Wavefront Music Festival

Wavefront was no doubt an amazing event and a fresh breath of air when it comes to music festivals in Chicago, even around other cities. As with every festival in its first year, there are always things that need to be improved on. I had passes for two days, but ended up only going on day 2. I believe that I bought a Groupon for this event, and it was super cheap. I am hoping that for 2013, they will have another live promotion. We got there around midday, which ended up being more than enough for us.

Parking - there was a lot where you can pay an insane amount of money, but it was convenient and very close to the event. Since Montrose is a public beach, we ended up waiting 15-20 minutes for a parking spot to clear up a bit further away, and that was way worth it! If they will have the same parking system this year, I recommend either getting there extra early, or being patient and waiting for someone who is just chilling on the beach to leave.

My biggest problem was the lineup - it wasn't the best, but far from being the worst. I absolutely LOVED Nadia Ali. They focused on non mainstream artists, which I can totally respect. But that also affects the price, so if they will bring in more known dj's this year, prices will soar. There were two main stages playing different types of music. I would say one was more chill, while the other was a more upbeat tempo. It was awhile ago, so I don't remember the details. Regardless, it's an amazing location and I felt like I was partying in SOBE rather than in Chi. The bar areas were set up nicely, so I never felt like I had to walk too far to grab another beer. With the stages being on the sand, there was a good assortment of food vendors and clothing/jewlery type of things on top of the "hill", as well as decent amount of portable toilets.

With that being said, nothing ever felt too crowded. It was a perfect amount of people and the sound system was banging! The promoters set up bungalow's for the VIP which was super sweet, too bad I wasn't one of those people.

There is NOTHING better than partying on the beach on a hot summer day and listening to great music. Out of all the events in Chicago, I recommend this one because it's so much fun. I mean, how can a party on the beach go wrong?! :)

Music festival on the Montrose Beach sand....with all the music festivals that pop up lately, why hasn't anyone done this idea yet??

They had a hell of a line-up, Eric Prydz was my favorite, enjoyed how they had a local stage where Milk & Cookies killed it (and a guest appearance by Nadia Ali - love her). The stages were huge, had awesome visual effects and a great sound system. Even had awesome fireworks in addition to the stage fog.

I'm glad I got to go for their first year, I can pretty much guarantee that I'll be getting my tickets as soon as they come out for next year. You might wanna keep an eye out for the Groupon as well. I went both days and thought all of their stages were BOMB, and I also loved that it was (older) young adults and there weren't teeny boppers running around. My biggest problem with Spring Awakening or Lollapalooza, is the overwhelming amount of middle school/high schoolers. Like Adrienne mentioned, love that this hasn't hit mainstream EDM, so enjoy it while it lasts!

The double line setup for drinks wasn't too big of a deal to me - just go buy $30-$50 in drink tickets when you walk in. At least that way you can just budget yourself for the rest of the day. If you don't feel like doing that, get VIP Tickets!

Word to the wise - it's kind of a bitch leaving this event due to there only being one big road leaving Montrose Beach. So bring your motorcycle/scooter/bicycle, or plan on just taking the CTA.

Wavefront needs to get some tips from Spring Awakening organizers about logistics. Why do you guys have double lines to get inside the fest and that weird, inefficient 2-step drink ticket system?

Other than their forgivable logistical hiccups, Wavefront was AMAZING. it was one of my best fest experiences ever - definitely blew Ultra and North Coast out of the water! Wavefront's non-mainstream lineup (Matthew Dear, Nic Fanciulli, Sasha, Prydz, Sultan & Ned Shepard etc) was a welcome relief from the typical edm fest players...

not to point out the obvious, but it's on the beach!! talk about a quintessential summertime chi weekend. the vibe takes me back to ibiza..grooving to tech house all day under the sun - there's nothing like watching the sunset with epic edm playing in the background, drinking 312s!

i loved how it wasn't overcrowded and the music came across loud and clear. also, because there were only 2 big stages, it was easy to go back and forth and catch different sets. unlike other fests, I felt completely comfortable wandering around on my own and then finding my friends in the crowd again later.

the grand finale with fireworks going off for what felt like FOREVER as Sasha was closing out his set was one of the most memorable music moments of my life!

I can't wait to go again next year - if they fix the logistical issues, this festival will be a solid 5 star experience!