House bands from six Chicago advertising and marketing agencies drew a full-capacity crowd at Wrigleyville’s Cubby Bear on May 18 for the 10th annual Battle for Hope, a fundraiser supporting Off The Street Club (OTSC), Chicago’s oldest boys and girls club.
This year’s showdown resulted in a $46,000 donation to OTSC, which will help send children from one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods, West Garfield Park, to OTSC’s Camp Mathieu, a 30-acre rural retreat in Wheaton, IL. The camp welcomes a new group of OTSC members each week, providing classic outdoor activities—swimming, sports, arts and crafts, nature study—in a peaceful setting free of gangs, drugs, and violence.
This year’s Battle for Hope was won by iCrossing’s The X, repeating the band’s 2022 win. Music industry judges selected the winning band based on musicianship, performance, audience response, and X-factor. AbelsonTaylor, the only healthcare agency in the lineup, won the battle in 2017 and is a mainstay of the annual event. Other agencies participating this year were Edelman and past winners Cramer-Krasselt, Epsilon, and FCB.
Battle for Hope was founded in 2013 by Sujal Patel, Kris English, and Simon Kissler to give everyone in Chicago’s large advertising and marketing communications community a fun and accessible way to support the good works of OTSC. Patel, now Chief Technology Officer of Plus Company, continues to serve as chief organizer of the annual battles, which have raised more than $500,000 to date for OTSC’s Camp Mathieu summer camp program.
For the second consecutive year, iCrossing’s The X took home the Battle for Hope winner’s trophy, a Monoprice guitar. The band also received a free session at Chicago Recording Company. (photo courtesy of 2023 Battle for Hope)
Healthcare agency AbelsonTaylor, winner of the 2017 Battle for Hope, is a long-time veteran of the annual event, performing under pharma-inspired names including No Indication, Full Submission, and the current Hard to Swallow. (photo courtesy of Sam Baker)
Edelman’s Circle Back, a mix of agency staff and outside musicians, opened this year’s battle. (photo courtesy of 2023 Battle for Hope)
Fans broke out the glow sticks when Cramer-Krasselt’s Angry PiCKles took the stage. (photo courtesy of Miles Jappa)
Epsilon’s LCA Soundsystem (the initials stand for Low-Cost Alternative) is often one of the largest bands at Battle for Hope. (photo courtesy of Daniel Patton)
Dressed in white and adorned with flowers, FCB’s Consolidated Feedback made a striking wardrobe statement inspired by the horror movie “Midsommar.” (photo courtesy of Daniel Patton)
The 2023 Battle for Hope contributed $46,000 to help send members of Chicago’s OTSC to Camp Mathieu, a 30-acre summer camp in Wheaton, IL. The club, which currently serves more than 3,000 children in West Garfield Park, has been giving boys and girls a safe place to play and learn since 1900. (photo courtesy of Off the Street Club)
The Battle for Hope was held at The Cubby Bear, a live-music venue and sports bar adjacent to Wrigley Field, famed home of the Chicago Cubs. (photo courtesy of Olivia Natalya)
Playing the Battle for Hope never gets old, according to musicians who’ve competed in the event multiple times. (photo courtesy of Olivia Natalya)
The energy of the Battle for Hope and the money it raises for OTSC keep Chicago agencies vying for a spot on the stage year after year. (photo courtesy of Olivia Natalya)
