Arts & Events: July 2009 Archives

With the U.S. currently under the rule of a beer-drinking representative of the Communist Kenyawaiian Galaxy, who projects his image down to Earth using hologram technology, aliens are very "in" right now. Perhaps with this in mind, local filmmakers Split Pillow have chosen "Aliens in the City" as the theme for its upcoming edition of Chicago360: an annually showcased, nonfiction program in which five Chicago filmmakers show us a slice of Chicago while interpreting a particular theme. Split Pillow is taking proposals right now -- and just as there are rules in Communist Kenyawaii, so there are with Chicago360. You must:

There goes another one: Local artist Joseph Lappie is moving to Davenport, IA for a year (at least) to become an assistant professor of Printmaking and Book Arts at St. Ambrose University. To lighten his moving load, he's holding an online art sale -- and it ends Saturday, Aug. 1 (that's tomorrow!) at 6 p.m. Pieces marked down by 50%! Prices are in-saaane.

Julian Plenti is actually Interpol's Paul Banks and, unsurprisingly his debut Julian Plenti Is...Skyscraper sounds a lot like, well, Interpol. There is a difference though. Interpol, as their career has progressed, has continued to paint themselves into a corner, creating work that was ever more mannered and ever more lacking in any breathing space or spontaneity. Banks doesn't exactly break the mold on his solo debut, but he has recaptured some of the swing that made Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights such a pleasure to listen to.

Even with both baseball teams still in the playoff hunt, we're still excited by the first Bears practice, because that means that football season returns soon. Kicking off Training Camp in Bourbonnais today, the players will take the field at Olivet Nazarene University for the first time at 3pm.

Almost six years later and the bespectacled, headphoned pariah of Cubs baseball (though unfairly so) will once again be trudged up courtesy of ESPN. The World Wide Leader is in the midst of putting together its "30 for 30" campaign, featuring 30 sports-related documentaries to celebrate the network's 30 years on air. And one of those documentaries will focus on the beleaguered Bartman. The doc was written and directed by Alex Gibney who earned accolades for his Oscar-nominated doc "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room." NBC 5 reports, "The sports channel said that Gibney’s documentary will attempt to answer the question: Can Bartman ever forgive Chicago?" A more salient question would be: can Chicago ever forgive Alex Gonzalez for having a lead glove and Moises Alou for a bit of over-reacting?

This Saturday at Ravinia, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will perform two of Dmitri Shostakovich's most famous works, the Symphony No. 5 in D Minor and the Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor. The programming of these two pieces should satisfy Shostakovich fans, but it'll also serve as a concise introduction to two sides of the Russian great's music.

Jessica Hopper is currently on her reading tour promoting her new book The Girls' Guide To Rocking. We've already weighted in with our thoughts on this excellent primer, and reports from other stops have lead us to believe that kids are embracing the book and taking its advice to heart. Hopper has been trying to organize little bonus offerings at some readings, and her stop this afternoon at the YouMedia Center in Harold Washington Library is no different.

The Mekons have announced a last minute stop on their world tour before their show at Schubas tomorrow night. They'll be performing a live set at Raffe's Record Riot tomorrow at 3:45 p.m. The Schubas gig is long sold out so if you want to catch this gang of Chicagoans via Leeds banging on strings and skins while stomping their feet this is your only chance. They don't play that many local gigs so we'll take whatever we can get!

UPDATE: Alright, we admit it, we were fooled. Seems this whole story is bunk. Apologies all around and now we can go back to loving Kanye unabashedly. Thanks to commenter John R who pointed this out to us.

The Muppets hit Detroit and team up with The Electric Six. Mayhem ensues.

Admit it, it can be pretty hard to wrap your head around all the bands playing Lollapalooza, and the daily schedule can be labyrinthine to navigate. Lollapalooza rolled out a free iPhone app that makes mapping out your three days at the festival easier than ever.

Sure, you can watch Quentin Tarantino walk the red carpet at River East, but there are two other upcoming events that even cooler.

      

The equine population of Chicago has tripled this summer, thanks to the horses performing in Cavalia in the West Loop.“It’s all about natural horsemanship and movement,” said performer Casey Hackett, 26. “We’re harnessing their energy into the performance, and the show changes every time.”

We mentioned yesterday that former governor Rod Blagojevich's book is now on-sale at Amazon for $16.47, which we're pretty sure is less than what he wanted for Obama's U.S. Senate seat. But it also gave us the first look at the book's cover, which is all kinds of magical in a "Land of Leprechauns and Unicorns" kind of way. The Governor is due in bookstores September 8. [via Sun-Times]

    

It was a tight contest this past weekend at the UIC Pavilion where the Philadelphia Liberty Belles (blue) edged the Windy City Roller All-Stars (black) 70-69. With the scored tied in the last jam, Philadelphia managed to get a point for the lead and then called off the jam, ending the match with a thrilling victory. The Rollers hit the road to face Seattle on August 15 and return home to take on Baltimore on August 29.

             

The Wrens made a special trip to Chicago for a two-night sold-out stand at Schubas last weekend. We caught the Friday show and the set we saw that evening is easily in our top five, if not top two, of the year thus far. Their t-shirts read "The Wrens: Keeping folks waiting...since 1989," a self-deprecating dig at the long waits the group's fans endure for both live shows and new material from the band. The reason folks do wait? The payoff is intense, and last Friday's show found the group delivering a career-spanning set of such incredible energy we half-feared that the Schubas stage would collapse under the rock onslaught. Unforgettable.

We remember being in London a few years ago, looking for concerts to hit, and we saw The Lemonheads were performing It's A Shame About Ray from start to finish. "Cool!," we thought, "What a great idea! We hope this catches on!" Well, a few years down the road the format has not only caught on, it's become an outright pandemic. When done correctly it can thrill, and when it's not, it can ruin our memory of a particular album for a while.

Which Herbie Hancock do you prefer? The post-bopper from the revolutionary rhythm section of Miles Davis's 1960s quintet? The tripped-out, funky Head Hunters band leader? And how can you say no to "Rockit"?

It is almost impossible to describe the production of David Harrower’s Blackbird at Victory Gardens Theater, except to say it will haunt your dreams and you have to see it.

Sound Opinions’ co-hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot are presenting A Hard Day's Night at The Music Box tomorrow night. The first, and in our opinion best, Beatles film is required watching for any fan of either music or cinema. It's the kind of film you watch, jaw dropping as you realize just how many movies have ripped off its style, and just how fabulously and caustically witty the Beatles are. It's loopy story will reel you in, um, no pun intended, and we think it's swell there's a chance to see it on the big screen since we've only ever viewed on out telly.

             

A few things we learned over the weekend:

Seriously, watch this whole thing. It is so worth it. Tell me it doesn't totally make you want to go!

Erm, we'll let the man speak for himself.

Well whaddya know, the game of chess is like a sword fight!

From Hollywood to the West End to Broadway, Billy Elliot has been around the world and back, and now the show’s making its fourth stop in the Windy City. The twirling and tumbling Billys are chasséing their way into the Loop next spring for the show’s first post-Broadway incarnation. The show opens in March, tickets go on sale in November, and the show will run as long as Chicagoans are willing to pay top dollar for seats.

It's almost a month since Michael Jackson died.

Grand Duchy is Frank Black's electro-pop rock side project he's got going with his wife, Violet Clark. Actually, maybe it's not a side project. Black seems to like to keep incredibly so maybe all his bands are main projects? Semantics. What is clear is that Grand Duchy is a delightful listen, and Clark and Black act as excellent foils to each other, teasing out gentle melodies and crafting delicate and ingratiating tunes that linger on long after the stylus has hit the label.

         

Stellastarr* played to a pretty crowded house last night at Double Door, and pulled out a mammoth set list including lots of gems these ears haven't heard in a live setting. Here's hoping they don't wait multiple years to swing back through town.

Wicker Park Fest makes its 2009 appearance this weekend and is slated to bring out 25,000 over the course of Saturday and Sunday. If three music stages and over 40 acts is enough to make the mob scene of hipsters co-mingling with Bugaboos bearable for you, then we'll see you at the beer tent.

The Jesus Lizard was easily one of our top two favorite acts at Pitchfork this year, and we delighted in seein that while David Yow is a decade older than the last time he graced a Chicago stage, he's lost none of his insane mentality. There are people who are fearless onstage, and there are people who fearlessly own the stage. Yow is in the latter category with maybe two or three other living, breathing (barely) human beings. And the rest of the band are no slouches either! While David Wm. Sims, Duane Denison, and Mac McNeilly don't move around as much as Yow does, their attack is just as savage and their bass-guitar-drum attack weave together seamlessly into one ravishing sledgehammer to the senses.

In recent weeks we've heard about two local arts orgs that are looking for new members. Printmakers -- including aspiring ones as well as seasoned pros -- can join up with Spudnik Press, the West Town cooperative that offers common studio space with the ability to make traditional as well as photographic litho, relief, and silkscreen prints. For a monthly fee, Spudnik members can use the studio for all but a few hours out of the week, when it hosts classes and special events. Visit their website for more info.

We started getting remixes of Lily Allen tunes from this mysterious Doctor Rosen Rosen charachter a few weeks ago with the promise that he would soon be delivering a fully remixed version of Allen's last disc, It's Not Me, It's You. Make no mistake, these weren't some lame mash-ups, but rather complete reinterpretations of the source material often completely redoing the backing tracks to supply the song with a new emotional reading.

We all know that rock bands pile into vans to go on tour -- well, why not creative agency types? So goes the rationale behind Plaid Nation 2009, a "rolling celebration of creativity and a demonstration of social media in action" founded by the principals at Plaid, an agency based in Danbury, CT. The Plaids kicked off their tour in Detroit on July 20, and yesterday stopped in Chicago to visit the headquarters of t-shirt juggernaut Threadless in the morning, and Wicker Park's The Boring Store in the afternoon. They came, they saw, they tweeted/photographed/filmed/swag-distributed. And then they headed east toward Indianapolis.

Given the arduous task of humanizing a killer, Villa is hindered by the script's quick leap between his teenage self, a protective brother who loves acting, to a sociopath. We found ourselves pitying the murdered racist gas station attendants instead of the misguided anti-hero. Papo is most sympathetic when talking to Lulu, but unfortunately his best moments are delivered from behind prison bars. Regina Garcia's set, although supported by beautiful lighting from Jeremy Getz, is a physical barrier that kept him far away enough that we couldn't help but sit behind an emotional one. As Lulu, Delgado shoulders the bulk of the play with grace, sincerity and a charming quirkiness. However, some of that sincerity is lost in her interactions with boyfriend Ed (Josh Odor). We intellectually understood their struggles as a couple, but a lack of chemistry prevented us from feeling them. Their scenes are also written in somewhat of an incongruous style - a choice that might not have bothered us if there was more of a delineation from the "poetic memoryscape."

On June 6 avid storm chaser Fabian Guerra died in a car accident to meet up with two of his compatriots, leaving behind his wife and 12-year-old daughter. Fabian also left behind a bereaved Chicago music community, many of who he haad given their start in the back room of The Big Horse in Wicker Park.

It's been three years since Stellastarr* released their last album, and it's cliched to say this, but nowadays that really is an eternity. It's even longer when your band is one that sprung from the same dance rock movement that spawned The killers, The Rapture, Interpol, and a thousand other Brooklyn bands that discovered Joy Division and disco. We've always had a soft spot for Stellastarr* -- full disclosure: The first time we saw Stellatarr* we skipped the opening band ... The Killers -- and thought that their grooves were always just a slight bit more playful than most of their contemporaries. We were also always a sucker for the male / female vocal interplay between guitarist Shawn Christensen and bassist Amanda Tannen.

Chefs in town sure seem generous with donating their time to charities and event. There was last week's Green City Market BBQ, of course, and this big ticket fundraiser Friday night at the Peninsula Hotel (108 E. Superior St.). Proceeds from the "Chefs and the City" event will support Vital Bridges, a non-profit providing housing, food, nutrition, case-management and prevention services to HIV-positive Chicagoans.

Downtown Owl is the latest book from fellow Midwesterner Chuck Klosterman, a journalist and former writer for Spin magazine. A dark comedy set in a small town in North Dakota, the story focuses on the population of Owl, which consists mostly of hard-working people that hate the government, impregnate teenage girls and lack an understanding of pop culture.

                              

We close our coverage of this year's Pitchfork Music Festival with a collection of photographs taken by Chicagoist staffers. We had a great time at the festival this year, and if you were there we hope you did too.

Richard Knight, Jr. is senior film critic for the Windy City Times and also one half of the gay cinema duo The Movie Queens. We've profiled them before and they're back with a new episode, delving into the homoeroticism of superhero movies. Batman's rubber nipples, Professor Xavier and Magneto's gay banter in X Men, and the completely unsubtle camptastic qualities of 300 all go under the microscope. If only they'd talked about the new Transformers movie! Then again, with all that crunching metal and stick shifting, perhaps it's worthy of its own episode. The Fast & the Bi-Curious indeed.

          

We'll have our pics up tomorrow, but we went through our Flickr Pool and picked out a few reader pics from this week's fest action to share.

After a weekend of watching music's future at Pitchfork (and remember when we talked to P4k's Chris Kaskie about the festival back in March?) , this week's entry to the Chicagoist Podcast series takes a bit of a look backwards.

DOWNLOAD: Kid Sister "Right Hand Hi"

Day 3 of the 2009 Pitchfork Music Fest featured a full slate of bands we planned on catching and we managed to catch most of it with all roads leading to the big headlining set by The Flaming Lips, whose lighting rig was already set up on stage. We were welcomed into a warm, sunny Union Park by the spazzy, buzzy electro-rock of The Mae Shi who set the energy level to 11 and didn't relent for the duration of their set which included a brief switch to hip-hop courtesy of Yea Big + Kid Static. The highlight of the band's performance didn't come from the band itself but rather those guests who called on Pitchfork to review their new record, saying, "Give it a 4, I don't give a shit."

When we heard about a new documentary featuring the music of Girl Talk, one of our all-time favorite interview subjects, we couldn't wait to see it. And that isn't hard: RiP! A Remix Manifesto is available online as a pay-what-you-want download. We're sure glad we did. It's the most clearly articulated work on copyright and remix culture that we've ever seen.

A little miffed like us that Wilco has so far shunned their hometown on their 2009 tour schedule, which includes promotion of that new LP of theirs? We know they did that amazing five-night stand last year but...that was last year! What about 2009? Well, now we know what is up with 2009. This morning, XRT announced the show which is happening Sunday, October 18. The only thing that caught us off guard a bit was the venue: the UIC Pavilion. Not that they need to play somewhere bigger, but they probably could. Anyway, tickets for the show go on sale this Saturday and will cost $39.50 for reserved and general admission seating. So go those clicking fingers ready.

If Day 1 was all about politeness, then Day 2 of the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival was about shifting gears. The day dawned sunny and bright but clouds rolled in by the time we made it to Union Park, just in time to see some of the Plants & Animals action, rollicking around under the overcast sky and grooving on songs like "Good Friend." We thought it would be a standard Saturday: throw down a blanket and enjoy some mellower music and relax. Fucked Up had other ideas. Indeed, the band kicked off their set with the jolting, "Son the Father," the opening track from their most recent LP, The Chemistry of Common Life, and didn't relent for the rest of the set. Within the first two songs, lead singer Damian Abraham had already torn apart a beachball with his teeth and placed it on his head. Good, rocking times.

Well, not actual human fireflies. Not that we know what those look like. But we digress. Anyway, if today or Monday you happen to see a bunch of people dancing in the streets of Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village or Downtown in some kind of purposeful and seemingly organized fashion, you’ll likely have caught the latest installment of the summer is for fireflies, a series of movement and music pieces performed in public spaces.

Maybe we're off a bit, but the word that best described the start to the Pitchfork's big weekend was "polite." Not only was the cool, overcast weather ultimately accommodating - save for a few passing sprinkles - but so was the crowd, clapping politely after songs from openers Tortoise. A late day at the office coupled with an early 5 p.m start time means we missed most of the opening set of the Write The Night event, leaving us a little disappointed we didn't get to see more (please share your thoughts in the comments!).

Why you wanna go and spend your weekend standing in some litter-covered park, staring at scrawny musician types for hours on end? Those rock and rollers don't care about you, honey -- they'll just take your money and then move on to the next town or festival, leaving you with nothing to show for it except grass stains, foggy concession stand memories and some iPhone/gPhone/SLRphone pics.

We just received word that Thax Douglas, rock and roll poet and friend of ours, passed away this morning. We, ah screw this third person thing. I just saw Thax a few days ago and can't quite believe what I'm typing. He will truly be missed and his passing will certainly throw a shadow over the city's music scene. He could be a divisive figure among audiences, but he should know, and I think he did, that he was truly appreciated by the bands he read for and those of us that thought he had a gift for turning ambiguous themes into solid imagery. We just lost one of Chicago's true treasures.

• David Cromer’s acclaimed production of Our Town, which originated at Hypocrites last fall, has been extended Off-Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre until January 31. However, Cromer, who also plays the role of the stage manager, will only be in the production until August 16, and then he has to go onto his bigger Broadway obligations - directing Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound and Brighton Beach Memoirs. His replacement has not been announced.
• The original cast of Tracy Letts’ Superior Donuts, which premiered at the Steppenwolf last summer, will keep the same cast for its Broadway run, opening in October at the Music Box Theatre. The cast includes Michael McKean, known for his roles in Christopher Guest mockumentaries, as the donut shop owner, and ensemble member Jon Michael Hill as his only employee. We’re happy about the cast, but from what we’ve heard, the script should definitely not remain the same. Good luck editing Mr. Letts.

Tonight kicks off the annual Pitchfork Music Fest and music is on everyone's mind. There is no better complement to good music than good art and as you spend the weekend checking out your favorite bands, set some time aside for Flatstock, located inside the Pitchfork grounds.

The fact that today marks the anniversary of Apollo 11's liftoff might not have anything to do with Chicago specifically, but the Adler Planetarium will be celebrating the mission and its successful landing on the Moon with a number of events in the next few days. If you're a space dork like a number of Chicagoistas (and if you were watching the shuttle launch on the web yesterday, you know who you are) you might want to check some of these out.

There are probably few of you reading this who remember what it was like to gather 'round the radio for the newest installment of The Shadow, FBI In Peace And War, or The Green Hornet. Actually, we only know of one for sure (Hi Dad!). But just because you weren't there the first time around doesn't mean you won't enjoy some classic entertainment. For tonight only, The AFTRA/SAG Senior Radio Players present Fog from "The Whistler" and Mr. Sycamore from "The Columbia Workshop," two radio scripts originally broadcast in 1942 and 1937, respectively.

Hey Champ's "Cold Dust Girl" was our own official song of last summer, and it's looking to take that title for a second year in the row. The band is releasing a newly recorded version of the song in advance of their debut on Lupe Fiasco's st & 15th Entertainment record label.

We are hoping against hope that this song got voted onto The Flaming Lips' Sunday night setlist at Pitchfork.

         

Continuing the celebration of its 75th season, the Grant Park Music Festival has released Sounds of Chicago's Lakefront: A Celebration of the Grant Park Music Festival, a 219-page look back at the history of both the Festival and the downtown lakefront area. For a coffee table-ish book, there's plenty of food for your noodle. The first part of the book is a history of "Chicago's frontyard," from the 1850s, when outdoor concerts began in Lake Park (as it was known then), through the countless landfill and construction jobs that brought Grant Park and Millennium Park to the museum- and concert-filled expanse of today. The second and larger section is a decade-by-decade look at the Festival's development, major events, and guest artists, with quotations from musicians, concert-goers, city officials, and other local notables, as well as archival excerpts from newspapers and magazines.

Tonight marks the LivingRoom Gallery's opening reception for Rosemary Lee's It happens that the stage sets break down, an installation of drawings and soft sculptures that focuses on "the malleability of memory." And by "malleable," we mean pieces such as "Reconstruct" -- a collection of gray, fabric building blocks that can be stacked and re-stacked to make brand-new objects. Lee is an Art Institute of Chicago grad who has had pieces shown at Phaiz and Hyde Park Art Center, among other places.

Second City Alum Tina Fey and her outstanding comedy 30 Rock got a whole lot of love from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences today when the show earned a whopping 22 Emmy nominations, the most of any show this year. Fey also garnered another nomination for Lead Actress in a Comedy and her Sarah Palin imitation grabbed a Guest Actress nomination. What other Windy City connections got nominations?

The Pitchfork Music Festival kicks off tomorrow evening and we're being completely honest when we say it is the event of our summer. Excellent booking and the laidback atmosphere, combined with what looks to be wonderful weather, provides the hope of an unforgettable weekend. Instead of boring you with a band by band rundown like everyone else is doing, this year we thought we'd let a couple off you step up and make the recommendations. Here they are.

       

American Landmark Properties of Skokie is finally taking steps to recognize an iconic, if lesser-known Chicago personality. That's because today American Landmark Properties has made official the name change of the Sears Tower to the Willis Tower. And Chicagoist couldn't agree more - nearly six years since the death of Chicago busker, musician and artist Wesley Wiliis, he's finally getting his due in the form of a landmark office tower bearing his name.

Really, the title says it all.

Summer travel season is still in full swing and Wired magazine released its "100 Geeky Places To Take Your Kids This Summer" list. Chicago's very own Adler Planetarium starts the list, the proposed home to a controversial projector. Also making the list? Lincoln Park Zoo and the Shedd Aquarium.

Mark Hoppus just released a remix of Peter Bjorn & John's "Nothing To Worry About" he produced with the help of ex-Chicagoan Chris Holmes.

The current -- and longest lasting -- incarnation of Naked Raygun is re-entering the studio to record their first new songs in over a decade and will release the results in a series of 7-inch singles. Usually we're against classic punk bands (especially personla heroes like Naked Raygun) recording after reuniting, but in this case we're actually excited to hear the results.

In which we take a quick look at a few recent musical releases.

In light of yesterday's mid-air mishap, we feel it's important to go over the fundamntals of in-flight safety. Consider this a PSA.

If you didn’t get tickets for the midnight showing of Harry Potter, there’s other ways to tickle your film fancy than seeing Daniel Radcliffe fight Voldemort for the sixth time. The Chicago Outdoor Film Festival opens tonight, and each following Tuesday, Grant Park will become Chicago’s very own drive-in, minus the cars and backseat make-out sessions.

We've got one pair of tickets to give away to the Friday, August 7, official Lollapalooza afterparty / show at The Bottom Lounge featuring MSTRKRFT, LA Riots and the Dark Wave Disco DJs. Regular readers already know that there is no way you should miss a live MSTRKRFT DJ set.

We've been struggling on the best way to preview this weekend's Pitchfork Music Festival. Sure, we could list out every single act and try and distill their approach in three to four sentences, but you can pretty much turn to any source for that. Plus, if you bought tickets to the mostly sold-out event, you already have a rough idea of who you want to see, and if you don't, part of the wonder that is the summer festival is provided by stumbling across and falling in love with a band you've never heard of. But we wanted to do something a little different this year, especially in light of the fest hosting a couple performances determined by fan selected set-lists.

We've got one pair of tickets to give away to the Friday, August 7, official Lollapalooza afterparty / show at The Congress featuring Crookers, Major Lazer, Simian Mobile Disco DJ Set, Bloody Beatroots DJ Set, Kid Cudi, Rye Rye and Willie Joy. Whoa!

Cue the Boyz II Men, for this weekend marked the final show at Logan Square's Mini Dutch apartment gallery. After two years of using her home to showcase the work of emerging artists, Director Lucia Fabio is closing shop and heading to Los Angeles with her fiance, Robert Andrew Mueller; "family health issues" are cited as the reason. Mini D's final offering was a one-night group show featuring the couple's collection of artworks made by friends and featured artists past -- including some, like Bushwick-bound Stacie Johnson, who have their own moving trucks parked and packed. It's so hard to say goodbye -- especially when Chicago has lost so many apartment galleries in the past year. But our loss will be L.A.'s gain: Fabio plans to apply the knowledge she's gained running a small gallery to future projects.

          

Mannequin Men's chaotic record release party at Metro last Friday carried all the trappings of a successful show: stage sing-alongs, furious tunes, much ribaldry, and broken guitars. We had a blast.

We think it's not too much of a leap to say Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong is striving to be his generation's Pete Townsend. Pearl Jam may carry on The Who's musical heritage but Armstrong seems to have appropriated their mindset. And if the songs dealing with teenage wastelands and politic over the band's last two punk rock opera albums weren't enough to suss this out, the band's recently released note for note cover of The Who's "A Quick One" should prove our point beyond a doubt.