Mamby: React’s Solution to Your Beach Groove Needs

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Chicago is no stranger to Beach music festivals, having experienced 2 editions of Wavefront Music Festival in 2012 and 2013, before the alderman and surrounding community shut it down at Montrose beach.  Wavefront was a hit as it did not cater only to the mainstream EDM sounds and brought a lot of House and Techno to Chicago’s enthusiastic crowd. The poor reception that Riverwest Music Festival received last year, only added fuel to the fire that Chicago wanted a new beach festival. IMG_9541-0

In comes React Presents with their Mamby on the Beach, a two-day 3 stage festival directly on one of Chicago’s more recently created beach fronts, Oakwood Beach. With clean sand and Chicago’s downtown Skyline as the backdrop the location was perfect.  With a lineup of mainly indie rock and electronic rock fusion groups, with some DJs, Mamby stood out from the rest of the already established festivals in React’s Resume.

 

The Likes of Empire of the Sun, Phantogram and Cherub rocked the Main Stage crowds over the weekend. With its open layout the Main Stage created a great atmosphere for fans to get close to these live acts. The tent is where you went in you needed your House, Tech House and Bass needs. After James Murphy heated things up, Zhu closed out the Tent on Saturday to a huge crown that spilled over outside the tent area. On Sunday J. Phlip, Cut Copy and Art Department set the tone for the day. The Beach House (a miniature version of the main stage) resting in the main vendor/food location allowed for festival attendees to experience some new music such as Indie-Pendent Party DJs which was a nice surprise over the weekend.Mamby13

As always a range of locals were peppered in the lineup to make you feel at home. Most notably Louis The Child, Steve Gerard and of course Autograf. Each of which who left their autograph (see what I did there) on the festival.

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Though the location of the festival seemed sketchy at first, React did a good job of providing room for taxis and Ubers to drop people off, lots of bike racks were on site, and the convenient FREE shuttles from the festival to a Red and Green line stop were a great addition. The one blemish on the transportation to and from the festival was the long wait in lines Saturday after the event. This however was not repeated to my knowledge on Sunday night.

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I didn’t think I’d have such a good time partying on the beach, but Mamby made me change my mind without a doubt. Laying out on the sand with a cold beer while listening to some great summer tunes is definitely something I’d like to do again.  I hope to see Mamby back in Chicago next year.

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Check out our whole Gallery From Mamby HERE

5 Must See Acts at Mamby This Weekend

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Empire of the Sun

The Australian electronic music due from Sydney, gained international success with their debut album “Walking on a Dream” released in 2008. Chances are you know a few of Empire of the Sun’s hits  from that album such “Walking On A Dream”,  and “We Are The People” as they have been remixed and used by many popular DJs in  sets over the last few years. More recently their hit “Alive” from their album “Ice on the Dune” has been used by the likes of Martin Solveig in recent international festivals. The blend of live music, an electronic sound and elaborate almost Cirque Du Solei style presentation make Empire of the Sun a must see this weekend.

Klingande

Klingande (pronounced “Kling-ond”) is a French deep house producer. His music is inspired by contemporary Swedish House Music, which is why his track titles are in Swedish. He loves Swedish landscape, people and the spirit. He is also very inspired by Swedish House Mafia, Coldplay, and Oasis. Klingande really focuses on using instruments such as the sax, some acoustics, and the piano as well as vocals. Klingande gained his popularity with his track “Punga”, which he self-released in 2013. The song hit the charts in France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Afterwards, he released “Jubel”, which gained international chart success. “Jubel” reached over 112 million listens on YouTube, and 20 million plays on SoundCloud. This track and this year’s released “Riva” feat. Broken back, are tracks he is known for. Klingande matches up the beats to a harmonica in this track. It is very catchy, and is truly a summer hit since it has a “feel good” tone. Klingande should definitely be on top of the list to see at Mamby!

Farley Jackmaster Funk:

Chicago is the birthplace of house music. When one of the originators of Chicago House music comes to play, you don’t miss it. Farley Jackmaster Funk, ‘The King of House music’, one of the founding members of the legendary ‘Hot mix 5’, was also part of the legendary house label Trax Records and longtime friend of the Godfather of House music Frankie Knuckles. Take a trip into the history of Chicago House music by checking out his set on Saturday.

Royksopp

If you are looking for an epic live electronic performance, Royksopp is not to be missed on Saturday. This Norwegian duo is well known for their performances with live instruments and vocalist, allowing them to fully play their deep discography of warm and luscious hits. Featured on Geico’s Caveman commercials, their hit “remind me” joins many others such as “eple”, “what else is out there?”(Remixed beautifully by Thin White Duke) and “Poor Leno”. Recently released is their album “The Inevitable End” featuring the beautiful track “I had this thing”. We guarantee this will be the performance of the weekend.

Autograf:

With mainstream fans hyping up Krewella and Flosstradamus to no end, it would seem hard to break out as a new mostly tropical house sounding group from Chicago.  WRONG! In what seems to be no time at all Autograf — comprised of Jake Carpenter, Louis Kha and Mikul Wing have exploded onto the scene with a new refreshing sound and live instrument element. From underground techno parties, party busses and even Electric Forest, Autograf innovates and elevates a vibrant Chicago electronic music scene. Having several  No.1 releases on Hype Machine and millions of listens on their soundcloud seems to only be the beginning. If  you want to see the next big thing that we can be proud of from Chicago, don’t miss Autograf’s set at Mamby Saturday July 11 from 2:15-3:00.

Mamby on the Beach – Getting There

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Mamby on the Beach is located south of the McCormick place off of Lake Shore Drive on 41 Street aka Oakwood Beach. A bit further away from Chicagos loop compared to Soldier Field which hosts React’s Spring Awakening Music Festival. To accomodate the  festival goers, React has organized several things including: a drop off parking lot, shuttle buses from a red and green line train stop and an official parking lot to leave your car.

BIKE ACCESS

The easiest way to Mamby on the Beach!

Located directly off Chicago’s Lakefront Trail, Mamby will be providing FREE bike parking on-site for those attendees looking to enjoy Chicago during their festival commute.

CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY (CTA)

The Chicago Transit Authority is the fast, easy, inexpensive way to get to the event site.
The CTA operates both trains and buses during festival hours.
Mamby on the Beach recommends the following train stations:

  • Cermak-Chinatown Red Line
  • Cermak-McCormick Green Line

FREE event shuttles will run loop service from Cermak-Chinatown Red Line, to Cermak-McCormick Green Line, to Event Site.
Servicing bus routes include:

  • #39 Pershing (Lake Park & Oakwood)
  • #43 (Oakenwald & 43rd Street)
  • #4 Cottage Grove (Cottage Grove & Pershing)

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Free shuttles will run from 12:00PM – 11:00PM

Shuttles will run loop service from Cermak-Chinatown Red Line, to Cermak-McCormick Green Line, to Event Site.

OFFICIAL MAMBY PARKING LOT

McCormick – Marshalling Yard – $14/day

Parking Lot B
3050 S. Moe Drive
Chicago, IL 60616

(Directional signage will guide attendees to the marshalling lot off 31st St.)

BUY PARKING TICKETS HERE

FOR MORE INFORMATION FOLLOW THIS LINK

 

MAMBY PARTNERS WITH JBTV FOR MAMBY ON THE JBEACH TV CONTEST

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Calling all aspiring bands! Mamby Beach is thrilled to partner with JBTV to give one lucky band the chance to play Chicago’s newest music beach festival! The Mamby on the JBeach TV Contest is only open for BANDS that use live instrumentation (No DJS). Must be 18+. The grand prize includes a chance to perform on stage at Mamby on the Beach, happening July 11th & 12th.

The contest officially begins today, Thursday May 21st, and the voting and submissions end onMonday, June 15th at 12pm CST. To enter, bands must upload a video to the contest app on Mamby Beach’s Facebook page. The Top 5 finalists will get a chance to play (2 songs) to be recorded at JBTV studios on Wednesday June 17th.

The JBTV judges will then vote on the Top 5 recorded performances to pick the grand prize winner based on the songs’ stylistic fit for the festival, musicianship (how well they play their instruments), stage presence, and overall performance. The judges include some of Chicago’s rock industry figures such as Greg Corner (JBTV), Lauren O’Neil (101 – WKQX), and Mr. JBTV himself, Jerry Bryant, who will pick the winner from this recorded set to be aired at www.mambybeach.com on Tuesday June 23rd.The winner will be announced on Wednesday June 24th. Best of luck!

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