CHICAGO’S FREE WEEKLY SINCE | MARCH
Election analysis Maya Dukmasova 6 Ben Joravsky 4
B-ball phenom Markese Jacobs Patrick Z. McGavin 9
Rapper Brittney Carter Matt Harvey 26
All yesterday’s parties
The Bearded Lady and the heady days of Dugan’s Bistro, a River North club at the heart of the neighborhood’s glittery 1970s queer scene, are the focus of a new book. By D C 15 THIS WEEK CHICAGO READER | MARCH | VOLUME NUMBER
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR T R - WHATEVER ELSE IT does include, the new was all glam, glitter, and LGBTQIA—who used Writer Brianna Wellen looks at a live-lit-style @ normal at least does not include another to hang out at a club called Dugan’s Bistro. comedy show called Freshman, about bad, Mayor Daley. What a time to be alive! This Oh, we’ve still got politics. Maya Duk- early art. P T B EC AE M must be how the French felt long about 1792. masova digs into 14 races’ worth of runoff All capped off with our original weekly M E PS K But as I promised, this issue isn’t so much data in advance of Election Day, April 2, comic strips. Have a favorite yet? I love John M E D K H about the next mayor. It’s about the city we while Ben Joravsky considers the troublingly P., don’t get me wrong, and no one is more D EK S C L SK will soon choose a progressive black woman low—although not worst-ever—February dear to my heart than Violet, the pet-crime- D P J R to lead. It’s chock-full of Chicagoans past, 26 turnout. solving girl detective. But nothing makes me C EAL M EPM present, and future. It’s about what we get up We’ve also got a two-page comics report on more excited about the continued future of A EJ L to when we spend time together. Chicago’s (lack of) accessibility for folks with independent comics than the superweird, S W D I BJ M S Rising basketball star Markese Jacobs and disabilities. We look at ShawChicago, a 25 downright disgusting P.L. Dermes. S W M D L G up-and-coming rapper Brittney Carter are year-old readers’ theater that’s currently set So read up, Chicago. You don’t have G D D C S M EB W profi led in this issue, while our cover feature to close at the end of June. Culture reporter to start thinking too hard about the next M L C is on the Bearded Lady, a 1970s River North Deanna Isaacs brings us Stanley Tigerman’s election yet. You have a couple weeks. L C S C-J F L CP F scenester—from back in the day when the area latest controversial opinions on architecture. —A E M T A EC S CN B D C D C L C C C J F S F I G A G J H J H I H IN THIS ISSUE D J M K S K M M BM JRN 20 Plays of note Doubt A Parable 36 Early Warnings Neurosis Jane M O Y P CITY LIFE L P A R K S 03 Street View Bird of Paradise explores the Catholic Church in Siberry Jamila Woods and more BS D S A W meets Marchesa Luisa Casati crisis Southern Comfort toasts just announced concerts ------queer joy and We Are Proud to 36 Gossip Wolf The Moses Gun D D Present a Presentation gives a drop their best record yet Hanif JD D P E &P voice to a forgotten people Abdurraqib reads from his book on K K A Tribe Called Quest and more O M SN L
CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISING FOOD & DRINK 37 Jobs -- - @ 14 Restaurant Review Chinatown 37 Apartments & Spaces C @ spots warn of the coming northern 37 Marketplace S M P F barbecue outbreak S A R OPINION A M A R NEWS & POLITICS 37 Savage Love Dan Savage off ers LM -H N S 04 Joravsky | Politics Ben advice for men who carry a heavy C R M T P Joravsky ponders voter turnout load on fi rst dates N A 05 Isaacs | Culture Contrarian FILM V M G --- architect Stanley Tigerman on the 21 Review Finally Marvel makes future of architecture a superhero movie with a tough JL SB 06 Dukmasova | Politics Maya multifaceted woman ------Dukmasova looks at the many 22 Movies of note The Boy Who DC ward level runoff contests Harnessed the Wind is director [email protected] -- Chiwetel Ejiofor’s stellar debut The ARTS Ice King off ers a moving portrait of STM READER LLC & CULTURE BP D RL 15 Lit A new book explores the fi gure skating and Ruben Brandt T ER Bearded Lady of River North’s Collector is a visual feast S J S queer heyday A- S V 16 Comedy A variety show about MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE C C EB hilarious early works by creators Rapper Brittney Carter 26 Feature COMICS SERIALS ------now succesfulin other fi elds is one of Chicago hip hop’s best 39 Comics Your indie faves R ISSN- 17 Theater A er years the kept secrets are back! And weird! Or funny STMR LLC curtain falls on ShawChicago The 31 In Rotation Photographer Julia Sometimes charming Maybe all SM SC IL -- 09 Feature Markese Jacobs was Ruse of Medusa contains monkeys Dratel on a sound artist with an three? Chicago’s hottest rising young surrealism and multitudes ear for ecology and more musical C ©C R athlete Will he be again? 18 Opera Bikers sex and pole obsessions P C IL dancing puppets radicalize 32 Shows of note Body/Head A C R R O P C RR T ® FEATURE Handel’s Ariodante Vince Staples Strange s benefi t SF S’ 12 Comics Why is the city so 19 Dance Alvin Ailey returns to the for Jerry Bryant and other excellent unfriendly for folks with disabilities? Auditorium Theatre shows this week
2 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll CITY LIFE
“FAUX FUR SNAKE SKIN hooflike heels, and other abstract signifi ers of animality have played a key role in my daily self-fashioning,” says Danielle Rosen. The 30-year-old visual artist, photographed at the Garfi eld Park Conservatory, is fascinated by the relationship between human and nonhuman animals, and has spent time working on an Icelan- dic sheep farm in Vermont. There she performed daily massages on three sheep—Luna, Aurora, and Juniper—to remove burrs from their wool. Rosen complements the lush vegetation of the conserva- tory with a look that she describes as “Bird of Par- adise meets Marchesa Luisa Casati.” To match her canary-yellow faux-fur coat from Topshop, she
ISAGIALLORENZO sports a burst of yellow eyeshadow from MAC. From her left ear dangles a string of small color- ful sculptures she designed herself, paired with a Street View black hoop from local favorite Hvnter Gvtherer. For Rosen, style can be a form of armor. “Fashion allows Spirit animal me to molt and to build new permutations of being,” Channeling the power of she says. “It is a form of world building and a way to nonhuman companions carve out new spaces for our bodies.” —IG
ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 3 NEWS & POLITICS
Sixty-fi ve percent of Chicago voters didn’t election Epton, a moderate Republican, was take part in this year’s mayoral election GEOFFMARSHALL turned into the “Great White Hope” trying to “save” Chicago (his tagline was “before it’s too late”) from Washington, who’d defeated Jane Byrne and Richard Daley in the Democratic primary. It was black people voting with pride and white people voting out of fear. Either way, it was the high point of voter participa- tion for a mayoral election in Chicago. Then, of course, there’s the weather. Elec- tion Day was a typically cold and dreary day in February. You’d think that after 182 years (to be exact), the powers that be would have figured out that we have something called winter in Chicago. And that it’s not a good time to have an election—unless you want a low ably a low point in the ongoing experiment of turnout to help incumbents win. democracy in Chicago. Guess we just fi gured out why there’s never I will now o¢ er several of my own theories been an effort to change the state law that for the abysmal turnout, starting with . . . Don- mandates mayoral elections in February. ald Trump. Beyond that there’s something more insid- Usually, I’m blaming him for the vile and ious going on. Many Chicagoans have clearly nasty things he does. But in this case I’m pin- given up hope that a mayoral election has any pointing something he didn’t do. He wasn’t on worthwhile meaning. Politicians and political the ballot. campaigns come and go, and nothing seems to For better or worse, Trump’s the great ener- change, so why bother? POLITICS gizer in politics these days. Chicago’s turnout It’s a vicious cycle. Vote for the same old, in November’s gubernatorial election rose to same olds and nothing changes. So it’s easy to about 61 percent, largely ’cause so many Dem- conclude that you might as well not vote at all. The ruling 35 percent ocrats viewed voting as an act of resistance to And what’s the result? More of the same old, Trump—even if he wasn’t on the ballot back same olds. The vast majority of Chicago voters sit out another mayoral election. then either. It’s hard to make voting for mayor The apathy is highest in the black south and an act of resistance against Trump when all west sides. I’ve seen precinct after precinct— By B J the candidates are already bashing him. like the third precinct in the Ninth Ward, or Then there’s my friend, good ol’ Mayor 1 the 23rd in the 16th, or the 15th in the 20th— Percent himself. I have a feeling turnout would where turnout was in the teens. have been higher had Mayor Rahm stayed No wonder Mayor Rahm feels free to take few days before last week’s elec- basically divided between those who passion- in the race rather than wimping—I mean, $1.3 billion intended for low-income neighbor- tion, I got a call from a local polit- ately care and obsess about Chicago politics— dropping—out in September. He’d have prob- hoods—like those in the Ninth, 16th, and 20th ical operative, freaking out over like me and Maya and that freaking-out politi- ably generated a larger turnout just for being Wards—and spend it on Lincoln Yards in an the fact that the lead items on the cal operative—and those, alas, who don’t. who he is—a symbol of cold indifference to already gentrifying north-side neighborhood. news were not about the upcoming And sad to say—these days it seems the inequality. As long as there are no repercussions at the Amayor’s race, but about the ongoing sagas of don’t-cares very much outnumber the do- In other words, Trump and Rahm represent polls, the inequities will continue. R. Kelly and Jussie Smollett. cares. On the bright side, however, the news candidates people might get fi red up to vote I’m not sure what I can o¢ er as a way of rem- “Nobody cares about anything except R. isn’t as gloomy as we thought. against. At the same time, there really weren’t edy—other than moving the mayoral election Kelly and Jussie Smollett,” the politico ex- Going into last week’s election, the spokes- any candidates to vote for—or at least there to a warmer month. I mean—duh, people. claimed with an f-bomb or two thrown in for man for the Chicago Board of Election was was no clear choice around whom progres- Here’s hoping that the upcoming runoff good e¢ ect. “If this keeps up, you and I will be predicting the lowest turnout for any mayoral sives could rally. between Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot the only ones who vote!” election in history. We beat that rap—barely. On the southwest side, people apparently fi res up the voters. In 2015, roughly 41 percent OK, that’s an exaggeration. But the relative There were 557,000 or so ballots cast last got fi red up over Jerry Joyce, the native son of voters turned out for Rahm’s runo¢ against indi¢ erence of Chicagoans to local politics—as week, or 35 percent of the electorate. That’s up of a prominent 19th Ward political dynasty. Jesús “Chuy” García. refl ected by the turnout of 35 percent—proves from about 484,000, or 34 percent, who voted The vote in many precincts in the 19th Ward If we can’t do better than that, we have to what I call the Maya Dukmasova theory. in round one of the 2015 mayoral election, but topped 60 percent—practically an uprising for live with the reality that the 35 or so percent of Named for the Reader sta¢ writer who coined down from the 595,000 or so (42.3 percent) in this election. the people who vote will essentially rule the 65 it, the theory goes like this . . . 2011. It makes me nostalgic for the mayoral percent who don’t. Damn it, Ben—get on Twitter! But it is up from the 466,000 (33 percent) election of 1983, where we had a citywide It’s called democracy in Chicago. v Wait, wrong Maya utterance. No, the rele- in the 2007 election. That race pitted Mayor turnout of 82 percent for Harold Washington’s vant Maya theory is that the local electorate is Richard Daley against Dorothy Brown—argu- epic showdown against Bernie Epton. In that @bennyjshow 4 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll NEWS & POLITICS
The Titanic, 1978 STANLEYTIGERMAN/ARTINSTITUTECHICAGO Preservation? “Not for my own work,” he told me the next day by phone. In general, “looking backward is not as interesting as looking forward. For me architecture was al- ways fascinating because it was a kind of tabu- la rasa. You sit down at a drawing board—in the old days—with just a white sheet of paper, and you have to invent. That’s the challenge that drew me into this profession. The real challenge is the blank sheet of paper.” For Chicago? “Chicago has this remarkable history,” Tigerman said. “Chicago’s the most modern city on earth, beginning right after the fire, all the way through Mies. So, yes, I guess it is worth saving.” Two days earlier, in the same room, Pres- ervation Chicago executive director Ward Miller announced that the James R. Thompson Center, a building by Helmut Jahn, who joined the Chicago Seven in time to be part of their 1978 exhibit, has, once again, made his group’s annual list of its own Chicago Seven: the city’s postgraduate training center he founded in most-threatened historic buildings. Governor 1993 with his wife and professional partner, J.B. Pritzker, following the lead of his prede- architect Margaret McCurry (and where he cessor, plans to sell the unique, glassy struc- worked for 15 years for “zero dollars”), is ture to a developer. ON CULTURE probably going to close. Its director, Andrew Miller said the center’s atrium is one of the Balster, exited last summer to take a new job. most remarkable interiors in Chicago, and Of this pioneering concept and e¢ ort, Tiger- noted that Preservation Chicago is calling for The Tiger still roars man said, “Everything has a time.” the city to designate it as a Chicago landmark, Tigerman is in a wheelchair and on oxygen, which could protect the building and its public Contrarian architect Stanley Tigerman on Mies, the and says he “feels as embattled now as ever,” spaces. Thompson Center, and the future of architecture but nothing kept him from speaking without What did Tigerman think? notes for an hour and half, explaining—among “That’s a crappy building,” he said. v By D I other things—the most glaring contradiction in his famously nonconforming career: his @DeannaIsaacs reverence for Mies. He was a founder of the t’s a dangerous thing to attempt to bravery and ethics. He’s an admirer of Jeanne architectural Chicago Seven, a group that categorize Stanley Tigerman, but it’s Gang and a fierce critic of what he calls “a came together in 1976 to oppose the hegemo- probably safe to say that Chicago’s res- whole army of architects who diminish the ny of Mies’s modernism, which had ossified #TVKUV9TKVGT ident architectural curmudgeon is not a discipline.” into the ubiquitous International Style. They preservationist. As for any aspiring young architect’s chanc- mounted an upstart exhibit (in opposition 2GTHQTOGT! IWhen an audience member at a lecture last es of real success? “If you’re willing to work to a contemporaneous one at the Museum of %4'#6+8' 51.76+105 (14 week at the Chicago Architecture Center asked 18 hours a day, sell your mother for a nickel, Contemporary Art celebrating modernism), %4'#6+8' 2'12.' the notoriously crusty architect and educator are in the right place at the right time, and are and Tigerman created a now-iconic image what people living in his structures could do lucky, you might have a 15 percent chance.” of Mies’s S. R. Crown Hall building on the IIT 5WRRQTVKXG #HHKTOKPI CPF )QCN to help sustain those buildings for the future, If that’s not discouraging enough, Tigerman campus sinking into Lake Michigan. He titled &KTGEVGF 2U[EJQVJGTCR[ CPF he replied, “What will be will be.” hypothesized that, although technology’s it The Titanic. *[RPQVJGTCR[ HQT #FWNVU Also, “People die, things change.” And “this going to give us a much better world, the “Mies was always my paragon, my hero— too will pass.” profession of architecture might vanish in the the closest to a godlike figure in my life,” /#: - 5*#2'; .%59 Tigerman said he’s not looking for the kind next ten to 40 years—taken over, like so many Tigerman said. “My problem was with his suc- .QECVGF KP &QYPVQYP 'XCPUVQP of veneration for his own work a¢ orded, say, other jobs, by artifi cial intelligence. As a step cessors, who never really got it. My living in a the Mies van der Rohe building he lives in. in that direction, he cited a 3-D printed build- Mies building is a daily challenge, an hourly “My buildings—I’ll be happy if one or two ing designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill challenge.” YYYOCZUJCRG[EQO show up in the history books,” he said. “But for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and, He’s responding to that challenge by draw- OCZUJCRG["CQNEQO save them? I don’t think so.” well, printed out in 2015. ing again now, after taking a year o¢ , “Forgive NWG TQUU NWG 5JKGNF 2TGHGTTGF 2TQXKFGT According to Tigerman, architecture, prac- And he announced that Archeworks, the my lack of humility,” he said, “but the new KIPC 2TGHGTTGF 2TQXKFGT ticed properly, is an act of criticism, requiring public interest architecture laboratory and drawings are fabulous.” ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 5 NEWS & POLITICS
49 50 Incumbents won Incumbents ran unopposed 39 40 48 41 45 Incumbents lost New alderman elected—open seat 46 33 47 Runoff s for open seats 38 R u n o ff s 36 35 44 30 31 32 43 1 2 26 37
42 27
29 28 24 POLITICS 25 22
Just 14 seats hang 12 11 15 in the balance 14 3 4 Runoff season is here, and Chicago may 23 16 20 further freshen up the City Council. 5 13 By M D 17 6 7 18
21 8
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34 9 10 SUEKWONG
ow that we’ve all recovered from Twenty-seven of the sitting aldermen were challenge an incumbent backed by Michael ward voted for alderman back in 1991, last the hangovers and head-scratching reelected last Tuesday, including three Madigan, the Illinois state house speaker week just 44 percent of the voters bothered brought on by last week’s elec- whose elections the Reader watched close- and 13th Ward Democratic committeeman of to cast a ballot—still, it was the fourth- tion results, it’s time for the next ly: Marty Quinn, Anthony Napolitano, and 50 years’ standing. In that race, the incum- highest turnout rate in the city. election cycle. The mayoral runo¢ Emma Mitts. bent 13th Ward alderman, John Madrzyk—a Meanwhile, the northwest-side 41st Ward Npromises to be an issue-driven competition In the southwest-side 13th Ward, incum- City Council wallflower, just like Quinn— had the third-highest turnout in town, with over the mantle of the true progressive, bent Marty Quinn trounced 19-year-old chal- won with 85 percent of the vote. Indeed, the 47 percent of voters casting a ballot. The re- good-government choice to lead the city. But lenger David Krupa with nearly 86 percent staying power of Madigan-backed incum- sult was a landslide for incumbent alderman what about the Chicago City Council? of the vote. This is about what happened bents seems to be una¢ ected by fl uctuations Anthony Napolitano. He won 70 percent of in 1991, the last time a candidate dared in turnout. While 73 percent of those in the the vote against opponent Tim Heneghan, 6 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll NEWS & POLITICS
whose appeals to a progressive silent ma- Dyett High School hunger striker, and union ing to the ward, and to give residents more time and enjoys the mayor’s support. Chal- jority were either out of touch with reality favorite Jeanette Taylor will face former of a voice in zoning decisions. (On Election lenger Derek Lindblom is a former Emanuel or just not rousing enough to get people to CPS teacher and policy consultant Nicole Day his campaign was accused of trying to sta¢ er who’s garnered some union support the polls. Johnson, who has backing from large donors bribe voters with Amazon gift cards, and but hasn’t won endorsements from progres- In the west-side 37th Ward, notwith- a³ liated with the University of Chicago and the state attorney general’s o³ ce is investi- sive groups. standing a social media and community Chance the Rapper. The race is sure to hinge gating.) Acevedo, on the other hand, is seen In the 15th Ward (an absurdly gerry- organizing campaign against her, incum- on the candidates’ positions on policing, by most as the machine candidate and is mandered collection of parts of West En- bent alderman Emma Mitts won reelection economic development, and the Obama Pres- propelled by a mix of unions and real estate glewood, Back of the Yards, and Brighton with 54 percent of the vote and won’t face idential Center. Contrary to many predic- interests. Neither of the two was endorsed Park), incumbent Raymond Lopez is facing a runo¢ . Despite #AnybodyButMitts, which tions, 20th Ward Democratic committeeman by the Sun-Times or the Tribune, but third- Rafa Yañez for the second time. Lopez is targeted her for her steadfast support of the Kevin Bailey fi nished in third place, though place fi nisher Hilario Dominguez appealed a staunch Emanuel ally, while Yañez, a $95 million police academy planned for the his endorsement may prove important for to many progressive groups, and his votes former police officer, has been embraced ward, voter turnout dipped slightly com- the runoff. Bailey gathered only about half could line up for Sigcho-Lopez. by progressive groups because of his calls pared to 2015, from 27 to 24 percent. Though of the votes of the other six candidates who for systemic reforms to the Chicago Police Mitts got just 35 more votes than she did in didn’t make the runo¢ combined. Finally, these are the runo¢ s that involve in- Department and to the way resources are the 2015 general election, with two rather In the far-north-side 39th Ward the cumbents. Some of these wards have a histo- allocated to the police in the city. than three challengers on the ballot, there seat being vacated by Margaret Laurino is ry of close, contested elections, while others In the nearby 16th Ward, incumbent and were fewer candidates to siphon votes away contested by Samantha “Sam” Nugent and are sites of unusual David-and-Goliath races. Progressive Reform Caucus member Toni from her. Robert Murphy. Nugent is an experienced The 15th, 16th, 21st, and 43rd Wards have Foulkes (who’s never not faced a runoff, political operative who’s worked for former had runoffs in at least four of the last five neither in her time as alderman of this ward Five of the 27 incumbents ran unopposed. Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan and election cycles. since 2015 nor as alderman of the 16th Ward has other machine ties. She got the Tribune’s In Lincoln Park’s 43rd Ward, incumbent before the boundaries were redrawn) also Three incumbents lost their seats to chal- endorsement. Murphy, the ward’s Demo- Michele Smith is facing a runo¢ for the third faces a familiar challenger. Stephanie J lengers: Proco “Joe” Moreno in the First cratic committeeman, has support from a Ward has been replaced by Daniel La Spata; variety of progressive groups and got the John Arena has been replaced by Jim Gar- Sun-Times’s endorsement. diner in the 45th Ward; and in the biggest In the north-side 47th Ward—where the upset of all, seven-term incumbent and aldermanic post was vacated by Ameya erstwhile independent Joe Moore lost to Pawar (who’s now in a runo¢ for city trea- progressive darling Maria Hadden in the surer), Matt Martin faces o¢ with Michael 49th Ward. Turnout there was 41 percent, Negron. Martin, a pro-public schools, a five percentage-point jump compared to pro-police accountability, pro-affordable 2015. And significantly, Hadden swept in housing civil rights lawyer, is the progres- every precinct but one. sive favorite (and also, surprisingly, the Tribune’s endorsement). Negron, on the One candidate running for an open seat was other hand, is Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s fa- elected without a runo¢ : Michael Rodriguez, vorite (as well as the Sun-Times’s). He’s a who replaces Ricardo Muñoz in the 22nd lawyer who worked for Emanuel for more Ward. Rodriguez, backed by Muñoz and than six years and has received $45,000 in Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García, is likely campaign contributions from the mayor. to carry on his predecessor’s legacy as a pro- Though Negron has $200,000 more in his gressive voice in the council. campaign co¢ ers, Martin won almost twice the number of votes in Rahm’s home ward. This means four new faces grace the coun- And that’s with seven other candidates cil—so far. We’ll defi nitely have four more crowding the ballot. after runo¢ elections are decided in wards With Danny Solis out of the picture, the where the incumbent isn’t running for re- 25th Ward, which encompasses much of election. Ten other runo¢ s will be between Pilsen and Chinatown, is contested by Byron incumbents and challengers. And some are Sigcho-Lopez and Alex Acevedo. Sigcho- shaping up to be titanic clashes between Lopez, a community organizer with the supermonied establishment candidates and Pilsen Alliance and the pro-rent-control Lift political newcomers. the Ban Coalition, has positioned himself In the south-side 20th Ward (where as the anti-gentrifi cation candidate. He’s a incumbent Willie Cochran didn’t run for longtime critic of Solis and has promised reelection in the face of a federal trial on never to take campaign contributions from corruption charges), community organizer, developers, to bring participatory budget- 310346_4.75_x_4.75.indd 1 9/12/18 12:13 PM ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 7 NEWS & POLITICS
continued from 7 one of only fi ve votes against former mayor Albany Park. There, incumbent alderman were also vying for the progressive mantle. Coleman is running for a second time, with Richard M. Daley’s move to privatize the and bowtie a³ cianado Deb Mell (daughter Though O’Connor is the second-most pow- funding from Governor J.B. Pritzker, char- city’s parking meters (the others being Toni of long, long, longtime alderman and Har- erful alderman in the City Council after Ed ter school operators, and Greg Mathis, of Preckwinkle, Scott Waguespack, Billy Oca- old Washington nemesis Dick Mell) is in a Burke, and has nearly half a million in his daytime courtroom drama Judge Mathis sio, and Rey Colon), faces a challenge from runo¢ with Democratic Socialist communi- campaign war chest, the largely self-funded fame. She actually finished first, with 44 community organizer William Calloway. He ty organizer Rossana Rodríguez-Sánchez. Vasquez could now attract more money and percent of the vote, to Foulkes’s 33 percent, was the one who worked to get the Laquan Mell, who was first appointed in 2013 to endorsements. but the 16th Ward had the lowest turnout in McDonald shooting video released, and replace her father, votes with the mayor a In the 46th Ward, which encompasses Up- the city—just 22 percent. Numbers so low he’s known for mobilizing demonstrations two-point-below-average 93 percent of the town and a bit of East Lakeview, incumbent could indicate a general disinterest in either for racial justice. Hairston, first elected in time. She’s been criticized for perpetuating James Cappleman is facing a runo¢ against candidate. Foulkes enjoys both name recog- 1999, has never faced a runo¢ , and has lost machine politics and for aiding and abet- Lori Lightfoot-endorsed chemist Marianne nition and backing from an alphabet soup of quite a few of her progressive bona fides ting developers who’ve spurred gentrifi ca- Lalonde. This matchup is proof that when it labor groups. since Richard M. Daley left office. Though tion in her ward. All the while, this area of comes to an aldermanic race, money really In the 21st Ward, which neatly captures she’s still in the Progressive Reform Caucus, town has seen a fl ourishing of leftist politi- isn’t everything. While third-place fi nisher Auburn Gresham, four-term incumbent Hairston has a near-perfect voting record cal organizing. In 2015, Mell escaped a run- Erika Wozniak Francis out-fund-raised Howard Brookins Jr. is no stranger to run- with Emanuel, including approving the 2012 o¢ against CPS teacher Tim Meegan by just the other challengers and attracted major o¢ s either—he’s had one in three of the last mental health clinic closures. She’s also 17 votes, and since that defeat progressive endorsements from unions and prominent four elections. His opponent is Marvin Mc- against a community benefi ts agreement for and leftist groups have built a movement to political figures, Lalonde beat her by 167 Neil, who’s got about $5,000 in his campaign the Obama Presidential Center, which would elect Rodríguez-Sánchez. She’s promised to votes with $37,000 less cash on hand. And coffers (compared to Brookins’s roughly be located in her ward. fi ght against the new police academy and Angela Clay, who finished fourth and had $200,000). He’s earned some cred with Thirtieth Ward alderman Ariel Reboyras charter school expansion and for abolish- less than $5,000 in her co¢ ers, only got 141 progressives for his critique of the way real (chair of the City Council’s Public Safety ing the TIF system. She’s also proposing fewer votes than Wozniak Francis. Still, estate interests operate in his ward. Committee) also faces a runo¢ for the fi rst to cut aldermanic paychecks and reopen given their similarly progressive platforms, Then there’s the 31st Ward, on the north- time since taking o³ ce in 2003. A staunch the city’s mental health clinics. There may it seems likely that the other candidates west side, where incumbent Milly Santiago mayoral ally with strong support from the be no place in the city more likely to elect will throw their support behind Lalonde’s faces Felix Cardona Jr., a former sta¢ er for police, Reboyras might seem to have a good an openly socialist candidate. Just next scrappy campaign. It’ll be a tough battle. disgraced former Cook County assessor chance for reelection in his northwest-side door in the 35th Ward, DSA-backed Carlos Cappleman (who has replaced Danny Solis Joseph Berrios. His platform isn’t signifi- community. But his challenger, Jessica Guti- Ramirez-Rosa won against a three-term in- as Zoning Committee chair) enjoys the cantly different from the police-friendly, errez (the daughter of former congressman cumbent in 2015 and has hung on to it in the support of deep-pocketed developers and pro -charter-school Santiago, and with heavy Luis Gutierrez), got only 31 fewer votes than face of a challenge from an Emanuel-backed Mayor Rahm. Though he’s been derided support from state rep Luis Arroyo it seems he did. She maintains a slew of progressive opponent. for not doing enough to protect the ward’s likely that Santiago will hang on to her seat. endorsements and is backed by CTU and In the 40th Ward, the north-side strong- housing stock and not being available to These fi ve, races, however, promise to be SEIU. Gutierrez has promised to fi ght for a hold of incumbent Patrick O’Connor since constituents, Cappleman managed to se- the most hotly contested, and present at charter-school moratorium and an elected 1983, the runo¢ is historic, and the candidate cure 44 percent of the vote. Indeed, he won times radically di¢ erent choices for voters school board as well as for property tax and dynamics are similar to those in the 46th a plurality of votes in every precinct but between the incumbents and challengers: police reform. Ward. Former rapper Andre Vasquez got one. v In the Fifth Ward, alderman Leslie Hair- The dynamics are similar in the 33rd 20 percent of the vote, but the other three ston, who was once celebrated for being Ward, which stretches from Avondale to candidates on the ballot against O’Connor @mdoukmas
8 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll Bouncing back Hometown basketball phenom Markese Jacobs was poised to bring glory to DePaul—until he heard a pop in his knee. By P ZM G
very Chicago Public League gymnasi- team in the city, regardless of its pedigree. His um contains idiosyncrasies of design teammates feed o¢ of his energy. “He always and utility, and Uplift Community talks to everybody, the whole team, on the High School in Uptown is no excep- court, and he likes to give instructions about tion. The most exciting high school how he wants you to play defense or just how Ebasketball game of the year plays out here on to go out there and play,” says Detalian Brown, January 16. The players, coaches, and the scor- a senior guard at Uplift. er’s table are under crepuscular lighting and Jacobs, whose nickname is “the Show,” is a jammed against a concrete wall on the south young athlete in full possession of his talents. side with just a narrow band separating them He has a bold sense of theater, and the court is from the court. his stage. “I feel like I am an artist,” he tells me In silhouette, Markese Jacobs is easy to after the game. “I give the people what they di¢ erentiate from the others on the fl oor. He want to see.” is a whirl of motion, darting and fl oating with On this night, Jacobs makes 22 consecutive natural ease. An 18-year-old senior guard at free throws, tying a state record. He fi nishes 25 Uplift, Jacobs is one of the best basketball of 26 at the free-throw line, the fourth-highest players in the country. ESPN ranks him the single-game total in state history. He scores a number 84 prospect in the class of 2019. His personal-best 46 points and contributes six dream is to play in the NBA. rebounds and a staggering eight steals, under- Jacobs fi rst earned national recognition in scoring his ability to dominate a game at both the summer of 2016 when he made a nonbind- ends. ing commitment to play college basketball at Despite Jacobs’s talent, his three-point shot the University of Kansas. But in a stunning as the buzzer sounds slides o¢ the rim. Young move last November, he backed out of Kansas pulls the game out 103-100 in overtime. The and announced his decision to stay at home crowd seems exhausted and exhilarated when and play at DePaul University. the game fi nally concludes. At five foot ten, Jacobs is muscular, with The game is a prelude to a momentous powerful calves and chiseled arms, built more couple of days for Jacobs. On Friday, January like a boxer or a football cornerback. He moves 18, he scored a new career-best 47 points and gracefully on the open floor and attacks the added six rebounds and fi ve assists as Uplift Jacobs dunks at the Proviso West Annual Holiday Tournament in December. OLAJUWONCORE basket like a gazelle, exploding in the first defeated Prosser. This would be his final quarter to throw down a vicious dunk. high school game. The following day, Jacobs The Uplift Titans are playing the Whitney slipped awkwardly in a private training ses- playo¢ game in 2012. The injury will sideline than 202,000 views. He radiates pure joy and Young Dolphins, a nationally ranked program. sion and heard a small pop in his right knee. Jacobs for six to nine months. flashes his infectious smile while on court The Dolphins have won four state champi- After the swelling subsided, Jacobs under- during games. onships and have had two prominent former went an MRI. The test revealed a partial tear of acobs is a 21st-century athlete, a gild- “Social media and technology get every- players, Quentin Richardson and Jahlil Okafor, his anterior cruciate ligament, one of four pri- ed child of the digital information age body’s attention,” Jacobs says. “When I was reach the NBA. Young features junior guard DJ mary ligaments that connect the femur to the who is the primary chronicler of his being recruited, if college coaches could not Stewart, a wiry and electric athlete who is also tibia. Imagine the knee functioning as a hinge: own narrative. He actively cultivates come out and make it to my game, they could a highly coveted college prospect. (He would the ACL allows for acceleration and sudden a persona, on and o¢ the court. “The just go on social media and see the highlights. fi nish the game with 33 points.) Uplift is the stops. ACL injuries are especially problematic Show”J has, at present, 6,471 followers on Your video can go anywhere. It gets you insurgent program, with an enrollment about for basketball players, who depend so much on Twitter and more than 22,000 on Instagram. publicity.” one-tenth the size of Young’s. quick movements. Chicago Bulls MVP Derrick A YouTube highlight video of Jacobs scoring Historically the great Chicago high school Jacobs takes every game as a personal Rose was never the same player and drifted 41 points against a Saint Louis school last players—Mark Aguirre, Isiah Thomas, Derrick challenge to prove Uplift is not afraid of any from team to team after he tore his ACL in a Thanksgiving weekend has generated more Rose, Jabari Parker—have matriculated J ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 9 continued from 9 When Jacobs was a seventh-grader, howev- at schools on the south or west sides. Jacobs er, everything changed. He joined an intense is an outlier, having spent his whole life in the pickup game with Demarius and some cousins neighborhoods of Uptown and Edgewater. The at Clarendon Park. middle child of a sports-mad family, he was Basketball, he learned, amplifi ed his talent, primed for preciousness. his explosiveness and athleticism, his relent- “When it is your child, you try not to be less drive and competitiveness. Because of biased, and you try to look at it with a regular the scarcity of players on the court at a given eye,” says Marcus Jacobs, Markese’s father. time, a great player like a Michael Jordan or “Since birth he has always been an energetic LeBron James disproportionately changes the and fearless kid. He always stayed that way, as game and potential of a college program or if he never got the memo that he should grow professional franchise. The spontaneity and out of that.” free fl ow of basketball allows for a great deal Football was young Jacobs’s fi rst passion. of creativity and personal investment. Jacobs From the age of nine to 13, he stood out in formed an intimate bond with the players, the youth league at Clarendon Park and Welles court, and the spectators. Park. He excelled as a running back, lineback- “With basketball, it is all skills and talent,” er, and cornerback. he says. “The environment is more boxed in. “We are a competitive family,” Marcus says. Your mind has to be there. People are closer “It’s what we do. It’s in the blood. With Mark- to you, in the stands or talking to you, so you ese, he was just a great natural athlete. I was have to be mentally ready.” convinced if he took up hockey or tennis, he’d do really well at that as well.” plift Community High School, at His brother Demarius, currently a freshman 900 W. Wilson, was founded in guard at Saint Louis University, is two years 2005 and has a student body of older. Originally the brothers chose di¢ erent about 200. According to Illinois sports to demarcate their own interests. De- Report Card, the school is 80 per- marius had basketball and Markese football. Ucent black, 13 percent Hispanic, and 2 percent The separation was a way for them to assert white. their own identity and peacefully coexist. “My David Taylor has been the only boys basket- brother is very laid-back,” Jacobs says. “You ball coach at the school since it began varsity won’t know what he wants to do because he competition in 2007. A native of the north won’t tell you. He only knows what he wants side, Taylor played high school basketball at to do.” Senn and later coached at Von Steuben in Al-
Marcus Jacobs, sons Demarius and Markese, and Marcus’s brother Carl COURTESYMARCUSJACOBS
10 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll bany Park. In 2003, he was an assistant coach He returned to the starting lineup for his “The injury is still a tragic thing for me,” on the legendary Panthers team that became senior year. Before his injury, Jacobs averaged Jacobs says, though he’s relieved he did not the fi rst north-side school since World War II 30.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 3.8 fully tear his ACL. He underwent surgery to re- to qualify for the state fi nals. By the time the steals. Only 20 players in state history have pair the torn ligament in early February. He is Jacobs brothers arrived—Demarius in 2013 ever averaged so many points per game, ac- focused on his rehabilitation and graduating. and Markese in 2015—Uplift was the best pro- cording to data from the Illinois High School Now Jacobs is eager to make his mark at gram on the north side. Association (IHSA). He ended his high school DePaul at the new Wintrust Arena at McCor- When Jacobs arrived at Uplift, he joined a career with 1,613 points. mick Place. He joins highly regarded forward team that had won the state championship in Jacobs has always shown a hunger to stay Romeo Weems (ranked number 45 by ESPN) 2015. As a freshman, he started every game at the top. Despite coming off back-to-back of South Haven, Connecticut, as an impressive and averaged 15.7 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.1 career-best-scoring games, he scheduled one-two recruiting punch to bring new life to steals. private training sessions to stay sharp. He a Blue Demons’ program that has struggled to “He was perfect,” Coach Taylor says. “He torqued his body and his knee gave out. “I was attract top national recruits. Not since Quen- had a genuine excitement about what was working out too hard. I thought it was just a tin Richardson in 1998 has DePaul signed the happening.” Playing with the prominent sprain. I did not think it was serious,” he says. city’s top player. south-side-based club program Mac Irvin “It really broke me at the moment it happened Jacobs says that when he first decided on Fire, Jacobs traveled the national club circuit for a couple of days.” DePaul, he was told he would be better o¢ get- in the spring and summer of 2016, during the Jacobs is a realist, with intimate knowledge ting as far away from Chicago as possible. As school’s offseason. His outstanding talent of the brutal nature of college recruiting. He he faces an injury that threatens to sideline his drew the attention of some of the top college worried while convalescing that his career career, and months of grueling rehab, he says coaches in the country. was over. DePaul, after all, was his second it is better to have the support of his family Kansas coach Bill Self was one admirer. Self choice. He contacted the school’s coaching and friends in his hometown. o¢ ered Jacobs a formal scholarship during a sta¢ as soon as the injury happened, and they “Staying home is not going to break me,” recruiting trip to campus. Within two weeks assured him it did not change the status of his he says. “Just the opposite. It motivates me. It Jacobs committed. “My heart was really with scholarship. lights a spark.” v Kansas, but I felt like I rushed it a little bit,” he Jacobs holds a trophy as a sophomore. COURTESY says. “I did not really break down the recruit- MARCUSJACOBS ing process.” During a city playoff game at Farragut in ed, because everything had been handed to February 2017, the Titans’ dream season came me.” off the rails during a contentious moment That summer Demarius elected to attend 24 lumpenradio.com between Taylor and Jacobs. Demarius fouled Hillcrest, a prep school in Phoenix, Arizona, as 7 coprosperity.org out in the fourth quarter, and Uplift was trying a fi fth-year senior. Upset at not being allowed to get back into the game. According to Taylor, to play in the state tournament, Jacobs wanted Jacobs ignored his coaching instructions. Tay- a fresh start at a new school, so he followed his lor removed him from the game and attempted brother to Arizona. His time at Uplift seemed to talk with him on the bench to explain his to be over. decision. “I thought he was in the wind,” Taylor says. Frustrated, Jacobs directed a barrage of profanity at Taylor. Uplift lost the game and acobs knew he left Uplift out of anger, was bounced from the city tournament. The and also knew that the change in coach suspended him for the Titans’ fi nal two scenery didn’t feel right to him. “It games in the state tournament. Without Ja- was more for [my brother] than it was cobs, Uplift lost a close state tournament game for me,” he says. “I was just there to against eventual Class 2A state champions Orr beJ there with him.” Academy High School. So he returned to Chicago. He was courted Taylor said that success changed who Ja- by several high school basketball programs, cobs was. He saw a young player struggling but he had made up his mind. He asked Taylor to live up to a sudden burst of attention and about rejoining the program at Uplift, and heightened expectations. “Markese is a good Taylor agreed—but also stipulated that Ja- kid, a swell young man,” he says. “Once he be- cobs had to come o¢ the bench. came a star athlete in Chicago, he adopted an During the 2017-’18 season, in a new role as attitude of how stars are supposed to behave. a reserve player, Jacobs averaged an impres- Some of how he behaved in basketball goes sive 18.7 points in 23 games. He led the Titans against how he is as a person.” to a Class 2A sectional semifi nal, where they Jacobs says he wasn’t mature enough for lost narrowly to two-time defending state the big stage. “I felt like I had everything and I champion Orr. Music, Shows, WLPN 105.5 ON knew everything already, but that was not the “When people can live with your mistakes, case,” he says. “You have to be able to listen it motivates you to get up,” Jacobs says. “No Art Events LP FM AIR before you go. I was pretty much too bighead- matter how many times I fall, I get back up.” ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 11 12 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll ll MARCH - CHICA O READER13 F BBQ| G’KSG | R S. Wentworth R W. nd Pl. FOOD & DRINK -- --
TK caption TKCREDIT
Gao’s Kabob Sports Grill; the kitchen of Friend BBQ KATHLEENHINKEL
RESTAURANT REVIEW
between this menu and that at Friend BBQ’s, Give yourself a tongue lashing in addition to which each is almost indistin- guishable in execution (though there seems to be a great disturbance in the Yelpverse with at Friend BBQ and Gao’s Kabob regard to both). At Friend at least you can distract yourself Two new Chinatown spots warn of the coming northern-barbecue outbreak. by staring at six mounted flat-screen TVs livestreaming Dota 2 game play (it’s Survivor By M S at Gao’s). The Xinjiang lamb skewers are a size or two larger here, and I was particularly taken ou could scratch your back with the Lao Pi, sadly, is no more, though chuanr chewy cartilaginous connective tissue crusted with the ribbons of chewy chicken skin and the red-willow twig that serves as the has been replicating quietly in a number of in the blend of cumin, chile, salt, and sesame cylinders of glistening pork belly wrapped delivery vehicle for the Xinjiang other restaurants in Chinatown, and seems you’ll fi nd pasted on much of the chuanr you’ll around snappy enoki. special lamb skewer at Friend BBQ. ready for an outbreak with the recent open- encounter anywhere. There are pigs’ feet too, Does it sound like a mess? Each spot pro- You could knock it in a bow and ing of two specialists, Friend BBQ and Gao’s not unlike the jellylike roasted nuggets found vides plastic gloves to protect tender digits, Ypractice your apple shot, William Tell style. Kabob Sports Grill. The former is a satellite at A Place by Damao. No matter what your and tables are set with paper to absorb the Or you could order a dozen or so of these fatty, of NYC’s well-known Friendship BBQ, based anatomical predilection, Gao’s will grill it on a splatter—though at Friend you’ll hardly need sizzling, spice-crusted meat sticks and, once in Flushing, Queens, while Gao’s is a southern stick for you: kidneys, gizzards, hearts, tripe, them with a roasted half eggplant slathered you’ve gnawed them clean, head into the night incursion, part of a growing minichain in fl ux, and tendon from different creatures in all in garlic that seems delicate in comparison, to hunt the undead that lurk in the side streets with locations in Houston and Plano, Texas their chewy, snappy, slithery variety. Though each strand of the heat-sweetened fruit fl esh and alleys of Chinatown after dark. (where it was recently renamed Focus BBQ). simple lamb- and beef-fatted muscles take top ready to be chopsticked from the skin like a Probably you’ll just doink them in the metal Since they’ve opened, both spots have been billing (red willow again, just for the former), long noodle. Same goes for the chopped scal- canister set at each table of this two-month- mobbed at times, usually late at night, when there are lots of parts to explore, from ruddy lop meat served on the shell under a tangle of old purveyor of shaokao, or northern-style eating meat on a stick is the only safe method pork riblets to suckered squid tentacle tips to noodles. barbecue, found on the streets of every city of exercising your twitchy jaws. scored cocktail sausages (notice how the fi rst At Friend you can also order a mess of in China. That’s also known as chuanr (串儿), These spicy chew toys beg for beer, but character in 串儿 looks like a couple of wee- di¢ erent skewers dunked in a small hot pot— among Muslim Uighurs in the far northwest- though both places o¢ er it on the menu, you’ll nies on a stick) to sheets of textured tofu skin which shows that if chuanr isn’t supplanting ern Xianjing autonomous territory from where have to bring it yourself. Neither is currently wrapped around lengths of chive that almost Chinatown’s other prevailing eating trend, it’s it comes—likewise the particular species of pouring—which can be particularly frustrat- feel like a breath mint amid the relentless at least trying to adapt to it. Either way, Friend shrub these little charred nubbins of ruminant ing in the case of Gao’s, which opened in July brush fi re in your mouth. and Gao’s, like the many hot-pot spots in the fl esh are threaded on. Like many good things, in a narrow shotgun dining room on sleepy There are larger formats with which to fi ll neighborhood, achieve a similar communality shaokao came to Chinatown via the Richland 22nd Place, well o¢ the Wentworth stroll. out a session at Gao’s—garlicky oysters, sheets that scratches primal itches, if not other hard- Mall basement food court, in this case five Of the two, Gao’s seems a bit more open of enoki mushrooms or more chives, piles of to-reach places. v years ago at Lao Pi, a tiny food stall that spe- to o¢ ering the o¢ bits, including, e.g., whole crayfish, heaping platters of spicy chicken cialized in all sorts of charcoal-grilled critters. grilled lamb feet, square-angled joints of and noodles. And there’s quite a lot of overlap @MikeSula 14 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll R READERRECOMMENDEDb ALLAGESF ARTS & CULTURE
hough it opened in 1973, four years danced at the extravagant parties sent him before the iconic New York club, Du- their memories. gan’s Bistro in River North became The club was always packed. “People known as the Studio 54 of the mid- couldn’t believe so many gay people existed west, attracting appearances from in the world, much less in one city,” Keehnen TBette Midler, Diana Ross, John Waters, Andy writes. Keehnen’s interviewees most remem- Warhol, among many others, and often as a bered the Bistro characters who aimed to surprise to the bar’s patrons. But the one star scandalize the straights. Enter the gleefully they were almost guaranteed to see was Bob subversive Bearded Lady. Theiss, better known as the Bearded Lady. Inspired by Hibiscus, the leader of the San It was a time of new liberation for the queer Francisco psychedelic hippie performance community, and River North was known for group the Cockettes, the Bearded Lady, or BL, its glamorous gay nightlife. Same-gender became known for his bizarre performances, dancing had recently been decriminalized in during which he slowly stripped away sev- Chicago. The cops were looking for ways to eral layers of “women’s” clothing until he arrest gays on public indecency charges, but with politically mobilized queer groups like Gay Liberation and Mattachine Midwest back- ing them, the queens were free to dance. When Eddie Dugan opened his club at Hubbard and D ’B L Dearborn, across the street from a police B L By Owen Keehnen. (OutTales) station, he intended to attract the most fl am- Reading Thu /, PM, boyant gay crowd. It drew police harassment Unabridged Bookstore, starting from its opening weekend. N. Broadway, - -, unabridgedbookstore.com . F “After all these years of repression, people were just ready to party,” says LGBTQ grass- roots historian Owen Keehnen, “and they partied like no generation before them.” Some arrived in costume, others rushed to the safety was left wearing little more than his ornate of the Bistro bathrooms to prepare their looks headdresses made of plastic pink fl amingos, for the Christmas party, featuring a large tree kitchen utensils, and birdcages. “He was hanging upside down from the ceiling beside totally outrageous onstage, very strange,” an upside down Santa; or the “Roman Orgy gay activist Rick Karlin told Sukie de la Croix party,” fi lled with men in G-strings and giant of the Windy City Times in 2001 (at the time palm branches; or the circus night with wild published by current Reader publisher Tracy caged animals. But no one was as fl amboyant Baim). BL was the perfect fit for the Bistro. as Theiss. Dugan’s eventually became known Every aspect of the experience was meant J as “The Home of the Bearded Lady.” Now, 45 years later, Keehnen is document- ing the tales of the parties remembered, de- spite many stories lost to a night of cocktails,
COURTESYDARRGAPSHIS a devastating epidemic, and the wrecking ball.
Dugan’s Bistro and the Legend of the Bearded Lady is the latest in Keehnen’s long list of queer history books about various Chicago LIT legends, among them lesbian feminist activist Vernita Gray, Baton Show Lounge founder Jim Flint, and entrepreneur Chuck Renslow, whose All yesterday’s parties many businesses included Man’s Country bathhouse, physique photography provider Dugan’s Bistro and the Legend of the Bearded Lady looks back at a Kris Studios, the International Mr. Leather time when River North was full of drag queens and glitter. competition, and the Gold Coasta, a leather bar down the street from Dugan’s Bistro. By D C While he was writing about Renslow’s bar, many people asked Keehnen what day-to-day life must have been like for these 1970s club COURTESYDARRGAPSHIS
kids. As he asked around, the people who ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 15 F ASA Y T E A Thu /, PM, Transistor, N. Clark, ARTS & CULTURE facebook.com/freshmanchicago . F continued from 15 to be memorable, so flamboyantly against the norm that patrons couldn’t help but tell all their friends. Dugan told the drag queens who worked at the club to get on the bar to dance and kick o¢ all the drinks to the fl oor, and then he’d buy everyone a new drink. For COMEDY Dugan, people asking one another “Did you hear what happened at the Bistro?” was the Hall of best form of advertising. This type of history, of long-ago parties shame and nightlife socializing, is almost impos- Freshman invites sible to document, but it survives in the performers memories of the people who put on the to share their glitter and costumes, a flagrant transgres- terrible early art. sion against what general public considered “decent” behavior. Keehnen set out to collect By B their anecdotes in what he calls a “mosaic of W stories.” His book grew bigger than the story of the Bearded Lady: it became an homage to the many queer people lost in the epidemic cases, but I think the way you really connect in the years after the Bistro’s demise in 1982. with people is to let people know how they “People like to think we don’t have a histo- had fun, how they had sex, where they went ry,” Keehnen says. But that’s not true. Much to party, things that people can relate to on a Annie Russell MATTHEWTHORSEN of it wasn’t recorded during the heat of the really basic way.” party, and then stories went unwritten as After disco died due to racism and ho- friends took care of each other through the mophobia, redevelopment began in River efore Annie Russell became a news editor has discovered one common, moody thread. AIDS crisis. Many of the parties have long North. In 1982, the newspaper GayLife eulo- at WBEZ by day and stand-up comedian “You see a lot of, especially writing, that is been forgotten. “It’s a very fragile history,” gized the Bistro as BL’s home “succumbed to Bby night, she was a college student who really dark and is really sort of hilariously self- Keehnen continues. “But it was an important the wrecking ball and ‘progress.’” There re- wanted to make a real statement with a one- serious,” she says. “You can tell that that per- part of people’s lives, and that’s the part of mains nothing quite like the Bistro today. v act play. Russell describes the work as a cross son was trying to go for this really poignant history I’ve always been most attracted to. between the fi lm Garden State and an episode moment, and it just didn’t really work out.” There’s plenty of coverage on the big court @devlyncamp of Law & Order: SVU, a revelatory piece about The only stipulation is that performers date rape. Years later, she found the play have to be accomplished in some field now buried on her hard drive. It wasn’t quite as so that it takes the sting out of making fun of profound as she remembered. their earlier work. That doesn’t necessarily “That sort of gave me the idea that I know mean the work they show has to be related that other people have things like this sitting to what they’re doing now—even though this under their bed or in a fi le or on a hard drive, inaugural lineup is made up of all comedians, and wouldn’t it be hilarious if we all read the work presented ranges from performance them,” Russell says. “When I read that first art to video to a photo series. The goal is to re- piece for the fi rst time in front of an audience, mind performers and audience members alike I wanted to shrink directly into the ground. I that if you have a piece of youthful writing or was so physically embarrassed. But the way visual art that you’re ashamed of, you’re not the audience reacts to someone who is very alone. clearly getting embarrassed onstage is just In many ways, it’s a confi dence boost to see sort of comedy gold.” how far we’ve all come, but the show’s also What started in 2015 as a show called Cringe! a reminder of how much better we can still in Vermont, where Russell was living at the become. “What I’m doing now likely ten years time, will be rebooted in Chicago this month down the road I’m going cringe at,” Russell as Freshman: A Show About Your Terrible says. “What I feel like is so important is just Early Art. Performers present work that they that ability to look back on work that we did earnestly put out into the world and believed and be understanding that we all start from to be good at the time, whether it be a song, various places, and we get better over time. paintings, short stories, videos—anything that That is what the creative process is about for was created as art with a capital A. me.” v
The Bistro’s (420 N. Dearborn) sixth anniversary party in 1979. COURTESYDANIELGOSS Over the past four years of diving into peo- ple’s most embarrassing creations, Russell @BriannaWellen 16 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll TD ’D / -/: dates and times vary; see website, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, N. Dearborn, -- , shawchicago.org , $, $ seniors, $ students. ARTS & CULTURE
Bryan Wakefi eld as Bluntschli in Arms and the Man PAULPETERSON money back.’ And I never in all those years ever had to give any money back.” Scogin’s legacy may still live on, however. Barbara Zahora, a longtime ShawChicago For Christian Gray, who first performed associate who served as consulting artistic with Scogin and ShawChicago in 1997’s Major director for this fi nal season, is exploring the Barbara, Scogin’s approach “was very much possibility of starting a new classical company like you do Shakespeare. His whole concept and posted a fund-raiser on Facebook to ob- was bringing the music of the language to the tain funds to fi le for nonprofi t status. Nearly audience.” Shaw himself described his writing $2,000 has been raised so far, out of a $10,000 as “word-music,” and ShawChicago’s recent goal. production of Arms and the Man , starring Zahora cautions that the new company is Gray, proved to be a delightful and absorbing still very much in the exploratory stage, and example of how e¢ ective the readers’ theater that if it does take o¢ , it may not always hew model can be. to the readers’ theater model. But for produc- But, Courier notes, selling that model to tions that use it, she says, “[We will] stress newer audiences—even in an age when live-lit to people that the reason we’re doing it isn’t series are proliferating—wasn’t easy. “Shaw necessarily because we’re lacking money or is hard to sell to start out with. I would get a ability to do full productions. It’s a choice— phone call and they would say ‘I understand an active and positive choice to show the you’re a readers’ theater. Is that right?’ And musicality of that type of writing and linear I would say ‘yes.’ And they would say ‘Why humanist thinking that was happening back in would I want to come and see somebody read the late 19th and early 20th century.” v to me?’ And I would say very often, ‘Give it a THEATER shot. If you don’t like it, I will give you your @kerryreid The curtain falls on ShawChicago A er 25 years, the readers’ theater is packing up its Save $5 with code: music stands and calling it a day. TeamFatGay By K R
by Morgan Gould fter 25 years, ShawChicago is going Cultural A¢ airs (now the Department of Cul- directed by Jessica Fisch out the way it started—with a con- tural A¢ airs and Special Events) and became a cert reading of The Doctor’s Dilem- resident company at the Ruth Page Center for ma, George Bernard Shaw’s 1906 the Performing Arts in 2003. Feb 15 - Mar 23 “problem play” about rationed A larger issue than new audiences, however, medicalA care. On February 20, the ShawChi- was the October 2018 death of Robert Scogin, cago board of directors announced that the artistic director for ShawChicago for 23 years. company would be shuttering permanently on Says Courier, “If Bob had been there, it would June 30. have been a challenge. But I don’t think it “Subscriptions had gone down fairly dra- would have been as much of a challenge. Be- matically in the last few years—about 20 per- cause he generally had some pretty good ideas cent,” explains board member Tony Courier, of other things we could be doing to raise who also served as ShawChicago managing funds.” director from 2002 until he retired in June Scogin, who had long been ill, trained most 2018 (he was replaced by Luther Goins). And of the ensemble in the readers’ theater model, it’s women’s work that was largely attributable to the age of our where actors perform facing the audience www.rivendelltheatre.org audience. We never were really successful at with music stands holding the script. Produc- or call 773-334-7728 breaking into a younger market.” tion values are minimal—there are some cos- The company formed originally in 1994 as tumes and music and sound cues, but no sets a project through the Chicago Department of or elaborate lighting. ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 17 TR M R Through /: Fri-Sat : PM, Sun PM, Chopin Theatre, W. Division, ARTS & CULTURE -- , facilitytheatre.org , $.
The Ruse of Medusa LESLIE SCHWARTZ
THEATER Ariodante CORYWEAVER Monkeys, unions, surrealism, OPERA Handel gets radical and “MacArthur Park” Bikers, simulated sex, and pole-dancing puppets pull Lyric’s Ariodante The Ruse of Medusa contains multitudes. into the 20th century. By JF By D I
o one wants to see general director An- action has been moved forward to 1970, the thony Freud on the stage of Lyric Opera melodrama ramped up, and the bad guy in a hen you enter the Chopin Theatre for enhances Satie’s script and makes for some Nbefore the curtain rises, but on opening traditional love-and-power triangle turned The Ruse of Medusa, it may sound interesting dynamics. night of Ariodante last Saturday, there he into an easily recognizable villain—a tattooed Wlike a half-dozen wild monkeys are Wonderfully expressive and over-the-top, was again, bringing the news that mezzo- sadist in biker’s garb under his priestly cloak. performing a musical cacophony on piano, veteran drag performer David Cerda is in his soprano Alice Coote was down with a fever There’s plenty to take exception to, includ- strings, and horns because they are. Settle element as Baron Medusa, complete with and wouldn’t be there to perform the title role. ing simulated abusive sex, props that look in for an hour of wild antics, visual and aural outrageous wig and costumes. He relishes like Tom of Finland sketchbook rejects, and a stimulation, screaming (both human and breaking the fourth wall, directly engaging pole-dancing puppet sequence (substituting A monkey), and total silliness. Written by Erik the audience. Jenni Hadley is powerfully R Through /: Tue /, PM; for a ballet) in which the virginal heroine, Satie in 1913, this lyrical comedy is one of the dynamic as Polycarpe, whose demeanor and Fri /, Mon /, and Thu /, PM; Ginevra, foresees herself hitchhiking outta first plays to contain absurdist and surreal costume recall those of the White Rabbit from and Sun /, PM, Lyric Opera of there and rapidly descending into a desperate Chicago, N. Wacker, --, elements predating the start of dadaism. Alice in Wonderland. A triple threat, she also lyricopera.org , $-$. state of exploited debauchery. All this culmi- As is to be expected from an artist who re- accompanies the superb small orchestra on nates in a radical change in the story (spoiler ferred to himself as a phonometrician (“some- violin and absolutely slays in a solo rendition alert) that amounts to grafting the walk-out one who measures sounds”) and drank himself of “MacArthur Park.” Laurie Roberts brings Aagh. Chalk it up as another casualty of this fi nale of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House onto what Han- to death with absinthe, do not presume a hilarious physical timing as Alstolpho, along long dirge of a winter. In her place, Freud said, del intended as an all’s-well, lovers-reunited straightforward plot in Satie’s work. The story with salacious accordion skills. we’d have recent Ryan Training Center alum conclusion. loosely follows Baron Medusa, a farcical ec- Some elements of Medusa work well, like Julie Miller. Whether that change can o¢ set either the centric egomaniac; his valet, Polycarpe; foster the musical direction by Sam Clapp and the Then the delicious George Frideric Handel original or the new misogyny of this updated daughter, Frisette; her suitor, Alstolpho; and beautifully colorful costumes by Kotryna overture began, and the curtain rose on three production is arguable, but the heavy-handed Jonas, a mechanical monkey. It occasionally Hilko. The choreography, also by Roberts, rooms in what could be a castle on a remote melodrama, wedded to a sublime score in touches on political and labor issues involving occasionally succeeds, like a silly handshake Scottish island where the country folk had which no situation is too dire for delicacy, nu- unions, which may or may not be relevant to dance highlighting the awkwardness of social gathered to hear the stringent admonitions of ance, and beauty, made for a very interesting anything. conventions. The overall action would benefi t a black-clad preacher man. evening. Originally performed in private French from some well-rehearsed clowning tech- As dramaturg Derek Matson noted in a Countertenor Iestyn Davies, fully convinc- salons, The Ruse of Medusa got its most fa- niques and pantomime to help nail the comic preopera lecture well worth the early arrival, ing as Polinesso, the despicable preacher, mous production at Black Mountain College timing. Ariodante, fi rst performed in 1735, is an Italian provided ravishing vocal moments. So did a in 1948, where it featured an interdisciplinary The last 20 minutes bring delightful sur- opera written by a German composer for an pair of silken sopranos: Brenda Rae, in her dream team including architect and inventor prises that directly engage the audience in English audience. It runs just short of four Lyric debut, as Ginevra and Heidi Stober Buckminster Fuller as the Baron and dancer- fun ways that make this surreal sensory show hours (long was appreciated back when there as her easily misled maid, Dalinda. Bass- choreographer Merce Cunningham as Jonas, worth experiencing, if for no other reason was no other way to hear music but live), and baritone Kyle Ketelsen was solid as Ginevra’s with Arthur Penn directing and decor by art- than the strange joy of witnessing a produc- has a good-versus-evil plot that turns on a torn father, the King of Scotland, and Ryan ist Willem de Kooning. Those are awfully big tion unlike anything else playing in Chicago. patriarchal code of ethics in which a female Center tenor Eric Ferring was notable as Ari- shoes to fi ll, and Dado, who directs this Facil- But beware, much like absinthe, Medusa is an breach of chastity can result in an “honor kill- odante’s brother, Lurcanio; Miller, admirably, ity Theatre production, does an admirable job acquired taste. v ing.” Handel set it in medieval times. held her own. Harry Bicket conducted. v staging this di³ cult and bizarre production. In this version, an international coproduc- Dado decided to gender-swap the roles, which @joshua_flanders tion originally directed by Richard Jones, the @DeannaIsaacs 18 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll A A A D T Through /: Wed PM, Thu-Fri : PM, Sat and PM, Sun PM; programs vary, see schedule, Auditorium Theatre, E. Ida B. Wells, - - , alvinailey.org , $ -$ . ARTS & CULTURE
DANCE
Modern classic choreographer Wayne McGregor (Kairos), Alvin Ailey returns to which reflect AAADT’s increasingly eclectic Chicago for its annual visit repertory. to the Auditorium Theatre. Robert Battle, the company’s artistic direc- tor since 2011, says, “If you break down the repertory historically, you see it’s already in there. If you look at Revelations, there’s clas- sical line. When I look at work by McGregor, MARKS TWO anniversaries for Alvin I see the infl uence of a work by [former Ailey Ailey American Dance Theater: 60 years since dancer and choreographer] Ulysses Dove. In the company was founded in New York, and Night Creature, his collaboration with Duke 50 years of performing annually at the Audi- Ellington, Ailey takes a risk blending classical torium Theatre in Chicago. This year the com- ballet with jazz. That’s part of what we do.” pany brings three diff erent programs to town Having directed his own dance compa- featuring a variety of work, including its fi rst ny, Battleworks, for a decade and choreo- two-act ballet. Lazarus, which premiered in graphed several works for AAADT prior to December 2018, is inspired by the life of Alvin assuming its leadership, Battle says, “I feel Ailey and is the third piece created by hip- that same sense of relief and satisfaction hop choreographer Rennie Harris for AAADT. curating Ailey’s repertory as I get as a chore- Other programs include classic works by ographer making things. Ailey was one of the Ailey—including the 1960 masterpiece Rev- fi rst modern dance repertory companies, and elations—as well as new works by American it feels like we’re only just getting started.” choreographer Jessica Lang (EN) and British —I H Linda Celeste Sims and Glenn Allen Sims in Jessica Lang’s EN PAULKOLNIK
A slammed door. An awkward favor. No, you didn’t need to see Part 1. A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2 By Lucas Hnath Directed by Robin Witt
“Taut, smart new play… if you haven’t seen it, you should” – Chicago Tribune ENWOLF PP F E IR T ON S S T Lead Production Sponsor
! A STAGE SEATING ONLY $30 steppenwolf.org | 312-335-1650 WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 19 ARTS & CULTURE
Where we celebrate queer joy Where a lost history is R A toast to a chosen family with a shot of R exumed Southern Comfort. We Are Proud to Present a Presentation . . . O en stage narratives about LGBTQ people use stories grapples with giving voice to a forgotten people. of familial rejection as their anchors, but the beauty of Southern Comfort is in its centering of trans love and This Steppenwolf for Young Adults (SYA) production’s queer joy. Vile parents lurk on the periphery, but this full title is worth sharing: We Are Proud to Present a Pre- play is not about them. It’s never been about them. sentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known A bluegrass musical based on the award-winning as South West Africa, From the German Südwestafrika, documentary, Southern Comfort gets its Chicago pre- Between the Years 1884-1915. The act of shortening miere with Pride Films and Plays under the direction the title reinforces the idea of erasure that’s present of JD Caudill, with North Homeward starring as Robert throughout this play within a play, penned by Jackie Eads, a trans man from Toccoa, Georgia, who has been Sibblies Drury and codirected by SYA artistic director disregarded by a transphobic health-care system and Hallie Gordon and Gabrielle Randle. The cast of six now faces terminal ovarian cancer. His fi nal wish is plays a group of actors struggling to tell the story of the to hit the Southern Comfort conference, an annual little-known genocide of the Herero people, perpetrat- communion of trans folks where he met his sweetheart, ed by Germans at the beginning of the 20th century. Lola (Kyra Leigh). The couple is part of a larger chosen Since the only surviving artifacts from that time belong family that includes Jackson (Lizzy Sulkowski), Carly to the colonizers, the group stretches to personal, (Ricki Pettinato), Sam (Benjamin Flores), and Melanie deeply buried, and o en shocking places in an eff ort to (Sinclair Willman). While the group must come to terms identify with their characters and feel empathy for the with their patriarch’s death, they also hold intimate unwritten Herero story. conversations about everything from Snickers salad to Coping with diffi cult subject matter through humor gender-affi rmation surgeries. The mundane moments only gets the actors so far before each begins to grap- Doubt: A Parable CLAIREDEMOS make for sweet sitcom, something rarely aff orded to ple with his or her role in giving voice to a forgotten communities forced to defend their humanity to the people—or stifl ing it. That each member of the cast is THEATER outside world. primarily identifi ed by his or her race drives home the While there are a number of robust performances play’s main question of who has the right to tell certain Where art meets headlines Where adolescence never ends by trans actors playing trans characters, the show- stories. For Actor 6/Black Woman (Jennifer Latimore), R Doubt: A Parable explores the Catholic stopping moments belong to Leigh, whose take on discovering the Herero is the fi rst time she recognizes Church at a crisis point. I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart should be your Lola brilliantly encapsulates the shi s in vulnerability her ancestors in a photo. This and other subsequent next online binge watch. that come with self-actualization. Her comedic timing heartbreaking realizations by the cast reveal how conse- John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2004 play whips air into tense moments, but it’s her conversation quences and symbols of oppression can devastate gen- is timely now, in the wake of last month’s long-overdue If the 30s are the new 20s, and the 20s are but with Eads’s parents towards the end of the show that erations. —M O W A P Vatican summit to address what the current pope called an extended adolescence, then we may never have recently le a Sunday-matinee audience utterly intoxi- P P Through 3/16: Fri the “scourge of sexual abuse perpetrated by men of to grow up at all if we live long enough. Sam and cated, in big, ugly tears. —KT H S 7:30 PM, Sat 3 and 7:30 PM, Steppenwolf Theatre, the church to the detriment of minors.” Set at a Bronx Leo—“Team FatGay,” as they term themselves—are doing CThrough 3/31: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3:30 1650 N. Halsted, 312-335-1650, steppenwolf.org, $15- church school in 1964, the story dramatizes a test of wills their darnedest to steer us to that brave new world. PM; also Wed, 3/27, 7:30 PM, Pride Arts Center, $20. v between a young priest, Father Flynn, and a starchy These thirtysomethings stay up all night eating Chinese 4139 N. Broadway, 866-811-4111, pridefilmsandplays. older nun, Sister Aloysius, who suspects Flynn of having takeout, popsicles, and cornfl akes; watch Top Chef and com, $30-$40, $25 students, seniors, and military. “interfered with” a 12-year-old male pupil. Though Aloy- Grey’s Anatomy; play Super Mario; and lip-synch their sius is the principal at the school where Flynn teaches, way through choreography from Sister Act II. Yes, they as a male priest he outranks her, and she fears the are in fact plucky, young(ish) writers making their way in We Are Proud to Present a Presentation. . . church’s male-dominated power structure might ignore New York City. Oh, and Sam is fat and Leo is gay. MICHAELBROSILOW or cover up the case. So she embarks on a campaign to Morgan Gould’s 2017 I Wanna Fucking Tear You expose Flynn—a crusade that could bring harm to the Apart proceeds episodically through the lives of these boy she believes Flynn victimized, who is the school’s two roommates and best friends. Sam (Teressa LaGam- fi rst and only black student. ba) is a freelance writer hard at work on her fi rst novel, While keeping the audience guessing whether or a millennial Bridget Jones’s Diary told in texts, status not Flynn is guilty, Shanley also explores the Roman updates, and a food diary. Leo (Robert Quintanilla) Catholic Church at a crisis point, when the Second works for a BuzzFeedesque Web content company and Vatican Council of 1962-’65 was urging the ancient insti- staunchly avoids working on his short stories. Their tution to rethink its relationship to the modern world. island of mutual acceptance and submerged shame Aloysius, a traditionalist, thinks that the church must is disrupted when Chloe (Jessica Ervin), a straight cis project bedrock certainty—even though she chafes at its white female aspiring novelist from suburban Maine, restrictions on her authority as a woman. Flynn, a liberal, befriends Leo and tempts him with the siren song of advocates a “welcoming,” inclusive church—but he also the norm. It’s like a sitcom where all the characters clings to his privileged, protected position as a male in are writers. Sam and Leo’s relationship is the main the ultimate old boys’ club. attraction and drawn well. —I H I W The Gi Theatre’s intimate alley-style staging F T Y A Through 3/23: Thu-Fri vividly expresses the crackling confl ict of ideas and 7 PM, Sat 4 and 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Rivendell Theatre emotions between Aloysius (Mary Ann Thebus) and Ensemble, 5779 N. Ridge, 773-334-7728, rivendell- Flynn (Michael Patrick Thornton). —A W theatre.org , $38, $28 students, seniors, and military. D AP Through 3/31: Thu-Fri 8 PM, Sat 4 and 8 PM, Sun 3:30 PM, 1700 Theatre at Steppen- wolf, 1700 N. Halsted, 312-335-1650, thegifttheatre. org , $45-$55, $25 seniors, $15 students.
20 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll C M sss Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. PG- , min. In wide release. FILM
ssssEXCELLENTsssGOODssAVERAGEsPOOR• WORTHLESS t is spectacular and unsurprising that Captain Marvel, a vivid action-adventure centered on the rise of Carol Danvers, is the fi rst fi lm in the Marvel Cinematic Universe led by a female superhero. The Iold and stubbornly held Hollywood belief that a superhero movie starring a woman would fl op was bolstered by some painful evidence: the critical and fi nancial failures of Supergirl (1984), Tank Girl (1995), Catwoman (2004), MOVIES and Elektra (2005). Enter Wonder Woman in 2017, a triumph by every measure for DC and Warner Bros., and the conversation shifted. Not “Just a Girl” Studios and audiences began to wonder: What if other female superhero fi lms had failed not Captain Marvel shows that all female- because of a lack of audience interest in the led superhero movies needed was leads, or even a lack of demand, but because good writing, acting, and direction. the films themselves were shoddily written, acted, directed, and marketed? Build a good By L P movie, it turns out, and fans will come. Thankfully, Captain Marvel is a good movie, both because and notwithstanding the fact that the lead is a tough, multifac- eted woman. Codirectors Anna Boden J
ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 21 R READERRECOMMENDEDb ALLAGESN NEWF FILM
NOW PLAYING continued from 21 she does know and like herself. She is com- Christopher Strong and Ryan Fleck ( Half Nelson , It’s Kind passionate, moral, ambitious, sarcastic, and, NThe Boy Who Harnessed Tiresome, conventional 30s melodrama about a stiff of a Funny Story ), who also cowrote yes, emotional. Her weakness, paradoxically, R the Wind Britisher (Colin Clive) torn between his wife (Billie the screenplay with Geneva Robertson- was believing that suppressing these parts Burke) and an aristocratic aviatrix (Katharine Hep- Dworet, understand that resilience more of herself would make her strong. In his feature directorial debut, Chiwetel Ejiofor exam- burn). Dorothy Arzner’s direction encourages feminist ines the troubling dynamics of family, government, and sympathies, only to dash them with a punitive fi nale that than physical strength is their heroine’s This is the movie’s radiant core, while love through the eyes of a brilliant young boy named seems harsh even for the period. As Molly Haskell has superpower. Repeatedly, she falls down. Re- the rest of it—like the majority of MCU William Kamkwamba who builds a wind turbine in his noted, the costume design carries the brunt of the pol- peatedly, she stands up. The feelings roused stand-alone romps—is unselfconscious, Malawi village. By focusing on William and using his itics—Hepburn’s jumpsuit is a revolution in itself (1933). by this age-old perseverance story are action-packed fun. Set in 1995, the narrative point of view to guide the narrative, the fi lm is more —D K 78 min. 35mm archival print. Wed 3/13, 7:30 optimistic and less devastating than it could have PM. Northeastern Illinois University universal; the position of Carol as a woman accelerates when Carol crash-lands through been. Perhaps the best moments are when characters surrounded by male fighters, however, in- the roof of a Blockbuster Video in Los Ange- defy what they know and shamelessly pronounce their Cría Cuervos tensifi es her underdog status and raises the les, where young agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick beliefs. The use of the Chichewa language throughout An ambitious but unstructured psychological thriller stakes of an otherwise conventional hero’s Fury and Phil Coulson (digitally de-aged the fi lm paired with the naturalness of the characters (although that’s too strong a word for this deliberately in the village creates a strong sense of place. Ejiofor discreet fi lm) from Spain’s Carlos Saura. Geraldine journey. Not only are powerful forces in the Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg, respec- captures perfectly the heart of a town struggling to Chaplin and Ana Torrent (the little girl from Spirit of galaxy hell-bent on her destruction, but the tively) find her chasing down a cadre of prosper, a family fi ghting to survive, and a young boy the Beehive) act out a morbid roundelay of memory and men in her life are quick to belittle her when shape-shifting Skrulls. Carol and Fury unite who just wants to keep the world as he knows it alive desire, involving a schoolgirl who may or may not have she dares to do what they can do, and better. in unlikely friendship, with the latter helping and well. —A R 113 min. Streaming on Netfl ix murdered her parents. There is an obvious intelligence at work in this 1976 feature, but the ideas remain elusive. Carol, played with grit and verve by Oscar the former track down the remnants of her But I’m a Cheerleader In Spanish with subtitles. —D K 105 min. 35mm. winner Brie Larson, can’t remember who she previous life on earth. From his fi rst appear- High school cheerleader Megan (Natasha Lyonne) Sun 3/10, 7 PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films is. For six years she has lived on the planet ance as Fury in Iron Man (2008), Jackson has comes home one day to fi nd family and friends gath- Hala as a Kree warrior named Vers, fi ghting been a central and beloved fi gure in the MCU; ered in the living room. They talk her into going to a Gummo green aliens called Skrulls across the uni- his presence here, pre-eye patch, is delight- rehabilitation camp for homosexuals that’s no more Written and directed by Harmony Korine, who wrote surreal than her suburban community—the absurdist Kids, this poetically disjointed narrative (1997) also verse, with only flashes of memories that ful. Annette Bening also shines as a rugged environment, with its rigorously defi ned gender roles, follows young people engaged in nihilistic activities and point to who she might have been before: mentor from Carol’s test-pilot days; she tweaks reality enough to show how little exagger- has an ambiguous relationship to both documentary a scrappy child disparaged by her father, appears in visions as someone Carol used to ation the satire requires. As a ditz who’s just smart and fi ction fi lmmaking—but none of the earlier movie’s an unshrinking fighter pilot in the U.S. Air fi nd impressive, though she can’t recall why. enough to know something isn’t right, Lyonne blends prurience or condescension. Killing cats is a pastime hyperbole and sincerity in perfect proportions. Jamie and source of income for two boys (Jacob Reynolds and Force, and a devoted friend of other valorous Similar to the way 1970s music and Babbit directed a screenplay by Brian Wayne Peterson; Nick Sutton) who sniff a lot of glue in a town identifi ed women. But the Kree leader of her Starforce references fueled Guardians of the Galaxy with Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, and RuPaul Charles. as Xenia, Ohio. Much of their behavior and the behavior team, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), discourages her (2014), 1990s pop culture infuses Captain —LA R, 85 min. 35mm. Tue 3/12, 7 PM. Univ. of other people in the movie was surely guided if not from investigating her emotional cosmology. Marvel with nostalgic quirks. Carol visits of Chicago Doc Films predetermined by Korine, yet few of the performers appear to be actors in scripted roles. In one scene a You’re too emotional, he tells her—a jibe a Radio Shack in a strip mall with walls most women are used to hearing. Think with papered in Mellon Collie and the Infinite your head, not your heart, he says. Sensitivi- Sadness posters. Later, she lifts an outfit ty is weakness. Your feelings will betray you. from a mannequin that Fury deems “grun- Captain Marvel is in many ways a paean to ge”: leather jacket, fl annel, jeans, and a Nine The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind empathy and intuition, qualities commonly Inch Nails T-shirt. Mid-90s jams punctuate associated with women but beneficial to the soundtrack: “Just a Girl,” “Come As You anyone willing to tap into themselves. Yon- Are,” “You Gotta Be,” and “Celebrity Skin,” to Rogg tells Vers a story about herself that on name a few. Troll dolls and True Lies sneak the surface she believes, but deep down, she into the periphery. A CD-ROM carrying questions. Self-knowledge is rare, especially valuable information takes an interminable among women for whom entire industries amount of time to load. are built to eradicate their confidence These playful touches, along with plenty of and convince them they should be more in-jokes and Easter eggs for the MCU cogno- like someone else. Gaslighting, typically scenti, are the sprinkles on top of an already perpetrated by men who want to control satisfying treat. Though less substantial women under the guise of mental superior- than last year’s Black Panther and probably ity—“She’s crazy” is one common refrain—is less intense than the upcoming Avengers: another tactic with which many women are Endgame, Captain Marvel is strong at its uncomfortably familiar. Vers, who feels center. Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, against reason that she is not who her su- is a formidable force and a welcome addition perior claims her to be, represents every to the MCU. Her debut also evinces a radical woman and girl who was told at some point truth: that the qualities “emotional” and to be someone unlike herself. In addition to “powerful” can be synonymous. v learning her true name and identity, Carol discovers over the course of the movie that @leahkpickett 22 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll Get showtimes at chicagoreader.com/movies. FILM
woman (who was previously shown mothering a doll) the pretense of being an artist—ultimately this isn’t a Village. This tender, lushly romantic drama follows Tish are numerous story developments that don’t seem to shaves off her eyebrows. Filling one hand with shaving comedy so much as a cautionary tale. —B S and Fonny, childhood friends who grow into adult soul go anywhere—a man in a neighboring apartment block cream and trying to use the other to keep her bangs 103 min. Puccini attends the screening. Sun 3/10, 7 PM. mates (KiKi Layne and Stephan James), but who are sun- jumps to his death, the mother falls under the sway of a out of the way as well as wield a razor, she exhibits a Nightingale dered a er they conceive a baby and a racist white cop motivational speaker—but Chen is admirably attuned to startling absence of intelligence. Crooned ballads and frames Fonny for rape. Standouts among the supporting the family dynamics and how they’re shaped by money. metal music enhance scenes of perversely enchanting NThe Ice King cast include Regina King as Tish’s staunchly protective In subtitled English, Mandarin, Tagalog, and Hokkien. power, and a voice-over tells us in gory detail how a R John Curry wanted to be a ballet dancer; his mother, and Brian Tyree Henry as Fonny’s friend, hol- —JRJ 99 min. Sat 3/9, 1 PM. Northwestern Uni- tornado devastated Xenia years before, as if to explain conservative father only allowed fi gure skating because lowed out by his own recent two-year prison term on versity Block Museum of Art F the strangely passive violence in a town where every- he saw it as a sport, not an art. As noted documentary a trumped-up charge. James Laxton’s cinematography one’s reason for existence seems to be breaking taboos. fi lmmaker James Erskine illustrates in this moving por- is even more richly hued than his work on Jenkins’s Kids The director of photography is Jean Yves Escoffi er. trait of Curry, one of the most elegant skaters to ever Moonlight, and the sound design and Nicholas Britell’s From noted still-photographer-turned-director Larry —LA R, 89 min. Preceded by a selection grace the ice, the son defi ed his father with almost every score add to the movie’s brimming sensory pleasures. Clark and young screenwriter Harmony Korine, both of shorts by Korine. 35mm. Thu 3/14, 7:30 PM. Music Box balletic turn. And yet, despite winning Olympic gold With Colman Domingo, Michael Beach, Diego Luna, making their screen debuts, a slightly better than for England in 1976 and founding an innovative touring Pedro Pascal, and Emily Rios. —A G R, average youth exploitation fi lm (and grim cautionary I Don’t Care company of ice dancers, Curry battled depression and 119 min. Sat 3/9, 7 and 9:30 PM; and Sun 3/10, 4 PM. fable about both AIDS and macho teenage cruelty) that Local fi lmmaker Casey Puccini wrote and directed this loneliness as a gay man precluded from living as freely ArcLight, ArcLight Glenview, Century 12 and CineArts 6, hysterical American puritanism contrived to convert no-budget 2018 comedy about no-budget fi lmmaking; as he danced. Suitably, Erksine forgoes talking heads Showplace ICON, Univ. of Chicago Doc Films into big news. (The New York Times’s Janet Maslin implicating himself in the movie’s satire, he also stars as for interspersed audio of Curry’s peers and admirers, called this “a wake-up call to the world”—meaning, I a vain, incompetent director named Casey Puccini. The keeping the fi lm’s visual and emotional focus on the Ilo Ilo suppose, that rice paddy workers everywhere should story follows the accident-ridden production of Puccini’s man himself and the transporting power of his art. Anthony Chen, a Singaporean writer-director with a shell out for tickets and stop evading the problems of latest feature, a would-be hard-hitting drama of drug —L P 88 min. Showing as part of the Chicago half-dozen shorts to his credit, makes his feature debut white Manhattan teenagers.) But if the news is so big, addiction in the vein of Abel Ferrara. Chronically high European Union Film Festival. Sat 3/9, 3 PM, and Mon with this vividly characterized domestic drama (2013), a why does it sound like such tired and familiar stuff ? and inattentive to detail, the director screws up nearly 3/11, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center prize winner at the Cannes fi lm festival. A middle-class And reviewers who claimed that this depressing movie every aspect of the shoot, from lighting individual shots couple, clinging to respectability a er the husband loses takes no moral position about what it’s depicting must to telling his cast when they need to show up for fi lming. If Beale Street Could Talk his job, hire a Filipino immigrant to clean their apartment have been experiencing some form of self-induced But rather than take responsibility for his mistakes, he R Set in 1974, when New York City verged on and look a er their bratty, troublesome school-age son. shock, because taking moral positions is just about all lashes out at the people around him when things go bankruptcy and its neighborhoods were unraveling, For a while their new employee puts up with his bullying it does. The photography is striking and the acting and wrong, and the production disintegrates into chaos. director Barry Jenkins’s luminous 2018 adaptation of and acting out, but eventually she manages to disarm dialogue seem reasonably authentic, if one factors in Much of the discomforting humor stems from the bad James Baldwin’s novel fi nds beauty and hope amid and discipline the little monster, and his growing aff ec- all the sensationalism, but let’s get real—this was at behavior people think they can get away with under the decay and desperation in Harlem and Greenwich tion for her begins to arouse his mother’s jealousy. There best the 15th most-interesting movie I saw at the
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NORTH AMERICA’S LARGEST $11 GENERAL | $7 STUDENTS | $6 MEMBERS EUROPEAN UNION SHOWCASE SISKELFILMCENTER.ORG/CEUFF ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 23 FILM
B 1995 Cannes festival. If you’re determined to suc- category’s newest addition—and by far the most visually Tower. A Bright cumb to the bait, I hope you have more fun than I did. compelling. Ruben is an art therapist who keeps having With Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, and Chloë Sevigny. nightmares where famous paintings try to kill him. Mimi —JR 91 min. Preceded by Gus Van is a circus performer turned art thief who, along with a Sant’s 2000 short Easter (31 min.), also written by Korine. ragtag group of Ruben’s patients, executes elaborate 35mm. Fri 3/8-Sat 3/9, midnight. Music Box heists to steal what’s keeping him up at night. The setup takes a little too long to come together, and some of Maborosi the plotlines feel forced and unnecessary, but the fi lm’s R This sensitive and at times beautiful 1995 fea- inventive mixed animation style and character designs ture by Japanese documentary fi lmmaker Hirokazu reminiscent of Picasso’s cubist portraits make it worth Kore-eda focuses mainly on the second marriage and watching in spite of its narrative fl aws. —C C new life of a young mother whose fi rst husband inexpli- 96 min. At Music Box. Visit musicboxtheatre.com for cably committed suicide. She moves to a small coastal showtimes. village to live with her son, new husband, and step- daughter and tries to come to terms with her life as a Shadow of a Doubt whole. Clearly infl uenced by Yasujiro Ozu and Taiwanese R Alfred Hitchcock’s fi rst indisputable master- director Hou Hsiao-hsien (subject of one of Kore-eda’s piece (1943). Joseph Cotten is Uncle Charlie, aka the documentaries), the fi lm avoids close-ups, favors extend- Merry Widow Murderer, who returns to his hometown ed long shots, and o en concentrates on the fl avor and to visit his niece and namesake, played by Teresa texture of everyday life. Not a masterpiece perhaps, but Wright. Hitchcock’s discovery of darkness within the an impressive fi rst feature, with moments of real power heart of small-town America remains one of his most and lingering a ereff ects. The title, incidentally, means harrowing fi lms, a peek behind the facade of security “illusion” or “mirage.” Screenwriter Yoshihisa Ogita that reveals loneliness, despair, and death. Thornton and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve (Eden, Goodbye, doctor tries to expose the conspiracy, he encounters adapted a short story by Teru Miyamoto. In Japanese Wilder collaborated on the script; it’s Our Town turned First Love), this French drama (2016) gives Huppert a pushback from his hospital’s administration, the local with subtitles. —JR 110 min. 35mm. inside out. —D K PG, 108 min. 35mm. Thu 3/14, brilliant, Rousseau-quoting character to play around news media, and eventually his own family. Rotaru and Mon 3/11, 7 PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films 9:30 PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films with, and she saunters through the role, fi nding fresh Sarga employ the sort of hyperrealist long-take aesthet- moments in every scene. Hansen-Løve, almost three ic familiar from much 21st-century Romanian cinema, but Mr. Arkadin Strictly Ballroom decades younger than her illustrious star, focuses on the this feels particularly like Mungiu’s work in its general R Orson Welles’s 1955 fi lm seems a deliberate, A festival favorite in 1992, this fl amboyant Australian professor’s relationships with young people—her two humorlessness and thematic emphasis on pervasive cor- bitter parody of Citizen Kane, with the grandeur turned crowd-pleaser and fi rst feature by Baz Luhrmann (Mou- grown children; her lively and devoted students; a young ruption. Better directed than scripted, the fi lm seriously to transparent theatrical fakery and the quest for truth lin Rouge) struck me then as one of the more horrifi c writer who off ers the vague prospect of May-December overstates its moral confl icts and characterizations; defl ected into shoddy opportunism. The fi lm has the and unpleasant movies I’d seen in quite some time—a romance—and these contribute to Huppert’s portrait of Rotaru and Sarga strain for ambiguity by giving all the eerie, placeless quality of international coproduction glib, brassy, and strident Rocky-style comedy about a a woman who, despite her advanced years, fi nds herself principal characters one positive and one negative trait (France and Spain in this case); many of the minor 21-year-old ballroom champion who teams up with a perched on the edge of discovery. In French with subti- each. —B S 120 min. Showing as part of the characters have been dubbed with Welles’s voice, which fl amenco dancer. With Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill tles. —JRJ PG-13, 102 min. Wed 3/13, 7 and 9:30 Chicago European Union Film Festival. Fri 3/8, 6 PM, and increases the sense of a sinister puppet show. Sporting Hunter, Pat Thomson, and lots of show-off y ballroom PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films Wed 3/13, 7:45 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center an outrageously false beard, Welles plays the mysteri- dancing. —JR 94 min. Thu 3/14, 7 ous title character, an international businessman who PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films NThou Shalt Not Kill NTower. A Bright Day. lures a young hustler (Robert Arden) into investigating Catalin Rotaru and Gabi Virginia Sarga’s A critics’ darling in Poland, this debut feature by his past. For all of the fi lm’s perversity, there is greatness Things to Come breast-beating Romanian drama feels like a modern- writer-director Jagoda Szelc displays an ambitious, in it—a greatness harshly criticizing itself. With Michael R Isabelle Huppert stars as a respected philos- dress version of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People as fi l- elusive sensibility, though its most striking attributes Redgrave, Mischa Auer, and Akim Tamiroff . —D K ophy professor whose fi eld of study comes in handy tered through the sensibility of fellow Romanian Cristian feel recycled from other movies. It depicts the reunion 99 min. Former Reader fi lm critic Jonathan Rosenbaum when her husband of many years, played by André Mungiu. A dedicated but hotheaded doctor starts inves- of an extended middle-class family at the countryside lectures at the screening. The 105-minute 1955 U.S. Marcon, announces that he’s moving in with a younger tigating his hospital’s practices a er a child he operates home of a thirtysomething woman and her husband. release version is showing. 35mm. Tue 3/12, 6 PM. Gene woman. As if this weren’t enough, the professor’s on dies of septic shock; he discovers that the company The couple has been raising the child of wife’s mentally Siskel Film Center mentally ill mother, played by Édith Scob, begins to go that supplies Bucharest’s hospitals with disinfectant is ill sister, who arrives at the reunion a er having not been off the rails, requiring her constant attention. Written purposely diluting the product to save money. As the seen for several years. Szelc charts the growing tension Phoenix between the sisters obliquely; the fi lm mostly shows the Mutilated by the Nazis, a Jewish concentration camp Ruben Brandt, Collector family interacting as a whole, forcing viewers to suss out survivor (Nina Hoss) undergoes reconstructive surgery on their own the dynamics between individual members. that renders her unrecognizable; when she tracks down This compelling dramatic strategy—which makes the her beloved gentile husband (Ronald Zehrfeld), who family seem like an amorphous single organism—brings secretly divorced her and now thinks her dead, he takes to mind Lucrecia Martel’s La Ciénaga (2001) and Alice her for a stranger and recruits her to impersonate his Rohrwacher’s The Wonders (2014); what’s missing is the late wife so he can pocket her inheritance. The plot other fi lms’ humor and sympathy. Szelc’s outlook is so of this German drama (2014) is so implausible—like pessimistic and dark that this o en feels like a horror something from an old Bette Davis movie—that one fi lm, and the oppressively spooky score and sound expects a giant thematic payoff in exchange for play- eff ects heighten this association. In Polish with subtitles. ing along. Writer-director Christian Petzold (Jerichow, —B S 106 min. Showing as part of the Chicago Barbara) fails to deliver, but there are some powerful, European Union Film Festival. Sun 3/10, 3:15 PM, and silent dramatic moments as each character approaches Mon 3/11, 8 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center the ugly truth about their relationship. In German with subtitles. —JRJ 98 min. Sat 3/9-Sun 3/10, 11:30 NThe Wedding Guest AM. Music Box Writer-director Michael Winterbottom reimagines 1940s Hollywood noir tropes in this understated crime thriller NRuben Brandt, Collector set in contemporary India. Dev Patel stars as a tight- From Nathaniel Kahn’s The Price of Everything to Dan lipped, methodical British Muslim hired gun who snatch- Gilroy’s Velvet Buzzsaw, fi lms have pivoted to an illus- es a demure bride (Radhika Apte) on the eve of her trious and mysterious source of inspiration: the art arranged marriage in Pakistan. He’s supposed to get the world. Milorad Krstic’s Ruben Brandt, Collector is the rest of his commission when he delivers her to her ex, a
24 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll Get showtimes at chicagoreader.com/movies. FILM
spoiled, mercurial London jeweler, but that cocky play- NCarmen & Lola boy (Jim Sarbh), fearing exposure and disinheritance, Two teen Roma girls begin to explore their attraction to gets cold feet when her abduction makes worldwide each other in this Spanish romance. Arantxa Echevarría headlines. A series of double and triple crosses ensue, directed. In Spanish with subtitles. 103 min. Showing as while the kidnapper and his not-so-innocent captive take part of the Chicago European Union Film Festival. Sun a road trip through the subcontinent to Amritsar, Jaipur, 3/10, 5:30 PM, and Thu 3/14, 8:15 PM. Gene Siskel Film Delhi, and coastal Goa, switching identities and trans- Center port modes as they chase the cash and evade the law. Cinematographer Giles Nuttgens’s (Hell or High Water) NCentral Airport THF vivid, lush images of an India throbbing with color and Berlin-based Brazilian-Algerian fi lmmaker Karim Aïnouz life underscore the interiority of the moody protagonist, directed this German documentary about Berlin’s shut- and the actors make their untrustworthy schemers down Tempelhof Airport, which is now used as a holding mysteriously attractive, a requisite if the audience is to center for immigrants. In English and subtitled German Wedding Crashers care what happens. In the end, the screenplay is the let- and Arabic. 98 min. Showing as part of the Chicago MAR 8-11 AT 11 PM down, hewing too closely to generic convention. Patel’s European Union Film Festival. Sat 3/9, 3 PM, and Thu character’s past is le deliberately murky, and even 3/14, 8:30 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center though he is smart and media savvy, we have no idea if any of his cultural infl uences included movies like The Climax Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, and Out Gaspar Noé directed this French-Belgian horror drama of the Past (or their remakes and copycats). But arguably about dancers on a bad trip a er unknowingly taking viewers of this movie have seen them, and might wish he LSD. In English and subtitled French. R, 95 min. At hadn’t turned out to be just another pistol-packing sap. Landmark’s Century Cinema. Visit landmarktheatres. —A G 94 min. At Landmark’s Century com for showtimes. Cinema. Visit landmarktheatres.com for showtimes. Family in Transition Ofi r Trainin directed this Israeli documentary about a ronin husband who comes out as transgender a er 20 years MAR 12-14 AT 10:30 PM ALSO PLAYING of marriage. In Hebrew with subtitles. 70 min. Showing as part of the JCC Chicago Jewish Film Festival. Sun 311: Enlarged to Show Detail 3 3/10, 7:30 PM. Century 12 and CineArts 6, Music Box For showtimes and advance tickets, visit Wayne Price directed this concert documentary about thelogantheatre.com the rock band 311. 115 min. Mon 3/11, 7 PM. Century 12 Gaspard at the Wedding and CineArts 6, City North 14, Music Box, River East 21, A man hires a young woman he meets to pose as his Webster Place 11 girlfriend while at his father’s wedding. Antony Cordier 24 lumpenradio.com directed this 2017 French-Belgian comedy drama that 7 coprosperity.org NAmateurs continually shi s narrative direction. In French with sub- Gabriela Pichler directed this Swedish comedy drama titles. 102 min. Showing as part of the Chicago European about a town hoping to lure a megastore with a Union Film Festival. Fri 3/8, 4 PM, and Tue 3/12, 6 PM. professionally made documentary on the city, and two Gene Siskel Film Center high-school girls, one Iraqi and one Turkish, who decide to make their own, more truthful, version. In English and I’m Not Here subtitled Swedish, Arabic, Tamil, Kurdish, and Bosnian. Michelle Schumacher directed this 2017 drama about a 102 min. Showing as part of the Chicago European Union man struggling to deal with memories of his past. 81 min. Film Festival. Fri 3/8, 2 PM, and Tue 3/12, 8 PM. Gene At Facets Cinémathèque. Visit facets.org for showtimes. Music, Shows, WLPN 105.5 ON Art Events LP FM AIR Siskel Film Center NLoro NArthur & Claire Paolo Sorrentino directed this fi ctionalized Ital- Miguel Alexandre directed this 2017 Austrian-Dutch ian-French biopic about the life of former Italian prime fi lm about a man with terminal cancer who travels to minister Silvio Berlusconi. In Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Repeat Performance Amsterdam to commit legal suicide. His plans thwarted, and Chinese with subtitles. 150 min. Showing as part of Joan Leslie plays a woman who kills her husband; regret- partner, Marion Cotillard, also plays herself. In French he meets a young woman at his hotel who is dealing the Chicago European Union Film Festival. Sat 3/9, 4:45 ting the events that let up to the killing, she relives the with subtitles. 123 min. Showing as part of the Chicago with her own issues. In English and subtitled German PM, and Wed 3/13, 6:30 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center previous year, but fi nds that the past is not so easily European Union Film Festival. Sun 3/10, 3 PM, and Thu and Dutch. 100 min. Showing as part of the Chicago changed. Alfred L. Werker directed this 1947 crime 3/14, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center European Union Film Festival. Sat 3/9 and Mon 3/11, 7:45 NMiss Hanoi drama. 92 min. 35mm. Fri 3/8, 7 and 9:30 PM; and Sun PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Zdenek Viktora directed this Czech crime fi lm about a 3/10, 1:30 PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films NThe Saint Bernard Syndicate Vietnamese-Czech cop battling prejudice at all turns as Mads Brügger directed this Danish comedy about two Birthright: A War Story she investigates an old case. In Vietnamese and Czech The Rest I Make Up men who travel to China hoping to strike it rich by Civia Tamarkin directed this 2017 documentary about with subtitles. 86 min. Showing as part of the Chicago Michelle Memran directed this documentary about the selling Saint Bernard dogs, which have become a status the continuing assault on women’s reproductive rights. European Union Film Festival. Sun 3/10, 5:30 PM, and life and career of Cuban-American playwright Maria symbol for the wealthy set. In English and subtitled Dan- 105 min. Tamarkin attends the screening. Fri 3/8, 6:30 Wed 3/13, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Irene Fornés and her later battle with dementia. 79 min. ish. 101 min. Showing as part of the Chicago European PM. Northwestern University Block Museum of Art F Showing as part of the monthly “Dyke Delicious” series, Union Film Festival. Fri 3/8, 2 PM, and Sat 3/9, 5 PM. NMy Sister’s Silence with a social hour at 7 PM. Sat 3/9, 8 PM. Chicago Gene Siskel Film Center Brule la Mer Kiran Kolarov directed this Bulgarian tale about a young Filmmakers Tunisian immigrant Maki Berchache and fi lmmaker Nath- teen boy, his mute older sister, and the young man she NTake It or Leave It alie Nambot directed this 2014 French experimental falls for, who sells her to a Gypsy king. In Bulgarian Rock ’n’ Roll Liina Trishkina directed this Estonian drama about a documentary about immigrants living in France. In with subtitles. 99 min. Showing as part of the Chicago Guillaume Canet directed and stars in (as himself) this man suddenly thrust into single fatherhood. In Estonian French and Arabic with subtitles. 75 min. 35mm. Thu European Union Film Festival. Sat 3/9, 7:45 PM, and Mon 2017 French comedy drama about an aging actor who is with subtitles. 102 min. Showing as part of the Chicago 3/14, 7 PM. Northwestern University Block Museum of 3/11, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center told by a young actress that he’s no longer “rock ’n’ roll,” European Union Film Festival. Fri 3/8, 4 PM, and Thu Art F and sets out to shake up his staid image. Canet’s real life 3/14, 6:15 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center v ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 25 Brittney Carter BENSCHMOYER THE ACCIDENTAL LYRICIST
Brittney Carter thought she at open mikes. But she’s rapidly become one of Chicago rapper-producer Ausar Bradley and she’d started writing what other people decid- was just writing poems. Her Chicago hip-hop’s best-kept secrets, earning Champaign rapper Gatson. She won the poll ed were raps while trying to create poetry. classmates at Young Chicago the backing of a broad cross section of the and played the show, and with that high- Waiting in the library’s foyer, I look up to Authors heard a great rapper local arts scene. powered cosign, her already substantial stock see Carter walking across the snow-heaped in the making—and the rest Poet and organizer Kwynology has named skyrocketed. Infl uential Chicago hip-hop blog street carrying a small plastic grocery bag. I of the city’s hip-hop scene is Carter as the contemporary she’d be most in- Fake Shore Drive, which has slowed its torrent starting to agree. terested in collaborating with. DJ Lena Bandz of posts to a trickle since founder Andrew Bar- has listed Carter among the locals she keeps in ber started managing rising star Valee, even By MH K B C rotation. Bekoe, concert promoter and found- made time to post one of Carter’s freestyles C B DJRTC DJCE er of Chicago hip-hop and entertainment blog last month . Sat 4/6, 8:30 PM, Empty Bottle, Illanoize, has booked her on his showcases, So I set up an interview with Carter in the 1035 N. Western, $10. 21+ ince last summer, it seems like the including one in June at Subterranean and Blue Island Public Library, near her home, universe has been telling me to another in October at the Emporium in Wicker and I prepare for it by looking up previous pay attention to Brittney Carter. I Park with Sasha Go Hard . coverage of her. This isn’t difficult, because reach for a handshake and she opens her arms wasn’t familiar with the 27-year-old In November, Carter got a look from she’s attracted an unusual amount of media for a hug. “I hadn’t pegged you as a hugger,” I Chicago rapper at the time—from star-making west-coast label Top Dawg Enter- attention for an artist who’s yet to release a say, thinking of all the research I’ve done. Sher fi rst releases in 2016, she’d been simmer- tainment, home to the likes of Kendrick Lamar full-length project. I fi nd radio, podcast, and Carter evades easy conclusions. Her musical ing mostly out of sight, dropping occasional and SZA. TDE founder Anthony “Top Dawg” video interviews, and I head into our meeting taste is atypical for a rapper, for instance, and Soundcloud singles or appearing on other Ti³ th posted a Twitter poll to pick an opener with four pages of scribbled notes—about her though she’s seriously pursuing a career in people’s tracks. Only in early 2018 did she start for a November show at Concord Music Hall old voice-activated password-protected diary, hip-hop, she also has a long-standing interest performing regularly at concerts rather than by TDE artist Jay Rock, pitting Carter against about her love of country music, about the way in child care—her mother was a foster J 26 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll ®
SPECIAL GUEST JOHN CRAIGIE SPECIAL GUESTS JOE MARCINEK BAND Saturday, March 16 • Vic Theatre Friday, March 22 •Park West
SPECIAL GUESTS SERENGETI Saturday, March 30 • Riviera Theatre Sunday, March 31 • Riviera Theatre
BUY TICKETS AT ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 27 continued from 26 my journals, not really paying attention, and I parent, and Carter herself studied childhood felt like I was wasting my time and money, so education in college. But these intricacies feed I left.” into her artistry. Carter has kept a diary for as long as she We go downstairs, looking for a spot where can remember, and she’s been writing poetry we can talk aloud, and settle on the new Tech in it since she was ten. But it wasn’t until she Annex, which features a recording studio, returned to Blue Island after quitting Parkland computers, and a 3-D printer. In one corner that she began to seek artistic outlets outside someone has parked a keyboard, a guitar, and those personal journals. She enrolled in inter- several other musical instruments. We pick mediate drawing classes at the Salvation a table and Carter, who’s skipped breakfast, Army Kroc Corps Community Center in West rummages through the snacks in her bag Pullman. “I wanted to try something new, just before deciding not to break the library’s rule to see how it goes,” she says. “I was like the against eating. “When I was younger, we lived youngest person in a class of a bunch of elderly in Blue Island for a few years,” she says. “This people. I wasn’t very good at it, but they were is just one of the libraries my mother used to all raw—it was crazy, and I was having fun.” bring me to growing up—this one was always As late as 2014, Carter admits, she was ig- my favorite.” norant of the city’s fl ourishing arts scene. But Carter’s musical output has accelerated then she discovered Young Chicago Authors’ dramatically in 2019. She’s put out fi ve singles writing workshops via social media and began so far this year, and on the fi rst, “Hooligan,” making the commute from Blue Island to YCA’s she raps about her love of the written word. headquarters in the north-side Noble Square “Knew the world was not for me when I was neighborhood, where she practiced under the three, I could read / What a freakin’ oddity.” instruction of acclaimed poets Kevin Coval She chose to meet me at the library because and Jamila Woods . it was warm, close, and familiar—it was here “At the end of each class, we were supposed
SURF ROCK SUNDAY WITH DJ MIKE SMITH that she developed her devotion to reading. to share what we’d come up with, but I would “Since I’ve moved back to Blue Island a year always pass when it came to me,” Carter says. ago, I’ve tried to make time to come back here “They fi nally called me out on never sharing more often,” she says. “I like to use this place one day, so I swallowed my anxiety and read to keep my brain fresh in a creative sense. And aloud what I had in my journal.” Without of course to read, read, read, and read.” knowing it, she’d begun the process of bring- 1035 N WESTERN AVE CHICAGO IL 773.276.3600 WWW.EMPTYBOTTLE.COM Only since November 2018, when Carter ing her private writing to life as music. quit her full-time job, has she been able to To Carter, the poems in her journal were just RESILIENCE BENEFIT FEAT. 11AM-FREE BLEAK BRUNCH focus the majority of her energy on her music. that: poems. To everyone else, they sounded THU EP EMPTY BOTTLE BOOK CLUB DISCUSSES IMPULSIVE HEARTS ( RELEASE ) 3PM ‘GO AHEAD IN THE RAIN: NOTES TO A TRIBE CALLED QUEST’ “For two years, I was a merchandiser at Home like bars that had business coming out of the 3/7 PEACH FUZZ • GLITTER MONEYYY SUN FREE BY HANIF ABDURRAIB SUPER KNOVA • DJ SASHA NO DISCO 3/10 Depot, where I didn’t have to deal with many mouth of an experienced MC, not the quietest COURTESY customers and had a steady schedule Monday character at a beginner’s workshop. @ THE ART INSTITUTE (1106 W. LAWRENCE AVE.) WOMBO • TED TYRO • HEAD through Friday, so I could work my music Hip-hop artist Add-2, aka Andre Daniels, THU 3/7 BODY/HEAD career around it,” she says. “I just couldn’t do was working with YCA and had created an JOSHUA ABRAMS & NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY RECORD MON ( RELEASE ) it anymore, so I quit—and I honestly only had after-school mentoring program called Haven 3/11 CHICKEN HAPPEN DRILLING FOR BLASTING • TINKERBELLES enough money to pay rent for the next month.” Studios in collaboration with Florida non profi t HARD COUNTRY HONKY TONK WITH 5PM-FREE THE HOYLE BROTHERS Carter had been making music for almost Guitars Over Guns. He fi rst heard Carter spit at FRI GOOSE ISLAND BEER CO. 312 DAY three years and was gaining traction in the a YCA open mike he hosted, and he was one of $5 W/ RSVP 3/8 TUE JENNIFER VANILLA scene, but her art wasn’t earning her enough many people she caught by surprise. “I was VOGDS • ALEX GRELLE • SARAH SQUIRM 3/12 FEAT. POST ANIMAL DJs COMPTON Q & BRYCE LOVE BUNNY to cover her expenses. Her mother stepped in like, ‘Whoa’—and I don’t say this lightly—‘She to help. “In January, I got a part-time position might be better than me,’” he remembers. “I
12PM - FREE HANDMADE MARKET WONDER & SKEPTICISM at my mother’s day care, making more than I couldn’t play favorites, because I was teaching 6PM - FREE ‘WHERE IS MY MIND?’ SAT WED was at my previous job, and I have more time a workshop there at YCA, but her wordplay 3/9 TRISOMIE 21 3/13 to dedicate to my art,” she says. “Plus, I’m and delivery were unmatched by anyone else.” SILENT AGE (RECORD RELEASE) • PRODUCT KF SAINT PÉ HOSTED BY GLITTER CREEPS OPTIONS • GLUED • STUCK doing something that I actually enjoy doing.” In late 2015, another local rapper named Her studies in childhood education at Park- EssieL approached Carter after hearing her land College in Champaign, which ended when at a di¢ erent open mike. She wanted Carter to 3/14: BEAMS, 3/15: KAMAAL WILLIAMS, 3/16: OOZING WOUND (RECORD RELEASE), 3/17: THE 9TH ANNUAL CHILI-SYNTH COOK-OFF, 3/18: ELEPHANT GYM (FREE), 3/19: BE FOREST, 3/20: MOLLY NILSSON, 3/22: BEN PIRANI, 3/23: WLUW PRESENTS JERRY PAPER, 3/23 @ she dropped out in fall 2013, had been motivat- join an all-woman cypher she was organizing. BOHEMIAN NAT’L CEMETERY: BEYOND THE GATE FEAT. HUERCO S. • JOSHUA ABRAMS & NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY, 3/24: ed by her dreams of owning her own day care. “It just sounded like fun to me, and I really THE GOOCH PALMS, 3/25: DAN RICO (FREE), 3/26: JERUSALEM IN MY HEART, 3/28: VIAGRA BOYS, 3/30: WINDY CITY SOUL CLUB, “I think kids are cool. I saw what my mom was saw it as an opportunity to meet people,” Car- NEW ON SALE: 4/12 @ CO-PRO: SEN MORIMOTO, 4/22 @ ROCKEFELLER CHAPEL: SUNN O))), 5/5: FILM SCHOOL, 5/10: DEHD doing and decided that I would someday take ter says. “I was starting to attend open mikes (RECORD RELEASE), 5/17 @ GARFIELD PARK CONSERVATORY: DRAB MAJESTY • FACS, 5/19: VERA SOLA, 5/26: CHURCH OF MISERY, 6/6: CHOIR BOY, 6/22: LITHICS, 6/23: EARTH , 6/25: MYSTERY LIGHTS, 7/6: FOXWARREN, 7/8: COMBO CHIMBITA over her business,” she says. “I wasn’t a big fan more often, but I would never perform and I of school, though. I would be in class writing in didn’t really know anybody. Preparing for the
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ST. PATRICK'S DAY CELEBRATION WITH VHS THE TOSSERS COLLECTION THE AVONDALE RAMBLERS THU MAR 14 HYMEN MOMENTS SAT MAR 16
101WKQX WELCOMES DAEDELUS JUKEBOX PRESENTS THE GHOST PANOPTES & THE MOWGLIS (LIVE AV SHOW) TWIN XL DEKU WED MAR 20 SAT MAR 23 BENSCHMOYER
cypher was actually the fi rst time I sat down studio, it’s nothing for her to go in and kill and wrote something with the intention of a track—verses, hook, everything—in one being a rap.” take.” At Loop Theory, Navarro is as much a The “Set It Off” cypher came out a few mentor as a manager. In addition to Carter months later, on February 1, 2016. It featured and Disrupt, Loop Theory represents rapper EssieL, Carter, Syd Shaw, Bella Bahhs, J Bam- Dre Izaya, artist and producer Heir Porter, and bii, and Freddie Old Soul rapping lyrics they’d singer-songwriter Ryen. “I saw that this group written to the classic Mobb Deep “Survival was truly dedicated and put in the work, so I of the Fittest” instrumental, spun by DJ Lisa felt comfortable giving them guidance and Decibel. leveraging my connections in their favor,” “When I fi rst heard the cypher, I said, ‘Yo, I Navarro says. gotta get this out to people,’” Daniels says. “I Daniels and Navarro agree that Carter’s ended up sending it to some key people I knew abilities have grown exponentially—her read- in the industry.” Thanks to Daniels’s e¢ orts as ings at open mikes could be skittish, but her well as write-ups from hip-hop blogs and word performance in front of Jay Rock’s sold-out of mouth, the cypher was a modest viral suc- crowd in November was calm and controlled. cess, and Chuck D of Public Enemy tapped the Carter spits with a slippery delivery, and women to perform it during his show at Metro she doesn’t waste energy coming up with in March 2016, as part of YCA’s 16th annual catchy punch lines to emphasize—she chooses Louder Than a Bomb festival. every word with the same diamond-cutting Daniels recalls Carter coming to him for deliberation. When you listen to her, it’s easy SMARTBARCHICAGO.COM advice following the success of the clip. “I get a to let some lines fl y past you, then get caught 3730 N CLARK ST | 21+ lot of artists coming to me asking to put them two bars later pausing and dragging the play- on, or get them a spot at this event or with back slider back 15 seconds to grasp the pith of that studio,” he says. “When she came to me, her bars. On her blustering opening verse from DAPHNE ‘19 though, she asked me, ‘How do I sustain this?’ the 2017 crew cut “Operation X” by Chicago From then I lent my help to her in any way that producer Dougy, which teams her with rap- FREAKEASY SATURDAY WELCOMES MARCH 30 she needed.” pers AlifortheGo, Stark of Huey, and Femdot, He was able to connect Carter with Ken- she raps: “Ratchet with my righteousness, neth Clair, aka Disrupt, a budding producer prophetic while I’m rapping this / They not who was working with Haven Studios. Clair who they say they be, the room is fi lled with DJ Heather brought Carter aboard with Loop Theory, the actresses.” artist development and management collec- “She’s not preaching, but she’s saying some- Illexandra tive that he’d founded with veteran MC, educa- thing,” Daniels says. “She uses every word to Adrienne Sanchez tor, and community organizer Rafael Navarro . her advantage.” & visuals by Aubergine “The fi rst time I saw her rap was onstage, Carter is an economical writer, not wasting and once I saw that she had that live per- a syllable, and she’s smart enough to avoid formance aspect down, everything else was punching her listeners in the face with her within reach,” says Navarro. “Even in the messages. “She hides the medicine in J TICKETS AVAILABLE VIA METRO + SMART BAR WEBSITES + METRO BOX OFFICE. NO SERVICE FEES AT BOX OFFICE! ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 29 N LINCOLN AVENUE, CHICAGO IL OLDTOWNSCHOOL.ORG . . Less scrolling. continued from 29 JUST ADDED ON SALE THIS FRIDAY! the food,” says Navarro. He could’ve said Jonas Friddle with special guests instead that she hides it in the candy, but he Sons of the Never Wrong Erwin Helfer / Elsa Harris / knows that her work is more substantial than Pastor Donald Gay a corner-store KitKat. It’s fulfilling, and she Mary Flower means it to capture every aspect of her real- FOR TICKETS, VISIT OLDTOWNSCHOOL.ORG life experience. Even the 80-second “Beatrix Kiddo,” her THURSDAY, MARCH PM newest single, packs a lot of meaning into its Habib Koité & brief span: “I know they wanna see me passive, but I can’t conceal my passion / I’m a sister, I’m Bassekou Kouyate a daughter, I’m a rapper.” Those two lines are practically a profi le of Carter unto themselves. FRIDAY, MARCH & PM Carter is used to being taken for younger The Earls of Leicester than she is, but she carries herself with a seri- featuring Jerry Douglas, Shawn Camp, ousness that suggests wisdom and experience. Charlie Cushman, Johnny Warren, and Jeff White BENSCHMOYER Her lyrics too can seem almost childlike in
SUNDAY, MARCH & PM their bluntness and honesty, but their craft and polish speak to her maturity, discipline, music journalism—starting in December 2017, Steep Canyon Rangers and years of practice. she put in a stint writing for Chicago-based It’s also significant that Carter describes hip-hop blog Flows for Days. “They were look- More strumming. SATURDAY, MARCH PM herself fi rst as a sister and a daughter, then as ing for somebody, and I know a lot about music Sam Bush a rapper. “My family is very tight-knit. They and know of plenty of artists, so why not,” she keep me grounded,” she says. “My two young- says. “I was having fun doing it—if I would’ve SATURDAY, MARCH PM er brothers are super goofy, so if I’m ever feel- stuck with it, I defi nitely would love to have ing frustrated with this music thing, I just go interviewed some people and done profi les. I DBUK to my mom’s crib to take a break for a minute.” just had to stop to focus on my own music.” Slim Cessna's Auto Club with Norman Westberg Her parents’ musical tastes have also Last fall Carter was teasing the release of of Swans • In Szold Hall shaped what she enjoys as well as where she her fi rst full-length, but ultimately she decided SUNDAY, MARCH PM fi nds inspiration. “My father is a die-hard hip- the music didn’t meet her standards. “I guess I hop head. His favorite artist is Jay-Z, I think was just feeling like I should at the time, but Graham Nash mostly because they have the same last name,” I didn’t want to just put out something just to at the Athenaeum Theatre, N Southport Ave Carter jokes. “My mother, on the other hand, is have something out,” she says. “It might’ve into old-school R&B and soul.” She credits this been good stu¢ , but I just felt like I’d grown too THURSDAY, MARCH :PM dichotomy with opening her mind and helping much as an artist to even put those songs out Avishai Cohen Quartet her be receptive to di¢ erent genres. When she there anymore.” at Constellation, N Western Ave lists her favorites, Tim McGraw, Kelly Clark- Since the new year, though, Carter has re- son, and Miley Cyrus come up alongside DMX, leased not just those fi ve singles but also three FRIDAY, MARCH PM Lauryn Hill, and Kendrick Lamar. “I was here freestyle videos on Instagram. She’s also been Zaiko Langa Langa at the library just four days ago reading up on featured as part of Queen Bars, a visual free- musicians from the late 60s and early 70s, like style series by rap blog 247HH. (When men are Give your digital FRIDAY, MARCH PM Jimi Hendrix and Roberta Flack.” featured—alumni include Juvenile, the Boy Carter is also a fi lm bu¢ , thanks in part to Illinois , Bump J , and Navarro—it’s called “King life a break. Glen Phillips In Szold Hall her parents’ massive DVD collection. “Beatrix Bars.”) And she’s ramping up to her fi rst video Kiddo” is the real name of the Bride, the pro- release. “The biggest thing we’re working on SATURDAY, MARCH PM Connect over tagonist of Quentin Tarantino’s gory action- right now is putting out the visual for her sin- music, dance & Garnet Rogers adventure series Kill Bill. “It started when my gle ‘Breakthrough,’” Navarro says. with special guest Crys Matthews • In Szold Hall dad put me onto The Matrix when I was a kid,” “I hope to have a project out this year, be- more. she says. “Just like with music, I like a variety fore the fall,” Carter says. For now, though, of movies—sci-fi, romantic comedies, thrill- she’s returning to her creative roots, carrying WORLD MUSIC WEDNESDAY SERIES New group classes forming now. FREE WEEKLY CONCERTS, LINCOLN SQUARE ers, everything. I see myself writing a film around books to read and journals to write script someday, and even doing some acting.” in. Right now she’s working her way through oldtownschool.org Flamenco Eñe: Maria Terremoto part of the Chicago Flamenco That day will probably be a ways o¢ , though: Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X and Colum Mc- Festival “I’ve written stories that could probably be Cann’s Letters to a Young Writer. Both books Amina Figarova Sextet: Road to the Sun turned into little fi ve-minute fi lms, but noth- speak to her ultimate goal: “Since I write, I can Nyansapo Highlife Band ing substantial.” explore all different aspects of the art,” she Carter’s love for writing is as vast as her love says. “I want to master my craft.” v OLDTOWNSCHOOL.ORG for music. Besides poetry, fiction, raps, and day-to-day journaling, she’s spent time doing @MattheMajor 30 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll Est.Est.1954 1954 Celebrating over A Reader staff er shares three musical obsessions, then asks 6165 years of service service to Chicago! someone (who asks someone else) to take a turn. 1800 W. DIVISION IN ROTATION (773) 486-9862 Come enjoy one of J D the time. I’ve listened to it all winter, and “Sun- Chicago’s finest beer gardens! FEBRUARYSEPTEMBERJAMARCHNUARY 11...... 7 20 23 ...... MIKEDA SMILIN’VID QUINN FLABBY FELTEN BOBBY HOFFMAN AND THE SHOWCLEMTONES 8PM Photographer, day’s News” is the song I come back to again SEPTEMBERJAMARCHNUARY 12...... 8 21 .....WAGNER THE ACOUSTIPUNKS AMERICAN& MORSE DRAFT video artist, show and again, with its gut-punch intro and outro. FEBRUARYSEPTEMBERJA NUARY 13...... 22 24 .....THE .....RADIODADYRKNAMOS DJ FREERO SKIDOM BERWYN LICIOUS MEN MARCH 9 THE STREETS ARE ON FIRE SEPTEMBERJANUARY 14...... 23 ....WHOLESOMERADIOWHITEWOLFSONICPRINCESSTONY DO DJRO NIGHTSARIO GROUP producer Of course, the ten-minute cover of Cat Ste- MURPHYYURI’S THOMPSON BIRTHDAY 9:30PM PARTY MARCH 10 HEISENBERGMOJO 49 UNCERTAINTY PLAYERS 7PM JANUARY 17...... MIKE FELTENJAMIE WAGNER & FRIENDS vens’s “Moonshadow” is pretty awesome too. JAMARCHNUARY 18...... 11 RC BIG MIKE BAND FEL 7PMTON FEBRUARY 25 .....WHOLESOMERADIOTHEJON RON RARICK AND RACHEL NONET SHOW 9PM DJ NIGHT Liz Pelly’s writing SEPTEMBERJAMARCHNUARY 19...... 12 24 .....RC FLABBY BIG BAND SITU HOFFMAN 7PMATION DAV SHOWID 8PM about Spotify Liz FEBRUARYMARCH 13 26 .....RCBIRDGANGS ELIZABETH’S BIGMAXLIELLIAM 9:30PMBAND CRAZY 7PM ANNA LITTLE THING JA NUARY 20...... TITTYFEATURING CITTY FIRST WAMISSRD JACKIE PROBLEMS 9PM Pelly has been A Z FEBRUARYJAMARCHNUARY 21...... 14 28 .....PETERDUDE FLABBY SAMETO CASANONYHOFFMAN DO ROVASARIO SHOWQUARTET GROUP 8PM 8PM SEPTEMBERMARCH 16 26 .....PETER THE CASANOVAMAD POETS QUARTET doing deep dives Producer and Smart Bar resident DJ JAMARCHNUARY 22...... 17 TONY RCDO BIGROSARIOBAND GROUP 7PM MARCHSEPTEMBER 1...... SMILIN’ 27 .....DORIAN TAJ BOBBY AND THE CLEMTONES on Spotify’s work JAMARCHNUARY 24...... 18 PROSPECT PETER FOUR CASONO 9PMVA QUARTET SEPTEMBERJAMARCHNUARY 25...... 20 28 ..... TOURS MORSE THE & WICKWAGNER MARCH 2...... ICEBULLY PULPITBOX AND BIG HOUSE to become our Odete, Matrafona The new EP from Portu- JAMARCHNUARY 26...... 23 ICEBOX THE HEPKATS SEPTEMBER 29 .....SOMEBODY’S MIKE FELTENSKIPPIN’ SINS ROCK corporate cultur- guese producer Odete, her fi rst on amazing MARCHMARCH 3...... CHIDITAROD 24 FEATURING AMERICAN JOE TROUBADOUR LANASA AND TARRINGTON NIGHT 10PM JANUARY 27...... THE STRAY BOLTS al overlord, one Lisbon label Naivety (an imprint of Naive), is a SEPTEMBERMARCH 27 30 .....OFF JOHNNY THE VINE SUDEKUM 4:30PM MARCHJANUARY 7...... 28...... NUCLEARJAMIE WHOLESOMERADIO JAZZWA QUARKTETGNER & 7:30PM FRIENDS DJ NIGHT “chill” playlist at a meditation on club music fi lled with melodies EVERYOPENEVERY MIC TUESD TUESD HOSTEDAY (EXCEPT BY MIKE 2ND) 2ND) &ATAT MIKE8PM8PM time, most recent- and polyrhythms that bleed in and out of each OPENON TUESDAY MIC HOSTED EVENINGS BY JIMIJON (EXCEPT AMERICA 2ND) ly in a series for the other at will. Odete talks about the EP as a Baffler . She pro- texture “to fit the shattered flatness” of her vides insight into day to day. Buy this EP! Part of the proceeds how Spotify exerts go to Stop Despejos, who fi ght evictions due increasing control to gentrifi cation in Lisbon. A still from ReMastered: The Two Killings over music consumers and our data, so that of Sam Cooke independent artists are backed into a shrink- Central Air Radio on WHPK Chicago artist ing corner. Her most recent, “Streambait Pop ,” Jared Brown runs this weekly radio show on J L covers Spotify’s branded content and how it’s WHPK 88.5 FM, broadcast every Tuesday at Reader associate editor birthed formulaic genres that lend themselves 11 AM from the south side (Woodlawn, Hyde to passive streaming. Spotify presents itself as Park, Kenwood). It features mixes by local Dea ids, Metaprogramação There’s been no neutral, but we should consider what it means underground DJs as well as Jared’s impecca- shortage of killer new releases this year, and for huge corporations to hold such power ble selections, but what really makes it stand the brain-altering third album from this Bra- over how we make meaning in our lives. out are the interviews with artists, political zilian trio is my favorite so far. On Metapro- thinkers, and bringers of change. The moment gramação, the group imagines a world where that really gagged me was Futurehood’s people can truly think for themselves and calls guest show, which starts with Jared receiving for unity against violence, tyranny, and repres- an anonymous package and ends in a semi- sion. With a combination of all-encompassing reality fi lled with throbbing dance tracks. psych, scuzzed-out punk, effects-ridden chants, and hypnotic polyrhythmic percus- Nymphowars Macy Rodman and Theda Ham- sion, Dea ids expand the language of heavy mel’s podcast is part talk show, part gossip music—and do justice to their mission. column, part radio play, and part improvised musical. The gag is that Macy and Theda Adia Victoria, Silences Adia Victoria is o en are both dope electronic musicians (Macy compared to enigmatic artists such as Nina as Macy Rodman, Theda as Hamm), so while Simone and Beth Gibbons, and like them this the tracks they feature are based on random Nashville singer-songwriter is in a class of her jokes, they’re also fully realized. Highlights own. Her no-filler new full-length, Silences, include a Lady Gaga tribute track about arms, draws from blues and southern gothic liter- Norman W. Long at AS220 in Providence, a woman the size of a fl y singing about jerking ature for its vivid narratives about overcom- Rhode Island, in June 2017 COURTESYTHEARTIST off people on the street, and lots and lots of ing oppression. In a climate where stylized Macy’s impersonation of Caitlyn Jenner. v “gothic” darkness pervades music culture, it’s Norman W. Long I was introduced to Chica- refreshing to hear the real deal. go musician Norman W. Long and his work through Angel Bat Dawid : with synths, elec- ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke tronics, and fi eld recordings attuned to local How can any lover of Chicago music not be ecology , he makes soundscapes that I fi nd sur- in awe of Sam Cooke? This documentary real and grounding at the same time, a dichot- explores the artistry of the Bronzeville-raised, omy I’m drawn to in experimental music and golden-throated, boundary-breaking soul sound art. He always adds a special dimension Lisbon producer icon, as well as his evolving social conscious- to improvising groups, so I recommend seeing Odete ness in the civil rights era, his commitment to him live—and his tape Electro-Acoustic Dub- DANIEL empowering the black community, and most cology I-IV is also well worth your time. PEREIRA important, the a ermath of his 1964 murder— many believe that racism and white suprem- Labelle, Moon Shadow Labelle’s 1972 sopho- acy denied him and his loved ones a prop- more album is the fi rst where the group (spe- er investigation. It’s a powerful tribute to an cifi cally Nona Hendryx) wrote most of its own extraordinary talent. songs—which was pretty groundbreaking at ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 31 Recommended and notable shows and critics’ insights for the week of March 7
MUSIC b ALLAGESF
THURSDAY7 Body/Head, Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society See Pick of the Week at le . 7:30 PM, Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room, Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan, sold out. b
All Them Witches Plague Vendor opens. 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, $18, $16 in advance. 18+
All Them Witches are a heavy blues-rock band from Nashville that recently pared down to a trio following some lineup hiccups on the keyboards late last year. The group are kicking off a long tour that’ll take them through the U.S. and Europe on the back of their powerful fi h album, last fall’s ATW (New West). Their sound leans heavily on the Black Sabbath/Blue Cheer/Hawkwind fl avors of black- and-blue riff rock, which they pull off seamlessly: “Workhorse” has an irresistible low build and grind, and “1st vs. 2nd” sustains a trance-inducing chug just PICK OF THE WEEK long enough to blast it into space, Pink Floyd style. With or without keyboards, vocalist Charles Michael Parks, guitarist Ben McLeod, and drummer Robby Body/Head continue to push Staebler are a tight unit that can turn on a dime— perhaps recording in a remote mountain cabin, and boundaries on The Switch stripping back down to basics a er their relatively elaborate 2017 album, Sleeping Through the War, instilled a new discipline. —M K
COURTESYOFARTIST FRIDAY8 B /H JA&N I S 7:30 PM, Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room, Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan, sold out. b Angel Dust Wicca Phase Springs Eternal headlines; Angel Dust, Guardin, and Curta open. 7 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, $17. b
If you just looked at the pedigree of Baltimore fi ve- KIM GORDON ALWAYS struck me as the Sonic Youth member his N I S ensemble for decades and piece Angel Dust (o en styled with a dollar sign in most rooted in a primal punk foundation. Her no-frills bass lines have no trouble maintaining a hypnotic atmosphere. The eight- place of the S) you might think they were a hardcore group—Justice Tripp and Dan Fang also play in anchored the chaos surrounding them, and the songs she sang lead piece band’s upcoming fi fth album, Mandatory Reality (Eremite), Trapped Under Ice and Turnstile, respectively, two on always packed a streamlined gut punch. That makes it all the opens with two sprawling tracks. The group is so successful at of their city’s best-known contemporary hardcore more interesting that in our post-Sonic Youth landscape, she’s the casting spells that “Finite,” which features Hamid Drake feel- bands. And they initially had a strong handle on the style, but they’ve since polished their rough, only member who’s really letting her freak fl ag fl y. While Thurston ing out a graceful rhythm on the tabla, seems like it lasts just a explosive punk sound to be almost unrecognizably Moore and Lee Ranaldo continue to release Sonic Youth-lite indie- moment despite being nearly 40 minutes long. And aside from sleek. On their new major-label debut, Pretty Buff rock records with various projects, Gordon’s been going strong the woodwind trill on “Agree” and the rapid horn stabs on the (Roadrunner), Angel Dust transfer the aggressive delivery of hardcore onto acoustic guitar parts with B /H , her guitar duo with experimental musician Bill anxious, occasionally distressing “Shadow Conductor”—played ripped from the hands of frat rockers, delivering the Nace. The group’s second full-length studio album for Matador, by cornetist Ben LaMar Gay, alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella, kind of sweet but heavy hooks that were the bread July’s The Switch, perfectly captures the classic Sonic Youth spirit, and bass clarinetist Jason Stein—Mandatory Reality largely and butter of 90s alternative radio. They do this most successfully on the single “Big Ass Love,” while with layers of beautiful guitar squall and Gordon’s confrontational moves with gentle steps. On “In Memory’s Prism,” Abrams’s elsewhere they explore lovesick ballads (“Light spoken-word vocals. The music bounces between grim noise and skeletal guimbri provides a foundation for Lisa Alvarado’s Blue”) and employ rock ’n’ roll saxophone squall shimmering soundscape, sending out pulses of danger and joy— sighing harmonium and for the tender, cycling horns, which (“Take Away the Pain”). The results are as euphoric as they are transgressive, and isn’t that what you and easily making The Switch the best release from any Sonic Youth emerge and dissipate like small waves breaking on a beach. want out of a hardcore band? —L G member post-breakup yet. —L C On March 23, the group will appear at the Bohemian National Chicago jazz and improvised-music linchpin JA Cemetery as part of the Empty Bottle’s Beyond the Gate series. could continue to explore the outer reaches of minimalism with —L G
32 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard. MUSIC
Biliana VoutchKOVa & Olivia Block See Strange 90s: A Benefit for Jerry also Monday. Carol Genetti & Gwyneth Zeleny Bryant 8 PM, Metro, 3730 N. Clark, $25. 18+ Anderson open. 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $10-$15. 18+ For a brief time in the 90s, Chicago’s music commu- nity took its turn in the national spotlight—Billboard The music of Berlin-based violinist Biliana magazine dubbed the city “cutting edge’s new cap- Voutchkova crosses styles and spans centuries. She ital” in 1993, as the likes of the Smashing Pumpkins, plays Baroque classical and free improvisation with Urge Overkill, and Liz Phair rose to fame. And for pianist Antonis Anissegos, she interacts with danc- those who couldn’t make it to clubs such as Lounge ers and electronic musicians in Grapeshade, and Ax or Double Door (or weren’t old enough to get she recently released the triple album Blurred Music past security), there was JBTV, a weekly half-hour (Elsewhere) with clarinetist Michael Thieke. The music show that aired Saturday nights at 11:30 on collection includes three complete concerts of free- Channel 66. Thanks to JBTV founder Jerry Bryant wheeling, microtonal chamber music, one of which and his passion for indie music, viewers were treat- was recorded at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s ed to some of the earliest television performances Carr Chapel. In that performance, the two musicians by Green Day. Jeff Buckley, and many others. The blur the lines between composition and free impro- Emmy-winning show is still going strong (with mul- visation by spontaneously interacting with their own tiple time slots on both cable and broadcast TV), prerecorded material. Voutchkova will play twice in but in August, Bryant revealed that he’s facing Chicago this week. On Friday at Constellation, she’ll colorectal cancer. Enter “Strange 90s: A Benefi t perform live for the fi rst time with Olivia Block—a for Jerry Bryant,” which Metro hosts with JBTV, Chicagoan who shares her interest in working with Charity Bomb, and WKQX 101.1 FM. Bryant’s informal the emotional and acoustic properties of sound approach—he gives guests free rein in terms of set at a granular level. Voutchkova will respond to lists and interview topics, and invites fans to attend cassette tapes of her playing that the two women tapings for free—and the show’s understated camera have prepared in advance, while Block manipulates work make JBTV feel less American Bandstand and the speed and clarity of the tape playback in real more like a real-life take on the intimate fi lmed- time. Vocal improviser Carol Genetti and visual in-a- basement format of Wayne’s World. And it’s artist Gwyneth Zeleny Anderson will open the a testament to Bryant’s deep connection with the evening with a collaborative performance. For their city’s music community that so many local and recent CD Chyme (Suppedaneum), Anderson creat- touring artists are involved with the fund-raiser. ed elaborate, colorful paper fold-outs for listeners Tonight’s lineup includes Naked Raygun, Andrew to negotiate while listening to Genetti’s layered, W.K., Plain White T’s, Madina Lake, Lizzy Plapinger, eerily prelingual vocal tracks; in concert Anderson and Matt Walker (who’s played with Morrissey), as will project texts and animations while Genetti uses well as members of Local H, Kill Hannah, Stabbing tubes, crystal glassware, and electronics to distort Westward, Lovehammers, Ours, Marina City, and and magnify her voice. On Monday, Voutchkova Kontrolled Kaos. In keeping with the 90s theme, the and Belgian jazz drummer Jakob Warmenbol will sets will include covers of songs by era-appropri- perform separately and together at Experimental ate groups, among them Nirvana, Radiohead, and Sound Studio. —B M Garbage. All ticket proceeds will go toward Bryant’s cancer treatment. —K L J
Angel Dust ANGELAOWENS ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 33 Find more music listings at MUSIC chicagoreader.com/soundboard.
continued from 33 But while to some pop fans it might have seemed like Morris appeared out of thin air, the Texas native had already won acclaim across the country- music world, starting with her 2015 Billboard-chart- SATURDAY9 ing self-titled EP. On her debut full-length, 2016’s Hero, she tells tales of heartache and hope, using Arthhur The Moses Gun headlines. 9 PM, GMan her raspy voice and soulful delivery over twangy Tavern, 3740 N. Clark, $10, $7 in advance. 21+ country mixed with gospel, rock, and other influ- ences. The passionate girl-power songs that make On December’s self-released Lost in the Walled up her second album, Girl (out March 7), continue City, Chicago’s Arthhur sound like they would’ve to straddle the line between country and pop. The been signed to DFA Records if they’d been around title choice seems deliberate—country has legions in the early aughts. They’ve only been releasing of female fans, but as Morris said in a recent Genius music for a couple years, though: front man Mike video, the genre o en requires women to be “super- Fox launched Arthhur as a solo vehicle, but quick- religious—they need to be super conservative, and ly roped in Matt Ciani (the two also play in a doom never show their body.” Such rules inspired her to four-piece called Flesh of the Stars). Arthhur started write a rebuttal of competition between women: as a loose creative project in which Fox and Ciani on the title track, the 28-year-old sings, “Draw your could go in any stylistic direction, and their fi rst cou- comparisons / Tryin’ to find who’s lesser than / I ple albums don’t sound much like Lost in the Walled don’t wanna wear your crown / There’s enough to City, other than the fact that Fox and Ciani play sev- go around” over sparse instrumentation that leaves eral instruments on all three; 2016’s dour, intimate enough room for her message to ring loud. Anoth- Who Needs Friends (When You Have Thoughts er standout is “Common,” a brooding, slow-burning Like These)? borders on slowcore, and last March’s plea for unity with lyrics that could be interpreted quirky, knotty Come Meet the Opposite Commit- as a call for sisterhood—or more broadly, for a divid- tee draws on art-rock and emo. To make Lost in the ed country to fi nd common ground. —R Y Walled City, Fox and Ciani recruited a new mem- ber, bassist Luke Dahlgren, and listened closely to the pivotal 1978 No New York compilation and Gang of Four’s early recordings. They emerged with tight, SUNDAY10 blistering songs that resemble dance punk in spir- Flesh Eaters FRANKLEEDRENNEN it but move like house and disco cuts constructed The Flesh Eaters Porcupine opens. 8 PM, from punk blueprints—the heavenly synth melody of Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, $30, $25 in advance. “Get Fermented!” could slide into a set at Smart Bar 21+ to lock dancers into a deep groove. —L G in 2006, but three California shows and an appear- up vocals by Julie Christensen, Desjardins’s ex-wife It’s been more than 38 years since the Flesh Eat- ance at All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in England and previous collaborator in the Divine Horsemen. ers released their acclaimed second album, 1981’s that year were hardly enough to do it justice. Thank- Tonight’s show is a rare chance to catch these old Maren Morris Cassadee Pope opens. 8 PM, A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die. But the classic fully, I Used to Be Pretty does. The album stays true punks together again—and I Used to Be Pretty gives Riviera Theatre, 4746 N. Racine, $39.50. b version of the ragtag rockabilly group that made to the garage-punk spirit of the band’s early mate- us just as much reason to celebrate the band’s pres- that recording—which included founder and front rial but tightens and spices things up, with more ent as its past. —M H Mainstream pop audiences were largely introduced man Chris Desjardins (aka Chris D.), John Doe and controlled vocals from Desjardins and cleaner pro- to country singer Maren Morris through last year’s DJ Bonebrake of X, Dave Alvin and Bill Bateman duction that strips away the lo-fi fuzz and adds clar- smash hit “The Middle,” her collaboration with Rus- of the Blasters, and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos— ity. Desjardins seems to have made the most of the sia-born German producer Zedd and electronic returned to the studio last year to produce a new group’s time in the studio together by fi ne-tuning MONDAY11 duo Grey. The song—which showed off her power- full-length, I Used to Be Pretty (Yep Roc). The band some previously released songs: for example, Bone- house vocals—went platinum in several countries. split up in 1983, and Desjardins spent much of the brake adds marimba to “Miss Muerte” off the 2004 Biliana VoutchKOVa & Jakob About a dozen singers, including Demi Lovato and decade leading alt-country band the Divine Horse- album of the same name and to “Pony Dress” off Warmenbol See Friday. 7:30 PM, Experimental Bebe Rexha, had recorded demos of the track men before resurrecting the Flesh Eaters moniker 1983’s A Hard Road to Follow. The album includes Sound Studio, 5925 N. Ravenswood, $10, $8 stu- before Morris was selected for the final version— in 1990 as an outlet for his work with other musi- new highlights such as “Black Temptation,” filled dents and members. b which serves as a testament to her singular chops. cians. The A Minute to Pray lineup briefl y regrouped out with wailing saxophone solos and with back- FIND HUNDREDS OF READER-RECOMMENDED RESTAURANTS EXCLUSIVE VIDEO FEATURES AND SIGN UP FOR WEEKLY NEWS CHICAGOREADER.COM/FOOD
34 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll MUSIC
Vince Staples COURTESTOFDEFJAMRECORDS
TUESDAY12 WEDNESDAY13 EARLY Vince Staples JPEGmafi a and Trill Sammy Eartheater 9 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, open. 8:30 PM, Riviera Theatre, 4746 N. Racine, $10. 21+ WARNINGS $35. 18+ New York-based Alexandra Drewchin, also known NEVER MISS A SHOW AGAIN In current hip-hop, Vince Staples is without paral- as Eartheater, creates mellow music that terrifi es lel when it comes to sneering wit. The Los Angeles and/or terrifying music that you can sink back and CHICAGOREADER.COM/EARLY MC’s concise 2018 Def Jam dispatch, FM!, is a col- relax to. On her most recent album, last year’s orful, subversive assessment of contemporary cul- IRISIRI (Pan), she mixes elements of acoustic folk ture—and he’s reportedly set to follow it with four and electronica; the music pulses and fl ows like a full-length albums later this year. Regardless of Sta- heavy mist that dissipates only to show glimpses of ples’s lyrical abundance and profundity, there aren’t waving heather and witches’ claws. But Drewchin too many performers in any genre with the dark never settles on one mood or mode, even within a waggishness to juxtapose tracks called “Fun!” and single song. The one through line of the album is its “No Bleedin”—the latter of which features Kamaiyah alienating multiplicity. “Trespasses” is spooky elec- talking about jumping into some undefi ned abyss. It tronic plainchant, with chorusing monklike vocals might not be a direct callback so much as a sturdy that are continually replaced by robotic simulacra; pronouncement of feeling, but “Jump off the Roof,” “C.L.I.T.” has Drewchin wailing as the music saws and a cut from Staples’s 2015 Summertime ’06, explores sways like a fi re alarm rising out of a faery. “Inhale a similar escape plan. His songs often center on Baby,” featuring the duo Odwalla1221, is perhaps characters wading through disillusionment, and at the album’s most explicit statement of purpose. some point on every release, a sense of weariness “Inhale baby pink / Exhale red,” Chloe Maratta closes in; a tired-sounding Staples even opens his says in an almost intolerable sneering whine, and 2016 EP Prima Donna with a rendition of “This Lit- Flannery Silva sounds almost as pissed off when she tle Light of Mine” punctuated with a gunshot. On responds, “There’s so much stuff coming out of my FM!, that hopelessness is just disguised better, or at skirt.” For Drewchin, creativity is a bloody, abundant, least diff erently. It’s almost as if Staples occasionally feminine process, which is simultaneously assaultive works these narratives to show that he’s exploring and maternal—and she’s determined to be herself, life on some previously unrealized plane of critical however many sides she has. —NB v thought—one that most people can’t even conceive of. —D C ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 35 CHICAGO SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN THE WEEKS TO COME
EARLY WARNINGS b ALLAGESF
Melvin Seals and JGB WOLFBYKEITHHERZIK COURTESYTHEARTIST Never miss a show again. Sign up for the newsletter at GOSSIP chicagoreader. com/early WOLF A furry ear to the ground of Veil of Maya, Intervals 4/13, 5:45 PM, Metro b the local music scene Verve Pipe 3/29, 8 PM, City Winery b CHICAGO POWER TRIO the Moses Gun VHS Collection 3/14, 8 PM, Metro, 18+ took fi ve years to follow up their scorch- Viagra Boys 3/28, 8:30 PM, ing self-titled 2012 debut with the equally Casino Amphitheatre, Tinley Captain Beyond 4/12, 8 PM; gie’s Music Joint Empty Bottle impressive 2017 EP Triage, but since the NEW Park, on sale Fri 3/8, 10 AM 4/14, 7 PM, Reggie’s Music Neyla Pekarek 4/17, 8 PM, Visceral 4/10, 8 PM, Concord release of the latter, they’ve done better Superchunk, Negative Scanner Joint, 4/12 sold out, second SPACE, Evanston b Music Hall, 18+ BadXchannels 4/10, 8 PM, 6/9, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ show added Pelican, Young Widows, Cloak- Washed Out (DJ set) 4/4, 10 at maintaining their momentum! On Sat- Concord Music Hall, 18+ Jamila Woods 5/26, 8 PM, Brandi Carlile 6/29, 7:30 PM, room 6/29, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ PM, East Room urday, March 9, the Moses Gun drop the Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 3/8, 10 Huntington Bank Pavilion Perfume 4/5, 8 PM, Chicago Wilie Watson 5/9, 8 PM, Maur- brand-new full-length album Waltz of the 5/30, 8 PM, City Winery, on AM, 17+ Neko Case, Shannon Shaw Theatre er Hall, Old Town School of Confl icted Yellowjacket, made at Ambush sale Thu 3/7, noon b 4/26-27, 7:30 PM, the Vic, 18+ Perpetual Groove 4/27, 10 PM, Folk Music Boy Band Review 3/16, 9 PM, Chromatics, Desire, In Mirrors Bottom Lounge, 17+ Dale Watson, Kelly Willis 5/11, Recordings, the home studio run by their Bannerman’s Sports Grill, UPDATED 5/31, 9 PM, Park West, 18+ Perturbator 5/9, 8:30 PM, 5 and 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old drummer, Jim Kendall. It’s by far the Bartlett Com Truise, Jack Grace 4/3, 8 Thalia Hall, 17+ Town School of Folk Music b band’s best work—Gossip Wolf is espe- Bush 9/6, 7 PM, Hollywood BTS 5/11-12, 7:30 PM, Soldier PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Haley Reinhart 4/14, 7 PM, Wisin y Yandel 6/7, 8 PM, All- cially fond of the shoegaze-shaded psych Casino Ampitheatre, Tinley Field, 5/12 added, on sale Fri Combichrist 5/5, 7 PM, Bottom Park West b state Arena, Rosemont Park, on sale Fri 3/15, 10 AM 3/8, 4 PM Lounge, 17+ Reverie 3/29, 8 PM, Reggie’s Jai Wolf 4/26, 8 PM, Concord rock of “Blame” and the radio-ready gut Roberto Carlos 3/21, 8 PM, Dom La Nena 5/4, 8 PM, Szold Commander Cody & His Lost Rock Club, 18+ Music Hall, 18+ punch of “Climb (Star Mode),” which fea- Rosemont Theater, Rosemont Hall, Old Town School of Folk Planet Airmen 3/21, 8 PM, Thomas Rhett, Dustin Lynch Victor Wooten Band 4/21, 7:30 tures a blowtorch guitar solo from Vell Church of Misery, Mondo Music, canceled b SPACE, Evanston b 9/14, 7 PM, United Center PM, Thalia Hall b Mullens. Saturday night the Moses Gun Generator, 5/26, 8:30 PM, Sneaks 3/27, 8:30 PM, Empty Cowboy Junkies 4/13-14, 7 PM, Rodrigo Y Gabriela 5/24, 7:30 Lizz Wright 5/14, 8 PM, City Empty Bottle Bottle, canceled Maurer Hall, Old Town School PM, Chicago Theatre Winery b play a record-release show at GMan Tav- Anna Clendening 4/17, 7 PM, Wet, Kilo Kish, Hana Vu 3/12, of Folk Music b Rubblebucket 3/16, 8 PM, Ry X 3/26, 8:30 PM, Thalia ern with openers Arthhur, who got their Schubas b 6:30 PM, Subterranean, Cupcakke 3/21, 8:30 PM, Thalia SPACE, Evanston b Hall, 17+ own write-up elsewhere in the paper. Diane Coff ee 4/24, 9 PM, Moved from Metro; Metro Hall Sasami 4/23, 7 PM, Schubas b Xiu Xiu 5/17, 9 PM, Empty On Thursday, March 7, the Broad Squad Schubas, 18+ tickets will be honored b Trevor Hall 3/29, 6:30 PM, Con- Satsang 5/3, 9 PM, FitzGerald’s, Bottle Alice Cooper 7/21, 7 PM, Holly- Upcoming cord Music Hall, 18+ Berwyn Yheti 5/3, 10 PM, Bottom tattooers’ collective takes over East Room wood Casino Amphitheatre, Aborted, Cryptopsy, Benight- Hand Habits 4/4, 9 PM, Michael Schenker Fest 5/4, 7 Lounge, 17+ to host “Draw Your Idols,” an art show, Tinley Park, on sale Fri 3/8, ed 3/22, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Hideout PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ Yob, Voivod 3/27, 8 PM, Thalia concert, and benefit for Howard Brown 10 AM Club, 17+ Fareed Haque & KAIA String Scientists 4/10, 9 PM, Sleeping Hall, 17+ Health and the Chicago Period Proj- Dauché, Jabari 5/18, 8:30 PM, Accidentals 6/20, 8 PM, Quartet 5/19, 1 PM, SPACE, Village Zveri 5/31, 7 PM, Concord Concord Music Hall SPACE, Evanston b Evanston b John Scofi eld’s Combo 66 6/27, Music Hall, 17+ ect. Local femme tattoo artists will pres- Deerhoof 4/21, 8 PM, Lincoln Acid Mothers Temple, Yaman- Robyn Hitchcock 4/3, 8 PM, 7 PM, SPACE, Evanston ent work inspired by other influential Hall, 18+ taka // Sonic Titan 4/13, 8:30 SPACE, Evanston b Melvin Seals & JGB 3/22, 8 femmes—and because it’s on the walls, not Ani DiFranco in conversation PM, Empty Bottle Iron Maiden 8/22, 7:30 PM, PM, Park West, 18+ SOLD OUT on someone’s skin, you can look as long as with Jessica Hopper 5/10, 7 Arkells 3/14, 7 PM, Bottom Hollywood Casino Amphithe- John Sebatian 7/8, 8 PM, City PM, Everybody’s Coff ee b Lounge b atre, Tinley Park Winery b Avey Tare 4/6, 7 PM, you like! The music lineup includes Wax Drab Majesty, Facs 5/17, 6:30 Be Forest 3/19, 9 PM, Empty Kemba, Brittney Carter, Calid Jane Siberry 4/19, 8 PM, Szold Co-Prosperity Sphere, b Idols front person Hether Fortune, who PM, Garfi eld Park Conserva- Bottle B 4/6, 8:30 PM, Empty Bottle Hall, Old Town School of Folk Adrian Belew 4/4, 8 PM, Maur- lives in Oakland, and several Chicagoans: tory, on sale Fri 3/8, 10 AM b Beach Bunny 3/14, 9 PM, Mogli 5/14, 7:30 PM, Schubas Music b er Hall, Old Town School of garage group Radio Shaq, outre dance- Earth 6/23, 8:30 PM, Empty Schubas, 18+ b Chris Smither 4/12, 8:30 PM, Folk Music, b Bottle, on sale Fri 3/8, 10 AM Beams, Jessica Risker 3/14, Mono, Emma Ruth Rundle FitzGerald’s, Berwyn Casey 5/24, 7 PM, Bottom pop outfit Powerpup, and Misfits cover Feed Me 6/21, 8:30 PM, the Vic, 8:30 PM, Empty Bottle 6/15, 6 PM, Bohemian Nation- Smoking Popes 5/10-11, 8 PM, Lounge, b band Hymen Moments. The party starts on sale Fri 3/8, 10 AM, 18+ Beck, Cage the Elephant, al Cemetery b Bottom Lounge, 17+ Dave Davies 4/20, 8 PM, at 10 PM, and admission is $5; if you can, Sammy Hagar, Vince Neil 6/7, Spoon 7/31, 6 PM, Huntington Monolord 4/26, 8:30 PM, Snoop Dogg 6/29, 8 PM, Con- SPACE, Evanston, b please bring donations of period supplies 7 PM, Hollywood Casino Bank Pavilion Empty Bottle cord Music Hall, 17+ Distillers, Starcrawler 5/22, 8 Amphitheatre, Tinley Park Adrian Belew 10/3, 8 PM, Mormor 4/26, 8 PM, Sleeping Snow Patrol 5/7, 7 PM, Riviera PM, Metro, 18+ such as menstrual pads and tampons. Maggie Speaks 4/22, 7:30 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Village, 18+ Theatre, 18+ Dream Syndicate, Eleventh Few writers explore their subjects as City Winery, on sale Thu 3/7, Andrew Belle 5/23, 8 PM, Lin- Van Morrison 4/24, 7 PM, Chi- Soledad 5/22, 8 PM, Maurer Dream Day 5/31-6/1, 8 PM, lovingly as Hanif Abdurraqib, whose noon b coln Hall, 18+ cago Theatre Hall, Old Town School of Folk Hideout thoughtful, lyrical, insightful new book, Mana 10/11-12, 8 PM, Allstate Jon Bellion 7/19, 7 PM, Hun- Mark Morton, Light the Torch Music b Imogen Heap, Guy Sigsworth Arena, Rosemont, 10/12 show tington Bank Pavilion 3/21, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, Marco Antonio Solis 3/31, 7 5/14, 7:30 PM, the Vic, 18+ Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe on sale Fri 3/8, 10 AM Alec Benjamin 4/23, 7 PM, 17+ PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont Hives, Refused 5/20, 7 PM, the Called Quest, should be required reading Dave Mason 8/13-14, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall b Mountain Goats 5/15-16, 8:30 Son Volt 4/27, 8:30 PM, Thalia Vic, 18+ for everybody. On Sunday, March 10, he’ll City Winery, on sale Thu 3/7, Black Lips, Fucked Up 4/27, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Hall, 17+ Japanese Breakfast 3/12, 8:30 appear at the Seminary Co-op in Hyde noon b PM, Metro, 18+ Movements, Boston Manor Vince Staples, JPEGmafi a, Trill PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Mott the Hoople 4/3, 8 PM, Black Moth Super Rainbow 5/19, 7 PM, Metro b Sammy 3/12, 8:30 PM, Riviera Jungle, Houses 3/13, 9 PM, Park to read selections from Go Ahead in Chicago Theatre 3/20, 8 PM, Sleeping Village Mr Eazi 4/6, 7 PM, Concord Theatre, 18+ Metro, 18+ the Rain and talk about it with poet and Neurosis, Bell Witch, Dea ids Black Queen, Uniform 3/16, 8 Music Hall, 17+ Supersuckers, Blind Staggers Lizzo 5/3-4, 8 PM, Riviera teacher Tara Betts. The free event starts 8/17, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, on PM, Subterranean, 17+ Mudhoney 5/26, 8 PM, Lincoln 3/12, 8 PM, Beat Kitchen Theatre, b at 3 PM. —JRN L G sale Fri 3/8, 10 AM, 17+ Billy Bragg 4/25-27, 8 PM, Lin- Hall Twiztid 3/23, 6:30 PM, Bottom Massive Attack 3/23, 8 PM, Smashing Pumpkins, Noel Gal- coln Hall, 18+ Peter Mulvey 4/5, 7 PM, Lounge, 17+ Chicago Theatre lagher’s High Flying Birds, Tamar Braxton 5/31, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Jimmie Vaughan 6/28, 8 PM, Mekons 7/12, 9 PM; 7/14, 8 PM, Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail AFI 8/15, 7 PM, Hollywood Patio Theater Peelander-Z 5/1, 8 PM, Reg- SPACE, Evanston b Hideout v [email protected].
36 CHICA O READER - MARCH ll JOBS REAL LEGAL GENERAL ESTATE NOTICE RENTALS By Dan Savage SAVAGE LOVE App Designer for legal services TO: PERRIE GREEN oriented App. Can be share- holder in new corporation for BEDROOM You are notified that there is this App. Send resume and now on fi le in the offi ce of the contact information to hg@ ONE BEDROOM $1450 1355 clerk of court for Des Moines mrattorney.net. N. SANDBURG TERRACE County, Iowa, a petition in case #1907 AVAIL 4/1. PLEASE number JVJV005487, which Groupon, Inc. is seeking CONTACT DAVID 312 259 prays for a termination of your multiple Software Development 3683 [email protected] parent-child relationship to a Engineers (SDE), SDE IIs, SDE child born on the 4th day of IIIs and SDE IVs in Chicago, IL January, 2011 in Iowa City, to: develop, construct & im- TWO BEDROOM Iowa. For further details contact plement the next generation of the clerks offi ce. The petitioners Heavy load company products & features Budlong Woods, 5500 N-2600 attorney is Lucas C. Helling of for Groupon’s web & mobile W. Large 2 Bedroom, eat in Foss, Kuiken, Cochran & Hell- apps. Send resumes to apply@ kitchen, large living room, lots Should you share a not-so-kinky kink? ing, PC, 100 East groupon.com & ref SDECH1 of closets, near transportation. 1285 includes heat-water. Burlington Avenue, PO Box 30, Fairfield, Iowa 52556.You are Curriculum & Regional Di- Marty 773-784-0763 notifi ed that there will be a pre- rector - Bach Deg or for deg trial conference before the Iowa equiv in Educ, Curric Dvlpmnt STUDIO District Court for Des Moines or Curric & Instruc + 1 yr exp in County (Juvenile Division), at position or foreign lang curric Studio the Courthouse in Burlington, dvlpmnt; & exp with: foreign Large studio near Warren Iowa, at 9:00 A.M. on the 18 lang instruc & accnt mngmnt; : Let’s say my kink is Perhaps it would be the as the direct result of an Park. 1904 W. Pratt. Hardwood th day of March, 2019. The ensuring instructional QA; floors. Cats OK. $795/month. Court has ordered if you fail edging and I edge myself for polite thing to do. I guess intentional intervention, like teacher supervision & recruit- Heat included. Available 2/1. to appear at said hearing, the ment; & planning & executing a few days leading up to a I’d feel comfortable saying, edging. (773)761 4318. www.lakefront- Court may proceed at that time educ mrkting activities. Travel mgt.com with hearing on the Petition for to various unantic client sites date. Is it my responsibility “Hey, by the way, I produce Backing up for a second: Termination of Parental Rights. req’d. May reside anywhere in Studio A person against whom a to tell my potential partner? very large loads,” if sex was Edging entails bringing your- US. Apply to (incl Ref# 10002) Large studio apartment proceeding for termination of Ms. Grunfeld, Little Linguists This is a fi rst/Tinder date, imminent. At what point self or being brought to the near Loyola Park. 1329-41 parental rights is brought shall Academy, 1915 W Farragut W. Estes. Hardwood floors. have the right to counsel pur- Ave, Chicago, IL 60640 and it’s just a coff ee date, between sex being “not off - edge of coming over and Cats OK. $795/month. Heat suant to Iowa Code § 600A.6A. included. Laundry in building. BUT she and I have talked limits” and “my parts are over again. It’s about getting Relativity (Chicago, IL) seeks Available 3/1. Larger unit avail- CLERK OF THE ABOVE Senior Performance Engineer about our expectations, and going to be interacting with yourself or someone else able 4/1 for $850/month. (773) COURT (3/7) to identify/communicate perfor- 761-4318 www.lakefrontmgt. mance baseline expectations/ there will likely be a physical your parts as soon as our as close as you can to the com Notice is hereby given, pur- provide workflow & tuning suant to “An Act in relation to aspect in whatever potential clothes are off ” is the right “point of orgasmic inevitabil- recommendations for applica- CLASSIFIEDS the use of an Assumed Busi- tions across our core products relationship may ensue. I moment to disclose my kink? ity” without going over. Draw ness Name in the conduct or & infrastructure. To apply, email transaction of Business in the your resume to Recruiting@ MARKETPLACE understand that it’s never —WO O D? out the buildup to a single State,” as amended, that a cer- relativity.com. Please include tifi cation was registered by the cool to involve someone orgasm for hours or days and “JOB ID: 19-9005” in the sub- undersigned with the County ject line. in your kink without their A: Let’s say . . . you blow that the resulting load will be larg- Clerk of Cook County. Regis- SERVICES tration Number: Y19000642 on JBT Corp (Chicago) - Sr. In- consent, but what are the load. I can’t imagine your er than normal for the edged February 21, 2019 Under the ternal Auditor - perform audits JOBS Learn Celestial Navigation. Assumed Business Name of rules here? If I don’t divulge new friend will be shocked. individual. But even so, an of financial reporting, internal Learn how to fi x your position HARDCORE FITNESS with the control/SOX Sec 404, IT, & ops. this information, I could Blowing loads, a er all, is edged dude’s load can still be using the sun, moon, stars business located at: PO BOX Rqts: Bach or for. equiv in Acct ADMINISTRATIVE and planets in 4 sessions, 87123, CHICAGO IL 60680 or rltd & CPA cert + 2 yrs exp see how my production what men do* with their smaller than the load of a guy Mar 24-31, April 7 & 14. The true and real full name(s) in: (i) auditing fin statements, SALES & Sign-up today: http://wauke- and residence address of the of an unexpectedly large penises**, WOOD, and most who just naturally produces reviewing qtrly fin. info; (ii) ganjosephconrad.org/classes owner(s)/partner(s) is: Owner/ MARKETING auditing internal ctrl over fin amount of ejaculate could be people who are attracted to more ejaculate. Partner Full Name SHANNON reporting incl. SOX Sec. 404; BONNER at 6500 S. MINERVA FOOD & DRINK (iii) understanding bus. risks, in- upsetting. But at least some men are aware of this fact. I don’t think there’s a press- #2S CHICAGO, IL 60637 USA ternal ctrls, & assessing risk of (3/21) amount of come is expected, And anyone who’s slept with ing need to disclose your kink SPAS & SALONS material misstatement of fi nan- right? If I randomly had two or more men is aware to your date. If it gets sexual, cials to design effective audit BIKE JOBS procedures; (iv) enhancing acct massive loads every single that some men blow bigger she’s going to expect you to & ctrl sys, reviewing possible GENERAL acquisitions/divestitures, public time through no eff ort of my loads than others and the produce ejaculate. And even stock off ering, & rec new meth- own, would I be responsible volume of an individual man’s if the load you wind up blow- ods for bus./info processes & asset management. Dom/ for letting a partner know? loads can vary naturally or ing is enormous, you’re J int’l travel up to 50%. Apply at please recycle REAL https://www.jbtc.com/careers/ this paper ESTATE RENTALS FOR SALE NON-RESIDENTIAL ROOMATES MARKET- PLACE GOODS Find hundreds La Juan D’Arienzo Orquesta Tipica of Reader- LIVE ART TANGO FAIR SERVICES recommended FRIDAY, MARCH 8 HEALTH & restaurants, WELLNESS exclusive video NORTH SHORE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS IN SKOKIE, IL features, and sign up INSTRUCTION for weekly news at Performed by the amazing Orquesta Tipica La Juan D’Arienzo (Argentina), chicagoreader.com/ accompanied by the world-class Tango dancers: Celina Rotundo and MUSIC & ARTS Hugo Paytn (Argentina), Lorena Gonzalez Cattaneo and Gaston Camejo food. (Argentina/Uruguay), Lena and Oleg Mashkovich (USA). NOTICES MESSAGES WWW.NORTHSHORECENTER.ORG/EVENT/TANGO-ONE-EMOTION LEGAL NOTICES ADULT SERVICES ll MARCH - CHICA O READER 37 SAVAGE LOVE
continued from 37 and a needless conversation past the pain and into the not going to drown her or about how much ejaculate pleasure zone. How many wash out her IUD. you produce and why you times should I try bottoming Frankly, WOOD, your let- produce so much ejaculate before I decide it’s not for ter reads like you got baked will definitely come across as me? —T out of your mind and sat up creepy—then she may decide IG H half the night trying to come not to ensue with you. H O L up with an excuse to tell this *Not all men have penis- E woman about your not-that- es, not all penises have men, kinky kink and “I should tell not all men blow loads, not all A: There’s no set number her as a courtesy” was the loads are blown by men, etc. of times a queer person best you could do. **Not the only thing men has to try bottoming before If you want to tell her, go do with their penises, some deciding it’s not for them, ahead and tell her. But since men don’t do that thing with TIGHTHOLE. A person— there’s no need to tell her their penises, some penis queer or straight—can make that you sometimes like to havers don’t do that thing as that call without ever having stroke for a bit without cli- men, etc. tried bottoming. An exclusive maxing, there’s a strong top who isn’t afraid of his own chance she’ll react negatively : I’m a queer man who hole, i.e., a queer guy who to your “courtesy” disclosure. usually tops with men. A bad enjoys being fi ngered and Even if she’s made it clear fi rst try at receiving anal at using a prostate massager, there could be “a physical age 16 led me to not bottom doesn’t have a hang-up; he’s aspect”—even if that’s not just for years. A er seeing just a guy who knows what dickful thinking on your part— the looks of delight on my works for his hole and what she’s going to be scrutinizing partners’ faces, I decided doesn’t. And that’s more than you for signs that you aren’t to give bottoming another most people know. v someone she wants to get go. I followed your advice— naked with. She’ll be look- lots of lube and relaxation, Send letters to mail@ ing for red flags at your first a little weed—and tried lots savagelove.net. On the face-to-face meeting, and if of diff erent positions and Lovecast, we got punked! you come across like a creep dick sizes. But no matter Listen at savagelovecast. with piss-poor judgment— what, I never seem to get com. @fakedansavage
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