By: Patrick Quealy

This weekend, SONIC BLOOM has a new first step for those of us who cannot possibly wait all the way until June. Introducing Iconic Bloom; your first stop on the way across the country to see the beauty that is Spanish Peaks County, Colorado.

Held at the spacious and lofty Logan Square Auditorium on May 19th and 20th one can most assuredly expect to want to boogie, and there’s plenty of room to do so in this venue. After all, when your ears and eyes and mind are brought to a new world, what better reaction than to groove? And it will be easy with the drop-dead gorgeous list of musical and visual artists in attendance.

On Night One, expect to get up and get down to the cerebral sounds of Sixis, coming off a new EP, The Last Question, an excellent addition to his already flourishing catalog. His sound is reminiscent of Desert Dwellers, and all those who seek consciousness in bass music.

Perkulat0r follows him, bringing the dirt and the grime back into mix all the way from Vancouver, Canada. Adding to the unending awesomeness that is Wakaan, Perkulat0r washes his audience in sweet bass waves, without getting too trapped by genres and repetition. If you haven’t heard his Shambhala Mix from 2016, get on that.

Finishing up night one, we have the return of Zebbler Encanti Experience, a visual and auditory journey into the background noise of consciousness and ecstatic purpose. We are humbled to be graced with their presence once again, after they brought the heat to Lunar Tide Music and Arts Festival last year (which you should also check out this year… wink wink). But the real story of Iconic Bloom begins with the penultimate set on Night One, Merkaba, the first of two sets played by the two halves of the same individual: Kalya Scintilla. For this set, one can expect Merkaba to push out upbeat, uptempo happiness through the cones, in the same tribal and of-the-source aesthetic that Kalya Scintilla fans know and adore. Merkaba is harder to come by than Kalya Scintilla, so don’t miss out on Night One’s rarity and flourishing talent.     

Night Two is no different in regards the substantial artistry we have brought from all around. Our journey begins with a trip up north… no, not the North Side, go further! All the way from British Columbia, Canada, comes the man, the myth, goopsteppa. With a new EP and a new mix fresh off the presses, we are more than stoked to bring this intense yet downtempo style into the States for some much needed art therapy.

After that adventure, we are super pumped to announce the return of our friend Bogtrotter. After bringing a huge crowd to the Subterranean to get glitchy and psychedelic, we could not wait any longer to have the man play for us again. You’ll understand exactly what it is like to trot through a bog after the driving- cap donned gentlemen delivers the goods sonically; try not to become liquid on the floor.

After becoming a solid state once again, the Big Kahunas take the stage. Kaminanda is returning to a Notion stage after killing his set at the Sub-T with Bogtrotter. His style is truly one-of-a-kind, combining electronic and ambient influences with guitar and other acoustic instruments. As a good friend and oftentimes collaborator with Kalya Scintilla, a back-to-back with Kaminanda is not out of the realm of possibility.

Kalya Scintilla, taking on his more recent and downtempo name, plays his first set in Chicago in two whole years, far too long, yet just enough to unleash the built up excitement and anticipation. In fact, it was the last “Road to Sonic Bloom” where us Chicagoans last saw Kalya come all the way from Australia to play with Eve Olution, his partner in crime and wife. Together, they make a visual and auditory team that harkens back to a tribal time in human history, where music was more vibration than it was a platform for politics and advertising.

All three of them pioneers in their musical fields, and champions of the ecological and spiritual, Notion Presents could not be more proud to bring these astounding individuals to Chicago to perform in a transformative and unique way that is of and for nature and the consciousness that surrounds and binds us all.

If you’d like to take part in this journey, tickets can be purchased at TheUntz.com or at this link bit.ly/IconicBloom. For more information about this event, visit facebook.com/NotionPresents.