By midnight, the line was 200 deep outside of Soundbar – legions of house heads shivering in the drizzle with muffled kick drums audible from the street. The scene wasn’t entirely surprising – whispers about Green Velvet’s birthday party had floated around Chicago for weeks. The excitement was palpable – not only did the lineup feature Velvet kicking off his new Soundbar residency, but also UK superstar duo Basement Jaxx and Chicago ex-pat Mark Farina.
Props have to be given to Velvet himself for the impressive artists gracing the bill. As Lucas King, owner of React Events and one of the promoters behind the night disclosed, “He called the Jaxx and Farina himself to play the party and arranged everything. Give Curtis [Green Velvet] a ton of love for that.” It’s certainly what he got as house lovers turned out in droves to support, both from the new and old guard, including Chris Santiago of Santiago and Bushido, Lego, James Amato of Potty Mouth Records, Sombionix and Hiroki.
