The annual Chicago, IL event Cold Waves, long a bastion of darkwave and industrial music, has announced a more progressive and shoegazey tone for its 2026 spinoff, Space Echo, taking place on May 2.
Next year's lineup will include Failure, celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of Fantastic Planet, as well as Baroness, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Torche, and more (full listing below).
“We’d been exploring an alternate idea the past couple of years, curating a show around a particular headliner that aligned with our musical passion, and related to the city of Chicago,” Cold Waves founder/director Jason Novak says in a press release. “While our connection to dark wave and industrial music runs decades long, with experiences and relationships that cater to that fan-base, we obviously enjoy and relate to many other styles of music, and wanted a chance to explore that.”
It is the 14th Cold Waves even in Chicago. The series also has expanded into Los Angeles, Austin and New York.
COLD WAVES PRESENTS: SPACE ECHO
Failure • Baroness • And Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead • Torche • Ringo Deathstarr • Shiner • Spotlights • Slow Mass • Bleary Eyed
More information is available via their website.
