![](/wp-content/archive/Harry/drops_39.jpg)
photograph: courtesy carolina chocolate drops
The Carolina Chocolate Drops play a free show in Millennium Park on June 24.
On Mondays starting May 25, the annual summer concert series Downtown Sound returns to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. The lineup for the free shows has been officially released. One act in particular has us excited: Carolina Chocolate drops, a folksy, Grammy Award-winning string band, is scheduled to perform on June 24.
The series prides itself on bringing “the freshest ‘news making’ artists” to Chicago. That is, you've probably never heard of most of them. But free is free. And live music on a Monday night in Millennium Park is a pretty good time to try something new.
Here's the full Downtown Sound lineup:
May 27: Lee Ranaldo Band, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
June 3: Sharon Van Etten, Speck Mountain
June 10: Glen Hansard with Lisa Hannigan and members of the Frames
June 17: Daniel Lanois, Brokeback
June 24: Carolina Chocolate Drops, Angela James
July 1: Lee Fields & the Expressions, Theo Huff & the Platinum Band
July 8: Dawes, the Cairo Gang
July 15: Fatoumata Diawara, Alasdair Roberts and friends
July 22: The Handsome Family, Azita
July 29: Dessa, Psalm One
Schedule variations at Pritzker Pavilion:
June 13: Falty DL, Bill Kouligas
June 27: Matmos, Fonema Consort
July 4: ICE, Nosaj Thing
July 11: Dan Deacon
July 18: Olafur Arnalds, Sarah Neufeld
Aug. 28 (Wednesday): Eighth Blackbird with Glenn Kotche and Lesley Flanigan