Belmont Arts and Music Festival brings music, food and rain to happy hipsters

This weekend finally felt like summer, and it wasn't because of the heat or the constant hangover.  It was because when I took the el from Evanston to Roscoe Village, I didn't just run into a few people headed my way.  I ran into what appeared to be the entire city of Chicago drunk off their asses.  

"The thing about Chicago," a friend said to me as we passed groups of Sox and Cubs fans staggering onto the train at Addison, "is that it packs all of it's shit into two months when the weather doesn't suck."  

Watching the crowds of gay-pride event-goers dressed in bright colors and screaming cheers and profanities at each other from my bus headed toward the Belmont Arts and Music Festival (BAM), I couldn't help but agree with him.

In only its second year, BAM is a young festival well worth the $5 suggested donation for entry (if for no other reason than the free mugs you get when you walk in).  

My friend and I got there at half past five p.m. on Sunday, just in time to catch electronic musician Owen Ashworth play a forty-minute set under his moniker, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.  It was also just in time for a brief downfall of rain.  

"It's awesome watching you guys stand in the rain like that," Ashworth told the crowd mid-way through his set, "You all look pretty dumb."

In addition to the talented Ashworth, BAM included performances by indie-rock bands like Cursive, The Smoking Popes and Maritime.  

The festival also included a bunch of greasy food stands displaying whole chickens roasting on a spit, as well as henna tattoo stands and other booths to make you feel more like you're at a legitimate street fair.  

We didn't stick around for much of that, though, leaving the ominous rain clouds behind to catch dinner at a Mexican place near the el.  

The festival was a pleasant way to begin the summer, and the surrounding chaos was an exciting foreshadowing of the mayhem to come.