Justin Long’s .dotbleep night at Smart Bar, which typically features major house-music players, is going the way of techno for the Chicago veteran’s birthday party. Playing alongside Justin Long for an extended set is L.A.’s Acid Circus (aka Vangelis and Vidal Vargas) who makes up half of the Droid Behavior crew along with Drumcell. Between the crew’s well-respected Droid Recordings label, its renegade warehouse parties and packed club nights featuring techno’s heavy hitters, and its aggressive live performances, it comes as no surprise that Droid has almost singlehandedly put Los Angeles techno back on the map. Expect Acid Circus to drop a relentless mix of original tracks, remixes and samples in a hybrid Live P.A./DJ set that blends the best of techno, electro, acid and minimal. Anyone who has lost it on the dance floor to a set from Justin Long knows his skills and versatility are considerable, so expect a raw, bumpin’, techy house set that matches the intensity of Acid Circus’ performance. (Elly Rifkin)
July 18 at Smart Bar, 3730 N. Clark, (773)549-0203.
Cooling It: A Preview of Colleen Green at Cole’s Bar When Green strums power chords or chiming notes on top of her backing track, you might think you’re at Ramones karaoke night and Madonna is taking her turn.
Brutal Finesse: A Preview of King Crimson at Ravinia There have been few new compositions from King Crimson these past two decades, but the live arrangements of songs from its catalog are often strikingly different than the recorded versions.
