It is never boring, never ordinary to host a party at Smartbar. Chicago’s longest running and no doubt most internationally recognized music venue in operation brings in a great crowd of people who just love the music, dance and each other.
Tonight 5 Mag will be hosting a show with Zanzibar legend Tony Humphries, along with 5 Mag’s Czboogie and Tommaso. Show starts at 10; tickets are available here.
Here’s one of my favorite recent sets from Tony, created during the protests of the Summer of 2020:
The way the legends “speak” through DJ mixes is humbling. At the time it was common for “serious” music journalists — guys (it was always guys) who worshipped classic rock, punk and Dylan — to claim that house music and dance music were essentially hedonistic, utilitarian and therefor unserious. Mixes like this from Tony Humphries show that a DJ can say more through the conscientious selection of records than all the words in the world.
Here is also an interview with Tony that we published a few years back. An amazing man, and through his own sets and those of people he mentored and inspired and put on for the first time, one who had a part in creating a dancefloor for all of us.
See you tonight. ✌️❤️
