It’s a nearly perfect Sunday afternoon in Chicago: sunny, 75 degrees, albeit with a little wildfire smoke. Chrissie Olstad brushes back her burgundy hair. She’s got her boots and fishnet tights on. She’s ready to jump onstage at a festival on the city’s North Side.
“I am so excited,” Olstad said. “We love the Burger Fest in Roscoe Village. We’re gonna rock it out.”
It’s the height of summer in Chicago and no matter where you go, a street festival is likely just around the corner. Restaurateurs are serving popular bites, makers and artisans are selling handmade goods and in the air is the sound of Fleetwood Mac — but that’s not Stevie Nicks singing.
Cover and tribute bands are street fest staples. The musicians aren’t performing their own original pieces but music that a general crowd will bop along to because it’s familiar. Olstad is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of The Gingers; everyone in the band has red hair, mostly artificial.
“It’s kind of crazy, but fun, thrilling, yet scary at times. But overall, very enjoyable,” Olstad said about life as a Chicago cover band musician.
The Gingers have an eclectic catalog: They’ll play classics from Led Zeppelin and Heart to more contemporary tunes. Kerri Jane, the band’s bassist, said the music they play has true emotional meaning.
“It takes [people] back in time to times in their life when things are a little less stressful, maybe a little happier,” she said. “So we help bring back some emotional healing.” These bands are bringing nostalgia to the neighborhoods, but just because they aren’t playing original music doesn’t mean it isn’t a lot of work. Curious City spoke with three bands that are regulars on the local festival circuit to get a peek behind the scenes.
The Gingers
Members of the all-female cover band The Gingers pose for a group portrait behind the Leavitt Avenue stage before their performance at the Roscoe Village Burger Fest in Chicago on Sunday, July 19, 2026. From left to right: lead guitarist Debbie Cielen, drummer Liz Ele, lead vocalist Chrissie Olstad, keyboardist Emi Fukuda, and bassist Kerri Jane.
Victor Hilitski/For the Sun-Times
Before creating The Gingers in 2015, co-founders Chrissie Olstad and Debbie Cielen played original music in their band Hag. “That really didn’t go over too well,” Olstad said. “I mean, it was a joke, but it was like, ‘OK, we got some fresh blood in the band.’ So ‘The Gingers,’ that was perfect.” Olstad and Cielen decided to add younger musicians to the lineup and play covers only. On performance day, all the band members sport some form of “luxurious red hair,” whether it’s dyed or a wig.
Members: Chrissie Olstad, guitar and vocals; Debbie Cielen, vocals and lead and slide guitar; Kerri Jane, bass and vocals; Emi Fukuda, keyboard, guitar and flute; Liz Ele, drums.
Where to see them: Festivals and bars in Chicago and the suburbs throughout the year, including the Clark Street Live Festival in Wrigleyville on Sept. 27.
Artists/songs they cover: Classic rock, modern rock and pop bands. “I’ll just [name] a couple, and this is not all,” Olstad said before reading off a list of at least 20 bands, including Aerosmith and Beyoncé.
Why they do it: “We came together just with the goal of playing songs people love,” Olstad said.
Too Much Molly Band
Too Much Molly Band started in 2021. The name comes from lead singer and co-founder Molly Callinan, who is known to do headstands on stage while the guitarist plays a riff with his teeth. Performances are colorful and high-energy: Think head-to-toe rainbow sequins or a minimal jock strap. A few members are LGBTQ+, and the band’s busiest time is Pride Month in June.
Members: Molly Callinan, lead vocals; Nicholas Ray, lead vocals; Vinnie VanAction, guitar; Maddi Vogel, drums; Alex Newkirk, keyboard; Lunchbreak, bass.
Like many cover bands, Too Much Molly’s members all hold additional jobs, from retail positions to nonprofits supporting Chinese adoptees. Vinnie Van Action works as a classroom assistant in special education schools, so when summer break hits, he’s free to dedicate more time to the band. When she’s not teaching yoga, Callinan is in a few other musical acts, including actor Gary Sinise’s group The Lt. Dan Band.
Where to see them: Spring and summer Pride events in the Chicago area. Callinan particularly enjoys Northalsted Market Days, which is like Christmas for her: “Oh my gosh! I just find my wildest outfit. You could just be yourself completely.”
Artists/songs they cover: Contemporary pop like Chappell Roan, Madonna and Britney Spears to musical numbers from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Xanadu.” They also play classics by RuPaul, The Village People and The Weather Girls.
Why they do it: Vinnie Van Action said playing in a cover band can be a lot like a blue-collar job: “You don’t gig, you don’t get paid.” But he said he loves his band members and getting energy from the audience: “It’s like you’re getting paid to party.”
Dancing Queen: An ABBA Salute
Dancing Queen: An ABBA Salute performs at Andersonville’s Midsommarfest on June 13, 2026. From left, singer and guitarist Justin Horvath-Adair, backing vocalist Elya Bottiger, lead singer Amanda Horvath-Adair, drummer Keith Daproza, lead singer Cheryl Jennison Daproza, bass player Davide Pezzini, and pianist Micky York.
Steve Jurkovic/Provided by Amanda Horvath-Adair.
Dancing Queen: An ABBA Salute started in 2004. Tribute bands typically cover one band or artist. Dancing Queen used to be called ABBA Salute, but the original Swedish quartet has a strong legal team which prohibits tribute bands from using “ABBA” in the main portion of its name. Dancing Queen is something close to local celebrities, and some shows book more than a year in advance.
Members: Micky York as Benny Andersson on vocals, keyboard and accordion; Amanda Horvath-Adair as Agnetha Fältskog on vocals; Justin Horvath-Adair as Björn Ulvaeus on vocals; Cheryl Jennison Daproza as Anni-Frid Lyngstad on vocals; Davide Pezzini on bass; Keith Daproza on drums
Behind the scenes, members of Dancing Queen double as the band’s social media marketer, website administrator, costume designer and business manager. While the band could make this their only gig, they all have day jobs, mostly at local colleges. When Micky York isn’t wearing a pair of flashy bell-bottoms, you might find him teaching at Columbia College and the College of DuPage. The married Horvath-Adairs work at Roosevelt University, while Cheryl Jennison Daproza is in communications at Shure Incorporated.
Where to see them: All over the Chicago area, all summer long. “We’re unavoidable. We’re not sorry about it,” Amanda Horvath-Adair said.
Artists/songs they cover: All things ABBA
Why they do it: Justin Horvath-Adair compared it to acting in his favorite theater production. When you’re in a play, he said, you build close relationships that are hard to maintain when the production ends. But with Dancing Queen, “there’s no time limit, and they become a second family.”
Amanda Horvath-Adair said it’s a privilege to perform in front of so many people: “How did I get so lucky to do this, and then to like the people I do it with? Criminal, honestly.”
More about our question-asker
Carrie Grogan is a consultant and entrepreneur based in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood. She often attends Midsommarfest, where Dancing Queen usually performs for a packed crowd.
“Every year, the ABBA cover band is the big hit. Everybody wants to see this cover band,” she said.
Grogan prefers yacht-rock cover bands, which offer more variety of different artists in a single set, but she understands the hype around a tribute band like Dancing Queen. After attending different Chicago street fests and seeing some of the same cover and tribute bands, Grogan got curious.
“Who are these people? What do they do on a Tuesday when they aren’t singing at street fests in Chicago?” she wondered. “I’m just curious so much about the whole lifestyle of a cover band performer.”
Most of all, Grogan enjoys the nostalgia these bands evoke. “[It] always just brings a smile to my face to reminisce when I hear older music like that,” she said.