CHICAGO, IL.
In 2024, Festival of Friends (FoF) Events will begin serving recreational musicians across the Chicago metro area with our unique brand of live performance programming and community-building events!
FoF's mission is to foster the development and growth of community between recreational musicians who are passionate about playing and performing without the constraints, pressures or judgment of the professional music scene. We bring exciting innovation to recreational musicianship through uniquely curated band programming and live music events with our programming approach focused directly on the practiced recreational musician who wants to challenge themselves in new ways and apply their existing skill set in a band-centered environment with other like-minded players. Festival of Friends event programming formats are designed to be no-pressure and non-competitive live performance experiences for everyday recreational players. We're excited to be serving the Chicago metro area in 2024! |
Songmixers Format Overview
Songmixers is the flagship Festival of Friends live event performance format. Songmixers events feature a pre-registered, rotating roster of up to 25 to 30 musicians that showcase a range of players and performers in the Festival of Friends Events community. Collectively the musicians perform a 20 to 24 song themed (curated) set from some of rock music's most iconic bands and artists.
The twist: No group rehearsals beforehand. It's plug-n-play live performance. |
Songmixers events are made up of:
The benefits of participating include:
Songmixers events are for:
- Pre-organized cover song performance collectives showcasing material by iconic bands and artists performed by a rotating cast of musicians over the course of the evening.
- Guitarists, bassists, drummers, keyboardists and vocalists (available instrumentation is material dependent) who've registered and accurately learned in advance the songs they want to perform on their primary instrument(s) based on the event's theme and song selection.
- During open registration participants choose a minimum of 1 song and a maximum of 4 songs (based on your primary instrument(s). If there are additional songs available that you're interested in playing on (beyond your initial selections) we'll notify you about remaining options (at no extra cost) after open registration has closed.
- Festival of Friends Songmixers events include an event registration fee of $129. In addition to your performer slots/songs and respective stage time you'll receive one complimentary drink and are allowed one event guest.
- An optional Friday night (pre-event), Meet-N-Mingle happy hour will be offered (no host, cash bar) as part of your event package at no additional cost. Attendance is highly encouraged for pre-event group camaraderie-building as well as some laid-back fun and social-connection time with new friends and familiar faces. Location and Time TBA.
The benefits of participating include:
- Convenient, fun and unique way to play in a band and perform live with new faces and even old friends.
- Being connected to like-minded musicians with similar skill-sets and playing abilities through curated live performance experiences..
- Belonging to a musician community where you can spend less time organizing a band and more time applying your passion and skills.
- Providing a purposeful reason for at-home (i.e.) solo practice time, whether you're self-taught or working with an instructor.
- The motivation to honestly learn songs as originally recorded and apply what you've learned on the live stage.
- Improve your overall musicianship through focused, goal-oriented practice time and live performance gigs.
- Try out new musical styles you might otherwise not have considered or had the opportunity to explore.
- An exciting opportunity to do something new or outside your comfort zone within the live band/performance environment.
Songmixers events are for:
- Armchair, everyday musicians as well as routine players with an intermediate to advanced-level skill set (even if its been a while and you're just looking to kick off the rust).
- Who can accurately learn material on their own and readily apply it in a live event setting. There are no auditions or formalized rehearsals with the Songmixers format. Please review our FAQ for more information.
- The requirements for participating musicians is to meet the minimum playing ability requirements, accurately learn your respective playing parts before you arrive, come to the show ready to perform and be respectful to and support your event band mates and have lots of fun!
Chicago 2024 / FoF Songmixers Events
FoF Community Member Experiences
FoF Community Member Survey
Please note: Any information provided below is strictly for the use of Festival of Friends Events future programming. We will not share or sell any of the information you provide. We look forward to serving your area!
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Be sure to check out our FAQ and Songmixers Video Showcase pages below for additional info and past performances. |
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