Mad Decent Block Party Makes Chicago Pay For Bad Behavior

By Katie Karpowicz in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 23, 2013 4:00PM

The Mad Decent Block Party's Facebook page is currently a war zone. Yesterday the announcement of this year's routing came along with some disappointing, yet unsurprising, news for Chicagoans. For the first time since the 2009, Chicago has been plucked off the list of cities that will hold a block party.

The Mad Decent Block Party is an annual series of free block parties across the country featuring electronic record label Mad Decent artists curated by Mad Decent founder and increasingly popular DJ / producer Diplo.

Last year's block party held at the admittedly small section of W. Fulton St. between Ashland and Justine—in case you forgot—was a disaster. After reaching capacity early in the afternoon, the hundreds of teens and 20-somethings denied entrance became rowdy, rude and riotous. After several waves of gate jumpers overwhelmed security and crowds began pushing the barrier fences in, event organizers and the CPD shut it down, barely halfway through the scheduled programming.

No city is mentioned more in the comments section of today's announcement more than Chicago. It's a mix of "fans" damning Mad Decent for skipping us this year, defendants claiming we should blame ourselves rather than the organizers and the floozies that say "Oh well, Chicago is better off without you anyway!"

Unfortunately, there really is no argument here. Mad Decent has yet to comment on whether or not the decision to eliminate Chicago was a direct reaction to last year's uncontrollable crowd, but it would be a joke to say we even deserve another chance. Ya can't have nice things if you're going to tear them down. Better luck next time!

But don't fret, respectful and responsible music fans, there are plenty of chances to catch Mad Decent artists this summer. Diplo will be playing a solo set at Wavefront Music Festival this year, alongside Rusko and Crookers. Major Lazer, Dillion Francis and Baaur (that guy who's responsible for the "Harlem Shake") will all be at Lollapalooza. And Zeds Dead will be making an appearance at Spring Awakening Music Festival.