12 Of Our Favorite Events In Chicago This Weekend
By Michelle Meywes Kopeny in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 13, 2017 5:03PM
Image via Vintage Garage's website.
Friday the 13th in October? Lucky us!
FRIDAY OCTOBER 13
LOGAN CENTER BLUESFEST: The 1st Annual Logan Center Bluesfest will honor South Side roots of the blues this weekend. The UChicago festival includes concerts, workshops, film, food, and conversations with local and national musicians and artists. Performances include Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio and a “Bringing the Blues Back to the South Side” showcase hosted by Billy Branch. Visit the website for the full schedule of events.
Image via Cafe Brauer's event page.
FALL HARVEST DINNER: Revel in Friday’s harvest moon with a Fall Harvest Dinner at the Patio at Cafe Brauer from 6 to 9 p.m. Enjoy locally sourced seasonal ingredients from Roasted Assorted Fall Squash to Charred Peach Trifle. Tickets are $65 ($30 for children).
RIVERWALK OKTOBERFEST: The Chicago Riverwalk celebrates Oktoberfest in its own special way, culminating with a pyrotechnic waterfall display at 7:30 p.m. The day also includes Chicago Fishes, Friday Night Flights aboard a Wendella boat and specials at businesses all along the riverwalk.
MUSIC BY MELKBELLY: Chicago's Melkbelly are celebrating the release of their new album Nothing Valley at The Hideout on Friday night. The quartet channels discordant guitars, tumbling drums, and vocals that often seem to be racing after the hooks just out of their reach dominate the group's debut LP. On paper that can seem like it might be a rumbling mess, but the effect is more akin to being pulled under by a musical riptide and left amidst the chaos to fend for yourself. And we truly mean that as a compliment. It's been a while since we've heard something this obviously so meticulously constructed sound like it was gloriously going to fall apart at any moment.
OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC OPEN HOUSE: The Old Town School of Folk Music’s 60th Anniversary Fall Open House is this Friday evening from 7 to 10:30 p.m. The celebration includes a series of jam sessions, workshops, go-go dance lessons and stories from the school’s six-decade history thanks to storycorps. Free.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 14
Edgewater Beach Apartments. Photo by Eric Allix Rogers.
OPEN HOUSE CHICAGO: Open House Chicago is a favorite event for locals and visitors alike as the event grants access to many hidden spaces in the city for just 48 hours. For free. The event features more than 200 locations in neighborhoods across the city. The Aon Center? Sure. The pink Edgewater Beach Apartments? Yep. Fourth Presbyterian Church? You got it. For a full list of locations, visit the Open House website.
TEETH RATTLING ROCK: The Empty Bottle continues to celebrate their 25th anniversary with a special show from indie metal monsters Pelican. The idea of this largely instrumental band trying to confine their sound in the intimate club space of that venue's music room means there with be a good chance of you really feeling the music. Bring your earplugs. Wolf Eyes and Sweet Cobra open http://emptybottle.com/?event_id=7564085">Saturday night's show.
Image via Rare and Wild Beer Fest's event page.
RARE AND WILD BEER FEST: Rub shoulders with 67-million-year-old year old fossils and a “private suite haver” at the Rare and Wild Beer Fest at The Field Museum at 8 p.m. The evening will feature more than 60 breweries with rare, barrel aged, funky, sour and often inaccessible beers. Tickets are $50 and are only available in advance.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 15
VINTAGE GARAGE: The season finale of Vintage Garage is always a big one and this year they have some special surprises, including a Beck pop-up shop. Come out to the Uptown market for the "Record Ramp" theme, featuring tons of vinyl, record players and stereo equipment, plus vintage Halloween buys. And don't forget to visit the Beck pop-up shop while you're there. Tickets are $5.
SAY CHEESE FEST: Did you know that October is National Cheese Month? Say Cheese Fest Returns for a second go around at Concord Fifty-Five from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Choose from two afternoon session to try bites from cheesy restaurants like Noodles & Company, Saxon Creamery, Cheesewich and many more. Tickets are $40.
DANCING OUTSIDE THE LINES: MisterWives paired up with producer and songwriter Butch Walker on their latest album Connect The Dots, and the result is largely a slick distillation of the band’s already potent brand of dance rock. But the album also broadens the band’s scope a bit and adds some sonic variety later on; something like the elegiac “My Brother” is something new for the group. And of course there is the pop hit between the eyes of the album’s popular single “Coloring Outside The Lines,” that has one of the year’s catchiest choruses on record, to look forward to. MisterWives plays The Vic on Sunday night.
SO MUCH APPLE PIE: We always look forward to the annual Bucktown Apple Pie contest, but this year due to construction on the Holstein Park Field House, the contest has been put on hold and a festival celebrating all things apples will be held across the street in Senior Citizen's park instead! There will be apple pie eating contests, raffles, and kids' activities taking place on Sunday from 1 to 4p.m. UPDATE: The festival has been cancelled. We received a message from organizers saying "We are very sorry to inform you that Friends of Holstein Park must cancel this Sunday's Bucktown Apple Pie Festival. The predicted winds are so high that our tent-rental company decided it would be unsafe to install the tents we reserved. Despite a lot of scrambling to find an indoor venue, we were simply unable to find local indoor space on such short notice."