Dani Shivers + Chrissy Murderbot: 28 September – Chicago

Chrissy Murderbot

Post sponsored by Indio Beer.

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When I arrived to cover the first Hola Indio event at the Double Door last month, I arrived promptly at nine where I found no line and was told to come back in a few minutes. This wasn’t a problem to be repeated as there was already a line stretching out the door by the same time this Friday.

Not only was there a healthy crowd lined up for the cold Indio bottles but people were here early to see a slew of paintings hung up around the venue from the Mexican Museum of Art, for whom the event raised over $1600.

The first act of the night was Chicago’s own DJ Chrissy Muderbot. If you’ve never heard of him, he’s gained notoriety for, among other things, putting out a mixtape a week for the better part of a calendar year. Although he’s slowed a bit in terms of musical output, it was obvious Friday night that he hadn’t lost any of that manic energy.

Murderbot announced his arrival onstage will a descending wall of bass followed quickly by some kick drum, turning the Double Door into a dance floor. Not content to pull a Girl Talk and hide behind a Macbook, DJ Murderbot had two honest-to-God turntables going all night, cranking out high octane jams that started at high energy and only went up from there.

The more adventurous souls let their freak flags fly on the dance floor, including and adventurous pair who spent the better part of a song mere inches off the floor. Others were happy to chill in the back, taking in the impressive dance scene as well as a DJ set that left 808s ringing in their ears even after he left the stage.

British Knights, a Chicago DJ team took over the turntables to keep the energy up between sets as people took the opportunity to grab a few remaining Indios (they were going fast) and relax between sets. People could post pictures of themselves at the show to a large video screen in the back by tagging them #HolaIndio which allowed for ideal digital people watching and showed a room full of revelers all doing their thing.

Headliner Dani Shivers’ Facebook page describes her music as simply “La muerte de la inocencia” (“The death of innocence”) and the cobwebs, black draping and a flashing skull that took over the stage as she set up certainly gave the room a Gothic pallor. At the same time, the scent of incense came wafting out as well giving the room a sweet hue. This perfumed darkness was the perfect setup for Shivers’ music as the Tijuana-based singer presented a string of sweet, lulling pop songs with a murderous heart made with just a few beats and some Casio keys.

This may not have been your typical night out. How often does an art museum throw a dance party? And the lineup itself certainly wasn’t conventional. As a friend said to me afterwards, “You mean Chrissy Murderbot is a guy, Dani Shivers is a girl and British Knights is one person?” But somehow when you get a group of people together all out to do their own thing, those odd elements combine to make an exhilarating evening.