22 Of Our Favorite Events This Week
By Michelle Meywes Kopeny in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 28, 2015 4:19PM
Petronio's Bloodlines opens Thursday at The Dance Center. Photo by Sarah Silver.
Summer may be over, but that doesn't mean your social life is. There's still plenty to do in the city this week, and we've compiled some of our favorite events.
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 28
MADONNA: The material girl (I’m sure she still loves being called that) comes to the United Center tonight on her Rebel Heart Tour. Her newest album came out in the spring. Michael Diamond opens. Check resale outlets for tickets.
BEER TASTING: Maria's Packaged Goods & Community Bar in Bridgeport teams up with Crazy Mountain Brewery for A Crazy Tasting from 6 to 9 p.m. Sample three different beers from the husband-and-wife brewing team out of Denver while a local rep is on hand to talk about the brewing process.
ROCK: The last time Ash was in town was in 2013, to support a series of independently-released singles. It was an interesting experiment on the band’s part, resulting in an overwhelming deluge of music of great caliber. But like a shotgun blast, it didn’t have a central focus. So the release of this year’s KABLAMMO! sees the band focusing on the album format again, proving that this Irish band led by Tim Wheeler can still write pop hooks that are both anthemic and sharp, and the band shows no sign of slowing down despite being 20-plus years into their career. Their show at Subterranean tonight should provide a rare treat for viewers who would only get to see the group in stadiums overseas. Local group Post Child, who also traffic in huge pop hooks that stretch on for miles, opens. Doors are at 7:30 p.m.
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29
DINNER CRAWL: The Wicker Park/Bucktown Chamber of Commerce hosts the fourth annual WPB Fall Dinner Crawl from 6 to 9 p.m. Get a passport and choose from four different routes: Fork, Knife, Spoon or Plate and sample bites from one of the neighborhood’s avenues. Tickets are $30 per route.
BROADWAY: The Tony Award winning Best Musical, A Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder makes the first stop on it’s national tour at Bank of America Theater at 7:30 p.m. The musical comedy follows one man trying to balance the women in his life while attempting to murder his way into a big family inheritance. Tickets start at $27 and the run continues through Oct. 11.
LIVE STORYTELLING: You hear them on the radio, now hear the Moth live at StorySLAM. The last Tuesday of every month at Martyr's, folks who sign up are randomly selected to tell their 5-minute story to the audience. This month’s theme is Nerds & Geeks. 8 p.m. $8.
LIVE READING: South Side reading series The Frunchroom welcomes five new speakers along with a live band for their third edition. They’ll be talking about life and experiences in the the South Side’s many neighborhoods. Begins at 7:30 p.m. at O’Rourke’s Office in Morgan Park. Free.
PLANNING AWARD: The Metropolitan Planning Council’s Burnham Award for excellence in planning goes to the many teams behind the rails-to-trails pioneer The 606 at this special event. Remarks from the winners will begin at 5:30 p.m. but attendees can mingle before and after with live music and brews from Revolution. Admission is by donation and funds raised will go towards the Allard and Wayfinding fellowships.
PACKAGING A PRESIDENT: Want to walk and talk like the President of the United States? Take a lesson from communications strategist Michael Sheehan, who has coached Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and corporate executives on how to master that calm and confident demeanor. Sheehan will talk about prepping for presidential debates at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics at 6 p.m. Admission is free, but you must register to attend.
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30
DINNER + BENEFIT: The first of three dinners benefiting FEED takes place tonight at the Le Pain Quotidien in Lincoln Park. FEED Suppers are three-course, family-style dinners set around the restaurant's communal table, and at $100 per person, each ticket purchased will provide 465 meals to people in need. Cocktails at 6:30 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. Other dates include Thursday at the Michigan Avenue Le Pain Quotidien, and Friday at the Gold Coast location.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 1
ACRO CATS: Acro. Cats. Need we say more? The Vittum Theater welcomes The Amazing Acro-Cats this weekend for six shows that have regular house cats (all former orphans, rescues and strays) walking tightropes, skateboarding, jumping through hoops and more. There’s even a feline rock band. Seriously. They’re called The Rock Cats. Who says you can’t train cats? Tickets are $22 ($27 for VIP seating) and a portion of the sales benefits Treehouse.
FOOD FOR GOOD: For the whole month of October—a.k.a. Breast Cancer Awareness Month—dine at more than 150 participating locations and $1 per check (or designated item) will benefit The Lynn Sage Scholars Program. Funds raised by the program go toward some of the country’s most promising breast cancer researchers. For a full list of participating restaurants, visit the website for In Good Taste.
WINE + NATURE: Garfield Park Conservatory hosts the first companion to their popular Beer Under Glass Series, Wine Under Glass, Wednesday night from 6 to 9:30 p.m. This event will take place entirely under the glass inside the greenhouses, and will feature tastings from vineyards around the world with food pairings from local restaurants and caterers. Tickets are $60. 21+
DANCE: Stephen Petronio Company brings first the full incarnation of the their Bloodlines project to the Dance Center of Columbia College beginning at 7:30 p.m. With pieces from Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown and Petronio himself, this performance marks the first time these works will be shown outside of the choreographer’s companies. Tickets are $30. Show runs through Saturday.
DANCE BENEFIT: “Dancing With The Giordano Stars” celebrates it’s 10th Anniversary at the Park West tonight at 7 p.m. Modeled after the popular ABC television series, dancers will compete for a panel of local celebrity judges. Tickets are $125 and the benefit raises funds for Giordano Dance Chicago and it’s outreach programs.
CHICAGO BOOZE: The Chicago Handshake features the meeting of two great minds—Malört and old Style. Bike Cops, Bloom and Basement Family provide the evening's music. Bands, booze and terrible decisions will surely mark the evening, so why would you want to muss that? 8 p.m. at Emporium Arcade Bar (1366 N. Milwaukee Ave.)
MUSEUM WEEK: Twelve of the city’s top museums and institutions team up for the very first Museum Week kicking off today. Special events, extended hours and discounts are offered, and there are even some free days in there. Check Chicago Museum Week’s website for more details and a list of participating locations.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 2
ART + PARTY: The Museum of Contemporary Art launches their new Prime Time series with an evening of collaboration with the Land and Sea Dept. The after-hours event will feature music from electropop musician Dan Deacon and design experiences from local artists. LSD restaurants like Parson’s Chicken and Fish and Longman & Eagle are among the pop-ups providing food and drink. Tickets are $15.
BEERFEST: The first ever Rocktober Beerfest takes place this weekend in the West Loop with brews from Goose Island and nosh from Publican Quality Meats. Along with the brats and other fare there will be live music from Jimmy’s Bavarians and some popular cover bands like Headbangers Ball and Two White Crew. One-day tickets are $7.50 and include one beer ticket and an authentic German stein.
VEGGIE EATS: Green City Market Jr. Board hosts A (Mostly) Veggie Affair at Moonlight Studios from 7 to 10 p.m. The event will feature a stationed tasting with all-vegetable dishes from local chefs, along with a few meat options (made from three whole animals) giving guests the opportunity to “cheat on meat or go whole beast.” Tickets are $75 for general admission, and $95 for VIP which includes early entry for a 6 p.m. cocktail hour.
ART AFTER DARK: The Art Institute’s after-hours series After Dark, features special tours of Making Place: The Architecture of David Adjaye. As usual, there will be complimentary appetizers and a cash bar along with DJs and a live set from Gavin Turek. 9 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $30. 21+
GLAM POP WE CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: We go way back with The Ladies And Gentlemen. And we’ve long respected their amazing live shows—filled with dancing to good old fashioned rock and/or roll chords. If there’s any issue we have with the band, it’s that they take far too long to release new material. Though when dealing with a band that survived the signing frenzy of alternative bands in the ‘90s (members of the group spent time in Material Issue and Box-O-Car, among many other groups) I guess we’re OK waiting on their next album. And almost a decade after their debut, their sophomore effort Casa Futura proves worth the wait. The band sticks with their self-imposed rule of “all killer in filler” and delivers an album that is one of the best of 2015 so far. Don’t sleep on this. They celebrate it’s long awaited release tonight at Liar’s Club (1665 W. Fullerton Ave.).