Arts & Events: October 2009 Archives

Broadway doesn’t love Chicago as much as it led on. Just one week after the opening of Chicago director David Cromer’s Broadway debut with Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, producers posted a closing notice for Sunday and cancelled plans for Broadway Bound, another Cromer-directed Simon show scheduled to open in a few weeks. Memoirs received mixed reviews, but apparently it needed rave reviews to live on. The show didn’t do well in the box office and advance ticket sales were weak.

Well folks, it's that time again to throw together a last-minute costume, load up and stumble down the streets of Boystown for the notoriously zany North Halsted Halloween Parade, which kicks off tomorrow evening.

It's Halloween weekend -- or as I like to call it "Christmas for Adults -- so let's take in a few Diversions today. Y'all deserve it! First up is Editor-in-Chief Marcus showing off his finest moves on the dance floor.

Dozens of wide-eyed shoppers pranced into the new Zara store on Michigan Avenue during the Spanish retailer’s first hour of its grand opening this morning, with several people opting to go into the office late, or not at all, in an effort to slowly absorb all 35,000 square feet of the largest Zara store in the U.S. (Hello, H&M? Hi there. Your competition has finally arrived.)

The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir are on the road to recovery after their horrific van crash last month, but they still have mountains of hospital bill to tackle, and much of their gear needs to be replaced. So a number of the band's friends are getting together tomorrow night at Subterranean to play, celebrate life, and raise money for The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir.

Carl Baratta: Western Exhibitions represents me. I have a lot of friends I've met through the gallery. The director, Scott Speh, has a great program. Plus, they have free beer at the openings.

Call it a hunch, but we’re guessing you weren’t invited to Redmoon Theater’s Halloween performance at the White House. Yeah, we weren’t either. But no worries, there are plenty of shows to check out this weekend. In no particular order:

If you're the kind of person who always comes up with creative ideas — only to then get stuck in the early stages of process — or are simply curious about how artists make their work, then Nadine Nakanishi has created the book for you. In Formal Additive Programs, her first release, Nakanishi (who is one-half of the screen-printing outfit Sonnenzimmer) provides a series of instructions to help readers expand upon ideas, and also shines light on the how's and what's of running a daily art practice. "This is not another portfolio book by an artist ... or at least it’s trying not to be," she says of her 28-page work (which measures seven inches by 9.75 inches and features a hand-printed, silk-screen dust jacket).

Well well, it seems we just settled in on our New Year's Eve show of choice. As an added bonus, it's also an opportunity for local bands to compete to win a set slot and kick off the evening.

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

On Halloween, there are those of us who like to get dressed up and go to parties. And there are those of us who like to stay home curled up with a mug of hot cider and watch scary movies. We know who we are. A new Scorsese list got us thinking about what movies we would recommend. Here are five:

Brooklyn's Pete & J aren't trying to keep up with the trends that fly out of their home borough every other day, and that's mostly because they don't have to. Who needs keytars or Nintendo sounds when you've got pristine pop melodies and the kind of killer harmonies that melt the hearts of folk fans everywhere?

Do you know where to find the boys, AND the booze? Do you have an aversion to wire hangers? Do you think most people are under-reacting? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ll likely dig the debut CD, We Are The Joans, by local outfit The Joans—the only band we’ve ever heard of dedicated to giving Hollywood icon Joan Crawford a rock and roll voice.

               

We love our pets here at Chicagoist and so we're excited that the Great American Pet Expo is coming to Navy Pier November 14th and 15th. The Expo will feature demonstrations and presentations on products and services for pet owners including: Pet foods and treats, beds, art, pet photographers, leashes for Fido and Fluffy, coats for your dog, etc. We may have heard some rumors about pet dancing. Yes. We saw that episode of King of the Hill, too.

This man is our hero. The bravery he shows in exposing this criminal prejudice against beards should be applauded on the floor of the United Nations. [Language NSFW]

Borders, 830 N. Michigan, 7:00 p.m., FREE but you'll have to show up early to get a wristband

               

There were some home runs and major strikeouts at last Friday night’s Dress Code, showcasing Chicago fashion design students, but we give everyone an A for effort. Contrary to Thursday evening's safe, and somewhat dull, fashion, this emerging talent isn't afraid to break the mold. While we're not quite sure if covering your body with a sheet is the latest trend, and frankly, garage-chic just isn’t our style. But one thing’s for sure: originality dominated this runway.

We don't know where Rich finds this stuff, but it IS almost magic.

             

She covered The Black Keys, The White Stripes, The Kings Of Leon, Alanis Morrisette, and Patsy Cline. She called the industry types at her record label "a bunch of assholes." When her voice cracked she used it as proof she didn't lip sync her act. Through 90 minutes at Rosemont Theatre Kelly Carkson reminded us why we love her; of all the pop divas she truly is the one we could sit down and have a beer with. And sing drunken karaoke with.

First off, we should tell you that we’re more familiar with Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” than Mary Shelley’s original novel. Or the Boris Karloff movie. Or any other version, really. (Our apologies to the Chicagoist Literary and Film Offices if they’re ashamed of us in any way.) The point is: We fully accept that The Hypocrites’ Frankenstein may have included references that went right over our heads. That being said: Prior knowledge and research certainly enrich the audience’s experience, but they shouldn’t be required. Throughout this entire show, we couldn’t shake the feeling that we had missed something. It was a frustrating 70 minutes.

Get ready, Michael Jackson fans. Even as the movie This is It hits screens, Gary, Indiana mayor Rudy Clay may announce plans today for a Michael Jackson museum to be built in the singer's hometown. Problem is, no one else knows much about it. Mayor Clay is currently in Las Vegas with the singer's father, Joe Jackson, and expected to make the announcement there. With Jackson's former home already a tourist destination, especially since his death in June, plans may also include a performing arts center and hotel. While members of Gary's City Council hasn't had plans, Chuck Hughes, executive director of the Gary Chamber of Commerce, told the Tribune that Clay had shown him some sketches of the proposed developments.

The Raveonettes fourth full length album, the recently released In and Out of Control, finds the Danish duo losing their footing and succumbing to the allure of pop rock. It's easily their most hook-heavy and accessible release, but for those of us who've followed Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner for years, it's a release that has us reminiscing the good times of B-movie surf rock and grimy, loud distortion. Joined by The Black Angels at the Metro Sunday night, The Raveonettes proved that a new direction for their recorded material does not equal a disconnect with their earlier work.

The Prairie Carrtel are preparing for the "official" release of their debut full-length (which is already available here) and have released this video, directed by Peng Lei, for their song "No Light Escapes Here." The teaser's a weird mixture of political imagery overlaid by whimsy and the result is analogous to the group's sound; it's catchy and poppy but there's a definite aggression running under the surface.

As the city prepares for Halloween on Saturday, there's one thing that almost everyone agrees is scary - clowns. But what do clowns around town feel about their lot in life? We spoke with a few to find out - All this week, learn more about our city's collection of mirth-spreaders and balloon-twisters. Previously: Twinkles

Halloweek is here and it's time to throw together your best sexy Daft Punk costume, prepare to arrive at work hung over at least once before the Devil's Day and immerse your ears in the city's vast Halloween-centric music offerings.

New-music group Fulcrum Point will play a concert tomorrow night to preview their November 12 show at the Harris Theater. While, yes, it is to a large degree "only" a preview concert, the fact is sometimes watching a trailer is pretty cool.

Let's check out some of the spooky goings on taking grip of Chicago this week. Shall we?

What do you think of when you hear the words "artist's studio"? Maybe you imagine a small room stocked with tools of the trade, tucked away in a building in which other studios reside. But "artist's studio" can mean many things, from a corner of the cluttered table in one's tiny kitchen to a spare bedroom to a spacious loft in which one can make ginormous sculptures that cost a lot of money.

Billy Corgan put on a puppet show. Yes, you read that right, a puppet show named Gothageddon. It features appearances by -- among others -- a teddy bear ringside announcer, the bald one himself, Robert Smith, Siouxsie Sioux, and, wait for it, James Iha. All characters are voiced by Corgan, often rather hilariously. While we have been greatly disappointed by Corgan's output over the last few years, and with his insistence on squeezing every last penny he can out of the Smashing Pumpkins brand, we have to admit that Gothageddon proves that the dude does still have a sens of humor and for that we're grateful. And amused.

                  

Leaking tents and standing water don’t scream fashion show to us. However, on a dark and stormy Thursday night, damp was definitely “in” for the opening of the city-sponsored Fashion Focus Chicago. Fashionistas and photographers huddled in the moist tent in Millennium Park anticipating Chicago designer’s Spring 2010 collections for Macy’s. Before the show began, the presenters apologized for the rain, which had gotten to some of the garments backstage. “Wet is in for Spring,” they joked. The audience chuckled nervously. So what if some pant hems and shoes were a little wet? Well, we forgive them for the weather. But the clothing? That’s another story.

We love storefront theater. There are no daunting crowds; the actors are right there; and you can usually enjoy a beer during the show. Chicago thrives on these theaters, and Rogers Park’s No Exit Café numbers among the best of ‘em. And while we also love Theo Ubique and applaud their gutsiness in Man of La Mancha, we felt a little too close to this production.

The Disco Biscuits are bringing their show to the Auditorium Theatre at Roosevelt University this Halloween. Tickets are still available, but we have a pair to give away to one luck y Chicagoist reader. Enter for your chance to win after the jump. Contest closes today at 5 p.m. CDT.

CIFF is over but a rich cinematic harvest has only just begun. Feast your eyes:

It seems like every other day we're reading about yet another theatrical project that makes us wonder if the success of Glee has caused some kind of collective brain short-circuiting. [Ed. note: I can't wait for Glee to die. How has no one else noticed it's just a cross between American Pie and the 4th season of Ally McBeal?!] Read for yourself.

The Personal Space Invader, the Inarticulator, and Anachronism Man are just some of the exciting characters you can befriend at Superfreaks: an art+website project that Chicago-based artist and musician Eric Lebofsky started on his 32nd birthday. Every day until his 33rd birthday (in August 2010), Lebofsky is posting a different Superfreak — "a superhero whose powers are derived from character flaws and/or transgressive behaviors, distinguishable from their civilian counterparts only by ornate costumery and/or literal embodiment of their issues." Lebofsky's creations are currently on display at Western Exhibitions, which represents his work.

If this is the direction advertising is headed, we like it. Honest. Straightforward. Direct. EPIC.

To say we were unprepared for the scene that awaited us at Tuesday night's Mika show at the Riviera Theatre doesn't even begin to describe our misconceptions about the London-based pop crooner and his fans. We arrived expecting glitz wrapped in gloss and left surprised that theme-park theater had made it out of the shadows of roller-coasters and onto one of Chicago's most revered stages.

The fact that Halloween falls on a weekend means the city has gone into party machine overdrive. One of the stand-out events that's on our calender is the Freaky Deaky night at Congress Theater on October 30 with Chromeo, Crystal Castles, Boys Noize, and a host of the usual local DJs to get you ready for the main acts. And what main acts. Boys Noize's new album Power is a head kick of grunting metallic electro and Crystal Castles' Alice Glass has way more in common with Iggy Pop than Kylie Minogue, so the two acts together should be enough to pummel the dancing crowd into a fine mist of blood and sweat. It's going to be insane.

This trio of concerts includes solos, duets, and a bunch of people playing a concert entitled "Duality."

There is a reason we read certain plays in high school. Sure, they’ve been done countless times across the country, occasionally in god-awful productions. Their plot summaries are all over the internet, and they can be a little boring to read. But sometime, somewhere, those words came to life onstage and changed the landscape of American culture. So before you groan that Death of a Salesman is at Raven Theatre for its second time, you should really go see it.

Yeah, we know what you're planning to do tonight: Stay at home and listen to Philip Glass records while you work on that Majesty of the Seas modeling kit you just got in the mails. Maybe you should save that activity for when it gets really cold, eh? If you agree that you should postpone gluing your fingers together to get out and explore life some, then consider the following activities:

“Every exit is an entrance somewhere else,” Tom Stoppard writes in his Tony-award winning Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, currently playing in an excellent production at Writers’ Theatre. When the actors leave the stage where do they go? For Stoppard, the characters in Hamlet leave Shakespeare’s world and enter Stoppard's twisted universe of philosophical contemplation that left our heads spinning, in a good way.

The opening of Lincoln Hall near to the old Lounge Ax space has brought up a flurry of memories we have of late nights spent watching awesome bands. It seems like we're not the only ones experiencing a renewed sense of sentimentality over the hugely influential venue once run by Julia Adams and Sue Miller (who later married a dude named Jeff Tweedy whose band played Lounge Ax pretty regularly).

This past weekend, Around the Coyote held its Fall Arts Festival in Wicker Park — and Eyewitness News Chicagoist was there to check out the visual arts offerings. (We missed out on the film, music, performance and new media portions, though — pressed for time.) The viz arts portion of the fest took up several spaces around WP — including a couple of vacant storefronts — and included works by more than 100 artists from all media. Some of our faves were the bright, pop-arty acrylic-and-resin pieces by Nikki Hollander; Crystal Neiweem's collage portraits made from ripped-up magazine pages; and Ross Martens' tiny little otherworlds.

Evoking even stronger love vs. loathe reactions than Chicago's music powerhouse, Pitchfork, NYC's Vice Magazine has been slinging irony, controversy and fashion Do's and Don'ts for a decade and a half. Now housing a record label, and frequent supporters of club nights and band gigs nationwide, Vice Magazine celebrates their 15th Anniversary in Chicago with DFA's Shit Robot spinning effect-heavy nu-disco and a live performance from Philly electro rockers, Tigersapien, this Friday night at Sonotheque.

We at Chicagoist are on top of zombies. This time, Scott Kenemore will be reading from his latest book Z.E.O. (Zombie Executive Officer): How to Get A (Head) in Business this coming Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Webster Place Barnes & Noble store in Chicago. A satire of financial and how-to-get-ahead-in-business books, “Z.E.O.” teaches the reader how to find great wealth and succeed in business by being like a zombie at the office, "biting" and "infecting" his or her co-workers, and "turning" the competition. Sounds like a typical day at Chicagoist.

We've hung out at Liar's Club for over a decade and can attest to the fact that some weird shit goes down there. Keifer Sutherland doing the worm, Josh Homme being Josh Homme, Tommy Stinson stopping by sans Axl ... none of that fazes us. But the ghost that lives upstairs? THAT freaks us out. And it seems the ghoulie's fame is spreading! The Discovery Channel's Ghost Lab stopped by recently to probe the mysteries of Liar's Club...

The 41st Annual Equity Jeff Awards were held on Monday night - and since we couldn’t attend, we have to admit we were pretty amused to read that the ceremony was a bit of a mess. But despite our predilection for schaedenfreude, we do sincerely congratulate all of the winners - even if some of them didn’t bother to show for the ceremony. Extra kudos to TimeLine’s The History Boys for taking home more awards than any other production (five).

Former Sun-Times columnist Robert Feder is jumping over to Vocalo, the writer announced today. Said Feder in a statement:

           

Special to Chicagoist from Chris Foresman

The Cool Kids and Hey Champ have teamed up to craft a track we really wish had come out a few months ago since it would have sounded great whilst strolling down the beach, stopping occasionally to make out with someone and let the surf lick our toes. We've long appreciated The Cool Kids without actually feeling engaged by their music, but this collaboration really hits the spot and merges the rock with the hip-hop in a way Judgment Night never could. Seamless and delicious, baby.

         

It's been a hot minute since Wilco touched down in Chicago, despite a heavy touring 2009 touring schedule behind their self-titled seventh studio album. When they finally did descend upon the UIC Pavilion Sunday and Monday nights, their hometown was out en masse to support. If the guys are tired of globetrotting, they didn't show it - leader Jeff Tweedy was a witty, engaging host in leading his band through a career-spanning two-plus hours of music. The old schoolers got "It's Just That Simple," "Monday" and "Kingpin;" the middle schoolers bobbed to "Heavy Metal Drummer," "I'm The Man Who Loves You" and "Handshake Drugs;" the new schoolers sang along to "Impossible Germany," "Wilco (The Song)" and "You Never Know." Tweedy made sure everyone knew the "live Wilco" tricks like the handclaps in "Kingpin," which only solidified the lovey vibe between the six dudes on stage and the 9,000 people in the arena.

It was bound to happen sooner or later: Sarah Palin, the Republican ex-girlfriend who just won't go away and stop posting on your Facebook page, is going to visit Oprah. You might remember a little over a year ago when rumors swirled about Palin appearing on Oprah ahead of the 2008 election and that Oprah said no due to her support for Obama, a claim that Oprah fully denied. This time, however, it's definitely happening as Palin makes the rounds to support her new tome, Going Rogue. According to a press release from Harpo, Inc., the "world exclusive" will be Palin's first talk ahead of the book release and the show will air live on Monday, November 16; Palin's book hits shelves the next day. Will we be watching? You betcha'.

When she was 24 years old, Laurie Lindeen was walking down a snowy Wrigleyville sidewalk en route to the Metro, getting ready to check out a show with some friends, when suddenly she couldn't move her legs anymore. Within days, doctors diagnosed her as having multiple sclerosis — an incurable autoimmune disease that robs many people of their ability to walk. Lindeen treated her illness as a permission slip to live life to the fullest, and on her own terms: She moved from Madison, Wisc. to Minneapolis, taught herself guitar, and with her best friends formed a rock band, Zuzu's Petals, that released two records and toured two continents before disbanding in 1995. Post-Zuzu's, Lindeen got married, had a child, and set about pursuing her other passion: writing. She earned her MFA and, in 2007, released Petal Pusher — a critically acclaimed memoir about being an artist, growing up, dealing with discomfort (from physical pain to sketchy hotel rooms), and learning how to stay true to one's self. Currently, she's working on two collections of essays, teaching writing in Twin Cities schools, being a rock and roll mom, and living MS symptom-free. Last year, she was a finalist for the Bush Artistic Fellowship.

Halloween is quickly approaching and next week brings a host of musicians through the city to get your ghoulish weekend kick-started days in advance.

Hot on the heels of last week's star-studded podcast, we follow it up this week with a bit more of a localish-celebrity angle. (No, not Billy Dec.) Amy Landecker is in the new Coen Brothers movie "A Serious Man" and you may also recognize her from her memorable turn as drunken-wife Petra Colson on Mad Men. But for many Chicagoans, she'll always be the daughter of legendary radio personality John Records Landecker.

In case the race to the holidays wasn't tangible enough, the first sign of Christmas has appeared on the media horizon. Every year WLIT flips its format to All Xmas All the Time, and the countdown is ready to kick off on the station's website.

         

The Windy City Rollers closed out a fantastic 2009 season at home with a big victory over the Rose City Rollers' (Portland) All-Star Team by a 113-73 final. It was a hard-fought bout that still saw the Rollers pull ahead for the win. In the early bout, Milwaukee's Brewcity Bruiders tripped up WCR's Second Wind 62-53. It was also bittersweet evening as it was the final home bout for Rollers Megan Formor, Malice with Chains, and Eva Dead as well as well as travel team bench coach Kami Sutra.

Lincoln Hall, the much anticipated new music venue in town, is already in the midst of its soft opening* but they're proper grand opening bash is this Sunday with Ted Leo + Pharmacists and The Jai Alai Savant. Oh wait, we already told you that, didn't we?

When we saw the advertisements for Lookingglass’; Fedra: Queen of Haiti, we were worried about taking our parents to the show. This “explosive” retelling was sure to bring out the junior higher in us during our folks’ visit, but we braved it anyway. However, we didn’t feel uncomfortable once. Maybe it’s a sign that we’ve outgrown parental awkwardness, but we’re pretty sure that’s not the case. The show simply did not deliver on its promises.

Hockey insidiously worms it's way into your heart. We've heard enough dance rock bands in recent years to grow suspicious of any group that could be counted among that ilk. We don't wish James Murphy or The Rapture ill for influencing so many kids starting bands, but goddamn if have to suffer through another group of college kids caterwauling over a disco beat we're gonna start smashing 12 inch singles over somebody's carefully mussed head!

What happens when Kanye teams up with music video genius/movie director Spike Jonze? One hot, intriguing mess, that's what. Our pals at Pitchfork point us to the short film We Were Once A Fairytale, a little slice of...something that features, "Kanye acting completely drunk and making an utter ass out of himself at a club before having sex with a ghost and then ripping the world's cutest goblin out of his stomach." Also, he bleeds and vomits confetti. Hell, this might be a documentary for all we know. Judge for yourself by watching it here. Where the wild things are, indeed.

A giant clutch of movies we didn't see at this year's Chicago International Film Festival were awarded prizes at a gala event Saturday evening. The Gold Hugo for Best Film went to Mississippi Damned, filmmaker Tina Mabry's harrowing portrait of a Southern town. Didn't see it. Another we didn't see: Marco Bellocchio's Vincere, which took home Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Cinematography

Despite what you may think, we don’t set out to be cruel. But, in the case of Cats, showing this weekend at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, rather than pointlessly ridiculing spandex clad actors who are clearly happy to have a job, we thought we would put this famously bad musical in perspective.

The Dow may have jumped over 10,000 points but budget-conscious Chicagoans are not buying into any talk of "recovery." Understanding our love for good local food and an affinity for the beauty of our city, the Bluebird has teamed-up with local artists Mary Livoni and John Coyle Steinbrunner to create Sunday dinners dedicated to painting a picture of our great city in good times and during this downturn.

It's a bittersweet weekend for the Windy City Rollers. A big bout with the Wheels of Justice, Portland's Rose City Rollers all-star team, awaits this weekend and National's are just around the corner. But it's also the last home bout of the 2009 season for the WCR and we'll have to wait a few months to see them take to the track once more. Don't worry, though, there's still plenty of time to get in on the fun, starting with the bout on Saturday. The fun starts at 5:40 p.m. when the Roller's B squad, The Second Wind, matches up against some neighbors to the north, Milwaukee's Brew City Bruisers travel team; the main event gets underway at 7 p.m.

Lettice and Lovage, which opened Redtwist Theatre’s season last week, was written by playwright Peter Shaffer specifically for Maggie Smith. Although it won Dame Smith the 1990 Tony Award for "Best Actress In A Play" and was nominated for "Best Play" in that year, to be honest, we don’t think the script is that good. We certainly appreciate a show that provides two meaty roles for women, and yes, it’s cute - but it’s also way too long, and kind of…fluffy. Fluffy shows can be great, if they’re well-executed. Lettice and Lovage isn’t sharp enough to compensate for its fluff - an issue we suspect was not as prevalent with Maggie Smith driving the show. We just can’t help but wonder: why choose this play?

Tickets are still available for tomorrow night's Celebrity Chef Ball to Benefit Meals on Wheels Chicago. the annual benefit, held at Macy's on State Street, brings together 80 of the best chefs in the city in a culinary hoedown of epic proportions

Every year, we look forward to the Christkindlmarket. This is because, despite all appearances to the contrary, pops is part German - hence the last name. The same last name that caused my blond haired college roommate's startled look when we met for the first time, clearly not expected the Korean looking girl in front of her. But,...we digress.

If you're looking for something a bit more low-key than dancing with a thousand sweaty bodies at the Congress to the raucous antics of Girl Talk, then pencil in Swedish indie pop singer-songwriter Jens Lekman's New Year's Eve show at the Empty Bottle. Lekman's bittersweet melodies have won our hearts and we think they'd make the perfect soundtrack for stealing a midnight kiss from a stranger. Tickets are going to go fast, so grab yours now for $30 each.

Less than a decade ago, Shawn Smith was an art student sitting in his dorm room at Illinois State, making one-of-a-kind plush toys that he hoped someone might buy. Simple and unpretentious, Smith's designs won over a growing number of people, and he was able to turn his hobby into a full-fledged business. Today, Shawn and his wife, Jen Brody, own and operate Shawnimals: a character design studio, located at Damen and W. Carroll, that serves as the home address for Dracskulla, Chub Grub, Lazy Flopito, and more than 450 other characters who come from more than 20 different "countries" or lands. Cat Gremlands, Foodlandia, and the Grungle Jungle are just a few of the exotic places where Shawnimals roam; the Internet and stores like Rotofugi are others.

                     

In this day and age of replica retro and manufactured memories, it's easy to lose sight of true nostalgia, surrounding ourselves instead with disposable memories and instant gratification. Which is why, when, a true gem from the past finds it's way to us, we're confronted with a real look at our past. One such event happened to John Maloof, who came across Vivian Maier's photography at an estate sale, and knew he had to share this unknown photographer's talents.

What would you do if you reached the end of your life and you’d done nothing special? Or do you walk around now, wondering who the hell you’re supposed to be? We can’t decide which one scares us more, but David Harrower’s Kill the Old Torture Their Young at Steep Theatre definitely put life in perspective.

The submissions have been deliberated and the judges have spoken. Psalm One has been named the grand prize winner of the Chicago Public Library's CHIPUBLIB Sound Off music contest.

One of our favorite local comedy acts, Impress These Apes, has reached the halfway point of its current season but that doesn't mean it's too late to get in on the fun. Be sure to swing by their site and spend the remainder of your afternoon catching up on the contestants' performances in preparation for tonight's show. It continues every Wednesday night through November 4th. What's up for the contestants this week? Find out after the jump (some of the language is a bit NSFW).

Lincoln Hall, the new music venue from the Brothers Schuba, is already amassing itself a nice looking calendar and they haven't even opened yet. It's the solid mix of national and local talent we've come to expect at sister venue Schuba's. And while Mike Doughty technically christens the venue on Friday with a sold out show, the official "Grand Opening" party doesn't happen until Sunday, October 25; indie rockers Ted Leo + Pharmacists headline with support from The Jai-Alai Savant. It's a solid lineup and we're pretty anxious to check out the space ourselves. Tickets go on sale this Friday at noon, so be sure to get your clickin' finger ready.

Sorry about the late notice indie rock'n'rollers, but we’d be remiss not to mention the killer double-shoegaze-no-foam latte at the Empty Bottle tonight. Brooklyn’s gracefully futuristic School of Seven Bells is one of the most talked about (and deserving) blog bands of the past couple years, and taking in one of their many sets at SXSW this past spring was like entering a psychedelic cocoon in the midst of a dusty hipster tornado.

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival.

Yes, we know the headline is cheesy - but if you can’t take it, you probably won’t like the show. Yeast Nation (the triumph of life) is a new musical from the creative minds behind Urinetown, Mark Hollmann (music and lyrics) and Greg Kotis (book and lyrics). Now in its Midwest premiere at American Theatre Company, the show takes place four billion years ago, when single-celled organisms floated in the primordial soup. Although it’s written in the same self-aware style as Urinetown, the music is decidedly more 80s hairband. Perhaps more importantly, any sexual tension written into the show is tempered not only by the fact that yeasts produce asexually, but also - and this isn’t addressed - everyone is related, as they are all descendants of the same yeast. The whole thing is a bit odd - but then again, it’s about a bunch of yeast cells, so what else could it be?

We've long been fans of the books put out by the folks from The Onion and the newest book from The AV Club is no different. Inventory is a collection of lists. That's all it is. But it's a pretty damn funny and comprehensive, if a bit random, collection of lists and it's the randomness that we dig. In a sense, it's the perfect coffee table (or bathroom) book that you can pick up whenever you feel like and read through in any, well, random order. From the profane ("16 Tragic Instances of Movie Masturbation") to the auteur ("15 Moveis With Great Dialogue-Free Scenes") to the just plain warped ("9 Classic Instances of Animal Snuff for Kids"), the lists keep us turning the page to the next one.

Everyone is afraid of something. Lucinda is afraid of the monster under her bed. but he's not your ordinary monster. And Mia McCullough's brilliant new play Lucinda's Bed at Chicago Dramatists is anything but ordinary. It's plays like these that keep us going to the theater.

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival.

This week in the Chicagoist Podcast Series, a more star-studded podcast has ne'er been seen within the hallowed digital halls of our RSS Feed.

If you've got the Recession Blues, the Winter Is Coming/Basically Here Already Blues, a case of "the Mondays," or some combo of the above, The Plagiarists have just the show for you: American Stage Sessions: The Best of History of World Drama (Parts 237, 156, and 994, Presented in Consecutivity). The plot line is somewhat loose: The Muskogee County Magic Theatre Players attempt to raise enough money to keep their theater running by holding a live telethon featuring top episodes of their long-running public access show, American Stage Sessions. Over three "acts," the Players present three excerpts from three different, imaginary playwrights: Southern sad sack Alabama O'Dell, morose and German Herzlichen Gluckwunsch Zum Geburtstag, and early 20th century prole sympathizer Elmer Templeton Shirley, III. To ensure the telethon succeeds, they bring on board former Player and savvy actor Mitch Newman. Tension develops between Newman and stodgy old Professor Nigel Babblecock-Fatkins; their escalating conflict keeps the play moving forward, and ties the scenes together.

Every so often we get wind of an unsigned band that has us scratching our heads with a puzzled gaze. Formed in Abilene and now residing in Austin, Texas, The Rocketboys have a sound as expansive as the open road and lyrics deep as a Southwest sunrise.

          

In our own humble opinion, They Might Be Giant's album Lincoln was the highlight of their career, but we seem to be in the minority since thousands of fans of the band crammed into The Vic Saturday night to hear the band recreate their commercial break-through Flood. Many mainstream fans may deride the band as nerd-rock, but that's a flawed view of a band whose catalog includes a dizzying amount of musical diversity that demands a high level of skill to recreate in a live setting. So yes, there were songs about dead presidents, existential birdhouses and shoe horns with teeth (sung by a duo of sock puppets, The Avatars), but the playful and ofttimes ridiculous lyrics were delivered by an amazingly tight band unafraid to change musical direction, sometimes mid-song. We entered the show somewhat stunned by the extreme dedication of the band's fans, but we left the venue understanding why those folks fell so in love with the talented duo of Johns Flansburgh and Linnell. Sure they're nerd-rock, but they are really kick-ass nerd-rock.

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival.

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival.

Earlier this week, we got a sneak preview and tour of YOU!: The Experience, the Museum of Science and Industry's new, 15,000-square-foot permanent exhibit that explores and pays homage to the human body, mind, and spirit. High on interactivity and low on "eat your peas" preach, YOU! — which officially opened yesterday — emphasizes the importance of wise decision-making when it comes to our diets and lifestyles, and how our decisions affect our health and development over the course of our lives. Through a combination of traditional just-look-at-me displays and modern-day interactive exhibits, YOU! draws attention to aspects of nutrition, human development, and health that some of us, floating adrift in the seas of high-fructose corn syrup, or simply disconnected from our own bodies, might not think about very often. Some highlights include:

The first time we heard Kylesa was when they did a cover of Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" for a metal Syd Barrett tribute record. We dug the heavy way they attacked the song but what really impressed us was the nuanced handling of the center psych-out section of the song. But it was just one song on a tribute record so we kind of forgot about them.

More than just a tattoo artist, Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins is widely regarded as the forefather of modern tattooing and lesser recognized as one of America's most influential folk artists. Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry is the first documentary of its kind, exploring the roots of tattooing and the life of one its most prominent figures. Interviews with Collins' peers and successors as well as archival photos and footage paint a portrait of a fiercely independent free-thinker who used the body as his canvas for sharing his art with the world.

             

Bad Veins did not let us down last night as they delivered an epicly lush set from the stage of The Empty Bottle. The fact that two dudes and a reel-to-reel tape machine can deliver such impassioned, majestic music is hard to believe until you experience it for yourself. We spoke to the band after the show and they hope to return to Chicago early next year, and when they do you should make sure you are in the crowd that night.

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival.

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival.

This week the Newberry Library kicks off With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln. The exhibit, which opens on October 10 and runs through December 19, features a fascinating collection of letters, books, photos, and other artifacts, including the Bible upon which Lincoln swore the oath of office and a copy of what reportedly was Mary Todd Lincoln's favorite photo of her boo (an 1859 portrait in which is hair was brushed). Visitors can get a real sense of the daily workings of Lincoln's office, which intercepted around 300 letters per day; Lincoln handled much of the correspondence himself, including one man's offer to spy on the Confederacy on the Union's behalf.

We admit we've always wanted a keytar of our very own, but were never sure we'd be able to pull it off. Well move over keytar, the QChord is here and anyone can play!

We were poking through this Chicago Magazine profile of Chicago author Audrey Niffenegger (who we also interviewed here) when this line caught our eye:

The Sun-Times is reporting that the next stop in Rod Blagojevich's Tour of No Shame is an appearance on "Celebrity Apprentice." That's right. The orbit of the disgraced governor who allegedly tried sell a Senate seat to the highest bidder and dared the FBI to tape him doing so will intersect with that of the businessman who never found a product he couldn't tarnish by attaching his name to it. Dali couldn't have painted something so surreal.

There are lots of cheap ways to see theater in Chicago, but free tickets are normally reserved for friends, family and press. Lucky for you, Theatre Communications Group (TCG) thinks you should see shows for free too - at least for this month.

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival.

We've always been confused by the folks that view The Flaming Lips as some shiny, happy, modern version of up with people. Yes, the strains of "Do You Realize?" are joyous but have the fans that think the band is all about being one big party ever actually listened to the group's lyrics. While the darkness has never left the group's basic aesthetic we believe it's been misconstrued by many and mistaken as a vehicle meant for confetti filled cannons, half-naked dancing aliens, and a white-suited guy wearing a Hulk fist while rolling over the crowd in a giant bubble.

Do you demand satisfaction? You'll be able to find it at either solo violin recital going on this weekend, as two accomplished musicians play works from opposite ends of the Western music spectrum.

We're just as guilty as the rest of you when it comes to living for the weekend. We have a habit of working hard for the pleasure of playing hard come Friday night. All routines get old after awhile and lately we've found ourselves venturing away from our desks and outside our living rooms on weeknights to partake in the shows that grace our favorite venues on the off evenings. Here's our picks for the week ahead in weeknights.