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Support Law Rocks Tour

Thursday, May 11, 2023
Lincoln Hall
$56,947 in total fundraising

Overall Winner: Flood Bros. for Digs with Dignity

Judges’ Choice Award Winner: La Fete du Funk for Family Focus

Hustle and Heart Award: Fauxly for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boys And Girls Club

Thank you, Chicago! Law Rocks Chicago brought some serious energy to the stage at Lincoln Hall last night. The evening was an impressive showcase of talented lawyers who moonlight as rock stars. With five bands vying for the top prize, the night promised to be an epic battle of the bands for the benefit of local nonprofits, and it did not disappoint.

Kicking off the night was Good Colour, opening their set with “Say Something” by Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake. Beautiful vocal harmonies and their unique blend of country, rock and soul had the crowd captivated.

Next up was La Fete du Funk, where 70’s rock meets disco. Dressed to impress in bell-bottoms and hot pants, three powerful vocalists expertly delivered a set that had the crowd grooving. Backed by a brilliant violinist and a rock-solid band, they covered songs by Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane, The Rolling Stones and more.

Flood Bros. were the third band to take the stage. This three-piece band showed off their musical chops and stage presence performing hits like “Don’t You Want Me” and “American Girl” with the crowd dancing and singing along.

The Thornes took the stage like a classic rock band on a reunion tour. Playing off each other in a way that felt like decades of comradery and musicianship. They rocked out songs by Jimi Hendrix and The Doors, while blending in country hits by Jason Aldean and Chris Stapleton.

Closing out the night was Fauxly, who brought a set of very popular alt-rock and post-grunge songs. The audience loved the band and song after song, the crowd belted along to songs like “Say It Ain’t So” by Weezer and “Everlong” by the Foo Fighters. An excellent end to an amazing night.

In the end, it was a tough call for the judges, as all five bands brought their A-game to the stage. However, it was Flood Bros. who emerged victorious, taking home the top prize of Overall Champion. La Fete Du Funk took home the coveted Judges’ Choice Award with Fauxly winning the new Hustle & Heart award with more than 50 people donating to their cause, bringing their charity of choice, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boys And Girls Club, an extra $2,000 in donations.

A special shout out to our host, Chuck Jarrell, and our amazing Rock Judges: Barry Horwitz, Britt Julious, Miriam Goldberg Owens and Jessi Roti. Thanks to the Lincoln Hall team for all their support and a final thank you to all the talented bands and their fans for the amazing energy they brought and for making the night so special.

We couldn’t have pulled this off without our amazing sponsors: Secretariat; Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund, Inc.; Tully & Associates Ltd.; Forde & O’Meara; Ivy Hall; Simon McClosky Bassali & Partipilo; Hach Construction; Dream Town Realty; Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge; and Quarles & Brady.

Thanks again Chicago!

OUR SPONSORS ROCK!

Featured

Fauxly

Featuring legal talent from Foley & Lardner
Rocking for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boys And Girls Club

A side project of several members of the (only nominally) renowned and repeat Chicago House of Blues headliner The Salary History Ban(d), the all-attorney, all-from-the-same-firm members of Fauxly are excited to let (what's left of) their hair down, hit the distortion pedal, and have a blast raising money for great organizations! And what a great way to advance the national partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Foley & Lardner LLP!

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Flood Bros.

Featuring legal talent from Circuit Court of Cook County; Tully & Associates
Rocking for Digs with Dignity

The Floods: 20+ years of Classic Rock, New Wave, and many, many curveballs - from Navy Pier's Grand Ballroom to all the now-shuttered bars and clubs on the Northside - Jim - Steve - John

Good Colour

Featuring legal talent from Bell Kearns
Rocking for Rebuilding Exchange

What do you get when you combine a country vocalist, pop guitarist, funk pianist, jazz bassist, and gospel drummer? You get a creative mix of music not quite like anything you've heard before – you get Good Colour.

Started in 2022 in downtown Chicago by a couple of friends, the original goal of Good Colour was to jam on street corners and play some covers. But before long we started writing some BANGERS. Once we realized our potential, we focused on becoming an original-focused band with big aspirations.

Inspired by an eclectic mix of genres old and new, from Chris Stapleton to James Brown to Maroon 5, Good Colour delivers its very own brand of unique and soulful music. We want our audience to feel good vibes, dance, and enjoy life, and our music reflects those themes. We hope you get down with us!

La Fete Du Funk

Featuring legal talent from Lake County State’s Attorney; Confluence Orthopedic Growth Strategies; After Hours Productions
Rocking for Family Focus

Like most, the members of La Fete du Funk share a collective belief: that the 1970s represent the pinnacle of music. For our money, rock and roll and disco reign supreme – in sound, style, attitude, and the sheer ability to make you move. La Fete sets out to combine the singular qualities of these two unruly genres – the electric racket, feel-it-in-your-chest bass and drums, and loud and unflinching style – in a disco-rock cocktail that gets your head stirred and hips shaken.

So if you want a show, hit the theater. If you want a party, welcome to La Fete du Funk.

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lafetedufunk.com

The Thornes

Featuring legal talent from The Illinois Court of Claims; Laner Muchin; Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund
Rocking for Urban Initiatives

The Thornes began as a group of fathers whose children attended Hawthorne Academy, a Chicago Public Magnet School located in the shadow of Wrigley Field. The dads were all accomplished musicians. We were first approached to start a band to support fundraising at the school (at one time we had 13 kids attending the school). The shows were a success drawing crowds from the community (Our motto is " We don't suck as bad as you think we will!") Over time we began receiving requests to perform at other fundraising events.

Over the years, The Thornes have raised well over $100,000 for local charities. We have performed with "Big "Head" Todd and Nicholas Tremulis. We also performed as the opening act for Big Head Todd and the Monsters. We have we won several "Lawyers Rock" battle of the bands competitions over the years.

Band members include: Peter Birnbaum, Chief Justice of the Illinois Court of Claims and President of Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund. Joe Gagliardo, a judge on the Illinois Court of Claims. Sean O'Brien, a human rights lawyer. Jeff Moster, Managing Partner UBS. Louie Kritikos, Broker at Dream Town Realty and Bob Barnett, managing director of Wexford Capital.

New for 2023, Law Rocks is awarding the Music Matters grant in each city to benefit a local organization that supports music education, particularly for underserved youth. The first Chicago recipient of the Music Matters grant is The People’s Music School! The People’s Music School transforms lives through tuition-free music education.

Featured

Host - Charles “Chuck” Jarrell

Charles “Chuck” Jarrell is a partner at Allen Matkins. He is a trial lawyer, whose practice focuses on complex business litigation, with an emphasis on real estate and partnership disputes. Chuck also serves on the board of Law Rocks and the Ketchum-Downtown YMCA. He has emceed numerous Law Rocks event, and his band, The Nuisance, has played the LA Law Rocks event at the Whisky since 2014.

Rock Judge - Barry Horwitz

Barry Horwitz is a Shareholder in the Chicago office of Greenberg Traurig, where he practices intellectual property law, including a focus on copyright and trademark litigation, prosecution and counseling. An award-winning songwriter, Barry has played piano since he was five years old, and taught himself to play guitar beginning at age twelve. Having planned to be a lawyer from a young age, Barry’s musical endeavors included his membership in a college a cappella group, playing live shows with his band Guy Incognito at many venues in and around Chicago, and the release of several studio albums—including the band’s most recent studio EP, released in 2016, entitled The Great Unknown (available on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)

More recently, Barry has been a proud member of The Opposition, a group of trademark lawyers and professionals from all over the world who converge and collaborate twice each year at the annual and mid-year meetings of the International Trademark Association. In fact, Barry will sing and play keyboards and guitar with The Opposition on over a dozen songs when they play the Hard Rock Café in Singapore next week. When he is not traveling, Barry is the frontman of Guy Incognito, winner of the inaugural Law Rocks Chicago back in 2018.

Rock Judge - Britt Julious

Britt Julious is a writer, editor and essayist for publications like The New York Times, Vogue, Bon Appetit, Esquire, ELLE, Women’s Health, and others. She currently serves as the music critic for the Chicago Tribune. As a creator, Britt’s work focuses on the intersection of art, culture, race, feminism, and politics, and she is a firm believer in the underground, the avant-garde, and the underdog. In 2019, Britt won the Studs Terkel award in journalism for her work spotlighting underserved communities.

Rock Judge - Miriam Goldberg Owens

Miriam Goldberg Owens is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The People's Music School. She has served on the organization’s leadership team since August 2021. Her career roots are in driving equitable outcomes in public education: she was a 5th grade science teacher in Brooklyn with Teach for America and a Program Manager at Raise Your Hand Texas, an education advocacy organization. Prior to joining The People’s Music School, Owens was a consultant at McKinsey and Company for eight years, where she was an Associate Partner. A leader in the firm’s Organization practice, Owens served clients in areas including strategic planning, large-scale reorganization, talent management transformations, and inclusion and diversity.

A native Texan and proud Latina, Owens is also a lifelong musician. She studied piano from grades K-12, and at Harvard spent four years in the women’s a cappella group The Radcliffe Pitches, serving as Music Director and Stage Manager. She is currently the lead singer in the rock cover band Model-J, which proudly plays "songs you love to remember, and songs you forgot you loved." She holds an AB from Harvard University, an MS in Education from Relay Graduate School of Education, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Rock Judge - Jessi Roti

Jessi Roti is a music and culture journalist based in Chicago, IL. Her work has been featured in the Chicago Reader, Condé Nast Traveler, Thrillist, The Triibe, Illinois Entertainer, and Audiofemme. For 3 years, she worked at the Chicago Tribune covering music, nightlife, and pop culture. In 2019, Roti was a finalist in the Best Music Coverage category at the Peter Lisagor Awards for her coverage of K-Pop's influence across the city ahead of group BTS' sold-out concerts at Soldier Field and LGBTQ+ history and advocacy behind beloved Chicago record store and foundational industrial label, Wax Trax! Records. Before professionally working in journalism, she was part of the team behind the blog Local Loop Chicago, which highlighted rising, local artists and was voted runner-up for favorite music blog in the Chicago Reader’s citywide “Best of Chicago” poll in 2015. Roti also works in artist hospitality, concert management, and live event coordination.