What’s New

West Fest Chicago is one of a number of events organized by the West Town Chicago Chamber of Commerce each year. Usually taking place on Chicago Avenue between Damen and Wood, this year’s festival (happening July 15 – 22) is moving online in the interest of public health and safety, like many of our favorite summertime Chicago festivals. Though you physically won’t be able to drift from tent to tent, perusing the wares of local merchants as you might ordinarily be inclined to do, you can still support vendors, musical acts, and even animals in need as part of the Virtual West Fest.

If you’re looking to hear some exciting musical acts from Chicago, L.A., and elsewhere, be sure to tune into the livestream facilitated by Empty Bottle Presents on Friday, July 17, and Saturday, July 18. Friday’s lineup includes Mother Nature, Choir Boy, Automatic, and Ric Wilson; Saturday’s lineup of all-DJ sets starts with Chicago-based DJ John Simmons, followed by DJ Heather, Diz, and Mark Farina. 

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Pet Fest, which takes place as part of every West Fest Chicago, is undergoing its own virtual reformatting this summer, in keeping with the rest of the Fest. As part of the virtual festivities taking place, those interested can take advantage of pet adoption opportunities through ALIVE Rescue and One Tail at a Time. Between live-streamed musical acts, Virtual Pet Fest is also providing only the best dog video content, which is sure to win over even the most devoted of cat people. 

West Town businesses won’t be able to benefit from in-person purchases this year, so West Town Chicago Chamber of Commerce encourages Chicagoans to support these businesses virtually. You can find these “Virtual Vendors” and learn more about their crafts, services, and products using the WTCCC Business & Community Directory; many of these vendors will be offering specials and promotions throughout the festival, and include purveyors of artwork, pet supplies, foods, beverages, and more.

In the past at West Fest Chicago, those attending are encouraged to make a donation upon entering the festival gates — the West Town Chicago Chamber of Commerce is asking that viewers of this year’s virtual festivities consider making the same suggested $10 donation as they might under ordinary circumstances. According to the WTCCC website, 80 percent of the proceeds are going to WTCCC, 10 percent goes to Empty Bottle Presents, and the remaining 10 percent will go to nonprofit community organization My Block My Hood My City. My Block My Hood My City is a local organization that, as part of its mission statement, “provides underprivileged youth with an awareness of the world and opportunities beyond their neighborhood.”

All live-streaming events during Virtual West Fest Chicago 2020 will be accessible July 15-22 on the West Town Chicago Chamber of Commerce website. Updates on the impending festivities can also be found on West Fest Chicago’s Facebook page. Don’t forget to donate and support local businesses, music, and fuzzy friends!

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Featured Image Credit: West Fest Chicago Facebook Page

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Chicago is starting to heat up this the summer, which has many people dreaming of hitting the pool or escaping to a water park. If you want to find a fun day outside with your family or friends, here are 10 of the best water parks near Chicago.

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor

1 Great America Parkway, Gurnee, IL 60031

Visiting Six Flags Hurricane Harbor is a great deal; you can spend the day going on the water slides, splash pads, wave pools, and then you can switch over to Six Flags Great America when you are tired of the water to ride some roller coasters.

Deep River Waterpark

9001 E Lincoln Hwy, Crown Point, IN 46307

Located in Indiana, Deep River Waterpark is the perfect place to spend the day. With body slides, tube slides, lazy rivers, wave pools, and splash pads, you’ll be able to find something fun to do.

Mystic Waters

2025 Miner St, Des Plaines, IL 60016

Close to home, Mystic Waters has a 37-foot slide, leisure pool, and hot top. There is also a zone that is ideal for small toddlers to run around and play in the fountains. It’s smaller than other parks but still has enough attractions to make the short drive worth it.

Raging Waves

4000 N Bridge St, Yorkville, IL 60560

Advertised as the “largest water park in Illinois,” you’ll be able to spend a full day here without running out of things to do. With rafting slides, wave pools, interactive kid’s areas, and body surfing, the Raging Waves is a great place to cool off and spend the day.

Noah’s Ark

1410 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy, Wisconsin Dells, WI 54965

While it is farther from Chicago, Noah’s Ark is so full of rides and activities that it is worth the trip. There, you can learn how to surf, ride through more than 300 feet of slides before dropping near 40 feet into the water, or relax in the toddler zone.

Magic Waters

7820 Cherryvale N Blvd, Cherry Valley, IL 61016

Magic Waves — now owned by Six Flags — is filled with rides, perfect for both the young and the old. Tiki Island is perfect for children, with 12,000 square feet of waterfalls, slides, and splash pads. Older kids and adults can check out the big Double Dare Drop — two body slides that drop you 75 feet. Or you spend an afternoon relaxing in the lazy river.

Bensenville Water Park and Splash Pad

1100 W Wood St, Bensenville, IL 60106

With a water slide that is more than 150 feet tall, the water park is sure to thrill even older children and adults. Bensenville Water Park is filled with grassy areas, making it the perfect place for families to relax or picnic together.

Itasca Caribbean Water Park

100 Catalpa Ave. Itasca, IL 60143

With swimming pools, slides, and splash pads, you and your family can have a fun getaway and feel like you are on a beach vacation without having to leave Illinois.

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Skokie Water Playground

4715 Oakton St, Skokie, IL 60076

This is a smaller park, but it still has a lot of fun things to do. The park features a giant bucket that dumps gallons of water on happy children, slides, water playgrounds, and pools.

WhoaZone at Whihala Beach

1561 Park Rd, Whiting, IN 46394

This isn’t your typical water park. Instead, it is more like an obstacle course on the water. With great views of the city, your family can have hours of fun running, bouncing, and swimming at this water attraction.

At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.

Tell us what you think matters in your neighborhood and what we should write about next in the comments below!

Featured Image Credit: Skokie Water Park

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Chicago Blackhawks: The Summer Camp roster feels good by Vincent Parise

Chicago Bears: Cam Newton video should make Ryan Pace squirm by Ryan Heckman

Chicago Bears tight end Jimmy Graham was recently in question when it came to one particular agent.

The Chicago Bears and their tight ends are always a popular topic amongst fans and the media. When you have a tight end group as bad as it was in 2019, people are going to talk.

Add in the fact that general manager Ryan Pace is turning the tight end into the kicking situation of 2019, at times having double-digit tight ends on the roster, and you’ll hear a few snickers here and there. It’s a running joke that will never die — that is, unless Pace proves to be a genius by either signing Jimmy Graham or drafting Cole Kmet.

The former might not be in the cards, barring a brand-new Graham that we haven’t seen in about six years — and that’s exactly where a certain NFL agent finds his opinion unfolding when it comes to the Bears’ free agent signing.

This specific agent told Ben Standig of The Athletic that he thinks there was “no way” another team offered Graham the kind of money Chicago did.

“Did they watch his tape? That was a shocking contract to me.”

Chicago Bears brass spent quite a chunk of money on the 33-year-old Graham.

Graham, who spent the last two seasons with the Green Bay Packers, signed a 2-year deal with Chicago back at the start of the 2020 free agency period. The deal is worth a total of $16 million with $10 million guaranteed.

This agent, when speaking on Graham, mentioned his tape. Overall, the tape supports what was said. The $16 million was far too much for an aging tight end whose best days came when Graham’s athleticism was at his peak. Now turning 34 years old in November, Graham is no longer the downfield threat we saw when he was in New Orleans.

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I might attempt an argument with this agent that Graham wasn’t used as much as he would have liked in Green Bay. In 2016 and 2017 with the Seattle Seahawks, Graham was targeted a total of 191 times and caught 16 touchdowns. He was a Pro Bowl selection each of those years, despite his yardage averaging out near 700 yards per season.

Jimmy Graham LEAP ?

(via @thecheckdown)pic.twitter.com/LCfs77oOzE

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) September 6, 2019

Going to Green Bay at a time where the Packers decided to commit more to the run with Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams wasn’t exactly going to help continue that trend for Graham. He was used less, but there were some flashes of Graham still being able to make plays after the catch.

Still, the money is the big sticking point. In my mind, Graham is going to be cut next season. The Bears will let Kmet take over next year while probably also adding another tight end via the draft or free agency, simply out of necessity for depth at the top of the order at tight end.

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For this season, we’ll see if Graham can silence the many, many critics he’s seen slamming his deal with the Bears.

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Chicago Cubs should stand pat at trade deadline by Patrick Sheldon

Chicago Bears: Jimmy Graham gets slammed by NFL agent by Ryan Heckman

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(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks have released their Summer Camp roster for the playoffs.

The Chicago Blackhawks are going into Summer Camp feeling good. The roster that is going to be available to them at this camp came out yesterday morning ahead of their first practice back as a full team. With proper mask wear, social distancing, and protocols in place to keep everyone safe, they are going to really attempt to pull this modified version of the Stanley Cup Playoffs off. The Blackhawks are going to face the Edmonton Oilers in a best of five “play-in” round.

You have to feel good about this roster and how it looks going into things. This team wasn’t very good in 2019-20 but they were good enough to squeak into this 24 team tournament. There is enough star power on this team to at least think that they have what it takes to make it a little bit difficult on the Oilers.

The Oilers are a team that is also loaded with star power. Connor McDavid is the best hockey player in the world and he is already emerging as one of the greatest ever. There is also Leon Draisaitl who is another top-ten player in the league. They happened to be the league’s two leading scorers for this season as well so you know they are dangerous.

The Hawks put out a roster that is what you would expect. It is similar to the Oilers in a way as they both have a lot of top-heavy talent but don’t have as much depth as they would like. The Oilers were a much better team than the Hawks this year but that doesn’t mean they are even close to being complete. They do have a bright future with their stars leading the way but for now, this Hawks team might be able to slow them down. This is what the roster looks like:

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Chicago Cubs: 3 benefits of 60-game season over other teams by Brandon Hinrichs

Chicago Blackhawks: The Summer Camp roster feels good by Vincent Parise

The Chicago Cubs should refrain from making moves at the deadline.

Rejoice Chicago Cubs fans! You are only nine days away from the official start of the 2020 Major League Baseball season and 10 days from the Cubs’ first game against division rival Milwaukee Brewers.

Though, in reality, I probably should have written “tentative start” as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc across the country as states attempt to handle a record number of new cases each day. So while baseball fans look forward to the start of the year with great anticipation, it must be tempered slightly, as we don’t know what will happen or how the season will ultimately unfold.

This is why the Cubs, and specifically general manager Theo Epstein must stand-fast at the August 31st trade deadline.

Recently, Epstein spoke about some of the moral and ethical implications associated with trading a player in the midst of a global pandemic. He recognized the challenges it would place on a family but also conceded the team will still have to make tough decisions and wouldn’t rule out a possible trade by the deadline.

However, Epstein should think long and hard about making a deal before the deadline.

First, there is the asterisk that will likely come with whoever wins this year’s World Series. Granted the playing field is the same for all teams, but the reality is it’s tough to get jazzed up about a championship after playing just over one-third of the season. Every conversation about the 2020 World Series champion will always be followed by a “but.”

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Second, and more importantly, is the uncertainty around the season, making it difficult to make a move with any confidence. Let’s say the season goes off as scheduled. There is no guarantee MLB will actually finish the season. That will depend on the state of the pandemic and how well MLB is insulating testing, and caring for its players.

Consequently, there is a real chance that MLB never finishes the season and is forced to cancel early. It would be a complete waste to have made a move — especially an aggressive one — at the deadline, only to never be able to take advantage of it. It would not be wise to potentially mortgage the future, and go “all-in” on a deadline move that could be rendered irrelevant.

Next: Cubs’ Kimbrel deal looks worse by the day

Theo is a smart general manager and obviously knows these risks exist. The question is whether he thinks the risks are worth taking.

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Chicago Bears: Jimmy Graham gets slammed by NFL agent by Ryan Heckman

The decision not to go get Cam Newton could haunt the Chicago Bears all season long.

Back in the spring, the Chicago Bears were at the center of every quarterback rumor, it seemed. Knowing they had to add a veteran quarterback to compete with Mitchell Trubisky, it was easy to piece together rumor after rumor.

At first, the hype was all about Derek Carr, who could have been moved. For a little while, it seemed like the Raiders were going to deal Carr and draft their quarterback of the future — at least that’s what hints and feelings from certain outlets would tell you.

Carr in Chicago would have been a thing of beauty, but it didn’t happen.

Then, there was that weird period of time when it was reported that Andy Dalton was a candidate for Chicago. Of course, fans were completely split on the thought of Dalton joining the team, even though he was still an upgrade over Trubisky.

There was always one guy, though, I wanted over most of the options.

When the Carolina Panthers released Cam Newton, it should have been Ryan Pace’s number one priority to sign him. Whatever the questions were about his health, signing Cam was worth the risk.

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All summer long, we saw videos of Cam’s workouts and how much of a freak he had turned into, physically. The man lived in the gym, and it was evident.

Finally, Cam got his deal at the beginning of July — and of course, it’s Bill Belichick who took the gamble. We can easily see where this winds up, especially if Cam is healthy.

As for the man himself, he feels good. Actually, at the moment, he’s a little pissed off — and that should make Ryan Pace feel very, very uncomfortable for going with Nick Foles instead.

“They ain’t never seen this Cam.”

Quick vent sesh from QB1 ?

(via @CameronNewton) pic.twitter.com/T9RjmGQlbh

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) July 11, 2020

This is, by far, the most motivated and locked in anyone has ever seen Cam before. Even the man himself knows it.

“You know what makes this s*** different, is… they ain’t never seen this Cam. They ain’t never seen ’em. You wanna know how I know? S***, I ain’t never seen ’em. The forgotten Cam. The s***ted on Cam. The tired of being sick and tired Cam. Feels like I was just left to die. You know what I’m sayin’ … It’s over for him. He ain’t the same player.”

If Cam is fully recovered from his ankle/foot injury last year, he’s ready to roll for 2020. Still only 31 years old, he’s in the prime of his career as far as the quarterback position is concerned. Plenty of other guys are playing great football at an older age. The only question was about his health, and all summer long, he’s gone out of his way to prove he’s in the best shape of his life.

This is the guy who has rushed for nearly 5,000 yards over his career as a quarterback. This is the guy who has scored 58 touchdowns on the ground, as a quarterback. This is a former NFL MVP — just five seasons ago. He’s a former All Pro, NFL Offensive Player of the Year and multiple-time Pro Bowler.

The Patriots essentially got him for pennies, and now they get a guy who is as hungry, motivated and focused than ever before. This could have been the Bears.

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If Cam goes out and has a resurgence in 2020, there is only one way Pace shouldn’t feel uncomfortable — and that’s if the Bears get double-digit wins out of either Trubisky or Foles. Even then, with a strong season in 2020, Cam could haunt Pace for years to come. Not signing him, at this point, looks like a regrettable mistake.

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The spiky, new wavy, herky-jerky pop rock of Mente, the new album from Brazilian singer-songwriter Thiago Nassif, may remind you of Talking Heads. But the link between them arises more from shared influence than from direct inspiration: like David Byrne, Nassif is in love with the fractured tropicalia of Tom Ze, a tripped-out Brazilian genius who never met a samba melody he couldn’t turn inside out and perforate with a spork. Ze’s beyond-left-field-and-into-the-bleachers approach to songwriting has inspired generations of Brazilian artists who make oddball experimental music. A large swath of those recent acolytes–including Rio-underground-famous figures such as singer-songwriters Negro Leo and Ana Frango Eletrico–show up on Mente to lend a hand to Nassif’s mix of funk, rock, feedback raunch, and bossa nova, which he chops into bits and spackles together with love and squonk. Veteran avant-gardist and Brazilian-music fiend Arto Lindsay–who’s worked on records with Byrne and Ze–produced the album, and he adds his distinctive guitar to “Soar Estranho” and “Feral Fox.” Nassif piles up an unwieldy melange of genres and takes a nonlinear approach to fusing them, but what makes Mente truly weird is how accessible it is despite all that. “Voz Unica Foto Sem Calcinha” is a bunch of disjointed sproings and squeaks that resolves as if by magic into a dreamily dissonant bossa nova without losing its strangeness; “Pele de Leopardo” sounds like robots dancing while falling apart. Ze himself would be hard-pressed to combine off-the-wall adventurousness, pop instincts, and explorations of roots music into an odder agglomeration than Nassif does here. You can’t get much higher praise than that. v

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On her new third album, That’s How Rumors Get Started, Margo Price spins her modern outlaw-country sound into golden strands of pop-friendly Americana, tackling her critics, rock ‘n’ roll mythology, and expectations of success. The LP, which was produced by fellow country renegade Sturgill Simpson, showcases Price’s knack for storytelling that pulls at the heartstrings; its lush, midtempo songs contain tales of love, hope, heartbreak, resilience, and promise despite the uncertainty of change. But she hasn’t lost any of the bite from her first two albums, and that rollicking, stinging side comes out on southern-blues stompers such as “Prisoner of the Highway” and “Twinkle, Twinkle,” which echoes elements of “Tennessee Song” from her 2016 debut, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter. “If it don’t break you / It might just make you rich,” she warns with an airy twang on the latter. “You might not get there / And on the way it’s a bitch.” Growing pains are called that for a reason. Starting with the album’s opening title track, Price traces her personal trajectory with grace and ire, weaving narratives around her experiences of family and loss with observations of the harrowing realities of the American health-care system, gentrification, and motherhood. Price is outspoken in interviews and on social media, and despite the conservative bent of the country-music scene, she’s never disguised her liberal politics–which has made her a target for trolls who demand artists “stick to the music.” She’s always been ready with a kiss-off, but her takedowns on That’s How Rumors Get Started are less reactive and more intentional and controlled. “Call me a bitch / Then call me baby,” she sings on “Stone Me,” and then delivers an angel-voiced taunt: “You don’t own me / You don’t know me / That’s no way to stone me.” Though the first half of the new album draws from much of the same roots music that influenced 2017’s All American Made, the last half of That’s How Rumors Get Started shakes up country tradition to explore new territory for Price, musically and vocally. “Heartless Mind” is an almost jarring contrast to “Hey Child,” the organ-driven, gospel-tinged ode to feeling directionless that precedes it–in what feels like a nod to the genre-melding 2019 Simpson release Sound & Fury, Price’s honeyed vocals dance atop a whirring foundation of synths and snapping percussion. She reaches new heights with her soft yet powerful voice on “What Happened to Our Love,” and on closing number “I’d Die for You” she makes the type of fist-in-the-air declaration of love that you’d find in a Bruce Springsteen song. Haters beware–you’ll have to try harder to break the mighty Margo Price. v

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