Chicago’s September 10–13 concert calendar contains plenty of separate bills, yet Elastic Arts supplies a particularly coherent route through Friday and Saturday: artists working with electronics, improvisation, presentation formats and words on the page. The focus begins Friday, September 11, with the CLEAT Series, then expands Saturday, September 12, into an early Outreach Program gathering and an evening Printers Row offsite. Taken together, these events place a newly assembled collaboration, a community-facing performance and a mixed sound-and-reading program within one compact weekend frame. Elastic Arts describes its wider work as hosting sound, visual art, dance and community engagement, and this pair of days makes that broad remit tangible across programs that stretch beyond a single genre label.[1][3]

Friday’s CLEAT bill gives three Chicago approaches room

The Friday anchor is the 8 p.m. CLEAT Series at Elastic Arts, whose three-set bill brings Steve Reidell and Tim Kinsella together as a duo for the first time, alongside a solo performance by Alexander Panos and the duo Squonk. Reidell’s history spans The Hood Internet, Air Credits, film and television composition, plus multichannel sound works; Kinsella’s long Chicago orbit includes Joan of Arc, Owls and Cap’n Jazz. The useful detail is the occasion itself: the venue says Reidell and Kinsella decided on New Year’s Eve to make something for the CLEAT system. That puts the event’s emphasis on a specific collaboration and listening setup, with new work at the center.[2]

Panos gives the night a distinct electronic thread. Elastic Arts characterizes his work through deconstructed speech, uncommon sound palettes and impressionistic atmosphere, while his own site maps a catalog that includes the 2022 album Nascent, 2024 single “aperture, for meadow,” a 2025 compilation appearance and a 2026 mix. Those release markers suggest an artist with an active studio practice feeding into a live bill designed around discrete sets. Squonk completes the program, leaving Friday with three different scales of presentation: a premiere-minded duo, a solo electronic set and another duo format.[2][5]

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Saturday carries the thread into gardens, presses and sound art

Saturday starts at 5 p.m. with The Outreach Program: Naydja Bruton’s Rhythm Ninjas, udochukwu anidobu and Amari Amai. Elastic Arts lists the program as its final outreach event of the summer at South Merrill Community Garden, making this the weekend’s outward-facing stop. The event packet places it in the Elastic Arts run; the venue calendar clarifies its garden setting. That shift in location matters because it extends the organization’s weekend beyond its own room and toward a community gathering built around three performers on the same early-evening bill.[1][3]

A Printers Row offsite after dark

At 7 p.m., Elastic Arts hosts Maudlin House, Long Day Press and Always Crashing’s Devils in the White City, a Printers Row offsite that combines performances by Casts, Norman W. Long and Akjai with readings by writers affiliated with the three publishers. The bill is free, with donations accepted. Long Day Press is a Chicago novella and chapbook publisher founded in 2015, while Maudlin House works in new-form and experimental literature; Always Crashing publishes fiction and poetry from Chicago and Durham. The musical side carries comparable range: Long’s practice joins sound, ecology and community, and Akjai brings vocalists and string players into an improvising quartet. This is an evening for readers who want sound to remain central, and for listeners willing to follow the conversation onto the page.[4]

Plan the two-day route

Start Friday at 8 p.m. for the CLEAT Series at Elastic Arts. On Saturday, the Outreach Program begins at 5 p.m. at South Merrill Community Garden, followed by Devils in the White City at 7 p.m. through Elastic Arts. The early Saturday event and the evening offsite create a feasible same-day double header, though their settings and admission arrangements differ. Check Elastic Arts’ official calendar and individual event pages before leaving for current venue details, door information, accessibility guidance and any schedule changes.[1][2][3][4]

These concerts happened on 11–12 September 2026

The next dates at these venues: Elastic Arts

Sources

  1. Elastic Arts Foundation — Elastic Arts Foundation
  2. CLEAT Series: Steve Reidell & Tim Kinsella, Alexander Panos, Squonk — Elastic Arts Foundation
  3. Events — Elastic Arts Foundation
  4. Maudlin House, Long Day Press, and Always Crashing present: Devils in the White City, a Printers Row Offsite — Elastic Arts Foundation
  5. Listen — Alexander Panos