A popular Bloomington music venue is back with a new spring calendar.
While crowd-favorite cover bands like the Rod Tuffcurls and the Phunk Nasty’s make their regular appearances on the Bluebird Bar’s schedule, there are already a few notable upcoming shows from a variety of musical artists.
Marketing director for the Bluebird Patrick Milescu said the changing nature of Bloomington’s demographic sometimes makes it tough to pinpoint the musical tastes of his audience.
“We definitely made an attempt to cover all bases and get a good range of acts that, in one demographic or another, could appeal to almost anyone who could be a music fan living in Bloomington,” said Milescu. “This year’s calendar hopefully manages to reflect a bit more of the community’s music taste and student’s taste.”
From neo-funk and jam bands to dreamy indie pop and classic alternative punk, this season at the Bluebird has a show for music lovers of all kinds. Check out these shows coming up this semester, and be sure to check the Bluebird calendar for additional shows.
Cherub + the Floozies
Tickets: $20
8 p.m. Feb. 12
The Floozies’ Matt and Mark Hill will bring their Midwestern-bred brand of electro-funk back to the Bluebird alongside Cherub in February.
After playing the venue with Chet Porter back in September, the Floozies went on to make appearances at some of the festival giants like Electric Forest, Bonnaroo and Camp Bisco.
The band’s love for classic swing and funk meets the members’ skills in free-form jazz and electronic production in hits like “Sunroof Cadillac” and “Stuntin’.”
It will join producers Jordan Kelley and Jason Huber with ProbCause for the Your Girlfriend Already Bought Tickets Tour.
Dinosaur Jr.
Tickets: $20
8 p.m. March 16
As a popular band of the late 1980s, Dinosaur Jr. brought underground angst and heavy guitars back to the forefront of indie music. With help from musical fellows like Sonic Youth and the Pixies, the trio earned a reputation as one of the biggest influences on alternative rock.
After disbanding in 1997, the band reunited in 2005 and released its eleventh studio album in August of last year. J Mascis’ songwriting and psychedelic, feedback-drenched guitar will be coming to the Bluebird this March.
Dizgo & Aqueous
Tickets: $5
9 p.m. Feb. 18
Quickly rising Bloomington electro-trio Dizgo will perform with New York groovers Aqueous in February.
Consisting of members of former Bloomington groups Elephant Quiz and 800 lb. Gorilla, Dizgo combines electronic funk with deep-groove soul and extended improvisations. Aqueous has shared the stage with jam giants Umphrey’s McGee and Lotus, and the band’s high-energy performances have been creating a buzz across the country.
Whitney
Tickets: $20
8 p.m. May 8
The indie-rockers, as artists signed to the local independent label Secretly Canadian, from Chicago have their own stake in Bloomington.
Guitarist Max Kakacek joined former Unknown Mortal Orchestra drummer Ehrlich for the songwriting project Whitney. They have played support for other notable indie artists such as Tobias Jesso Jr.
Their single “No Woman” was released in January of 2016 and was followed by the release of “Light Upon the Lake,” which was named as one of Pitchfork’s 50 best albums of 2016.
Tickets will be available before the show at Landlocked Music.
