Sound & Gravity returns to Avondale, Bricktown over Labor Day weekend

Locally-run, multi-venue festival Sound & Gravity returns for its second edition over Labor Day weekend. The fest brings together more than 50 artists to perform across seven venues around Chicago’s Avondale and Roscoe Village neighborhoods Sept. 3-6, featuring genres such as jazz, experimental, contemporary classical and indie.

The venues — Constellation, Hungry Brain, Beat Kitchen, Athenaeum Center, Judson & Moore Distillery, Rockwell on the River and Guild Row — are all located within two miles of one another, promoting a “choose your own adventure” style of festival. Sound & Gravity’s top billing includes psychedelic solo project Grouper, Contre Jour — a performance piece from former Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo and experimental artist Leah Singer — post-rock band Son Lux, guitarist Marc Ribot and Ethiopian musician and composer Hailu Mergia. Colombian experimental artist Lucrecia Dalt, multi-instrumentalist and Grammy-winning producer Josh Johnson and Grammy-nominated drummer Kassa Overall are also slated to perform.

Notable local acts on the lineup include trumpeter and bandleader Will Miller’s Resavoir, melancholic soft-rock project Advance Base, underground ensemble Natural Information Society, alternative project Bitchin Bajas, Latin-influenced alt quartet Dos Santos, experimental ensemble microplastique and improvisational trio Twin Talk.

The festival also serves as a fundraiser for nonprofit venue Constellation Performing Arts, which was started by musician Mike Reed in 2013. Reed is also the co-founder of Pitchfork Music Festival, which ran in Chicago for 19 years before calling it quits in 2024. Last year he told WBEZ that the goal of Sound & Gravity isn’t to take Pitchfork’s place, but to support Constellation and other indie music venues.

Tickets are on sale now, with four-day all-event passes starting at $240. Single-day passes start at $85 and Thursday opening night tickets at $50.