After five years of lineups that boasted headlining EDM heavyweights like Bassnectar, Pretty Lights and David Guetta, the bill for 2015's North Coast Music Festival is lacking some low end. That's not to say electronic acts have been banished from the fest—you can still catch sets from Steve Aoki, Knife Party and a host of DJs throughout Labor Day weekend. But Saturday night's lineup of Galactic, the Roots and D'Angelo is one that your (decidedly hip) parents might actually be interested in seeing—and that's by design. "It is geared toward an older crowd this year," North Coast cofounder Michael Berg told us. "There’s not going to be as many kids running around." It's almost as if the event billed as "summer's last stand" is entering young adulthood, a time when younger siblings are an annoyance and your parents' record collection becomes interesting—but the transition is never easy.
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North Coast's growing pains came to light during the festival's lineup announcement in April, when organizers simultaneously unveiled a new 17+ age limit for the previously all-ages event. The age restriction was immediately met with a mostly negative reaction from fans who, according to Berg, "responded to it almost as if we had gone backwards rather than forwards." Mistakenly, many of these fans assumed that North Coast was originally an 18+ or 21+ event and interpreted the 17+ restriction as a concession to a younger audience. Those directly affected by the age limit also made their voices heard: "I got emails from parents who said that this was the only event they allow their kids to go to," Berg explained. "It got to the point where we thought, 'Why are we not selling tickets to these people who want to buy them?'" So, the organizers listened. Just weeks before the festival's gates open, North Coast has quietly removed the 17+ age limit, making it an all-ages event once more.
"I think a primary tenet of what the event stands for is offering something for everybody," Berg said. "It’s a redefining year for North Coast because it’s establishing that [the festival] is not an EDM event." That may be partially out of necessity: React Presents (one of the local promoters that helps book North Coast) is presenting an expanded, three-day version of its annual Freaky Deaky festival at the end of October, bringing electronic acts like Armin Van Buuren, Benny Benassi and Big Gigantic to Toyota Park in nearby Bridgeview. North Coast likely missed out on some of the EDM acts that committed to play at Freaky Deaky instead, leaving room on the festival's bill for more rock and jam bands. But the slightly reduced presence of electronic acts hasn't hurt North Coast's ticket sales—three-day passes are 95 percent sold out as of this writing. "We want to eventually be an event that people want to be at no matter what the lineup is because they trust that no matter what we book, it will be entertaining," Berg said.
As Chicago's summer festival scene becomes increasingly over-saturated, even established events like North Coast have been forced to rethink their audience and booking. "There’s an argument to be made that North Coast was one of the events that turned the spotlight on Chicago as a great festival market," Berg said. "We want to stay relevant, but at the same time, we want to pay homage to the people who have paved the way."
In addition to the booking of pioneering acts like D'Angelo and the Chemical Brothers, the event's respect for the past (and deference to an older audience) comes in the form of a new, sponsored stage at the festival (dubbed the Heineken House) that will exclusively showcase Chicago house DJs like Terry Hunter and Roy Davis Jr.
Attendees will also notice an expanded experiential art presence and the return of the silent disco, where DJs pipe their sets into headphones. North Coast isn't about to leave the halcyon days of bass drops and light shows behind, but Berg is aware the festival needs to grow with its audience. "In any business, if you don’t stay on your toes and evolve with the times and stay connected to what your core fan base is looking for, then you’re blowing it."
North Coast Music Festival takes over Union Park, September 4-6.