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Rhett Miller Looks Back On Nearly 30 Years Performing In Chicago Ahead of Sunday Set At City Wineryon July 8, 2021 at 2:36 am

Chicago At Night

Rhett Miller Looks Back On Nearly 30 Years Performing In Chicago Ahead of Sunday Set At City Winery

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Rhett Miller Looks Back On Nearly 30 Years Performing In Chicago Ahead of Sunday Set At City Wineryon July 8, 2021 at 2:36 am Read More »

On O’Hare tarmac, Biden, Lightfoot huddle on Chicago violence before president’s Crystal Lake speechLynn Sweeton July 8, 2021 at 12:58 am

WASHINGTON — Chicago’s unrelenting gun violence — with two ATF agents and a Chicago police officer shot hours before President Joe Biden landed at O’Hare for his first presidential visit to Illinois — underscores the urgent need for his administration to speed up the timetable for help promised last month.

As Air Force One was flying to O’Hare — and knowing Mayor Lori Lightfoot was waiting for Biden on the tarmac — White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, “The administration is in touch with the mayor of Chicago about the shootings overnight and offered condolences for the families.”

The Biden presidential visit — he was en route to Crystal Lake to promote his domestic agenda in Trump territory and boost Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill. — forced rivals Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to stand feet from each other as they waited for their solo tarmac time with Biden.

After Biden spoke at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, Psaki said in a statement — using a bit of Washington shorthand to describe the very brief meeting — “During a greet with Mayor Lightfoot on the airport tarmac, President Biden expressed his personal support for the two ATF officials and the Chicago police officer who were shot earlier today.

“He reiterated his commitment to working with the Mayor and leaders in Chicago in the fight against gun violence and conveyed that the Department of Justice would soon be in touch about the strike force announced just a few weeks ago that will be working with cities like Chicago.”

This “soon be in touch.” What is soon? The July 4 holiday weekend was the most violent of the year so far in Chicago, with 104 shot and 19 of them killed.

On June 23, Biden unveiled proposals to curb gun trafficking in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area and Washington, D.C.

The promise was for the Justice Department to create “five cross-jurisdictional firearms trafficking strike forces within the next 30 days to help reduce violent crime by addressing illegal gun trafficking in significant firearms trafficking corridors.”

A DOJ spokesperson told me Wednesday the strike forces are still being developed and will launch later this month.

The idea, said the spokesperson, is for the Biden strike forces to be different from Operation Legend, a Trump administration temporary surge of law enforcement officials to Chicago and other cities that ended, according to the spokesperson, in December.

“The strike forces announced on June 23 are a separate effort to stem gun violence,” the DOJ spokesperson said. “They will represent a sustained and focused coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement partners across jurisdictions in significant firearms trafficking corridors.”

The aim is to “disrupt” the flow of guns before they get to Chicago.

The sooner the better.

ON TRUMP TURF, BIDEN SPOTLIGHTS UNDERWOOD, DOMESTIC AGENDA

The White House designed Biden’s trip to Crystal Lake — in McHenry County, in one of the redder, Trumpier parts of the very blue state of Illinois — to rally national support for his two massive domestic packages pending before Congress.

“I know it’s a boring speech,” Biden said after his address at McHenry County College. He didn’t need that touch of self-deprecating humor, but there it was. Before he spoke he did a photo line backstage, with a bunch of Democratic elected Illinois officials.

In his speech, Biden talked about the billions of dollars people and local governments already got from COVID-19 stimulus bills — and more to come for child care, education and traditional infrastructure projects like roads and bridges if deals can be made in Congress.

And in Illinois, under a program Biden signed into law, thousands of families with adjusted gross incomes of less than $150,000 will find on July 15 new money in their bank accounts. “You’ll get cash,” Biden said.

The money will be payment of an enhanced child tax credit of between $250 and $300 for each child under the age of 17. The monthly payments will run through December; Biden wants to extend them to 2025.

According to the Illinois Department of Revenue, in McHenry County there are more than 32,000 children under age 17 listed on taxpayer returns with an adjusted gross income of less than $150,000.

Underwood represents part of Crystal Lake, and Biden’s recent travels have been to congressional districts with vulnerable House members like Underwood. The Democrats control the House with only a four-vote margin.

Biden came to McHenry County to bolster Underwood, with that county, a sort of Trumpian stronghold, Underwood’s political Achilles heel. Her team wants to, in the pending remap, create a new congressional district that cuts out McHenry County.

Still, the Biden spotlight helps Underwood in fundraising and stature. Said Biden during the college tour, pointing to Underwood, “This woman here, hang on to her.”

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On O’Hare tarmac, Biden, Lightfoot huddle on Chicago violence before president’s Crystal Lake speechLynn Sweeton July 8, 2021 at 12:58 am Read More »

Time to declare a state of emergency over Chicago violence, activists tell PritzkerMadeline Kenneyon July 7, 2021 at 11:57 pm

Community activists on Wednesday called on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to declare a state of emergency decree for gun violence after Chicago recorded its deadliest and most violent weekend yet this year.

Standing outside Chicago Police Department’s headquarters in Bronzeville, activist and former mayoral candidate Ja’Mal Green and founder of My Block, My Hood, My City Jahmal Cole were joined by two other community activists as well as a mother whose 18-year-old son was fatally shot in 2006.

Green called gun violence a “public health crisis” and said “it’s clear” city leadership can’t get a handle on the situation. That’s why, he said, the group is asking Pritzker to step in.

“We are in a state of emergency in our neighborhoods and we need some help,” Green said, noting that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday declared gun violence in his state a disaster emergency.

Cole, who’s running for Congress, agreed with Green and called for “commonsense gun control laws to make sure we put an end to this madness.”

“We got babies dying left and right, we got more technology in our light poles than the classrooms, you got to order your breakfast through bulletproof glass. It’s been a state of emergency,” Cole said.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, 104 people were shot — 19 fatally — in Chicago, and at least 13 children were wounded in the shootings. The violent weekend prompted Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) — whose ward has seen an increase in shootings this year compared to 2020 — to call for the deployment of the Illinois National Guard.

Green disagreed with Beale’s proposal, saying the South and West Side communities plagued by gun violence need more federal funding, not more force.

Ja’Mal Green asked Gov. J.B. Pritzker to declare a state of emergency over Chicago violence during a press conference outside at the Chicago Police Headquarters.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“We’ve seen police try to tackle crime by increasing the police department’s numbers every year. What does that do? They put officers on overtime on holiday weekend, we still had the most violent weekend, so whether they’re in the neighborhoods or not, that’s not going to decrease the number,” Green said.

Green and Cole believe, with Pritzker’s help, that they can address some of the root causes of gun violence, including the lack of mental health facilities, job opportunities and funding for small businesses. Green asked for $1 billion worth of federal funds to be used as an investment into communities in need as well as support organizations embedded in those neighborhoods.

“We need funds for publicly funded mental health services, we need some resources, we need our block clubs to get back to work,” Cole said.

Green said, “We need this now. We can’t take another month, we can’t be doing this press conference in another week, after another bad weekend of violence, after another holiday of gunfire. We got to step in and we got to step in now.”

The group has recently reached out to Pritzker and is still waiting on the Democratic governor to act on their request, according to Green.

Pritzker’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.

“I know it’s in his heart,” Green said. “I know [Pritzker] is progressive, and he needs to do something to show that he cares about our neighborhoods, and this is the right thing to do right here.”

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Time to declare a state of emergency over Chicago violence, activists tell PritzkerMadeline Kenneyon July 7, 2021 at 11:57 pm Read More »

At least 2 in custody in connection with shooting of Chicago cop, 2 federal agents on Southwest SideFrank Mainon July 8, 2021 at 12:15 am

At least two people are in custody Wednesday evening in connection with the shooting of a Chicago police officer and two federal agents who were working undercover on the Southwest Side, a source said.

Police spokesman Tom Ahern said in a tweet that one person was being interviewed by detectives but gave no other details. A source told the Chicago Sun-Times that at least one other person is also in custody.

Police had found a white Chevrolet Malibu believed to be used in the shooting near 89th Place and Indiana Avenue. Officers had been looking for a suspect there, and a “drone command van” was sent to assist in the search.

The shooting happened shortly before 6 a.m. as the three were getting onto the northbound lanes of Interstate 57 near 119th Street, about a mile from the Morgan Park police station, police said.

The police officer was grazed in the back of the head, an agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was shot in the hand, and another ATF agent suffered a wound to his side, police said. All were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center.

Lea este articulo en espanol en La Voz Chicago, un servicio presentado por AARP Chicago.

Police Supt. David Brown told reporters the three “were conducting an investigation. They were all together in one vehicle when they were fired upon.”

Brown gave no details about the undercover operation. He said one of the ATF agents is a woman. The police officer and the other ATF agent are men.

All three were released from the hospital as of Wednesday evening, a source said.

Illinois State Police troopers were called to assist with the investigation.

Cmdr. Patrina Wines was one of two Chicago police officers shot and wounded early Monday.
Cmdr. Patrina Wines was one of two Chicago police officers shot and wounded early Monday.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

The two wounded ATF agents and police officer are among five law enforcement officials shot in Chicago over the past three days.

Chicago police Cmdr. Patrina Wines and a sergeant were wounded by bullets fired into a crowd of revelers in the 100 block of North Long Avenue in Austin at about 1:30 a.m. Monday. Wines was struck in the foot, and the sergeant was grazed in the leg.

Brown said 36 Chicago police officers have either been shot or shot at this year.

“We have more than 100,000 gang members in the city of Chicago,” Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) said Wednesday. “They are emboldened and have nothing to fear from law enforcement. The police are under siege.”

O’Shea, whose ward includes the area where the shooting occurred, said the police department is struggling with a shortage of manpower because of a record number of retirements this year.

Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th): “The police are under siege.”
Pat Nabong / Sun-Times

“We’re at a critical point in the city of Chicago. We need help. Police can’t do it alone,” he said, appealing to President Joe Biden, who visited Crystal Lake on Wednesday.

“In some communities, mothers and fathers are scared to let their kids out in front of their house,” O’Shea said. “We continue to have these episodes here on the South Side, and today was another example of the utter lawlessness we see in the streets.”

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At least 2 in custody in connection with shooting of Chicago cop, 2 federal agents on Southwest SideFrank Mainon July 8, 2021 at 12:15 am Read More »

Source One Band honor their late guitarist Sir Walter Scott with a bustling soul-blues partyDavid Whiteison July 7, 2021 at 8:30 pm

For years, until the pandemic shut everything down, the weekly shows hosted at the Odyssey East by bassist Joe Pratt and his Source One Band made the cozy venue one of the most important remaining strongholds of blues and soul-blues on the south side. Pratt’s resume includes stints with the likes of Artie “Blues Boy” White, Otis Clay, and Johnnie Taylor, and his bandmates include keyboardist Stan “Preacherman” Banks (who formerly played with blues legend Koko Taylor) and drummer Lew Powell (who currently plays with R&B singer Benny Latimore). At this show, they’ll lead a musical tribute to Sir Walter Scott, the Source One Band’s lead guitarist, who passed away last year. A member of one of the most important families in Chicago soul and R&B, Scott began his career during the doo-wop era; along with his brother Howard, he led some of the city’s finest show bands, most notably the World Band, who backed virtually every blues and soul-blues vocalist to appear in major south-side venues from the 1960s till the ’90s (and accompanied many of them on the road). Scott also became a first-call session man, appearing on myriad soul and R&B recordings. Over the decades, he worked with luminaries such as Bobby “Blue” Bland, the Manhattans, the Jackson 5, Natalie Cole, the Dells, Ike & Tina Turner, the O’Jays, Denise La Salle, Tyrone Davis, and the Chi-Lites (for whom he served as musical director).

The featured vocalists at this tribute will be New Orleans Beau and Honeydew, two of Chicago’s premier soul-blues stylists. As if to acknowledge Scott’s irreplaceability, two guitarists will join the group for the night: Randell Mathews (formerly of the Albert King band) and Lee Holloway. The list of guest performers is subject to change, but among those confirmed according to Pratt are emcee Mr. Lee Kirksy & Company, guitarist Max Valldeneu (World Band, Platinum), and a whole raft of singers: Marshall Thompson (founding member and former leader of the Chi-Lites), Gurtha Scott (Sir Walter’s niece), Vickie Baker, Louisiana Al, Joe Barr, Randy Johnson, and Jesi Terrell (formerly of the World Band and now a rising star in contemporary southern soul-blues). Howard Scott will be in attendance, and the Source One Band will honor his and Thompson’s musical legacies during their set. The evening also includes a special tribute to Sir Walter from PUBLIC i, who are returning to Chicago for the occasion; they currently work as a show band in Las Vegas, but Pratt has played with them for more than three decades. This is a free outdoor event with catering from Shirley Scott, who’s married to Howard. You’re welcome to bring your own chair, but no coolers are allowed–the bar will be open for drink service. v

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Source One Band honor their late guitarist Sir Walter Scott with a bustling soul-blues partyDavid Whiteison July 7, 2021 at 8:30 pm Read More »

Man fatally shot in Austin: policeSun-Times Wireon July 7, 2021 at 11:50 pm

A man was shot to death Wednesday in Austin on the West Side.

Someone fired shots at the 26-year-old about 5:53 p.m. in the 4800 block of West Harrison Street, Chicago police said.

He was struck in the abdomen and knee, police said. Winesses drove him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

He hasn’t been identified.

Witnesses who dropped off the man wouldn’t cooperate and with officers, according to police.

Area Four detectives are investigating.

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Man fatally shot in Austin: policeSun-Times Wireon July 7, 2021 at 11:50 pm Read More »

Search of collapsed condo shifts from rescue to recoveryAssociated Presson July 7, 2021 at 10:35 pm

SURFSIDE, Fla. — Emergency workers gave up Wednesday on any hope of finding survivors in a collapsed Florida condo building, telling sobbing families that there was “no chance of life” in the rubble as crews shifted their efforts to recovering more remains.

The announcement followed increasingly somber reports from emergency officials, who said they sought to prepare families for the worst.

“At this point, we have truly exhausted every option available to us in the search-and-rescue mission,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a news conference.

Eight more bodies were recovered from the site, bringing the death toll to 54, the mayor said. Thirty-three of the dead have been identified, and 86 people are still unaccounted for.

Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told families at a private briefing that crews would stop using rescue dogs and listening devices but would continue to search for remains.

“Our sole responsibility at this point is to bring closure,” he said, as relatives cried in the background.

For two weeks, rescue crews have looked for spaces in the rubble large enough to harbor survivors. But they now say the likelihood of finding anyone alive is almost nil.

“We noticed the stress, the force of the pressure of the walls and the floors just pretty much again sustained no chance of life,” Jadallah said.

Hope of finding survivors was briefly rekindled after workers demolished the remainder of the building, allowing rescuers access to new areas of debris.

Some of those voids did exist, mostly in the basement and the parking garage, but no survivors emerged. Instead, teams recovered more than a dozen additional victims. Because the building fell in the early morning hours, many were found dead in their beds. The death toll stood Wednesday at 46, with 94 people unaccounted for.

No one has been pulled out alive since the first hours after the 12-story Champlain Towers South building fell on June 24.

Twice during the search operation, rescuers had to suspend the mission because of the instability of the remaining part of the condominium building and the preparation for demolition.

After initially hoping for miraculous rescues, families have slowly braced themselves for the news that their relatives did not survive.

“For some, what they’re telling us, it’s almost a sense of relief when they already know (that someone has died) and they can just start to put an end to that chapter and start to move on,” said Miami-Dade firefighter and paramedic Maggie Castro, who has updated families daily.

Authorities are launching a grand jury investigation into the collapse and at least six lawsuits have been filed by Champlain Towers families.

Naum Lusky, president of the Champlain Towers North condo association, said engineers hired by the city arrived Tuesday to conduct three days of tests at the building, which has a similar design and was built at about the same time as Champlain Towers South.

“They are checking from one end of the building to the other and everything is fine,” Lusky told The Associated Press.

Since the south building collapsed, he has insisted his tower is safe because his association kept up the maintenance and did not allow problems to fester.

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Search of collapsed condo shifts from rescue to recoveryAssociated Presson July 7, 2021 at 10:35 pm Read More »

Man shot July Fourth partygoers after he was asked to stop shooting gun in the air as children played nearby: prosecutorsMatthew Hendricksonon July 7, 2021 at 9:56 pm

A man shot at July Fourth partygoers in Austin, killing one woman and wounding two others because he was angry that he was asked to stop shooting his gun in the air as children played outside, Cook County prosecutors said Wednesday.

After hearing the allegations, Judge Susana Ortiz compared Sunday night’s crime to the infamous 30-second 1881 “gunfight at the O.K. Corral” and ordered alleged gunman Calvin Gonnigan held without bail on murder and attempted murder charges.

Gonnigan shot 45-year-old Janina Ford in the face, killing her as she tried to help another victim and attempted to talk to Gonnigan Sunday night, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.

Gonnigan fired at a group of people celebrating Independence Day because someone in that small crowd had asked him to stop firing his gun in the air from a nearby porch as children milled about, Murphy said.

Calvin Gonnigan
Calvin Gonnigan
Chicago police

Gonnigan, 34, initially threatened the partygoers, but went inside a nearby apartment building, Murphy said.

He then came outside and approached the group in the alley. Gonnigan allegedly pointed his gun at one person before aiming at and shooting a 32-year-old man.

When other partygoers sought cover, Gonnigan allegedly fired additional shots, grazing the abdomen of a 50-year-old man.

A 49-year-old man who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon returned fire, striking Gonnigan in both arms and hip, Murphy and Chicago police said. After he was hit, Gonnigan ran back inside the apartment building he went into moments before, Murphy said.

As Ford and others tried to help the 32-year-old victim, Gonnigan allegedly came back outside. That’s when Ford attempted to talk to him and was gunned down, Murphy said.

Gonnigan then allegedly stood over the 32-year-old victim and repeatedly shot him as he lay on the ground. That victim suffered 10 gunshot wounds and remained hospitalized in critical condition at Stroger Hospital Wednesday, Murphy said.

Gonnigan also shot the 50-year-old victim two more times before returning to the nearby apartment building, Murphy said.

When officers arrived, Gonnigan was identified as the gunman by several witnesses, including the man who shot Gonnigan, Murphy said. That man turned his gun in to police and has cooperated with the investigation.

Gonnigan tested positive for gunshot residue when he was taken into custody at the scene, Murphy said. His mother allowed officers to search her apartment where a box for a Springfield 9-mm handgun and ammunition was found. However, no firearm was recovered, Murphy said.

Gonnigan has previous convictions, including an unlawful use of a weapon by a felon conviction for which he received a 10-year prison sentence, Murphy said. He also has a prior aggravated robbery conviction, Murphy said.

Gonnigan had recently been living with his cousin in west suburban Brookfield and was employed by Frito-Lay as a package handler, where he worked 60 to 80 hours a week, an assistant public defender said.

“I think the situation is one in which there may be another side to the sequence of events that night,” the defense attorney added.

Ortiz noted that Gonnigan walked away from the camera during his live-streamed hearing before it concluded Wednesday.

Gonnigan is expected back in court July 26.

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Man shot July Fourth partygoers after he was asked to stop shooting gun in the air as children played nearby: prosecutorsMatthew Hendricksonon July 7, 2021 at 9:56 pm Read More »

Eschaton is a virtual cabaret with a surreal twistCatey Sullivanon July 7, 2021 at 7:15 pm

If the great surrealist painter Salvador Dali and iconic LSD proponent Timothy Leary designed an after-hours club during the height of a pandemic in Cabaret-era Berlin, it would definitely look something like Eschaton.

(Virtually) wander the seductively murky, always tantalizing rooms of Eschaton‘s gloriously bizarre, hour-long livestream and you’ll find dancing magicians, burlesque strippers, sultry chanteuses, giant rats, drag royalty, profane puppeteers, and Chicago’s Tony Grayson, coughing up cockroaches and trying to clean up a murder scene in the north side attic of an underground comedy venue.

Grayson’s your host, a poet/performance artist who sometimes wears a massive papier-mache mask and sometimes speaks in extreme close-up, their face peering out from inside a mini set they created: a parlor-like room just big enough to accommodate an adult-sized human head.

“My brain at the beginning was like, OK, we’re doing this stream show in place of the in-person show. But as we went on, it became obvious: This wasn’t a replacement. This was the show–in a new medium. With elements you can only create with digital, interactive film,” Grayson says.

Its title comes from the Greek for (roughly) the end of history, or the last event in some higher power’s divine plan. Eschaton didn’t start out as a virtual show, with audiences meandering via mouse clicks through the tantalizing shenanigans of a labyrinthine club where a weird new adventure lies within each of a dozen or so Zoom rooms.

Creators Brittany Blum and Tessa Shea Whitehead originally planned an immersive, site-specific interactive production along the lines of Sleep No More, where ticketholders wander through different rooms as a multilayered, never-the-same-twice story unfolds.

“We started out the pandemic thinking that we needed to find an alternative, some way of doing an immersive show without the being-there-in-person physical immersion,” Grayson says. “But as we worked, we started to realize that what we were creating wasn’t a substitute for anything–virtual Eschaton became its own thing,” they say.

Indeed, Eschaton is very much its singular own thing. Audience members are free to loiter in the various Eschaton rooms as the spirit moves them, piecing together the many narratives woven into the production’s uncompromising, celebratory freakiness.

Throughout, Grayson plays Niko, a genial if comically insecure host-with-the-most, gifted at using their considerable offbeat charms to draw out even those who habitually take a hard pass when it’s time for “audience interaction.”

“As an audience member, I’m somebody who finds it nerve-wracking when someone in the show calls on you. So it’s important to me that our audience knows they are in good hands. You can’t be just like ‘Where are you from? OK, cool,’ and then it’s like all the air gets sucked out of the room because nobody knows what to say next.

“With Eschaton, I work to make sure there’s never that hesitancy when I’m doing crowd work. If an audience member doesn’t know what to say, that’s OK, because my job is to navigate that with the classic rule of improv–make your scene partner look as good as possible,” they say.

Grayson has had some mondo-bizarro scene partners wandering the halls of Eschaton, where audiences are asked to keep their cameras on throughout the 60-minute show.

“The craziest thing I ever saw was this guy Kevin, who had magnets implanted into his fingers,” Grayson says. “Sometimes that happens–I’ll be chatting with people throughout the show and suddenly I’ll stumble onto something incredibly odd and I’ll be like, ‘What even was that?’

“We had one regular couple for a while who brought this creepy doll they’d make talk. Loved it,” they say.

Along with Blum and Whitehead, Grayson was joined in devising the piece with ensemble members in London, Berlin, New York City, and Tennessee. Audience members have visited Eschaton from as far away as Tokyo.

As the pandemic raged, Grayson found solace in dancing with total strangers miles away.

“I do a bit where I ask someone to dance. I can’t really explain it–but dancing with people virtually? It makes you feel better. It makes you create a community in a pretty amazing way,” they say.

Niko–who Grayson conjures as equal parts raging insecurity and over-the-top showboat–lives in the attic of Chicago’s illustrious DIY performance venue The Shithole, where Grayson lives on the first floor. On show dates, Grayson trudges up to the attic with their kit of lights and audio equipment. In non-pandemic times, rowdy, sweaty crowds pack the place for late-night offerings of performance art and stand-up. For now, the attic is solely Niko’s turf.

“Going back up there for Eschaton, it was like walking into a ghost town,” Grayson says of the attic space. “But the energy of the people that had been there, you could feel them. The old beer cans. The sweat. All this amazing energy, palpable.”

Finding that energy was crucial to Grayson’s artistic survival over the long lockdown. After Eschaton‘s first show, they packed up their laptop, cameras, and sound system and descended from the attic back to the living quarters.

“My roommate hugged me and asked how it went,” Grayson recalls. “And all I could think was that it felt like art really mattered. I go through these phases–especially in the pandemic–where I’m always asking myself: ‘What are we even doing? Who is this even for?’ But I exited the attic that night knowing how much art means to people. And always will mean to people.”

Grayson also found themself connecting with the ensemble, even though they never met in person.

“We do these aftershow hangs, and there was one when we all realized we were using the same Neutrogena wipes to clean off our makeup. It was such an unexpected, weirdly specific connection. We all felt, all of a sudden, like we were about to go out after the show,” they say.

Grayson’s optimistic live Shithole shows will return. But for now, they invite all and sundry to Eschaton. It’s worth the trip. v



Next dates for Eschaton are TBA. See info.eschaton.club for updated info.

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Eschaton is a virtual cabaret with a surreal twistCatey Sullivanon July 7, 2021 at 7:15 pm Read More »