Flosstradamus at The Burlington, Abbey Pub

February 6, 10:58 AMChicago Live Music ExaminerAmanda Nyren

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Hipster juice

So last night Flosstradamus performed its monthly oldies night at The Burlington.  In case you didn’t know, the first Thursday of every month the guys spin classic Motown and Stax records with the occasional disco or 80s deep cut thrown in for good measure.  The Burlington, a pretty tiny Logan Square dive, features wood paneling, red lighting, and beer served out of a really sweet old-fashioned icebox.  The clientele are of the PBR-swilling variety; you’ll see a lot of thick-framed glasses, skinny jeans, and plaid here.  Fashions aside, you’ve never hung out with a friendlier crowd (shout out to Lane, Tony, and Joy).
 
When my friend Jeff (shout out to Jeff) and I arrived around nine, the place was nearly empty.  The bartender served drinks and picked songs from an iTunes playlist until Flosstradamus DJs Autobot (Curt Cameruci) and J2K (Josh Young) showed up around 10:30.  By that time, a steady stream of people coming through the door had me griping about the draft, but excited for a dance party ripe on the bough. 
 
Beneath a wall-mounted Lite Brite reading “no requests” (a side note: about four PBRs deep, I couldn’t resist asking, “do you guys take requests?”), Autobot and J2K took turns manning the turntables.  In addition to playing universally loved anthems like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and my personal favorite “Please, Mr. Postman,” the guys led a sort of obscure music history lesson with lesser known tracks like Edwin Birdsong’s “Cola Bottle Baby,” a totally sweet song in its own right that you’ll probably recognize as the sample in Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” 
 
Around midnight, the optimal amount of PBR having been imbibed, people started circle dancing, banging their fists, and singing along.  Since I’d waited for this moment all evening, I quickly joined in on a circle dance and ended up linking arms with a girl I’d never met before to belt out “You Keep Me Hanging On.”  Needless to say, it was a successful night.
 
If you’re into this kind of thing, you should definitely check out Flosstradamus when they play Abbey Pub on Valentine's Day.  Billed as FlosstraPROMus, the event costs only $5 and will feature more contemporary music, more layering/DJing effects (I’m trying really hard not to use the term “mashup” here), and more Lil Jon.  For me, the event presents an opportunity not only to work on my dance moves (they’ve been slipping of late, a sad byproduct of “adulthood”), but to forget how dumb Valentine's Day is when you’re single (don’t even get me started on Sweetest Day).