Ribfest offers an impressive lineup of musical talent year after year. Ribfest has major music acts, up and coming hot bands, as well as communit
y talent. There is truly something for everyone to enjoy at our festival.
Thursday, July 1st
12:30 - 1:00: Battle of the Bands Winner
1:30 - 2:30: The Waterdawgs
Naperville's own Waterdawgs are a sure delight for classic rock fans who want to shake their groove thing and dance the day away!
3:00 - 4:30: Mr Blotto
5:00 - 6:00: West Side Winders
You haven't heard rockabilly until you have heard The West Side Winders! They offer rockabilly a modern twist while still keeping true to the legends that came before them. The West Side Winders offer a truly flawless performance that you will not soon forget.
6:30 - 8:00: Heartsfield
Few bands could match the unique Heartsfield sound. That sound is a fresh blend of harmonies, guitars, mandolins and banjos, with a harmonica thrown in for good measure. Not to mention positive songs that celebrate life instead of wallow in self-pity and depression. Good time music. In a word, positive American music.
8:30 - 10:00: The Charlie Daniels Band
Grammy Award winning, Grand Ole Opry member, singer, fiddler, guitarist, songwriter, and country musician, Charlie Daniels, has been performing the music he loves since the 1950’s. From his early days as a Nashville studio musician that included playing on Bob Dylan albums, and recordings from Leonard Cohen, Al Kooper, Marty Robbins, to becoming a number one hit songwriter with his platinum selling “The Devil Went Down To Georgia,” to gaining status as one of the most beloved figures in country music, Daniels continues touring and packing houses, as well as giving of his time, energy, and talents performing tirelessly for men and women in uniform, all over the world, who love his honest mixture of country and southern rock influences, along with originality, that has lasted for over five decades.
Friday, July 2nd
12:30 - 1:15 Bucko5
Bucko 5 is a four-piece Chicago rock band with a penchant for writing memorable songs. Their diverse influences reveal themselves as traditional rock songs peppered with jazz, country and even ska. Seasoned players who focus on playing every song as if it were their last, the individual members of Bucko 5 have collectively played hundreds of shows over the years, and have received critical acclaim and airplay on several Midwestern radio stations. Their debut CD features a bevy of material influenced by artists as diverse as the band itself. Bucko 5 performs at many Chicago clubs and summer festivals, including the Taste of Chicago as well as past performances at Naperville’s Ribfest.
1:45 - 2:30: Vicious Cykle
Performing classic rock, blues rock and southern rock favorites. As one of the most exciting and refreshing bands around, we strive to bring energy and excitement to every show pulling the audience into the fun. We are made up of five hard driving professional musicians who have been rocking the Midwest's most popular venues for many years.
3:00 - 4:00: Mass Chemistry
Mass Chemistry, the newest rock cover band to hit the Chicago music scene, is a band with a mission to deliver powerful and high-energy rock music to the masses. Their set lists have a range of hits spreading 70’s to today which include chart toppers from Muse, Heart, Jet, Led Zeppelin, No Doubt, Maroon 5, Finger Eleven, and Evanescence. Mass Chemistry performs these hits with the same driving instrumentation and incredible vocals you came to love from the original artist.
4:30 - 5:30: Junkyard Groove
A local up and coming band that has been around for a few years on the Chicago scene. We come from a rock, blues, funk backround mixing into modern day cover songs... many of our members have shared the stage with people like Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, James brown, to Dave Matthews and John Mayer... you can hear songs from some of these artist's as well as others to bring out a fun energetic experience.
6:00 - 7:15: The Virginia Gentlemen
The Virginia Gentlemen is a Southern Rock powerhouse of local legends, celebrity insiders and raucous talent. Adding a powerful punch to the already lege
ndary Bailey Brothers, John (vocals) and Charles (bass guitar), is The Lee DeWyze Band. The DeWyze trio – guitarist Louis Svitek (Chicago legend and partner of WuLi Records, formerly with Ministry, Mindfunk, and M.O.D and film soundtracks for “Matrix” and “Blue Hill Avenue”), drummer Ryan McGuire (WuLi partner and formerly with Bigfoot Sex Slave) and guitarist Jeff Henderson make TVG (The Virginia Gentlemen) a must-see music event. Humorous, entertaining and musically “wow!”, TVG’s performances demonstrate what happens when sheer talent comes together to entertain, laugh and above all, have fun.
8:00 - 10:00: Sammy Hagar
Sammy Hagar has collectively sold in excess of 60 million albums worldwide. Sammy Hagar is not just satisfied to rest on past accomplishments, nor is he just a world-class musician. His continued success of the Cabo Wabo Cantinas in Cabo San Lucas and Lake Tahoe, are just one example of the man’s drive and ambition. Couple that with the fact that the profits from Sammy’s Beach Bar and Grill fund the Hagar Family Foundation which benefits local children’s charities, and the fit for the Exchange Club’s Ribfest is a good one! 100% of the proceeds from Ribfest go towards the prevention of child abuse.
Saturday, July 3rd
12:30 - 1:30: JoBu
JoBu has been a full-fledged touring band for several years now. With the perfect mix of reggae dance vibe and head bobbing rock JoBu delivers a performance that leaves everybody ready for more. J
oBu is the
ultimate crowd pleaser, hooking people with catchy lyrics, and filling dance floors with hard beats.
2:00 - 3:00: Paradise Waits
Paradise Waits is one of Chicago's premier Grateful Dead tribute bands, boasting high-energy improvisational jams, soulful vocal harmonies, and an extensive list of classic jamband favorites. PW also performs their own original songs rooted in rock, blues, country and bluegrass. Love the Dead? You've got to see these guys!
3:30 - 4:30: Kool Kat Daddy
Kool Kat Daddy’s diverse style and musicianship has yielded entertaining performances supporting a fan base that keeps growing. With well known frontman Byford Landry soulfully belting out “funky blues” style tunes along with crowd pleasing favorites. Mark Pottridge- Guitar. Dillon Johnson - Guitar. Bill McGuffey- Bass. Boomer Johnson- Drums. Mark Paggie- Keyboard.
5:00 - 6:15 Dirty Dan & the Boyzz
Weaned on the hard-driving industrial-strength rock 'n' roll of Chicago's Fox River Valley, Buck has for three decades traveled the same well-worn regional highways that eventually lifted Bob Seger, John Mellencamp and Ted Nugent into the international spotlight. Critics from all around the Heartland - Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Pittsburg, Buffalo, Toronto - point to Buck's riveting stage presence and proven ability to energize an audience and keep them in his sway as prime reasons for the success of his bands which features John Abel on guitar, Traci Casa & Jean Dalleska b/g vocals, David Barhydt on guitar, Joe Gagliardo on bass, Bill Glisson on drums and Bob Blom on keys are ripping up festivals, concerts and clubs throughout the region. Treat yourself to a rock hard experience you soon won't forget!
7:00 - 8:15 John Kay and Steppenwolf
In the late 1960s, Steppenwolf embodied that era's social, political and philosophical restlessness, building an impressive body of edgy, uncompromising rock 'n' roll that retains its emotional resonance more than three decades after the band's formation. Such Steppenwolf standards as "Born to Be Wild," "Magic Carpet Ride," "Rock Me" and "Monster" stand amongst Rock's most indelible anthems.
Today's Steppenwolf, operating without major-label financing, is the model of a successful cyber-age cottage industry. The band's self-contained operation incorporates an in-house 24-track digital recording studio, as well as an extensive website-www.steppenwolf.com-that serves as a cyber-clubhouse for fans around the world. The website also functions as an outlet for Steppenwolf music, allowing fans easy access to the group's recent work, as well as CD reissues of the entire Steppenwolf and John Kay album catalogue. The band continues to generate vital new music, with a number of recording projects in the works, including the recent John Kay solo effort, Heretics and Privateers.
Steppenwolf's dramatic and sometimes turbulent history recently became the subject of an episode of VH-1's documentary series Behind the Music. That much-talked-about broadcast underlined the band's ongoing stature and influence, but John Kay, now in his fourth decade with Steppenwolf, remains focused firmly on the future.
"There's a lot of truth in that old cliché about whatever doesn't kill you making you stronger,"Kay concludes. "Looking back, I realize that it's the struggles that have taught us how to gain our independence and live the rock 'n' roll of life on our own terms."
8:45 - 10:00: Eric Burdon and the Animals
The Animals took the music world by storm when they recorded and released an electrified version of the traditional folk number, “The House of the Rising Sun”. Afterwards they followed with such classics as “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” “It’s My Life,” and “See See Rider.”
In 2004 Burdon released his first solo studio album in many years called My Secret Life. Produced by Grammy-award winner Tony Braunagel, recorded in Johnny Lee Schell’s recording studio in Studio City, CA, musicians include Braunagel, Schell, Ivan Neville, Hutch Hutchinson and Red Young who in 2006 joined the latest incarnation of The Animals.
In early 2005 Burdon ventured into new frontiers with a boogie-woogie project featuring Pete York on drums and Christoph Steinbach on piano as The Blues Knights. The trio completed a very successful mini-tour through Greece.
In late 2005 Burdon found himself back in the studio with the same pool of musicians and Tony Braunagel as producer. This album was released in January 2006. Where can you find Eric Burdon these days? As made explicit in his autobiographical song The Road, “I don’t live - if I don’t play this rock ‘n’ roll”. Albeit, the road is where he is.
The proof of this is a world tour with a new group of Animals featuring Billy Watts on guitar, Red Young on keyboard, Terry Wilson on bass and Brannen Temple on drums.
Sunday, July 4th
12:30 - 1:30: Admiral of Black
They makes music that they love to play…period. Their sound is influenced by the decades of great rock, metal, and blues music that predates them. Located just outside the great city of Chicago, AOB pummel you with a destructive double guitar tone, thunderous rhythm section, ferocious vocals, and searing guitar solos. Admiral of Black is out to destroy and conquer all that stands in their way.
2:00 - 3:15: Painkiller Hotel
Chicago-based alternative rock band Painkiller Hotel is a rock quartet that lets the music do the talking, and with the release of the band’s debut, “Black Roses,” with Rock Ridge Music, that’s exactly what they’ve done. Painkiller Hotel has worked hard to create a batch of melodic rock songs with emotive, distinctive vocals and hooks the size of Illinois.
4:00 - 5:30: Tonic
Six Top 10 singles. Over 4 million records sold. Grammy nominations, platinum albums, numerous awards and hit songs around the world, plus the #1 most-played rock song of 1998. Tonic was a musi
cal powerhouse, merging the raw honesty of rock to unabashed melody… and ushering rock n roll into a new millennium.Many bands would be content with that sort of history. Not Tonic. The band is back in the studio after a two-year break, working on a follow up to their last album, Grammy-nominated Head On Straight.
6:00 - 7:30: Sister Hazel
Sister Hazel first struck gold with the chart topping All For You, and since have had 6 top 30 singles, including Your Mistake and Mandolin Moon they have sold more than 3 million albums. One way Sister Hazel has continued going strong over the years is their unique relationship with their fans, the most ardent of whom are called Hazelnuts. Since 2001, the group has hosted Rock Boat, the world's largest floating music festival. Earlier this year, they held their 4th annual Hazelnut Hang, a 3-day weekend of music, meals and mingling. In August, Sister Hazel will again do their Operation Swan Dive benefit outside of Boston, where they'll perform while people skydive to raise money fo r the band's pediatric cancer charity Lyrics for Life. The band also is organizing, in September, the first ever Lyrics for Life Day, where they are encouraging people to create their own fundraisers for the charity.
8:00 - 9:00: The Giving Tree Band
If you ask Todd and Eric Fink of The Giving Tree Band how much time they spend making music, your voice will not be heard above the din of their banjo and guitar, respectively. For the Brothers Fink, there is no distinction between playing music and just plain living. No two days are ever the same, as every new moment is their most creative. Their bodies and instruments become a singularity that is just trying to get in tune, stay in tune, and add a little harmony to the grand symphony of life. This is one folk music band you don't want to miss!
9:30 - 10:00 Fireworks!
