Mark Grace still remembers playing a spring training game across the field from Shawon Dunston, against a Seattle team headlined by players the likes of Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner and Randy Johnson. The Mariners were walloping the Cubs.

“I yell over to Shawon,” Grace recounted Friday. “I say, ‘Shawn! They got any players like us?'”

Earlier Friday evening, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts had announced on the Cubs Convention stage at the Sheraton Grand Chicago that Grace and Dunston would be inducted into the Cubs Hall of Fame this year. Grace and Dunston, former teammates, then addressed the media side by side, self-deprecating stories and all.

“It’s kind of nice that a couple players like us got in,” Dunston said, wrapping up Grace’s story with a bow.

The two were being modest, of course. Both were multiple-year All-Stars with the Cubs and played for the club for over a decade. In 1986, Dunston led National League shortstops in putouts in putouts (320), assists (465) and double plays (tied at 96). Grace was a four-time Gold Glover and led the league in doubles in 1995.

“That’s a quarter of my life in a Cubs uniform,” Grace said. “I love the fact that most of his career, I was his first baseman. … Shawn and I, the reason we’re friends is not because, I could catch his throws – and I challenge any other goddamn person to do that.”

That drew a laugh.

“Shawon and I, we talked to each other on the bench,” Grace continued. “We talked to each other about, ‘hey, what are you going to try to do against this guy?’ And what that meant is, I knew after about just a few weeks in the big leagues that he cared about me. He cared about me being successful. And I think it didn’t take long for him to feel like I cared about him and wanted him to be successful.”

Dunston quipped: “I cared about Mark, but I knew right away he was a good hitter.”

That’s how their nearly 15-minute news conference went, one building off the other. After only a few questions, they took off, telling stories like the time Grace referenced the movie ‘White Men Can’t jump,’ to get across that if Dunston was going to miss throwing to first, he had to miss low.

“I’m telling you,” Grace said, “for as long as Shawon was still with the Cubs, every throw was right on the money.”

Said Dunston: “If there was one shortstop who didn’t like Mark Grace, it was Rey Sanchez, because whenI left, Grace couldn’t catch him because Grace said Rey wasn’t throwing hard enough.”

Signings

The Cubs signed left fielder Mike Tauchman and right handed pitcher Nick Neidert to minor-league deals with spring training invites, the team announced Friday.

Quotable

“Even with the extra money that was flying around this offseason, we still got the guys we wanted at prices we thought were reasonable and fair,” Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts told the Sun-times when asked about how an owner like Steve Cohen changes the landscape. “You’ve just got to stick to your plan and not let too much of the noise get to you.”

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There was a time the Bulls were all about No. 8. It was feast or famine with guard Zach LaVine, but on the nights he was cooking, it was quite special.

That changed when veteran forward DeMar DeRozan arrived last season, and further proof of whose team the Bulls really are presented itself again Friday.

With DeRozan sidelined for a second consecutive game with a strained right quadriceps — he also left the game before that in the third quarter — the Bulls (19-24) lost their game in a row, this time 124-110 to the Thunder at the United Center.

In other words, DeRozan can’t get back quickly enough.

”He’s definitely showing progress,” coach Billy Donovan said of DeRozan. ”The biggest thing is not having him get a setback where he comes back and plays and he reaggravates it. We’re waiting a little bit longer. We don’t feel like it’s anything serious. Definitely each day it has gotten better. We’re probably going to always be cautious when guys are feeling like that.”

Not having DeRozan was one issue. But another was LaVine, who by all accounts is completely healthy.

When LaVine got a five-year, $215 million max contract last summer, it brought with it max responsibility. Shooting 5-for-19 from the field and 1-for-8 from three-point range doesn’t cut it, even though he was 14-for-15 from the line.

”Even with [DeRozan], we’ve still got a lot to clean up offensively [and] defensively,” LaVine said afterward. ”We lost to this team in Oklahoma City [earlier this year]. It’s tough having a man down, and no one is going to feel sorry for us. Hopefully we can get whole, but even when we’re whole our record isn’t great. We have to do better as a unit.”

The signs it wasn’t going to be an easy night were there early on.

Donovan continually preaches to his players to stop fouling and to be better at closing out on three-pointers. So how did the Bulls respond off the opening tip? Ayo Dosunmu fouled Lu Dort three seconds into the game for two free throws. Thirty seconds later, the Thunder’s Mike Muscala made an open three-pointer.

That was just the start of the comedy of errors by the Bulls on both ends of the floor. It was also the reason they allowed a season-high 72 points in the first half, topping even the disastrous game against the Timberwolves in which the Bulls gave up 71 in the first half and 150 for the game.

”The way we started was disappointing,” Donovan said. ”We do things that break momentum, self-inflicted wounds. We get back into the game, then the turnovers. We knew going in they were a hard-driving team, and we were beaten so much off the dribble.”

As far as what LaVine brought to the first half, it wasn’t much. He was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line and scored 14 points, but he shot 2-for-10 from the field and 1-for-6 from three-point range and was a minus-12 in the first 24 minutes.

Thankfully for the Bulls, whatever Donovan said in the locker room seemed to work. They closed what had been an 18-point deficit to one to start the fourth quarter.

But the Bulls just can’t seem to help themselves, especially when it comes to key moments in winning a game. After grabbing all that momentum in the third quarter, they were outscored 13-4 to start the fourth and never closed the gap the rest of the night.

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There was a time the Bulls were all about No. 8. It was feast or famine with guard Zach LaVine, but on the nights he was cooking, it was quite special.

That changed when veteran forward DeMar DeRozan arrived last season, and further proof of whose team the Bulls really are presented itself again Friday.

With DeRozan sidelined for a second consecutive game with a strained right quadriceps — he also left the game before that in the third quarter — the Bulls (19-24) lost their game in a row, this time 124-110 to the Thunder at the United Center.

In other words, DeRozan can’t get back quickly enough.

”He’s definitely showing progress,” coach Billy Donovan said of DeRozan. ”The biggest thing is not having him get a setback where he comes back and plays and he reaggravates it. We’re waiting a little bit longer. We don’t feel like it’s anything serious. Definitely each day it has gotten better. We’re probably going to always be cautious when guys are feeling like that.”

Not having DeRozan was one issue. But another was LaVine, who by all accounts is completely healthy.

When LaVine got a five-year, $215 million max contract last summer, it brought with it max responsibility. Shooting 5-for-19 from the field and 1-for-8 from three-point range doesn’t cut it, even though he was 14-for-15 from the line.

”Even with [DeRozan], we’ve still got a lot to clean up offensively [and] defensively,” LaVine said afterward. ”We lost to this team in Oklahoma City [earlier this year]. It’s tough having a man down, and no one is going to feel sorry for us. Hopefully we can get whole, but even when we’re whole our record isn’t great. We have to do better as a unit.”

The signs it wasn’t going to be an easy night were there early on.

Donovan continually preaches to his players to stop fouling and to be better at closing out on three-pointers. So how did the Bulls respond off the opening tip? Ayo Dosunmu fouled Lu Dort three seconds into the game for two free throws. Thirty seconds later, the Thunder’s Mike Muscala made an open three-pointer.

That was just the start of the comedy of errors by the Bulls on both ends of the floor. It was also the reason they allowed a season-high 72 points in the first half, topping even the disastrous game against the Timberwolves in which the Bulls gave up 71 in the first half and 150 for the game.

”The way we started was disappointing,” Donovan said. ”We do things that break momentum, self-inflicted wounds. We get back into the game, then the turnovers. We knew going in they were a hard-driving team, and we were beaten so much off the dribble.”

As far as what LaVine brought to the first half, it wasn’t much. He was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line and scored 14 points, but he shot 2-for-10 from the field and 1-for-6 from three-point range and was a minus-12 in the first 24 minutes.

Thankfully for the Bulls, whatever Donovan said in the locker room seemed to work. They closed what had been an 18-point deficit to one to start the fourth quarter.

But the Bulls just can’t seem to help themselves, especially when it comes to key moments in winning a game. After grabbing all that momentum in the third quarter, they were outscored 13-4 to start the fourth and never closed the gap the rest of the night.

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Beecher junior Adyn McGinley woke up on Friday morning unsure if he’d be able to play basketball. Congested with a sore throat, it looked like he might not be up for the major River Valley showdown against visiting Momence and the conference’s other star player, James Stevenson Jr.

McGinley rested during the day and then rallied, brushing off any signs of illness to lead the Bobcats to a dominant 79-36 win against Momence.

“I wanted to be out here so badly,” McGinley said. “I just love being with my guys.”

McGinley has been posting big numbers all season and finished with 13 points, nine assists and five rebounds against Momence (12-5, 5-2).

“It’s so nice playing with [McGinley],” Beecher junior Jack Hayhurst said. “He draws all the defense to him so I just there wide open and wait for it.”

Hayhurst scored 19 points, he was 4 of 8 from three-point range. His father, Kevin Hayhurst, now a Beecher assistant, was the head coach at Thornwood back in the Eddy Curry days.

The Bobcats (19-1, 8-0) jumped out to a 27-7 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. There was a running clock in the fourth quarter and the starters played less than three.

This was expected to be one of the best River Valley games of the season, but Beecher was able to nearly completely shut down Stevenson, which made things impossible for Momence. Stevenson, a 6-7 point guard with several Division 2 scholarship offers, finished with four points, four assists and three rebounds. Stevenson has posted some of the most impressive stats in the entire area this season. He had 29 points, 15 rebounds, nine steals and five assists on Tuesday against Gardner.

“That’s all due to Ethan Rydberg,” McGinley said. “He really shut James down. James is such a great player and we have so much respect for him. But we really shook the conference up with this one. And the surrounding area too.”

Junior Zachary Johnson had 13 points and six rebounds for the Bobcats. Rio Llamas, the only senior in the starting lineup, added 10 points and four rebounds.

Beecher, which has never won a regional, went 26-8 last season. The Bobcats graduated some solid players, but the current junior-laden group grew up together and arrived on varsity excited to join McGinley, who has been a regular since he was a freshman.

“These are my guys,” McGinley said. “They are my best friends. We have every class together and we don’t let a day go by without working hard and playing for each other.”

Beecher’s gym flooded on Christmas. A pipe burst and the gym, cafeteria and much of the school is currently out of commission. The Bobcats are practicing and playing games at the local junior high which seats just 100 fans. Friday’s big matchup against Momence was played at Grant Park’s gym to accommodate the large crowd.

Beecher’s only loss was to IC Catholic back in the first week of the season. Rydberg was out with an injury. As was the case last year, the team’s focus is on winning that elusive regional title.

“We will be in the conversation,” Beecher coach Tyler Shireman said. “But the sectional is just tough as last season. But we’ll have a shot. If we keep playing like we did tonight, we’ll be right there at the end.”

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For the second time in a week, the Chicago Police Department is under fire for how it has handled the case of an officer accused of belonging to an extremist right-wing group.

The city’s inspector general on Friday questioned the thoroughness of an internal investigation into the officer, Phillip Singto, after it was reported that he was a member of the Oath Keepers.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg complained that the department declined to review personal records and other documents that may have shown the level of Singto’s activity in the group, whose members have been implicated in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Witzburg said department officials told her office that “memberships into organizations in itself is not a rule violation.”

Singto could not be reached for comment.

The criticism, contained in the inspector general’s quarterly report, comes a week after the Southern Poverty Law Center sent a scathing letter to city officials insisting a Chicago police officer be fired for associating with members of the far-right Proud Boys and then lying to investigators.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, whose history stretches back to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and ’70s, told Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Supt. David Brown that the police department must do a better job rooting out extremism in its ranks.

“Any individual who is tasked with protecting the public cannot be trusted to do so equitably when they associate with an openly racist, bigoted, and misogynistic organization,” wrote Jeff Tischauser, a senior research analyst for the law center.

In the latest case, Singto admitted to internal investigators that he was a former member of the Oath Keepers, having joined in 2010 or 2011 and leaving after three or four years, according to the inspector general report.

According to an NPR story, Singto’s LinkedIn profile listed experience as a firearms instructor at the Chicago Police Academy, and mentioned “Oathkeepers” under the Accomplishments section. The profile indicated he also worked as a firearms trainer in a personal capacity.

The department’s internal affairs bureau reached a “not sustained” conclusion to the allegation that Singto was a “member of a far-right terror group as documented in a news article,” according to the report.

Witzburg said her office found that the department had “failed to address the applicability of CPD’s rules and regulations and did not answer the question of whether the CPD member’s membership in the Oak Keepers itself constitutes a violation of CPD policy.”

The internal affairs bureau replied that it couldn’t compel Singto to produce those records without “administrative subpoena power.” Witzburg countered that the police department’s disciplinary system obligates officers to turn over such records.

An internal affairs inspector also wrote that the list of Oath Keeper members came from a “hacked source” and called into question its authenticity.

In response, the inspector general noted that Singto had already admitted his involvement with the group.

The internal affairs bureau closed its case without changing its findings.

Asked about the inspector general’s report, a spokesperson told the Sun-Times that “Chicago Police Department members are expected to conduct themselves with the highest level of professionalism both on and off-duty … The Bureau of Internal Affairs thoroughly investigated this case and reached a finding of not sustained based on the evidence available.”

Witzburg’s report comes as alderpersons, mayoral candidates and community leaders have renewed calls to fire Officer Robert Bakker, who was suspended for 120 days following a lengthy investigation into his close ties to the far-right Proud Boys.

That investigation was also reopened at the request of Witzburg’s office, which said that police investigators overlooked incriminating evidence.

Though investigators ultimately found that Bakker lied about his interactions with members of the group, he never faced dismissal for making false statements — which Witzburg warned set a dangerous precedent.

Members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers have been ensnared in the sprawling federal probe of the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Most notably, Oath Keepers founder Stuart Rhodes was found guilty of seditious conspiracy and other counts, while former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio is facing trial on similar charges.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has defended the handling of the Bakker investigation and the discipline that was ultimately handed down. Yet Police Supt. David Brown and Internal Affairs Chief Yolanda Talley have both made puzzling assertions about the case that are contradicted by evidence collected by the department.

In a letter last week to Lightfoot and Brown, the Southern Poverty Law Center joined the chorus of voices calling for Bakker’s ouster. Tischauser, from the center, said there’s apparently no policy in place that “prohibits city employees or CPD officers from active involvement in white supremacist or extremist activities ” — a warning underscored by Witzburg’s latest report.

“We urge city officials to adopt prohibitions against active participation in white supremacist or extremist activities,” he wrote.

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If the Bulls get thrown into the middle of an octagon anytime soon, Lonzo Ball might be their guy.

Unfortunately, the organization is still in the business of playing basketball, which means don’t start holding the breath on a Ball return just yet.

There was a definite buzz on Friday, after Ball (two left knee surgeries) took to his Instagram account and posted videos of him dunking a basketball, doing some box jumps, running on a treadmill, and boxing.

Coach Billy Donovan, however, put some perspective on the entire situation, playing the role of damp towel on the spark.

“I saw them,” Donovan said of the posts. “I think like I told you guys he has progressed. The unfortunate part is I think you’re seeing a lot of the things that I was told. Those are things that maybe six weeks ago he couldn’t do. As much as they’re little steps, it’s still progress that he’s continuing to make.

“I think the idea of running and cutting and sprinting and doing it day after day after day, where he’s at in terms of right now of getting to that point, that’s where the timetable becomes really difficult. But things you saw him do, he wasn’t able to do. So it’s progress. It’s just really, really slow.”

And progress that Donovan said still comes with discomfort. The good news was the discomfort might have been “a seven or eight” six weeks ago – with 10 being the most painful – and now it’s a “two or three doing some of those things.”

As Donovan pointed out, however, until there’s actual sustained running, cutting, and jumping, and with minimal discomfort, a timetable is a pipedream.

That’s why the Bulls find themselves in such a tough spot as the Feb. 9 trade deadline approaches. There’s definite holes to fill – outside shooting, rebounding, pace – but Ball fills all three. Does the organization stay patient and rely on hope or do they go out and at least try and add a piece that could help in one or two of those departments?

That’s why being buyers gets so tricky.

How many assets do they really want to give up when they have a player already in the building that covers up many of their problems?

“I think Lonzo’s been out for so long, we’ve just kind of gotten accustomed to playing without him,” Donovan replied, when asked that very question. “I think it was pretty significant the impact he had on our team when he was out there playing.

“I have not had any conversations at all with [executive vice president of basketball operations] Arturas [Karnisovas] and [general manager] Marc [Eversley]. Like we talk all the time … I haven’t gotten into any of those conversations like, ‘Listen Lonzo’s out, starting point guard, Ayo [Dosunmu’s] kind of played that spot. Do we need another point guard to come in here, do we need shooting?’ I think those are probably conversations they’re having right now leading up to this.”

Coincidentally, Saturday will mark the one year anniversary of the last game Ball played for the Bulls. Another reason why Donovan was very reserved in his enthusiasm.

“When you’re out a year, whenever he gets back to playing … There’s going to be an adjustment period,” Donovan said. “How long that is? I don’t know, but there’s certainly going to be a period of time before they ever allow him back to play that they feel comfortable that he can endure what an NBA schedule looks like.”

NOTE: Bulls radio play-by-play announcer Chuck Swirsky was honored after the first quarter of the Oklahoma City game, as a video montage was played on the scoreboard in honor of his 2,000th broadcast of an NBA game.

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In the chaos of a midsize hotel ballroom adjacent to the massive space where Friday’s opening ceremony of Cubs Convention was about to take place, new shortstop Dansby Swanson, the jewel of the Cubs’ offseason, looked only the slightest bit overwhelmed.

Anywhere he turned, Swanson, 28, was bound to see iconic Cubs faces, many of them representing the organization’s distant past. Billy Williams here, Ryne Sandberg there. Old battery mates Fergie Jenkins and Randy Hundley. Lee Smith, Mark Grace, Shawon Dunston, Rick Sutcliffe. On and on. How many of them did Swanson recognize? How many of them were among Grandpa Herb’s favorites?

Charles Hebert Swanson died at 88 on December 11, back home in Kennesaw, Georgia. Grandpa Herb loved the Braves above all other teams, but No. 2 in his heart was the Cubs, whom he watched for many years on WGN. If only he could have seen his grandson run out of the home dugout just once at Wrigley Field. As suddenly as Swanson arrived in Chicago for his first Cubs Convention — the first one of these since 2020, just before the pandemic shut down baseball — he’ll leave Saturday morning in a beeline for Kennesaw, where a long-awaited celebration of Herb’s life will last into the night.

If Swanson didn’t break any records for mingling Friday with new teammates, ex-Cubs, team announcers, TV reporters and notepad-carrying scribes, it was plenty understandable. The guy has a lot going on.

“But I’m very happy to be here,” he said. “This is Chicago. This is the Cubs. This is going to be awesome.”

It’s going to be different. Last time Swanson shipped off for spring training, he was a reigning World Series champion for his hometown Braves and, by the way, hadn’t even been an All-Star yet. Now, he’s not merely an All-Star but also a seven-year, $177 million man — and the biggest boost to the Cubs’ on-field credibility since they tore what was left of it down at the 2021 trade deadline.

How quaint to think back to the last Cubs Convention before this one, with Willson Contreras, Jason Heyward, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javy Baez, Kyle Schwarber, Yu Darvish and Albert Almora Jr. among those milling around, shaking hands and exchanging warm smiles and hearty back slaps.

It was still warm and fuzzy in 2020. The Cubs still had a core of homegrown players, the best of whom still embodied both lovable familiarity and indelible World Series glory. Wrigley was still going to be packed, the place to be. There was hope the team would still rank among baseball’s elite.

It’s different for the Cubs now, too, isn’t it? Kyle Hendricks is still here, somehow, and before long he’ll be among the ex-Cubs who pop in every January to relive some wonderful times. But the warm-and-fuzzy is largely gone, replaced by the wafting sense of a desperate need to become good and win again, to pack the ballpark all the time again, to get fans watching on TV again. If the Cubs don’t play better this season, if they look like pretenders and not rising contenders, there will be nothing but growing anger toward the Ricketts family, nothing but doubts about president Jed Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins, nothing but dismissive scorn for the Marquee Network.

The Cubs are going on seven years removed from the World Series, with a teardown and rebuild punctuating the finality of the best mini-era of baseball on the North Side in a century. Sentimentality aside, Cubs Convention was less about the ballplayers who belong to the past and more about the mercenaries who will fight for the future.

New center fielder Cody Bellinger is one of them. The National League MVP with the Dodgers in 2019 and a World Series champ in 2020, Bellinger has been in a personal backslide since, his swing utterly abandoning him in an ugly 2022 season.

But here he was, walking into a hotel ballroom and drawing lots of admiring stares. From the airport gate to the hotel lobby to the door to a ballroom on the second floor, Bellinger — on a one-year, $17.5 million deal — was called out to by fans excited to see and welcome him to Chicago.

“I think I’m every bit as excited as they are and more,” he said. “I really am, you know? Wrigley Field is an incredible place, and to play center field there — for however long — is going to be unbelievable.”

With the Dodgers, the most talented team in the league, he was surrounded by an embarrassment of riches. With the Cubs, he has to make an instant difference or else how is any of this going to work?

“I think we’re very impressive,” Bellinger said. “I think the guys we have in the locker room are right up there, and we’re going to have fun and we’re going to play really good baseball.”

But how does he know?

“Because we have to,” he said. “That’s why we’re here.”

That’s the conventional thinking.

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Before 2005, winter in Chicago had some real silent nights as tours and artists tended to hibernate, leaving scarce pickings in concert calendars.

That was before the advent of the long-running Tomorrow Never Knows festival.

The brainchild of the team at North Side venues Lincoln Hall and Schubas, it’s a five-day multi-venue event in mid-January showcasing the best in rising talent from both local and national music artists. And also proving, in their words, that “music fans will brave the brutal Chicago cold for a good show.”

It may not be brutally cold this year, but the festival runs Jan. 18-22, and is definitely a winter treat.

“I like to say that Tomorrow Never Knows books your next favorite artists. It’s a forward-looking festival and we’re extremely grateful for the fans who join us every year,” says talent buyer Dan Apodaca.

” Whether it’s in terms of music discovery, connecting with other people, or just wanting to get out and have some fun, TNK offers a sanctuary of people, art, and community, regardless of genre or style.”

The event has had much success in the past in picking “tomorrow’s” next big thing — featured artists in past years have included Taylor Bennett, Open Mike Eagle, Caroline Polachek, Ezra Furman, Jukebox the Ghost and others that have risen in the indie spotlight.

Another focus for TNK is highlighting Chicago’s independent venues. In addition to Lincoln Hall and Schubas, this year’s event is also staged at Sleeping Village and Golden Dagger and has also teamed up with Metro and The Hideout in years past.

“Independent venues are a necessary part of the music industry ecosystem, providing outlets for artists who don’t fit corporate expectations, for young artists to develop their craft and for fans to have more affordable ticket prices,” says Apodaca.

Apodaca has one piece of advice for getting the most out of the five days of music courtesy of 50 artists: “I strongly recommend people not overlook any of the opening artists. Some are local and some are touring, but we put just as much thought and care into support booking as we do headliner booking. [It’s] one way that we really get to champion artists we believe in and get them in front of new eyes and ears.”

Here are our picks for who to check out each day:

Jan. 18: Tomberlin

Emotions run high when listening to this contemporary folk artist who once grew up in rural southern Illinois, the daughter of a Baptist preacher. Songs like “Happy Accident” from her 2022 sophomore album “I Don’t Know Who Needs to Hear This…” pack in beautiful vocal reflection with layered strings and percussion to create a sensory narrative that unravels like a good book. Openers include Free Range and V.V. Lightbody. 7 p.m., Schubas, 3159 N. Southport Ave., $25 in advance, lh-st.com.

Jan. 19: Cheekface

Though Tomorrow Never Knows might be void of a comedy lineup this year, this trio has enough quips to fill the gaps. Like indie darling Wet Leg’s uber hit “Chaise Lounge” or even “The Distance” from ’90s alterna weirdos Cake, Cheekface engage in the very precise art of talk-singing. Not quite rap, not quite spoken word, but a certain dialect that some rock or indie bands have employed with its own kind of melodic poetry. Openers include Girl K and OK Cool. 9 p.m., Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln Ave., $20 in advance, lh-st.com.

Jan. 20: The Stone Foxes

If the past couple decades are any indication, the blues rock revival isn’t going anywhere any time soon. And there’s no reason to doubt that San Francisco’s The Stone Foxes couldn’t be as big an act as The Black Keys, a band they’ve toured with in the past. The horns and backup vocals on latest single “Time Is A Killer” elevate the band out of the garage rock space and provide a neo-soul flair that makes this a real Flashback Friday show. Openers include Shane Guerrette and Blue Dream. 8 p.m., Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln Ave., $22 in advance, lh-st.com.

Jan. 21: Doss

Electroclash trendsetter Doss is making her Chicago debut with this showcase. Songs like “Look” are a hyperpop, rave-worthy display with a hint of Chicago house lurking in the bouncy beat, not to mention a steady vocal that could be mistaken for Grimes. Lady Gaga is even a fan, enlisting the beatmaker to craft a remix of her “Chromatica” song “Enigma.” Openers include Ariel Zetina and Sqip. 9 p.m., Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln Ave., $30 in advance, lh-st.com.

Jan. 22: FURY

In addition to national next-ups, TNK has its pulse on local gamechangers, and there’s no better example in this year’s lineup than FURY. The Chicago rapper Samantha Jordan’s alter ego stands for “Finally Understanding the Real You” and her lyrics on songs like “Revolution” live within a space of higher consciousness, particularly when it comes to elevating social causes and the power of music to mobilize. The artist lives on the West Side and recently was awarded one of the $1.5 million Chicago Community Works Grants with the funding going towards beautification efforts for Columbus Park in the Austin neighborhood. Openers include Angelenah. 8 p.m., Golden Dagger, 2447 N. Halsted St., $12 in advance, goldendagger.com.

The complete lineup and ticket information can be found at tnkfest.com

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