Do-Division Street Fest

Division St between Ashland Ave and Leavitt St; Sat 30, Sun 31

The street-fest season kicks into high gear with this sexed-up sidewalk sale, steered by local indie mecca the Empty Bottle. In its sophomore run, the PBR-powered weekender again places equal emphasis on local and national talent, with a few of the latter adding late-night club sets to their itinerary.

Day one gets going with Athens, Georgia’s sprawling psych-rock collective Dark Meat, followed by R&B revivalists JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, basking in the afterglow of its recent triumph at the Numero Group’s Eccentric Soul Revue. Newly expanded Portland, Oregon, quartet Viva Voce rocks through its new Rose City (Barsuk), which should adequately evacuate the stroller set before Montreal’s Handsome Furs—the electro-pop couple of Wolf Parade’s Dan Boeckner and wife Alexei Perry. A headlining slot from tag-team DJ duo Flosstradamus undoubtedly will get West Towners dancing in the street, possibly bumping to beats off its latest project—producing De La Soul’s newest for Nike, Are You In?, a 44-minute jingle for joggers.

On Sunday, Cincinnati twosome Bad Veins and local dub-punk warriors the Jai-Alai Savant get ears buzzing early, abetted by jittery indie from Seattle act Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, supporting its Dead Oceans debut. Aside from Floss, the weekend’s token hip-hop offering is skinny jeans–stretching rapper Hollywood Holt, back from his tour with grime queen Lady Sovereign and prep-schoolers Chester French. After that is a set from New York’s White Rabbits, whose new Britt Daniel–produced It’s Frightening sounds more like an Indie Rock for Dummies handbook than an album, though it’s bound to appeal to fans of Spoon and Radiohead.

The weekend’s most anticipated appearance belongs to Menomena. No doubt the postpunk abstractionists will preview material from their forthcoming follow-up to 2007’s Friend and Foe, with a projected release next year. As the crowning jewel on this summer concert kickoff, the Portland, Oregon, trio lights up Division before ducking into the Bottle for an intimate indoor appearance on Monday 1.—Areif Sless-Kitain

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