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Kenilworth Gardens Wilmette Year-to-Date Housing Reporton July 27, 2020 at 10:03 pm

North Shore Real Estate Chatter

Kenilworth Gardens Wilmette Year-to-Date Housing Report

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PHOTOS: White Sox set up fan cutouts at Guaranteed Rate Fieldon July 27, 2020 at 9:26 pm

ChicagoNow Staff Blog

PHOTOS: White Sox set up fan cutouts at Guaranteed Rate Field

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PHOTOS: White Sox set up fan cutouts at Guaranteed Rate Fieldon July 27, 2020 at 9:26 pm Read More »

An apology for a bogus post about George Floydon July 27, 2020 at 10:39 pm

The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor

An apology for a bogus post about George Floyd

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An apology for a bogus post about George Floydon July 27, 2020 at 10:39 pm Read More »

The Fall and Rise and Fall Again: Chicago’s Bottled Blonde Permanently Closedon July 27, 2020 at 11:15 pm

You read that right: Chicago’s Bottled Blonde, River North’s all-in-one stop for aggressively loud music, excess amount of vomit, and brawls is now permanently closed. According to undisclosed sources, owners of the establishment announced earlier today that Bottled Blonde’s doors are closing. This news comes within the same month that Concrete Cowboy, another notorious River North bar, also shut its doors forever.

We’ve been writing about Bottled Blonde’s escapades for years now. From losing their liquor license in 2017 on Black Wednesday for violating the code that no more than 50 percent of their sales should come from alcohol (need we remind you that Bottled Blonde is technically licensed as a ‘pizzeria,’ if you would believe it) to facing a temporary shutdown barely a year ago, it comes as no shock that this pizzeria bar found its way onto our list of douchiest bars.

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Photo Credit: Bottled Blonde

As of this moment, all social accounts for Chicago’s Bottled Blonde no longer exist and Google seems to have this information as well, listing the bar as ‘permanently closed’ in their database. With such a quick takedown of socials and database updating, one might think this shutdown was in the makings for quite awhile. 

Photo Credit: Bottled Blonde

Our sources tell us that the owners dropped a bombshell on the workers. According to them, the owners of Bottled Blonde cite two reasons for their decision to shut down the famed Chicago spot: Lori Lightfoot’s restrictions on bars (although, if they’re technically a pizzeria this shouldn’t hurt them?) in response to rising coronavirus case numbers, and the ongoing lawsuit between Bottled Blonde and the city of Chicago regarding the massive number of noise complaints issued towards the establishment.

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Photo Credit: Bottled Blonde

While many consider Bottled Blonde a Chicago staple, it actually belongs to a chain pizza originally started in Arizona. Promising pizza and a beer garden, the Bottled Blonde location we all know and have come to love (or hate?) opened its doors in 2015. Now, almost a half-decade later, there seems to be no future for Chicago’s Bottled Blonde with the owners unwilling to sink any more money into keeping the place afloat during COVID-19 nor double down on legal fees. According to our sources, the owners plan to open a location in Miami, taking their rambunctious efforts to the coast.

Photo Credit: The Blue Agave Facebook Page

View the Best Tequila Bars in Chicago

Need something to help forget this tragedy? View our list of the best tequila bars in the city.

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View the Best Tequila Bars in Chicago

Despite the incredible amount of complaints Bottled Blonde has amassed in its short stint here in Chicago, they had some of the best staff in the industry. We can all also agree that any night there was an unforgettable one, whether good or bad. If you’ve got a special memory at this hallowed River North site, please share it with us in the comments below. RIP #BusinessAsUsual

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Featured Image Credit: Bottled Blonde

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The Fall and Rise and Fall Again: Chicago’s Bottled Blonde Permanently Closedon July 27, 2020 at 11:15 pm Read More »

When the world feels barren, Chicago punk veterans the Lawrence Arms build hopeon July 27, 2020 at 5:00 pm

Chicago punk trio the Lawrence Arms formed in 1999, and they’re aging remarkably well. Rather than settle for the kind of navel-gazing that’s common among bands of their vintage–commemorating, say, the milestone anniversary of an old favorite album with a long tour–they’ve continued to evolve as they make new music. On their seventh album, Skeleton Coast (Epitaph), the Lawrence Arms transmute their rat-a-tat drive and sweet-but-tough melodies into bruised anthems; these ruddy, lived-in songs provide a perfect setting for the band’s two singers, guitarist Chris McCaughan and bassist Brendan Kelly, to survey our scorched-earth landscape and contemplate a better future. They’re realists who can find beauty in the muck, and this makes even tracks such as “Coyote Crown”–where McCaughan considers a world-burning apocalypse–feel quixotically hopeful. These days, every morning can bring a barrage of new signs that the end is nigh; the Lawrence Arms don’t spare us from the ugly truth, but Skeleton Coast at least makes the onrushing disaster seem like something we can survive together. v

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When the world feels barren, Chicago punk veterans the Lawrence Arms build hopeon July 27, 2020 at 5:00 pm Read More »

Ghetto Kumbe create pulsing Afrofuturistic grooves that build on the beats of Colombia’s Pacific coaston July 27, 2020 at 1:00 pm

Few styles of music lift my spirits more than the drum- and marimba-driven chants born along Colombia’s Pacific coast. These ancestral grooves survived the travails of 16th-century colonization to become the musical heritage of the region’s enslaved persons who’d escaped captivity–and to my ears, they distill freedom and joy in every note. The members of Bogota trio Ghetto Kumbe are internationally recognized musicians who’ve each participated in projects that take the roots beats of Colombia into contemporary realms. Percussionist and vocalist Edgardo Garces, aka El Guajiro, is also the lead vocalist of hard salsa band La 33 and former singer of trailblazing Columbian fusion band Sidestepper; Juan Carlos Puello, aka Chongo, is a master percussionist who’s also played with Sidestepper and accompanied iconic Colombian diva Toto la Momposina; and Andres Mercado, aka Doctor Keyta, is a West African percussionist involved in dance companies such as Zarabanda Danza Afro. Ghetto Kumbe’s two EPs, 2015’s Kumbe and 2017’s Soy Selva, give a sense of the group’s mastery at framing classic West African rhythms such as lamban and soli with the bass-laden dance-floor pulse of UK bass–a modern genre in dialogue with those old rhythms’ Afro-Colombian descendants, including cumbia and bullerengue. Their new self-titled debut album lives up to their previous releases: each of its 11 relentlessly captivating tracks is totally irresistible. On “Tambo” the bandmates chant, “Tambo, sacame esta pena, aliviame el dolor” (“Drum, take this suffering out of me, relieve my pain”). I currently have that track on repeat; it’s become my way to find some sunshine during otherwise dark days. v

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Ghetto Kumbe create pulsing Afrofuturistic grooves that build on the beats of Colombia’s Pacific coaston July 27, 2020 at 1:00 pm Read More »

Mexican Werewolf front man Rick Linus helped Chicago metal feel like a familyon July 27, 2020 at 11:00 am

click to enlarge
Mexican Werewolf: Andrew Raucher, Rick Linus, and Nick Wright - JOHN MOURLAS

When you write about music for a living, your personal and professional lives often blur, forcing you to draw some difficult lines when it comes to which projects you cover and how. It’s not just a matter of journalistic ethics; it’s also a practical concern. The gig is to be as objective as possible, and you can’t be completely objective about an album made by, say, a close pal with whom you’ve collaborated on musical and media endeavors, who’s charmed the hell out of your mom, and who’s trusted you to babysit his kid.

So I’m not going to write much about Murder House, the 2019 debut full-length by Chicago trio Mexican Werewolf, though I’ve been listening to it a lot. I’m just going to share it, in case you also enjoy ridiculously fun Motorhead- and Misfits-inspired horror-movie rock ‘n’ roll. I’d hoped to have the chance post-COVID-19 to catch the band tearing through these songs at a local club.

But I am going to write about my friend Rick Linus, Mexican Werewolf’s vocalist and guitarist, who unexpectedly passed away this month. I met him a year or two before he launched the band in 2012 with his childhood buddies Nick Wright (bass) and Andrew Raucher (drums), and we quickly bonded over our shared musical obsessions. I’d been going through a rough patch in my personal life, but Rick always made me feel like family and gave me plenty of reasons to smile. It didn’t take long to realize he had that effect on practically everyone. Because I’d already spent years working in an industry where you can’t take openness and sincerity for granted, I found his genuine nature refreshing.

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Rick and Nick onstage with Mexican Werewolf (Andrew isn't quite visible) - JOHN MOURLAS

Rick matched his love of people with his unbridled enthusiasm for music and art, and that combination made him a mainstay in the local metal and hardcore scene for more than 20 years. He worked in various capacities in radio, merch fulfillment, design, and events (remember ManBQue?), as well as at record labels (specifically Sony and Victory). He helped run a booking and promotion collective called Unholy Empire, and when our paths first crossed it was in full force–its “Unholy Friday” shows at Cobra Lounge were the best heavy-music weekly in town. Among his other duties, Rick spun records in the perchlike booth overlooking Cobra’s front bar. If he saw you come in, he’d light up with a big smile, and by the end of the night he’d probably blast a tune he knew you loved. (Thanks for all the Disfear!)

When people describe indie venues as the heart of a community, it’s because local music champions like Rick help make them that way. And that spirit doesn’t depend on whether there are bands onstage–as long as people are bonding through music in a shared space, the attraction can be a DJ set, a gear swap, a fundraiser, a record sale, or just the good company. Rick definitely understood that. When he started a family in the mid-2010s, he transferred his nightlife skills into his wedding DJ business, Ten Twelve Entertainment, and continued to work with underground bands as cofounder of apparel company First Rodeo.

Rick’s family, bandmates, and the seemingly infinite number of people who considered him part of their inner circles would agree that music was just one side of him (and this story is just a small snapshot of that). But listening to Murder House reminds me that my life is better for having known Rick. Chicago’s heavy-music world was tremendously enriched by his presence and passion–not just in Mexican Werewolf but in everything he touched.

Rest in power, friend. v

The Listener is a weekly sampling of music Reader staffers love. Absolutely anything goes, and you can reach us at [email protected].

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Mexican Werewolf front man Rick Linus helped Chicago metal feel like a familyon July 27, 2020 at 11:00 am Read More »