This prohibition-era cocktail combines scotch and orange juice for a smoky-sweet treat. more ›

Chicagoist Mix Series is an ongoing feature that profiles local DJs/producers and features a mix compiled exclusively for Chicagoist. This is mix No. 15, brought to you by Kid Color, who was recently announced as one of the acts at Lollapalooza 2012. more ›

Hey there. It's been a while since we've given a Weekend Dance Party pick. Then again, dance parties never die, and when the moment strikes, we want to tell you about it. Our pick this weekend for you to get down is the recently-minted "Get Fresh", a new monthly at The Whistler hosted by Dino Soccio of Only Children. more ›

The Whistler is hosting a book release party with Featherproof Books and the author we're most interested in seeing is Miss Amelia Gray. more ›

This evening marks bartender Paul McGee's last shift behind the stick at the Whistler. more ›

Chicagoist reached out to RJ Melman for comment. Melman would only say that he and his brother are excited to work with him. "He is super talented, and we think we have a very exciting concept that we are going to do together." The Whistler, likewise, was sad but excited to see McGee leave. more ›

Even avid bar-goers have sipped them, read about them in ingredient lists and enjoyed them without quite knowing what they are. Angostura Bitters, while common in cocktails, can be a mystery. Well no longer! more ›

On the occasion of his new album Spacer, we interview the Chicago jazz musician who makes playing the vibes sexy as hell. more ›

Eighteen years ago, one of Chicago’s most authentic rock ‘n roll bars opened its doors. more ›

For last night's installment of the Whistler's monthly Book Club series, head bartender Paul McGee selected 10 recipes from renowned cocktail expert and historian David Wondrich's latest tome, Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl. While the evening's libations almost without exception registered as delightful, the age-old perils of punch-drinking were nonetheless made manifest by what we understood to be a first (and probably last) for the Logan Square cocktail bar: a Jell-O shot on the menu - and a muscular one even by the standards of the category. Which is certainly not to say we didn't excavate every last crumb of the thing. Dangers indeed. more ›

Chicago indie-pop duo Project Film has come a long way in the past year. The band started out as Sam McAllister’s (Tandem Shop Records founder) side project, in which he wrote instrumental tracks for films and stored them in a folder named “Project Film.” Despite the uninspired name, the solo project expanded into a duo, released its debut album Chicago, and is now preparing to head off on tour and release a new music video. more ›

Being in the business of cocktail reportage, we often lose sight of the fact that The Whistler, one of our favorite places in town to get a drink, is also an avid patron of the arts. Musicians take to the stage nearly every night, and visual artists are regularly remaking the storefront gallery. Heck, they even run their own record label. We were happily reminded of us this recently by a bit of news coming out of London, of all places. more ›

Everyone has a spelling bee story. Perhaps, like your dear writer, your third grade self knew you would not be able to spell n-e-i-g-h-b-o-r-h-o-o-d and requested a bathroom break at just the right time. Maybe, like other Chicagoist staffers, you missed toboggan, dyeing or colossal. Or maybe you never made it past the first round. Well it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s all in the past. You have been handed a second chance to prove it to the world that you do NOT suck as spelling. The Whistler is hosting its first annual spelling bee on March 2. So you have just enough time to start studying your Dictionary.com app before bed every night. And for the record, the words have been meticulously culled from “dictionaries, current popular fiction, sci-fi conventions, lists of ingredients, how-to manuals, bus stops, closing credits, Facebook posts” and the like. The Whistler has a long list of words that need spelling and are looking for people who can get the job done. more ›

You may have known Tiger Bones back when they were named Gay Baby. But chances are you didn’t - as the old moniker suggests, they took themselves lightly and put out very little material. Now, along with the new name, they’ve got a more distinct sound, shifting away from experimental and toward psychedelic surf rock. more ›

We make no secret of our tiki obsession, having covered the re-opening of Trader Vic's, provided more than one Mai Tai recipe, and told you about the best tropical drink cocktail book in the world, Beachbum Berry Remixed. That book is the focus of tonight's Book Club at The Whistler, which is transforming itself into a tiki den for one night only. more ›

Home bartenders, "You can do a lot with a little." That's a taste of the sage advice of the Whistler's Paul McGee, who this week held the second session of Cocktails 101, the new Sunday-afternoon series of bartending classes he's teaching at the Logan Square cocktail bar. Always in earnest pursuit of mixing wisdom, we attended this week's class to learn from one of Chicago's best. more ›

It’s often said that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Well, lucky for us, The Whistler doesn’t do lunch. They do cocktails and records of local rock acts through their namesake label, Whistler Records. And, starting next month, they’ll be giving away one of the two items mentioned in the previous sentence free to the first 50 people who walk through the door... more ›

Of the many burgeoning Chicago bands dabbling in a hypnotic mix of garage-rock, German art-rock and shoegaze—think Cave, Disappears, Implodes, etc—local quintet Verma is simply amongst the most promising. In May, Verma, consisting of members of past Chicago experimental groups like Remember The Maine, dropped a self-titled three-song EP through their Bandcamp. The Verma EP showcased the band’s considerable ability to throw down the rock gauntlet. Tracks like the taut “Salted Earth,” with its propulsive bass line, and floating synth textures—which complement the female vocals quite well—are crisp and clear; artistic, but with enough melodic sensibility to appeal to listeners whose patience would be tested by the lengthy songs. By contrast, their debut cassette for Plustapes—also self-titled, confusingly enough—pushes the group’s capacity for weaving hallucinatory sonic tapestries even further. more ›

Thursday nights in Chicago can range from an all night rager to a brief stop at your favorite spot for some patio drinks and conversation. If you desire something that is more of a happy medium, and are one of the few that still regard it as a school night, then our Chill Pick is for definitely for you. more ›

Before cracking open The Awful Possibilities, examine the cover. A parking lot is beginning to drown from a downpour of black, unfeeling faces. And even though the publisher calls this "'Pandora's Book,' because once it's opened, nothing will never be the same," you probably assume you can handle it. How much harm could a little book smaller than the width of your palm cause? But no matter how unassuming this work of fiction looks, it will make you think hard about what can happen inside a human mind. more ›

Slow Gun Shogun is a one-man band headed by Chicago’s own A.J. Martin. A gritty mixture of early rock ‘n’ roll, country and blues, it’s the kind of music you might hear in a dimly lit dive bar while drinking a glass of bourbon. But that doesn’t mean Martin’s sound is low-quality. In fact, he’s been mastering his craft since the age of 12 and touring the local scene both solo and with various bands for more than seven years. more ›

We've been longtime fans of French renegade concert purveyors La Blogotheque who host intimate performances of indie artists in unexpected locales worldwide, videotape them, and publish them on their blog. There's been a host of sites that have followed similar suit, each with their own slightly different take on the concept. Thanks to Matt Baron and the Lakeview coach house he calls home and stage, Chicago now has its very own intimate series. Titled Coach House Sounds, Baron's site features half hour sessions with musicians from all over and unlike similar series' singular focus on indie rock, CHS will encompass a wide range of music including jazz, ambient and classical genres. more ›

We can't believe it's already here, but TOMORROW is our anniversary party at The Whistler! Grammar and The Interiors have been putting in long hours at the practice space to kick out some outstanding musical sets, and Chicagoist DJs Pocket Taco, SuperBird, and Tankboy have been diligently working at holding one headphone over their ears while simultaneously bobbing their heads. Prepare yourself for terrific music all night long. more ›

Alright, folks, I have to make this quick before my editors get back from their coffee run. Here's the deal: By now you probably know about our fifth anniversary party this Saturday night at The Whistler. I want to tell you about a great concert going on that night, but if my editors find out I plugged something other than our party, they'll make Gitmo look like a Mancow stunt. They are not fucking around on this one. more ›

Food & Wine magazine released its "Cocktails 2009" guide this week. Listed in the guide's contents are the top 100 bars in America. Chicago charted five bars on that list, which will only reinforce the belief of some that Our Town's moment in the culinary zeitgeist is over. more ›

Yeah, can you believe it? This month marks Chicagoist's fifth year of keeping you abreast of the happenings in Chicago. In blog years that makes us, what? Ten? Fifteen? more ›

There’s nothing better than listening to an artist / designer talk about their creative process—the inspiration, the tears, the glory. But when you add in some random crazy-ass comedy, ‘80s jams, and deliciously crafted cocktails, the result is a brilliant alternative to an uptight theory lecture—The Show ‘n Tell Show. more ›