Sound & Gravity multi-day music event set for Chicago, the latest from Pitchfork’s Mike Reed

There’s a new kid on the musical festival block headed to Chicago this fall.

Well, it’s not a new festival, per se, according to Pitchfork co-founder Mike Reed, who on Wednesday announced the inaugural Sound & Gravity — a multi-venue-based, concert “community experience” — running Sept. 10-14 in Bricktown/Avondale.

Organized through Reed’s Constellation Performing Arts, 48 music acts will take to the stages at six venues — Constellation, Hungry Brain, Judson & Moore, Beat Kitchen, Guild Row, and Rockwell on the River over the course of the five-day event.

On the docket — across an array of genres including contemporary classical, jazz, indie, new music, electronic music and more — are artists including Bill Callahan, Mdou Moctar, Third Coast Percussion, Darius Jones Trio, Helado Negro, Mary Lattimore, Irreversible Entanglements, Jeff Parker Expansion Trio, Julianna Barwick, Mary Halvorson, Steve Gunn, William Tyler, Rafiq Bhatia, Elias Rønnenfelt, Glenn Kotche, Luke Stewart’s Chicago Quartet, and “surprise sets” curated by the late Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio studios, Wednesday’s announcement said.

“At Constellation, we established the not-for-profit arm in 2018. … What we do here is all about wanting to present music in the way we want to present it. If you look at our calendar, there are time periods where we might be dark because maybe there isn’t a good show that we want to present. That comes at a price. … So I had to think of a way to have [this all] continue. So instead of having a [fundraising] gala, why don’t we make a product that everyone wants,” Reed said when reached by phone.

“Looking around at the state of festivals, where we were doing one for about 20 years, I think that landscape has completely changed. The more interesting events, even globally, are ones that are a lot more specific, a lot more curated. Musically [with this new event], we could do things that are much more important to us and in spaces that would be much more beneficial. I mean you can’t have a string quartet out in a field with 20,000 people,” Reed said with a chuckle.

“The experience for the audiences will hopefully be a lot more intimate and special. … Festivals have become so predictable. We have a whole generation or generation-and-a-half that’s grown up with them. And I’m saying no, [the music experience] should be something different.

“This isn’t a replacement for Pitchfork by any stretch, or for that type of an idea on that scale.”

With the participating venues only a 5- to 15-minute walk from each other, ticketing/pass options allow fans to take in specific concerts at each of the spaces over the course of the five days.

“The proximity of the places is such that you could bounce essentially from room to room very easily. So it’s creating this little [music experience] hub,” Reed said. … “Hopefully this event is a way we can earn income for what we do all year round,” Reed said. “… If you’re interested in lifestyle events, that’s what Coachella is for.”

He added that the concerts are only one facet of the event, which he hopes will encourage everyone to experience what the community as a whole has to offer. Concern over massive crowds descending on the neighborhood is not an issue, Reed noted.

“Let’s say it was just a regular Friday night. Constellation has a show. Hungry Brain has a show. Judson & Moore has a show. Beat Kitchen has a show. This is happening already. They could all be sold-out shows. We’re just putting a ribbon around it and saying there’s a curatorial aesthetic to it and there’s an ability for you to circulate. All the rooms have their own capacities already, and that dictates how many people you can sell this to. We might open up a few other spaces; we know the capacities we’re expecting for each one of those. So if all of them were all full at the same time that would essentially give you what we have already. It’s not 20,000 people, it’s, just to throw out a number, 4,000 potentially. There’s a finite number [at each show, each venue].

“This isn’t a replacement for Pitchfork by any stretch, or for that type of an idea on that scale.”

Founded in 2013 by Reed, Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave., has been a hub for all manner of experimental and new music.

So is Pitchfork completely out of Reed’s system?

“I’m glad that festival happened and proud of the many years we did it. That’s over. I’m not that sentimental about it. … If I was supposedly good at that, hopefully I’ll be good at this.”