Skokie Backlot Bash 2022 Headliners Revealed: Kid n' Play, Vertical Horizon

SKOKIE, IL — Organizers of Skokie's Backlot Bash, the village's annual summertime street festival, announced the musical headliners for the three-day event.

On the last weekend in August, two stages at the corner of Oakton Street and Flora Avenue will feature 17 musical acts performing rock, hip-hop, soul, folk and roots.

On the first night, Aug. 26, old school hip-hop tribute band Too Hype Crew plays from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m. Then, Kid n'Play, the New York City hip-hop duo who first came to prominence in the late 1980s and featured in the "House Party" series of films, is set to close out the show from 9 to 10 p.m.

On Aug. 27, Chicago singer-songwriter Michael McDermott, whose rise and fall following his 1991 debut album helped inspire the movie "Rounders," plays from 7 to 8:15 p.m. And from 8:45 to 10 p.m., the alternative rock band Vertical Horizon closes out the show. The band reached the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2000 with the song "Everything You Want."

---

Only one band has been announced for Sunday so far: local studio musician cover band Tributosaurus is scheduled to play a set of songs by British rock band The Kinks.

Other bands set to perform this year include Decoy Prayer Meeting, Son of Abbey, Mike Coy, The Long Goodbye and the Dave Hoffheimer Band, according to organizers.

The 2022 Backlot Bash will the 15th edition of the event, which is organized by the Skokie Park District in partnership with the village, the public library, the local high school district and chamber of commerce.

---

In addition to live music, this year's event is scheduled to include a carnival midway, bingo and beer tents, Skokie Heritage Museum exhibits and two runs — the Backlot Dash 5K Run and Half Mile Youth Color Fun Run.

The festival returned last year with performances from the Ohio Players and The Verve Pipe after restrictions associated with COVID-19 led to the cancelation of its 2020 edition. Matthew Sweet had been due to headline the Saturday night performance, but he was unable to travel in August 2021 due to health restrictions and was replaced by the Smoking Popes.

---

Sunday, Aug. 28, the final day of the festival, will also include a farmer's market and morning Rotary Pancake Breakfast with a bloody mary and mimosa bar, according to organizers, who said more events and bands will be announced over the summer.

The name "Backlot Bash" is a reference to Skokie's pre-Depression history as an often-used location for shooting silent films produced by Chicago-based Essanay Film Manufacturing Co., because the downtown of the village, then known as Niles Centre, resembled a town in the popular consciousness of the Old West.