The first day of the Pitchfork Music Festival showcased three classic acts, performing their classic albums. Slint re-created their seminal Spiderland, and while watching their set we realized that they are definitely one of those bands everyone name-checks, but almost no one has actually heard. Kind of like how dudes in the '90s would talk about how awesome Patti Smith's Horses was because that was just the sort of thing you were supposed to say.... more ›

Now that City Council has banned smoking tobacco on Chicago stages, city actors and audiences will have to get used to that cool herbal cigarette smell. If you're Jonesing for the real thing, you’ll have to head out to suburban Next, Circle, and Northlight theaters. Architect David Fisher, of “Leonardo da Vinci Smart Bathroom” fame, is hoping city leaders will go to bat for his next idea: a skyscraper whose floors spin slowly and independently,... more ›

A study commissioned by Broadway in Chicago about Broadway in Chicago reveals — surprise! — Broadway in Chicago is injecting big bucks into the city. How big? Around $635 million in 2006, give or take a few hundred million. An article in today’s Sun Times blew a big sloppy kiss to the Live Nation/Clear Channel/Nederlander money machine, leading with that impressive figure which they concede is a tad inflated. Around half of it ($320 million)... more ›

Professional indoor lacrosse debuted Saturday night in front of a near-sellout crowd of 8,456 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates. Two National Lacrosse League (NLL) expansion teams, the New York Titans and the Chicago Shamrox dueled it out in a match that was close until the closing minutes of the game. It did not take long for the goal scoring to start. The New York Titans christened the goals with the first NLL goal... more ›

A sharp-eyed Chicagoist reader named abmarfia spotted a movie being filmed on Wayne Ave. just north of Bryn Mawr and snapped some pictures of it before uploading them to Flickr with a "chicagoist" tag. Before we could start our detective work to figure out what movie it is, another Chicagoist Flickr stream contributor named pantagrapher closed the case. The movie being filmed is called Quebec and stars John C. Reilly, Lili Taylor, Jenna Fischer... more ›

We don't want to be braggarts, but do we know how to throw a party, or what?!? This morning our ears are still ringing and our heads pounding to the beat of Chicagoist's 2nd birthday party last night. It rocked. Hard. more ›