HYDE PARK — Oakwood Beach closed Monday to prepare for the Saturday opening of the Mamby on the Beach festival Saturday and Sunday.
The festival of synth-pop and electronic acts like Empire of the Sun, Passion Pit, Phantogram and Rökysopp starts at 1:15 p.m. Saturday and wraps on Sunday night at the beach at 4200 S. Lake Shore Drive.
The beach is closed to the public, and not all concertgoers will get to take dip in Lake Michigan during the festival. Though Mamby claims to be the first Chicago festival to provide access to the lake, swimming will be limited to those with VIP tickets.
The beach will remain closed through Monday for cleanup after the fest.
The festival is a first foray south for mega-promoters of electronic dance music React Presents, which wrapped up the Spring Awakening Music Festival with more than 75 DJs over the June 15th weekend at Soldier Field.
The group is also behind the more eclectic North Coast Music Festival on Sept. 4-6 at Union Park.
The promoters are billing the new Mamby festival as reflecting the “unparalleled experience of Chicago in the summer and preserve the history of Chicago as the home of house music.”
The South Side just wrapped up its own celebration of house music over the July 4th holiday with the 25th annual Chosen Few Picnic, or the “Woodstock of House Music” as it's been nicknamed by fans.
Mamby on the Beach organizers are betting on that devotion translating to more established national acts like Zhu, a deep house producer whose 2014 track “Faded” was nominated for a Best Dance Recording Grammy.
The festival will have three stages, with Passion Pit and other headliners on the main stage. Zhu, James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and other acts will perform in a tent and 17 DJs will play in a temporary beach house.
This is the first festival to set up on Oakwood Beach, which opened in 2010 and is the newest beach in the city.
The concert has been making the South Side part of the promotion so far. The organizers shot a promotional video with partner Akira clothing on the beach. A diverse group of models spin in Akira’s bikinis and cutoff jean shorts with the skyline over the water and the Chicago Housing Authority’s Lake Parc Place in the background just beyond Lake Shore Drive.
For those hoping to get in — or just avoid the crowds — the entrance and exit for the festival will be on the lakefront trail just south of the Oakwood Boulevard overpass.
The full lineup includes (listed alphabetically):
Art Department
Autograf
Cashmere Cat
Claptone
Classixx
Com Truise
Cut Copy (DJ set)
Empire of the Sun
Farley “Jackmaster” Funk
Felix Da Housecat
George Fitzgerald
Goldroom
J Phlip
James Murphy (DJ set)
Klingande
Matthew Dear
Moon Boots
No Regular Play
Passion Pit
Phantogram
Robert DeLong
Route 94
Röyksopp
Tanlines
Toyboy & Robin
Chicago artists include (listed alphabetically):
DJ Walt
GGOOLLDD
Glass Lux
Good Life
Greg Corner
Holt
Indie-Pendent Party DJs
Kinky Love
Louis the Child
Mo*e and Tuj
My Gold Mask
NORdjs
Orchard Lounge
The Pool House
Redux
Soultech featuring Gene Farris and Dustin Sheridan
Steve Gerrad
Woo Park
Yawn
Zebo and Edie
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