Live Recap: Out of Space Festival 2025
Out of Space Festival returned to Skokie for another year, featuring four nights of diverse musical acts at North Field at Illinois Science & Technology Park. I was able to catch the opening and closing nights on Thursday, July 24th and Sunday, July 27th.
Mid-afternoon on Thursday we were hit with a gloomy but quick thunderstorm in the area that pushed back the time of doors, but the music still started on time with Case Oats. Bully hit the stage next, with lead vocalist and songwriter for the project, Alicia Bognanno, accompanied by her two bandmates. The majority of Bully’s performance saw Bognanno center-stage playing guitar for songs like “All I Do” and “Milkman,” but towards the end of her set, Bognanno moved over to the keyboard onstage to perform the melancholic and mesmerizing single “Atom Bomb.” Bully’s set wrapped up with the upbeat and anthemic “Days Move Slow” from the 2023 record Lucky For You.
Thursday’s headliners Sylvan Esso, the duo of singer Amelia Meath and producer Nick Sanborn, kept the upbeat energy going as they began their set during a cotton candy sunset. Meath took the stage donning a fluffy red jacket that she discarded after the first song, thanks to the mugginess that still clung to the summer air. Despite the hot night, as I looked around my fellow audience members, I saw people of all ages grooving along to the hypnotic beats of songs like “Hey Mami” and “Die Young.” The crowd kept the party vibes high as they bounced around beach balls and swayed atop shoulders in time to the music.
Sunday night’s performances kept the same positive energy, but the tone of the music took a turn towards “Pacific Northwest Hiking Vibes” with a lineup of Craig Finn, Kevin Morby, and The Decemberists.
I arrived back at the Skokie park as Kevin Morby and his bandmates hit the stage. Morby’s set featured an array of songs from his recent albums, like the title track “This Is A Photograph” from his 2022 album and "I Have Been to the Mountain” from 2016’s Singing Saw. Morby and his bandmates incorporated accompanying instruments like the saxophone and (more) cowbell to enrich the texture of their live performance.
Last but not least, The Decemberists took the stage to another beautiful sunset, wrapping up the entire weekend and festival. The band fittingly kicked off their set with “July, July” (how often do you get to a hear a song performed live during the month it was named after?!) and fans at the barricade began belting along to the music. The full-crowd singalong continued throughout the show, as The Decemberists played favorites like “Severed,” “Oceanside” and “Down by the Water.”
Check out photos from the two nights below, and keep an eye on upcoming SPACE shows here.
Photos of Bully and Sylvan Esso
Kevin Morby and The Decemberists
