Now that we are well into the summer the summer festivals don’t stop! This summer brings the second year for Peoria hardcore music festival Discontent Fest happening on Saturday and Sunday July 22nd and 23rd. We count a total of 40 bands playing the fest as listed on the flier above, with 20 bands on each day. The lineup this year features a good handful of bands all familiar to Black Sheep and also Dumb Fest – including Falter, Stye, P.E.A.R.L., 86 Gemini, Pryss, and Dream Probe.

A breakedown of the full lineup along with links to listen to each band can be found right here on the Discontent Fest facebook page. Both days will be happening at The Rail II in Peoria, which is all ages as far as we can tell. Ticket info and pricing has not yet been released.

Making sure we get a post out for each of the downtown music festivals happening in Springfield this summer- this one is for the newly formed “Legacy of Giving” Music Festival happening downtown in two weeks on Friday and Saturday, June 2nd and 3rd. The festival formed from the ashes of SOHO Music Festival which has happened every year prior to this since 2005, the same year Black Sheep began. SOHO was kind enough to offer Black Sheep our very own stage the past two years in 2015 and 2016. Legacy of Giving Music Festival will not be continuing the Black Sheep stage.

The lineup for L.O.G. fest consists of 70 bands and performers. Admission is just $5.00, and proceeds will be going to 10 different charities. You can find the entire music fest lineup and breakdown of which acts will be playing which stages right here. Notable acts familiar to the Black Sheep stage might include Blind Social, Jessica Knight (of Looming), Zach Goriszewski of Kickstart, Ted Keylon of TANG, Stereo Static, and much more.

Check out our Springfield shows page for a look at other events going on in town outside of Black Sheep. Find the Legacy of Giving Music Festival website right here. Don’t forget that Dumb Fest 5 is also happening in town the following weekend! On their website Legacy of Giving Music Festival claims to be the most diverse lineup of bands in town with bands coming from 7 different states, but do they know that Dumb Fest 5 features bands from 12 different states and 2 different countries? Probably not.

We are keeping things rolling keeping you in the loop on DIY and punk festivals happening in Springfield and the surrounding cities this summer. This one is Midwest Punkfest – it’s the ninth year they have held the festival in Bloomington, Illinois and it is happening this year on June 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. This will be the same weekend as Legacy of Giving Festival in Springfield which we will have a separate post up here soon. Midwest Punkfest 9 features a lot of bands from all over the midwest. Also a few acts from Springfield including The Timmys, Jeff Williams (NIL8), Attic Salt, and Hospital Job. Check out the full list of bands below:

Bonelung
F.Y.I
Sleeping Under 47
American Dischord (AMDX)
Werepire Day
Avenues
All Eyes West
The Timmys
Jeff Williams of NIL8
Bassamp and Dano
Taylor smith
Minor Decline
The Radio Buzzkills
Butchered
Attic Salt
On The Cinder
THE MIDLIFE
Dollar Signs
The Raging Nathans
Hospital Job
The Slow Death
Mikey Erg
Parasites
Arms Aloft
The Dopamines
Flamingo Nosebleed
Dirty Rotten Revenge
The Subservients
Terribly Happy
FAT BY the Gallon
Jake Martin
Morgan And The Freemen
Back Alley Riot
Almost People
Jason Thompson
Voice Of Addiction
The Haddonfields
Amuse

That’s a lot! Check out the Midwest Punkfest 9 facebook event for a closer look at when each of those bands will be playing the fest, and for more info on venue and ticket information.

We are trying to stay on top of all the DIY music festivals happening throughout Central Illinois right now! This upcoming weekend we already told you about Mates Fest #9 happening over in Peoria. Well, in another city also in the center of our state- Champaign/Urbana there is another weekend-long festival taking place and that is “Dark Tower Fest” – a new festival happening for the first time. We count 26 bands on the lineup listed below playing throughout the two days. Those include Springfield’s own Pryss and Livin’ Thing. Let’s take a look at the list:

ARTORIAS
ARTHUR
AUTOPSY THEFT
BLACK NAIL
BLIND EQUATION
BLUE MOVIES
CADENCE FOX
CAN’-KA NO REY
DISNEY 69
FOURSIDE
FRAIL BODY
GAS UP YR HEARSE!!
GRIEF SEEDS
HISTORIOGRAPHER
KELUT
KENTUCKY MEAT SHOWER
LIVIN THING
LUME
NATIONAL HERO
PORTALS
PRYSS
SHE/HER
SNAYL
STYE
TWEAK
XANAX PRINCESS

You can find out which of those bands play which days on the Dark Tower Fest event page right here. The fest will be taking place at house venues “Blips N Chitz” and “Ghost Planet.” Admission is $10 per day or $15 for both days. Nice! Stream some music by Grief Seeds from North Carolina, who are playing day 2 of the fest on the player below.

With the weather getting warmer out and festival season just around the corner (first Dumb Fest band announcement is coming tomorrow), it’s time for us to tell you about some music festivals happening in other nearby Central Illinois towns. This one is coming up quick- Mates Fest is happening in Peoria the weekend after next on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday- March 31st, 30th, April 1st, and 2nd. It will be the 8th year the annual festival has taken place. Let’s take a look at the massive lineup of bands playing over the four day festival:

Alex and the XO’s – Bloomington, IL
Animal Harm – Peoria, IL
Attic Salt – Springfield, IL
blue unit – Milwaukee, WI
The Bollweevils – Chicago, IL
Bookmobile – Champaign, IL
Charmist – Peoria, IL
City Mouth (acoustic) – Chicago, IL
Constant Velocity – Bloomington, IL
Danny Severance – Orlando, FL
DEN – Chicago, IL
Denim Dragon – Peoria, IL
Dirty Rotten Revenge- Bloomington, IL
Dripping Slits – Bloomington, IL
The Dry Look – Champaign, IL
Endless Compromise – Peoria, IL
Eric Stanley (Euriah) – Champaign, IL
The Golden Fleece – Peoria, IL
Grill Billyenz – Bloomington, IL
Grün Wasser – Chicago, IL
Horseburner- Parkersburg, WV
Hospital Job – Springfield, IL
Houston Mckenzie – Peoria, IL
Infirmary – Peoria, IL
Jared Grabb – Peoria, IL
Jeremy David Baker – Peoria, IL
La Historia – Rockford, IL
Liverpool & the Contractions – Peoria, IL
Lume – Chicago, IL
Matt Charles – Philadelphia, PA
Mental Fitness – Peoria, IL
Milked – Rockford/Chicago, IL
Mother Nature – Champaign, IL
Must Build Jacuzzi – Peoria, IL
Nnamdi Ogbonnaya & ThrashKitten of Sooper SWAG Project – Chicago, IL
Old Home – Champaign, IL
Pet Symmetry- Chicago, IL
Phantom Noise – Peoria, IL
Prints (formerly Mendoza) – Peoria, IL
Raging Nathans – Dayton, OH
Reduced to Instinct -Bloomington/Chicago, IL
Relearn – Peoria, IL
Sage, the 64th Wonder – Chicago, IL
The Subservients – Pontiac, IL
Super 88 – Peoria, IL
Thetah – Peoria, IL
Tina Sparkle – Peoria, IL
Typecaster – Peoria, IL
Vagabond Maurice – Chicago, IL
We The Animals – Champaign, IL
Winder – Bloomington/Champaign, IL
Yeesh – Chicago, IL
ZXO – Champaign, IL

Wow, that was a whole 56 bands we counted (but we didn’t count too carefully). That lineup includes Springfield bands Attic Salt and Hospital Job. Check out some music from Nnamdi Ogbonnaya- one of the headlining acts- streaming on the player below. Check out the Mates Fest 8 facebook event page for links to music for all of those bands, and also more info on purchasing tickets. The festival is taking place at The Rail II and is all ages. It is also a benefit for The JOLT Foundation.

You wouldn’t believe it, but we are announcing a 15-band hardcore festival to be happening at Black Sheep in just six days, this upcoming Saturday, September 3rd. That’s right- this one isn’t really last minute on our part- the festival just had to be moved from happening in Champaign/Urbana to Black Sheep recently. We are happy to be now hosting the first “Central Illinois Hardcore Festival” featuring 15 bands from all over the region. Let’s take a look at the lineup:

No Surrender
Burdened
Mended
Capitol Offense
The Brandon Rosa Boombox Experience
Open Wound
Mercy Blow
Sledge
Reaver
Breach
Reduced To Instinct
Cold Grip
Lowered A.D.
Lowlives
Through N Through
Drowning

There you have it! Some of those bands of course are familiar to the Black Sheep stage such as Lowered A.D. and Reduced To Instinct, who have both played Dumb Fests of the past. You can check out music from Ohio’s “No Surrender” embedded below. The festival is set to be starting at noon on Saturday. Admission is $10. You can find a facebook event for the fest right here. Also be sure to check out our shows page for a look at what else is coming up at Black Sheep this September.