What’s New

If you’re interested in queer Chicago history, you’ll definitely want to check this out: At 6 PM, Sidetrack (3349 N. Halsted) is celebrating the release of Last Call Chicago: A History of 1001 LGBTQ Friendly Taverns, Haunts & Hangouts. Renowned writers and activists Rick Karlin and St. Sukie de la Croix will share some of the research and stories that inspired their new book, which reveals much about the diverse, often underground networks that helped Chicago’s gay communities thrive. They will also be available for questions and book signings. (MC)

In the 80s and 90s, first-generation midwest graffiti writers Pengo and East helped to pioneer what’s now thought of the Chicago style of graffiti writing, recognizable to practitioners by the perspective and flow created within lettering, among other markers. Tonight they will both appear at the Newberry Library for a conversation about what makes the unique midwest graffiti writing style, and the influence of Chicago on other cities. The discussion will be moderated by artist and curator Dulce María Díaz in conjunction with “A Show of Hands: Handwriting in the Age of Print,” an exhibition on view at the library through December 30. The 6 PM program is free and open to all ages, and registration is required. A concurrent livestream will be available; check out the Newberry’s website for details. (SCJ)

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company opens their season with Routes by British playwright Rachel De-Lahay, which looks at “immigrants, refugees, and children in conflict with the law as they fight to get home through an impossibly complex system designed to keep them out.” Mikael Burke directs. The show begins previews tonight at 7:30 PM at Theater Wit (1229 W. Belmont); performances continue through 11/20, Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2:30 PM. Tickets are $10-$40 at theaterwit.org. (KR)

Braided started as a series of free art shows and pop-ups organized by artist Ladasia Bryant focusing on BIPOC creative work. Bryant subsequently started publishing Braided magazine in 2019, to create a similar space for often marginalized artists in print and online; the publishing arm of the organization has taken center stage this year as Bryant and her collaborators are transitioning into a publishing company and distributor to create publications by and for BIPOC artists. Tonight’s event, an Open Mic and Vendor Market hosted at the Martin (2500 W. Chicago), brings Braided back to its origins. Vendors including Chris Thrifts, Golden Mirror Lineage, and Sleepy T Rugs will have wares for sale, and poets and musicians are invited to share their work. It all happens from 6:30-9 PM; $5 entry tickets are available at the door or via Eventbrite. (SCJ)

Read More

If you’re interested in queer Chicago history, you’ll definitely want to check this out: At 6 PM, Sidetrack (3349 N. Halsted) is celebrating the release of Last Call Chicago: A History of 1001 LGBTQ Friendly Taverns, Haunts & Hangouts. Renowned writers and activists Rick Karlin and St. Sukie de la Croix will share some of the research and stories that inspired their new book, which reveals much about the diverse, often underground networks that helped Chicago’s gay communities thrive. They will also be available for questions and book signings. (MC)

In the 80s and 90s, first-generation midwest graffiti writers Pengo and East helped to pioneer what’s now thought of the Chicago style of graffiti writing, recognizable to practitioners by the perspective and flow created within lettering, among other markers. Tonight they will both appear at the Newberry Library for a conversation about what makes the unique midwest graffiti writing style, and the influence of Chicago on other cities. The discussion will be moderated by artist and curator Dulce María Díaz in conjunction with “A Show of Hands: Handwriting in the Age of Print,” an exhibition on view at the library through December 30. The 6 PM program is free and open to all ages, and registration is required. A concurrent livestream will be available; check out the Newberry’s website for details. (SCJ)

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company opens their season with Routes by British playwright Rachel De-Lahay, which looks at “immigrants, refugees, and children in conflict with the law as they fight to get home through an impossibly complex system designed to keep them out.” Mikael Burke directs. The show begins previews tonight at 7:30 PM at Theater Wit (1229 W. Belmont); performances continue through 11/20, Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2:30 PM. Tickets are $10-$40 at theaterwit.org. (KR)

Braided started as a series of free art shows and pop-ups organized by artist Ladasia Bryant focusing on BIPOC creative work. Bryant subsequently started publishing Braided magazine in 2019, to create a similar space for often marginalized artists in print and online; the publishing arm of the organization has taken center stage this year as Bryant and her collaborators are transitioning into a publishing company and distributor to create publications by and for BIPOC artists. Tonight’s event, an Open Mic and Vendor Market hosted at the Martin (2500 W. Chicago), brings Braided back to its origins. Vendors including Chris Thrifts, Golden Mirror Lineage, and Sleepy T Rugs will have wares for sale, and poets and musicians are invited to share their work. It all happens from 6:30-9 PM; $5 entry tickets are available at the door or via Eventbrite. (SCJ)

Read More

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

The national art supply retailer hosts the grand opening of its new Loop location on October 21

If you’ve been wondering about all the excitement at that impossible-to-miss building with the large glockenspiel clock at 16 W Randolph, it’s due to the arrival of its newest tenant, Blick Art Materials.

On Friday, October 21, Blick will host the grand opening of its new store in downtown Chicago. Located just steps from the Lake Red Line station and the Washington Blue Line station, the national art-supply retailer will cater to students and educators from the nearby campuses of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Columbia College Chicago, and the American Academy of Art College (with whom Blick proudly partners, along with other arts and community organizations nationwide), while serving the greater Chicago arts community. The two-story space will contain an expanded assortment of art supplies from top-name vendors and private label products, including an enhanced selection of Utrecht Artists’ Paints. They’ll also stock plenty of trending craft items, stationery, and unique gifts—just in time for the holiday season.

The building the new store is housed in has a fascinating history of its own. It was built in 1934 by brothers Max and Robert Eitel as the site of their new venture, the Old Heidelberg Restaurant, where they planned to dish up the classic German dishes they grew up on in their native Stuttgart to local theatergoers. The Eitels commissioned Graham, Anderson, Probst and White (the same architecture firm responsible for the Merchandise Mart, the Wrigley Building, and Civic Opera House) to create an aesthetic in homage to a traditional German village. That can be seen in the building’s stunning façade, which features arched doorways, a decorative parapet, and an ornate glockenspiel clock, whose small wooden doors conceal the building’s quirkiest feature—a colorful statue of King Gambrinus, the legendary icon of beer. Created by Chicago artist Edgar Miller for the Old Heidelberg in 1934, the merry king once regularly emerged to the sound of chimes to mark the hour. The clock is currently undergoing repairs.

The building has changed hands multiple times over the years and Blick is honored to be part of its legacy while providing Chicago’s creative community with the city’s best selection of high-quality art supplies and superior customer service.

Read More

The national art supply retailer hosts the grand opening of its new Loop location on October 21

If you’ve been wondering about all the excitement at that impossible-to-miss building with the large glockenspiel clock at 16 W Randolph, it’s due to the arrival of its newest tenant, Blick Art Materials.

On Friday, October 21, Blick will host the grand opening of its new store in downtown Chicago. Located just steps from the Lake Red Line station and the Washington Blue Line station, the national art-supply retailer will cater to students and educators from the nearby campuses of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Columbia College Chicago, and the American Academy of Art College (with whom Blick proudly partners, along with other arts and community organizations nationwide), while serving the greater Chicago arts community. The two-story space will contain an expanded assortment of art supplies from top-name vendors and private label products, including an enhanced selection of Utrecht Artists’ Paints. They’ll also stock plenty of trending craft items, stationery, and unique gifts—just in time for the holiday season.

The building the new store is housed in has a fascinating history of its own. It was built in 1934 by brothers Max and Robert Eitel as the site of their new venture, the Old Heidelberg Restaurant, where they planned to dish up the classic German dishes they grew up on in their native Stuttgart to local theatergoers. The Eitels commissioned Graham, Anderson, Probst and White (the same architecture firm responsible for the Merchandise Mart, the Wrigley Building, and Civic Opera House) to create an aesthetic in homage to a traditional German village. That can be seen in the building’s stunning façade, which features arched doorways, a decorative parapet, and an ornate glockenspiel clock, whose small wooden doors conceal the building’s quirkiest feature—a colorful statue of King Gambrinus, the legendary icon of beer. Created by Chicago artist Edgar Miller for the Old Heidelberg in 1934, the merry king once regularly emerged to the sound of chimes to mark the hour. The clock is currently undergoing repairs.

The building has changed hands multiple times over the years and Blick is honored to be part of its legacy while providing Chicago’s creative community with the city’s best selection of high-quality art supplies and superior customer service.

Read More

The Chicago Cubs are not in the playoffs but some of their players from the 2022 season are. They were a somewhat active team at the 2022 trade deadline which allowed some of their better trade chips to make runs in the playoffs.

Unfortunately, two of the biggest pieces moved off the rosters are now hurt going into the second round. Scott Effross isn’t on the New York Yankees roster for the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians due to an elbow injury.

It has been determined that Effross will require Tommy John surgery which means that he will be out for a long time.

That is bad news for the Yankees who wanted him as a part of their bullpen for a long time. It is a very injured pen too which makes it even worse.

It doesn’t end there for former Cubs relievers. David Robertson is off the Philadelphia Phillies roster as he strained his right calf.

The odd thing about this injury is that he didn’t do it while playing baseball. He hurt his calf while jumping up and down after a Bryce Harper home run in the Wild Card series against the St. Louis Cardinals. That is a wild way to hurt yourself during the playoffs.

Two former Cubs relievers were announced as injured during the playoffs.

Both of these guys are going to have to hope that their team is able to get it done without them. Effross is for sure not coming back but there is a chance that Robertson is able to return.

Neither the Phillies nor the Yankees are happy about this as they both have a very hard series ahead of them. Each of them is going to have to dig deep in their bullpen in order to come out on top. It is just a shame that they have to miss this exciting time and watch from the dugout.

Both Robertson and Effross were magnificent for the Chicago Cubs in 2022. It wasn’t an easy team to play for but they came out and dominated when called upon. That allowed the Cubs to move on from them and get some assets.

We can only hope that the returns (Ben Brown and Hayden Wesneski) turn out to be worthy returns for two good relievers that were pitching well. Hopefully, Effross and Robertson are able to return healthy (albeit at different times).

Read More

Clara de Asís is a Spanish-born, France-based multi-instrumentalist and sound artist who uses played and collected sounds as prompts to focus the power of the listener’s attention on the potentialities of the sound fields around them. The crackle of static and the decaying reverberations of struck metal on her new collaboration with Ryoko Akama, Sisbiosis (Erstwhile), are so involved that the presence of any traditional instrument would feel like a gauche intrusion. That’s not to say Asís doesn’t use such instruments, though—she employs them in her own performances as well as in her compositions for other players. On her 2018 solo album, Do Nothing (Another Timbre), the dissonant dialogue between her widely spaced guitar harmonics and a tolling Tibetan singing bowl generates enormous tension. And on Without (Elsewhere, 2018), performed by violinist Erik Carlson and percussionist Greg Stuart, discrete plucks and abrasions highlight the vast spaces that surround them. For her first Chicago appearance, de Asís will share the bill with local experimental ensemble Aperiodic. She will perform a solo piece for electronics and percussion, and then Aperiodic will play two of her pieces on a program that also presents works by Argentine composer Gabriela Areal. De Asís will spend the week following the concert collaborating with local sound artist Veronica Anne Salinas in a residency organized by the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain and Experimental Sound Studio.

Aperiodic, Clara de Asís Aperiodic performs music by Clara de Asís and Gabriela Areal; de Asís opens with a solo set. 8 PM, Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey #208, all ages

Read More

Clara de Asís is a Spanish-born, France-based multi-instrumentalist and sound artist who uses played and collected sounds as prompts to focus the power of the listener’s attention on the potentialities of the sound fields around them. The crackle of static and the decaying reverberations of struck metal on her new collaboration with Ryoko Akama, Sisbiosis (Erstwhile), are so involved that the presence of any traditional instrument would feel like a gauche intrusion. That’s not to say Asís doesn’t use such instruments, though—she employs them in her own performances as well as in her compositions for other players. On her 2018 solo album, Do Nothing (Another Timbre), the dissonant dialogue between her widely spaced guitar harmonics and a tolling Tibetan singing bowl generates enormous tension. And on Without (Elsewhere, 2018), performed by violinist Erik Carlson and percussionist Greg Stuart, discrete plucks and abrasions highlight the vast spaces that surround them. For her first Chicago appearance, de Asís will share the bill with local experimental ensemble Aperiodic. She will perform a solo piece for electronics and percussion, and then Aperiodic will play two of her pieces on a program that also presents works by Argentine composer Gabriela Areal. De Asís will spend the week following the concert collaborating with local sound artist Veronica Anne Salinas in a residency organized by the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain and Experimental Sound Studio.

Aperiodic, Clara de Asís Aperiodic performs music by Clara de Asís and Gabriela Areal; de Asís opens with a solo set. 8 PM, Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey #208, all ages

Read More

Gossip Wolf has been hip to Chicago rapper and singer Angelenah, aka Ashley Hart and Angel Davanport, ever since she released the 2018 EP Sore but Grateful. She’s been sharpening her skills in the years since, and last week she dropped I Don’t Regret a Thing, which showcases her flamboyant singing across six luscious R&B tunes. Her fiery performance on the humid, slow-boiling “Drama” pushes her clarion voice so hard it starts to fray. On Thursday, October 13, Angelenah celebrates her EP with a show at Golden Dagger; ShowYouSuck, GreenSllime, and DJ TeaWhy open. Tickets are $12, and the show starts at 8 PM.

The songs on I Don’t Regret a Thing are produced by Chason Rice, the BeatPlug, the O’My’s, and Budah Tye.

This wolf can’t think of a better source for Halloween-adjacent jams than former My Gold Mask multi-instrumentalist Jack Armondo. His darkwave project, Panic Priest, makes the kind of moody, soaring Peter Murphy-esque choruses and stomping electronic beats that would’ve kept the dance floor at Neo bumping till just before sunrise. The new Panic Priest album, Psychogoria, drops via Minneapolis label Midnight Mannequin next week, just in time for peak spooky season—and Armondo celebrates with a show at the Hideout on Thursday, October 20, with openers Iron Years and Clubdrugs plus sets by DJ Scary Lady Sarah; tickets are $12, and the show starts at 9:30 PM.

Psychogoria includes a cover of the 1984 hit “Self Control” by Italian singer Raf, also covered by Laura Branigan.

Otherpeace, the rootsy, meditative solo project of long-grinding Chicago rocker Matt Clark (Pinebender, White/Light), debuted earlier this year with the charming and immersive album Capitalism Blues. Last week, Otherpeace dropped Lose Your Illusion I (For L.A.), an EP of covers of songs about Los Angeles—its drawling version of Lana Del Rey’s “Mariners Apartment Complex” belongs on any fall playlist you’ve got! Otherpeace opens for the Deer at the Hideout on Thursday, October 13; tickets are $13, and the show starts at 9:30 PM.

No word yet on Lose Your Illusion II.

Read More