Day weekend.
“Just like the city and the world embraces the blues and its connection to the city, it’s the same thing with house music,” Curley said. “Now it belongs to the whole world, so we like to take this opportunity to put a spotlight on the city where it started and in order to do that bring all of these people back.”
Happy 40th Birthday House Music!
For more information on ARC Music Festival, click here.
For more information on Auris Presents, click here.