15 Of Our Favorite Events In Chicago This Week
By Michelle Meywes Kopeny in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 31, 2017 7:43PM
Chicago has reached peak summer with the arrival of Lollapalooza this week. Even if you’re not participating in the music marathon, there's fun for all in our favorite events this week.
MONDAY JULY 31
MILLENNIUM PARK MUSIC SERIES: This week’s Millennium Park Summer Music Series event will be a special screening of the 1984 Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense. The film was directed by Jonathan Demme (Philadelphia, Silence of the Lambs) who unexpectedly passed away earlier this year. Screening begins at 6:30 p.m. Free.
FREE CONCERT: MLS All-Star week is underway, with the big game on Wednesday, but this Monday they’re hosting a free concert with CocaCola from X-Ambassadors. Register for your free ticket to the Northerly Island concert here and check out other All-Star sanctioned activities.
TUESDAY AUGUST 1
SUMMER FILM SERIES: Grab a spot in the pavilion or on the lawn for this week’s Millennium Park Summer Film, Bend it Like Beckham. Shown on the state-of- the-art 40-foot LED screen at Pritzker Pavilion, the free screening begins at 6:30 p.m.
FUNKY LIVE LIT: The eclectic live reading series Tuesday Funk is back after a month off at Hopleaf’s Upstairs bar. Jonathan Jones, Edward Moses, Alicia Swiz, Tiffany Gholar and Hannah Gamble will bring a mix of fiction, poetry and essays beginning at 7:30 p.m. Free.
FEMALE FILMMAKERS NIGHT: The Midwest Independent Film Festival celebrates women in the industry during their annual Female Filmmakers Night beginning at 6 p.m. The lineup includes the directorial debut of Monica Raymund (NBC’s Chicago Fire), a Midwest Premiere from Kendall Goldberg starring Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite), and 2017 Emmy Nominated Series Brown Girls. Stick around for post-screening discussion with the filmmakers. Tickets are $10.
Image courtesy of OmG yoga.
OMG YOGA: Loews Hotel and fitness expert and best-selling author Andrea Metcalf have teamed up for a new yoga series on their Streeterville Social roofdeck. The OmG Silent sunrise Vinyasa Flow classes come with headphones to silence the city and focus in your practice with tunes via DJ. Classes will take place every Tuesday in August and tickets are $20.
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 2
MLS ALL-STAR GAME: Top US MLS players will play against Real Madrid at Soldier Field in the MLS All Star game at 6:30 p.m. Four hometown Chicago Fire players are on the team that will go up against the two-time reigning Champions League winners. Tickets start at $45.
WINE TASTING: Be "Sommelier for a Day" at III Forks’ South American Wine Tasting from 5 to 7 p.m. Guests will sample six different wines from South America and vote for their favorite to be featured for the month of August. Hors d'oeuvres will also be served. Tickets are $20. To RSVP, call 312-938-4303.
PANDORA’S CHICAGO INVASION: Pandora gets in on the free concert action this week, too, with Manchester Orchestra headlining their Fourth Annual Chicago Invasion at Morgan Manufacturing. The event will also include bites and sips from BelVita Breakfast Biscuits, Lime-A-Rita and White Castle. RSVP here for free.
CAJUN COOKING CLASS: Heaven on Seven Chef Jimmy Bannos hosts a Cajun Cooking Class at the Wabash location at 7 p.m. Learn to make the perfect Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo, Orzolaya (Jimmy’s Italian twist on Jambalaya) and more and then enjoy the fruits of your labor over dinner and drinks. Tickets are $75.
THURSDAY AUGUST 3
Lollapalooza crowd, photo by Jim Kopeny / Tankboy
LOLLAPALOOZA: The music behemoth is back for another year in Grant Park. Once again the sold out festival will span four days and eight stages. With Chance the Rapper, The Killers, Muse and Arcade Fire topping the headliners, this year’s lineup is a draw for the young and not as young as new talent rubs shoulders with alumni acts. If you just can’t bear the thought of braving muddy grounds and inebriated crowds, don’t forget about those official Lolla aftershows at venues all over town. Many of the acts playing the festival also play smaller clubs too numerous to list here.
LOLLA SIDESHOW: The Lollapalooza Sideshow has been going strong for eight years at Berlin, and this year Little Dragon will be late night guest DJ. The Sideshow brings back the circus spirit of Lollapalooza’s earlier days as a traveling festival with Sword Swallower & Human Pin Cushion Sally Marvel, Lizard woman Eva La Feva, Contortionist MP Letourneau and more. Tickets are $10.
MISFIT CIRCUS: Chicago's newest contemporary circus group, Misfit Circus, is staging their first show, A Fool's Journey, right now at Wicker Park's Chopin Theatre. The tarot card-inspired circus cabaret runs Thursday through Sunday at 8 p.m., through Aug. 13, and features some awe-inspiring acts: Under the guidance of a delightful, future-seeing clown turned cabaret host, watch performers swing through the air on trapeze, hammock and rope, balance on a tightwire, juggle a variety of objects and balance on their hands in a series of circus acts that will leave you awe-inspired and hungry for more. Tickets are on sale here.
FRIDAY AUGUST 4
OUTER-DIMENSIONAL MC: Kool Keith is a legend. It could have been enough for him to be a founding member of Ultramagnetic MCs, one of he earlier hip-hop groups to mix the commercial with the weird to create a stew that was unmistakably their own. Post-MCs, Keith has had a wide ranging solo career that shows him unwilling to sit back and relax, as he's adopted numerous aliases and hopped around stylistically as the muse has driven him. Our personal favorite project of his was the Dr. Octagon collaboration Keith did with Dan The Automator, Dr. Octagonecologyst, a wildly surrealistic ride equal parts future vision and psychedelic twists of wildly, inventive, weird wordplay. Kool Keith brings his show to 1st Ward at Chop Shop on Friday night, and Chicago's own hip-hop legend-in-the-making Show You Suck is one of the openers, so be sure to get there early.
JEFF FEST: Jeff Fest shows off the northwest neighborhood of Jefferson Park at their 17th annual community event. The event in Jefferson Memorial Park features something for the whole family with wine tastings and kids' activities plus live music from the likes of The Buckinghams, Too White Crew and 16 Candles. Admission is a $5 donation benefitting the Jefferson Park Chamber of Commerce.