After producing or co-producing 20 years of events like North Coast Music Festival, Suwannee Hulaween, and The Birdhouse, event producers Silver Wrapper have decided to take their final bow.
Based out of Chicago, Silver Wrapper first started in 1999 and was the brainchild of founders Ed Walsh, Sam Burick, and Rick Smartt. Setting off on a mission of creating positive, life-changing experiences in the live music space, their events appealed to a variety of music lovers who were looking to expand their tastes or catch their favorite artists in a live setting.
Adding Leif Moravy and Michael Berg to the mix took things to the next level as Silver Wrapper expanded their reach and continued to grow into a behemoth in the festival scene. Working with Wicker Park Fest in 2005, they laid the groundwork for what was to come as they launched North Coast Music Festival in 2010 and Suwannee Hulaween in 2013. They also hosted smaller shows at venues ranging from the Aragon Ballroom and Concord to The Congress Theater and Beat Kitchen.
Over the course of their run, the Silver Wrapper team didn’t just expand to include some talented individuals on the production end, but they also worked with artists who have also grown right along with them. Some artists in the electronic scene like Bassnectar, ODESZA, GRiZ, and Pretty Lights have gained an immense following while becoming headliners for events all over, but they also worked with artists ranging from Chance the Rapper and Janelle Monae to The Disco Biscuits and Damian Marley.
In the blog post that was published today on the website, the Silver Wrapper team wrote:
“Silver Wrapper appreciates everything that the music community provides, and we are proud to have been able to give back for all these years. We hope the work we did helped to create an outlet for music fans to find happiness & distraction from their daily routines and struggles of the real world. We hope to leave behind, a brand legacy of us being an organization that put fans and artists first. We truly are music fans and creatives at our core, and that may be what drew us to this whole crazy world in the first place.
Even with the Silver Wrapper brand taking a final bow, have no doubt that everyone that is part of Silver Wrapper will continue to be a part of entertaining people. We have all learned so much over the years and have made so many great friends in the Silver Wrapper community. We all live and breathe music – and this industry, period. It was our honor and pleasure to service the Silver Wrapper music community, and albeit under different entities, brands or outlets, and not all together as one, we plan to continue this 20-year tradition well into the future.”
The final show produced by Silver Wrapper will be featuring Snarky Puppy at the Riviera Theatre on May 18. Read the full farewell message from the Silver Wrapper team on their website, and leave a comment with your favorite memories from their past events below!
