WHAT A SHOW!!!
On Dec 9, we had an EPIC live show at Val’s featuring some of our favorite emerging artists. Each band played 2 songs of their choice and then the staff at Val’s assigned each band a holiday song. To celebrate the holiday (whichever one you celebrate), we are sharing a video from each of these bands and telling you a little about them so you can check out at an upcoming show!
A HUGE thank you to everyone that made this such a special event.
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Instagram: luscia.jane
Spotify: Luscia Jane
YouTube: Luscia Jane
Apple Music: Luscia Jane
Luscia Jane is a soul / funk project started by Dante Notolli (bass / vocals / keys) and Bredia Santoro (vocals). Over the last year, they have rounded out the band with some amazing musicians for a full sound. If you want to hear them live, then you can just show up at Val’s halla Records every 2nd Sunday of the month at 3pm where they host our Young Artist Open Mic. Dante was unavailable for this show, so Miles Toppen joined Bredia and they covered “Someday at Christmas” by Stevie Wonder.
The guys from Paraluma reached out to Val’s last summer about performing on our stage and we were finally able to make that happen in August when they opened for Opening Day (from Indianapolis). They were so great that we are having them back for their own show (with Daisy Chain and Mozer) on Friday, January 6. It’s going to be amazing – get your tickets HERE. For the halla-DAY show, we had them cover “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)” by the Ramones.
The Phonecall is the creative project of multi-instrumentalist Mateo Suarez. In order to create a full live performance sound, Mateo has assembled this band, The Watson Collective. We got our first taste of Watson at the Val’s halla-Ween show in October and it didn’t disappoint! For this show, we asked them to cover one of our favorite Christmas tunes, “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” from the Godfather of soul, James Brown.
Like what you hear? Well, you are in luck. They are performing live on Dec 30 at The Friendly Tap in Berwyn with The Dennies (see below), Booty Frankenstein, and Charlie Horse. CLICK HERE to get your tickets!
At this point, Laikaa is a veteran of the Val’s stage. Before this halla-DAY show, we last saw them at the halla-WEEN show bringing us their signature edgy sound. For their holiday song, we chose “Father Christmas” by The Kinks. They definitely made it a Laikaa song – check it out!
We were first introduced to Feywild at the Val’s halla-WEEN show in October and we knew we had to have them back. For their holiday song, we chose “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”. Not only did they “make it their own”, they literally wrote an original song based on the green Christmas villain. Enjoy!
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Instagram: pollyonthewall
Spotify: Polly On The Wall
YouTube: Polly On The Wall
SoundCloud: Polly On The Wall
We were first introduced to Polly On The Wall (pronounced Poe-Lee) at a Val’s open mic hosted by Luscia Jane. They absolutley blew us away, so we had them perform with one of our favorite local bands, Summer Drive shortly thereafter. One of the highest compliments I can give this band is that they always seem like they are having the times of their lives. It’s infectious. You can see this coming through on their covers of “Snow Miser” and “Heat Miser” from the Christmas cartoon classic, “Year Without a Santa Claus”. It was such a hit, that the other bands voted them champions for the night, so they took home this trophy!
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Instagram: northgroveband
North Grove (formerly Sparky) first graced the Val’s stage at one of our Young Artist Open Mics (2nd Sunday of each month at 3pm). We have been lucky enough to have them at the store on a couple of occasions and we are looking to book another show in the new year, so stay tuned! For the halla-DAY show, we assigned them “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses and they crushed it.
We also want to send a special shout out to Jamie Regenstein (bassist of North Grove) who did an amazing cover of Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukah Song” which was a clear highlight of the evening.
The Dennies bring their high-energy brand of “Loud Alt” to the Val’s halla stage. For their holiday song, we asked them to cover “Merry Christmas” by Wesley Willis. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Wesley (which is probably most of you), he was a Chicagoland street artist who developed a cult following. Willis’ songs are typically partially spoken in an MC style, and partially sung in a punk style. The songs are sung over backing tracks created by using the auto accompaniment feature on his Technics KN keyboard. Check it out!
As mentioned previously, The Dennies will be performing with Phonecall & The Watson Collective on Dec 30. Click Here to secure your tickets. Also, The Dennies will also be opening for Kill Scenes at Val’s halla Records on Saturday, January 28. Click Here to grab tickets for that show. And while you are at it, check out Kill Scenes, they are amazing!
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Instagram: exit122_band
Facebook: exit122band
Spotify: Exit 122
Apple Music: Exit 122
Exit 122 (formerly Fireworks!) is another favorite band of Val’s halla. Hailing from Minooka, IL (just take I55 South to I-80 west and get off at…you guessed it…Exit 122). We first heard Fireworks! at The Bitter Jester Music Festival, the Midwest’s largest professional music competition for emerging musicians. They blew us away there, so we asked them to come to the Val’s stage and bring us their amazing brand of pop-punk. For their holiday song, we picked “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey. Check it out!