Results tagged “contest”

The Men Who Stare At Goats -- based on an actual government program dedicated to the results of some REALLY intense goat staring, is one of the few meetings we're anxiously awaiting. Well, a lucky reader of Chicagoist need not wait like we mere mortals! We have a pair of tickets to the screening in Chicago on Wednesday at 7 p.m. that includes access to an exclusive after-party! No word on if goats will be present at either event.

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.

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.

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?

Maureen Barrett, 52, of Willow Springs created just the right blend of beans, meat and sweet heat to win the International Chili Society’s 43rd World's Championship Chili Cookoff in Charleston, W. Va. this past weekend. Barrett won $25,000 in the red chili category beating out 160 chiliheads, people who travel the country competing in events that serve as qualifiers for the world's championship. She’s been competing for 13 years but is still considered a newbie to most chiliheads. She said that she added a little more jalapeno sauce from a green bottle to clinch the victory. As chili lovers, we hope that she will post her award winning recipe here soon. [NBC 5]

We created a monster here at Chicagoist on July 13, 2006 with a review of Trumer Pils, which we cheekily dubbed our "Beer of the Week." It's a series that shows no sign of stopping soon due to the sheer breadth of brew options available to us. But Trumer will always hold a spot dear to us for being the beer that kicked off the series.

While we patiently wait for Lupe Fiasco to release his next album -- mid-December, we hope, we hope! -- at least we're getting a semi-regular dose of him playing live around town! He continues the trend of not forgetting his home base with a concert at the Congress Theater on October 29.

Kathy Griffin may claim she's on the D-List, but her fans consider her an A-List talent, and we'd have to agree with that assessment. Seriously, she's vicious, hilarious, and fearless. What more do you want from a comedian?

Lykke Li has been on our radar a long time, and we've been vocal in our appreciation of her talents. We're hoping Lykke Li's appearance at Lollapalooza helps her break through to a much larger audience this year so more folks can appreciate her minimal electronic pop. It's the sort of thing that whispers in your ear oh so subtly and hypnotizes you with its charms so deeply you don't even notice you're already in its throes as you dance with abandon.

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.

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.

We raved about The Heavy last time they landed in Chicago, and our prediction was spot-on. Here's what we said.

Kathy Griffin may claim she's on the D-List, but her fans consider her an A-List talent, and we'd have to agree with that assessment. Seriously, she's vicious, hilarious, and fearless. What more do you want from a comedian?

We have a winner! Congratulations to Jo-Elle, who pulled out a story of a long-departed cat to best all comers. Jo-Elle receives two tickets to the Growing Home Benefit, 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Cultural Center.

Growing Home, the non-profit organization providing job training for homeless and low-income individuals in Chicago through a social enterprise business based on organic agriculture (via their hoop houses on Wood Street in Englewood), is hosting its annual benefit at the Chicago Cultural Center next Thursday, June 11. The benefit will feature passed appetizers and a 3-course dinner with dishes from Charlie Trotter's, Vie, Nia, Monogramme Events and Catering, the Meatloaf Bakery; a silent auction; an open bar; and a keynote address from Rick Bayless.

First of all, let's get this out of the way. We were watching the little video with Perry Farrell below and were thinking he's looking remarkably well preserved for a dude who is 50. Then we thought, "Wait, Perry Farrell is FIFTY?!" We've always though Bowie was well preserved but Farrell is giving that man a run for his money.

Our friends at the Tribune and the University of Chicago Magazine know what Easter is really all about: the candy. The two publications recently held contests revolving around a particular Easter sweet that is near and dear to our hearts: PEEPS®.

Last night's NCAA Championship game wasn't much of a battle, with North Carolina jumping out to an early lead and never looking back. Holding a 55-34 halftime lead, the Tar Heals coasted through the second half to defeat the Michigan St. Spartans 89-72 at Ford Field in Detroit to win the school's fifth title.

Chicago's Numero Group, the record label that brings the lost voices of local soul back to life, is putting on the Eccentric Soul Revue at Park West Saturday night. It would be easy to say that this one-night live event is a stirring tribute to some of the less celebrated originators of Chicago soul, but the fact of the matter is that these old crooners still love to perform. An offshoot of Numero Group's Eccentric Soul: Twinight's Lunar Rotation, which dusted off more than 40 hits off the storied Chicago label, Eccentric Soul Revue is a veritable showcase of Twinight's hit makers, bringing The Notations, Renaldo Domino, Nate Evans, Kaldirons and local legend Syl Johnson together for one night, live on stage, and backed up by JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound.

If you're anything like us, you printed out a half dozen brackets last night after the NCAA selection committee set the field of 65 for this year's tournament as you begin to hone in on just the right mix of sure things and upsets to win bragging rights over friends and co-workers.

College basketball's conference tournaments are in full swing this week, meaning that March Madness is soon upon us! The official brackets for this year's NCAA Tournament will be released Sunday evening, after the last conference champs are determined.

Dan Auerbach's full-time gig is blowing out eardrums with meaty blues licks in the The Black Keys. In his off time though, Auerbach settles back into a more reflective phase in his solo work, as showcased in the recently released Keep It Hid. Don't worry, it's not some namby-pamby folksy record singer-with-a guitar record -- Auerbach knows his primary weapon is buried in the wiring to his distortion pedal -- but it does allow him a bit more breathing room than his day gig usually affords.

If you haven't planned anything for your heartthrob tomorrow night, you may still be able to save the day (and your relationship) with an awesome concert. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is offering a package of prizes to two lucky Chicagoist commenters. Each winner will get:

Company of Thieves celebrate the hometown release of their new album Ordinary Riches with a show at Double Door next week on Thursday, February 19 .... and we've got a pair of tickets to give away along with a signed copy of their new CD!

We fell in love with Denis Leary's vitriol-fueled rants back during his cigarette smoke-spewing days as an MTV station ID man. Back then we considered him to be the result of comedic trend popularized by Dennis Miller ... both had that smart rapid fire delivery to their attacks, only where Miller pounded you over the head with his brains, Leary allowed his intelligence to sucker punch you from behind.

As you may have read (or heard), our Avril Lavigne-loving Editor-in-Chief, Marcus Gilmer, attended the swearing in of President Barack Obama as a full-fledged member of the press (seriously, we haven't heard the end of his babbling on about it). A few days after the inauguration, the following panoramic photo was brought to our attention.

It would be easy to start a review for The Heartless Bastard's new album The Mountain with a metaphor like "with this album, the band scales new heights!" but that simply isn't true. Instead the album finds the band exploring new territory and employing a new sort of balancing act as they continue their development.

As a proud co-sponsor of this year's Tomorrow Never Knows Music Festival at Schubas, we're giving away a whole slew of prizes to a couple lucky Chicagoist readers. We've got tickets, CDs, and T-shirts galore ... and our grand prize includes a 5-day pass for one of you to take in every single night of terrific music including the sold-out Cursive show Friday January 16.

A few weeks back, we looked at the 2009 Speaker Series that will bring a set of political talks to the Chicago Theater. Full of intriguing pairings, we were most enthused about the debut set of Ann Coulter and Bill Maher. Now, in the midst of all kinds of economic turmoil, we're happy to report we have a pair of tickets to give away to the March 11 event featuring Coulter and Maher. They'll either kill each other or wind up making love on stage. Either way, it's going to be a fun night so enter after the jump for your chance at a pair of tickets. We'll be accepting entries through the end of the day.

Since releasing its self-titled full length last year on Bloodshot Records, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir has tirelessly drummed up business and collected fans here and abroad through exhaustive touring. Lucky for us, they've come home for the holidays.