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IN THIS ISSUE T R - dissection of a masterpiece One @ Child Nation uncovers bitter truths and Where’d You Go Bernadette assesses a society in spiritual crisis P T B E C K H S K D E K S MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE C LSK 32 Shows of note Noura Mint D P J R Seymali Dea ids Matt Muse and C E AL M E P M more this week TD K R 26 Preview Medusa goes 38 Early Warnings Hot Snakes A E J L beyond snakes and stones and Booker T Jones Plaid and more S W D I FOOD DRINK BJ MS CITY LIFE Collaboraction gives peace a justannounced concerts SW M D L G 03 Street View An artist whose & CANNABIS chance 38 Gossip Wolf The Patient Sounds E A SN L style refl ects her belief that “the 10 Restaurant Review Himalayan 28 Plays of note Black Ballerina label goes out with a bang Andrew G D D C S M E B W more color the better ” Sherpa Kitchen goes deeper into provides a stunning showcase for Smith’s Jungle Green project drops L C S C -J 04 Transportation What can cities Nepal Kara Roseborough Boogieban its fi rst album as a band and goth F L C P F do to make escooters safer? 12 Southern Comfort A er church traces the eff ects of war on soldiers pop duo Wingtips celebrate their C N B D C L C I comes Luella’s of two diff erent eras Diamond Lil fulllength debut at Late Bar G A G KT 14 Heartbreak Sandwich & and the Pansy Craze revisits a H R H JH Shawafel wrap as cure for life’s famous Chicago nightclub J H I H D J M OPINION K S K M M disappointments 40 Savage Love Shrinking in B M Q JRN 16 Late Night What really goes on Seattle? Dan Savage isn’t so sure L P BS D S at the Hollywood Grill at AM? C S TTRBET - A W 18 Beer Yoga A practice that feeds CLASSIFIEDS ------the mind body and soul 42 Jobs D D J D 20 CBD Self Care A girly stoner 42 Apartments & Spaces D P E &P heaven in Albany Park sells CBD 42 Marketplace K K O M S A products smoking accessories and A A NEWS & POLITICS sex toys J G Y D 06 Cannabis Advocates say Illinois’s adultuse legislation .THEATER ADVERTISING O P M -- - @ doesn’t go far enough to help 23 Pretty Fly The Fly Honey FILM S F S ’ C @ diverse entrepreneurs enter the Show celebrates inclusivity with a 29 Movies of note If the Dancer MSALISBUCOM S D P F budding market burlesque twist Dances off ers a gorgeous V P S A M C R M TP S A R B G J L L M -H A R L S B W C S M W R THIS WEEK ON CHICAGOREADER.COM N A V M G --- J L SB ------D C [email protected] -- STM READER LLC BP D R L T E R S J S A- S V
C C E B ------A moving memorial to the In 2020, the White Sox get Movie Tuesday: R ISSN - STMR LLC SM SC IL 1919 race riots to play the Yankees in a Doggiewoggiez! -- Artist Jeff erson Pinder’s Float made cornfi eld in Iowa Poochiewoochiez! C ©C R volunteers of diff erent races and the P C IL lake itself part of his commemoration. Once again, Sox fans get screwed. In honor of the Reader’s Pets Issue, A C R R here are fi ve fi lms with plenty of RR T ® cinematic canine charisma. 2 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll Sprint Works℠ for CITY LIFE employees of the City of Chicago. “I NEVER FOLLOW THE NORM ” says Adrianne Enjoy workplace benefits including saving Hawthorne, 33, of Ponnopozz, who was display- through the Sprint Works Program. ing her artwork on a rental truck parked on Damen just north of Lawrence. “I like to show my work in fun environments that are a real experience for the people who attend my shows. A moving truck seemed like a great option because it’s only ever used for one purpose, and that’s never an art show!” A Google user experience designer by day, Haw- thorne decided in February 2018 to refocus on her art to “express her true self” and adopted the label Ponnopozz—a portmanteau of Ponno and Pozzer, the names of two stuff ed bears she had as a child— to that end. Her work, like her personal style, is max- imalist and colorful: “The more color the better,”
ISAGIALLORENZO Visit sprint.com/save she says. It’s an aesthetic refl ected in her pairing of Be sure to mention this code. Corporate ID: GLLIL_CHI_ZZZ a T-shirt dress and leggings by LA’s Nooworks, pink Activ. Fee: Up to $30/line. Credit approval req. SWP Offers: Sel. SWP only. Offers avail. for eligible company/ Street View statement glasses and shoes, a floral fanny pack, agency employees or org. members (ongoing verification). Subject to change according to the company’s/ and earrings by local brand Lee Lee Z Leather. agency’s/org’s agreement with Sprint. Offers are avail. upon request. Other Terms: Offers and coverage not available everywhere or for all phones/networks. May not be combinable with other offers. Accounts that cancel The maximalist “Mixing patterns definitely works, and you can lines within 30 days of activating on promo pricing may void savings. Restrictions apply. See store or sprint.com for details. © 2019 Sprint. All rights reserved. Sprint and the logo are trademarks of Sprint. Other marks are “The more color the better,” never have too much color,” Hawthorne says. “Wear property of their respective owners. says artist/Google UX designer what makes you feel amazing as you walk down the Adrianne Hawthorne. street.” —IG
ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER3 CITY LIFE
TRANSPORTATION hankfully, I haven’t heard about any critical injuries to riders of Chicago’s rentable electric scooters since the city’s pilot program launched on Not-so-easy June 15. Since then, 2,500 vehicles Tfrom ten di erent companies have been scat- tered across the west- and northwest-side test riders zone. What can cities do to make But Dr. Adam Black, who runs the emergen- e-scooters safer? cy department at AMITA Health Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center in Ukrainian By JG Village, a hot spot for the gadgets, says his ER has seen “some really ugly fractures” from e-scooter crashes. These have included bro-
Scooter riders on Milwaukee Avenue in West Town JOHNGREENFIELD
ken hips, compound fractures (in which the Bike users who died in a 2017 New York ter- end of a broken bone protrudes through the rorist attack) for each mode to date. victim’s skin), and “one really unlucky rider Since large-scale bike share launched in with multiple extremities with fractures.” this country in September 2010, the follow- Black estimated that the medical center is ing fatalities have occurred. currently treating one scooter patient a day. JULY : Virginia Murray, 25, was He said most of the victims were struck by riding a Divvy at Belmont and Sacramento in turning drivers who didn’t notice them, or Chicago when a turning fl atbed truck driver they wiped out on potholes or other bumps in struck her. the road. JUNE : Dan Hanegby, 36, was riding My goal in sharing this info isn’t to scare a Citi Bike in New York when a bus driver you away from the new technology; it’s to struck him. make sure we all keep our eyes wide open to MARCH : Tess Rothstein, 30, was its negative impacts. I actually think e-scoot- riding an electrical-assist Ford GoBike in ers have many possible benefi ts for cities like San Francisco when a box truck driver fatally Chicago. They have the potential to replace struck her. private car and ride-hailing trips, especially JUNE : Victor Ang died from inju- on fi rst- and last-mile journeys to and from ries sustained in April when he was riding a transit stations. They can improve transpor- Citi Bike in New York and a UPS semi driver tation access in underserved neighborhoods. struck him. And they may be helpful in building political Large-scale scooter share appeared on support for more protected, car-free lanes, U.S. sidewalks by January 2018. Since then, since their zippy, sweat-free rides may ap- the following scooter-share deaths have peal to folks who would never consider bike occurred. commuting. FEBRUARY : Mark Sands, 21, was To get a sense of the relative safety of bike- riding a Lime scooter against tra c in Aus- share systems like Chicago’s Divvy versus tin, Texas, when an Uber driver struck him. rentable scooters, I pored over news reports SEPTEMBER : Jacoby Stoneking, 24, and compiled what I believe are the most was riding a Lime scooter in Dallas when he comprehensive lists of apparently uninten- fell and was later found unresponsive in the tional U.S. fatalities (e.g., excluding two Citi road with a head injury. 4 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll CITY LIFE
SEPTEMBER Carlos San- unintentional U.S. e-scooter deaths so far chez-Martin, 20, was riding a Lime scooter in this year alone, it’s clear that scooters have Washington, D.C., when an SUV driver struck a terrible track record for safety compared him. to bike share. (Although, in fairness, studies DECEMBER Esteban Galindo, 26, have found private bikes are also somewhat was riding a Bird scooter in Chula Vista, Cali- less safe than bike share.) The reasons why fornia, when a car driver struck him. seem fairly obvious. MARCH Christopher Conti, 53, Traditional bike-share cycles are heavy was killed in San Diego when he crashed and slow, while typical e-scooters do 15 into a tree while riding a Bird scooter on the mph with no e ort from the rider. The bikes sidewalk. are stable and give the rider a low center of APRIL Evan Dyer Faram, 31, was gravity, while a person standing on a scooter riding a rented scooter in LA when an intox- can easily fl y over the handlebars. Bike-share icated hit-and-run pickup driver struck him. cycles have large wheels with fat tires, while APRIL : Caiden Reyes-Ortiz, 5, was the small wheels on most scooters are prone riding on a Lime scooter with his mother in to crashes on poor pavement. Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he fell o and a car The high-visibility bikes are easy for driv- driver struck him. ers to see, while a person on a scooter is less Catch the world’s leading MAY : Brady Gaulke, 26, was riding noticeable to motorists, especially from the a Bird scooter in Nashville with a blood-al- side. And while many bike-share users have cohol level of more than twice the legal limit years of experience navigating city traffic, expert on outsmarting when an SUV driver struck him. almost no scooter riders do. MAY : Eric Amis, Jr., 20, was riding It must be noted that the current citywide con artists… in Chicago. a Lime scooter in Atlanta when a car driver Divvy expansion is phasing in e-bikes that struck him. have an electrical assist that allows them JULY : William “Brad” Alexander, to top off at 18 mph, which could lead to 37, was riding a Bird scooter in Atlanta when more crashes. And many of the problems a turning bus driver struck him. with standing scooters could be addressed Tuesday, August 20 JULY : Amber Ford, 34, was riding by switching to seated models with larger 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. | Doors Open at 5:30 p.m. a Bird scooter in Atlanta when a hit-and-run wheels. In fact, that describes the vehicles driver struck her. used by Wheels, one of the companies partici- Auditorium Theatre at Roosevelt University AUGUST : Quienterry McGri was riding pating in the Chicago pilot. a scooter in the Atlanta suburb of East Point, More education and outreach about safe 50 East Ida B. Wells Drive Georgia, when he ran a red light and collided scooter riding practices could also help level Chicago, IL. 60605 with an oil truck. the playing fi eld. The city of Chicago recently AUGUST : Cameron Hagan, 26, died from announced a series of new safety training injuries sustained fi ve days earlier when he sessions. For over 40 years, Frank W. Abagnale has advised the was riding a Lyft scooter against traffic in It’s also important to remember that un- Denver and a car driver struck him. safe driving is Chicago’s most urgent tra c FBI on how to outsmart con artists. Now he is coming to Since U.S. bike share has seen four uninten- safety problem, with 41 people walking and Chicago for a presentation on learning to spot and avoid tional deaths in about nine years, while there five people on bikes fatally struck in 2018. have been 13 such rentable scooter fatalities By replacing car trips, scooters can be part scams so you can protect yourself and your family. in roughly 19.5 months, that means there of the solution—as long they’re prevent- have been about 18 times as many scooter ing more injuries and deaths than they’re This free event is open to the public, but space is limited fatalities per year as bike-share deaths. causing. and registration is required. . Granted, that’s not a true apples-to-apples “More time and data is needed for a thor- comparison, but even if we look at trip data, ough understanding of e-scooter safety,” RSVP: 1-877-926-8300 or https://aarp.cvent.com/ scooters still have an exponentially worse noted Active Transportation Alliance spokes- safety record. According to data from the man Kyle Whitehead. But he added that build- AbagnaleChicago National Association of City Transportation ing more car-free lanes would be a win for Officials, between 2010 and 2018 there was both cyclists and scooteristas. “The scooter roughly one death per 84.25 million bike- injuries further demonstrate the need to share trips. Meanwhile, in 2018, the fi rst year redesign city streets and provide more pro- of large-scale scooter share, there was about tected space for vulnerable users.” v one fatality per 9.63 million trips—roughly nine times the fatality rate of bike share. John Greenfield edits the transportation Scooter advocates may take issue with the news website Streetsblog Chicago. nuts and bolts of my analysis. But with nine @greenfieldjohn ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER5 NEWS & POLITICS
f not for CBD, Marcy Capron Vermillion CANNABIS wouldn’t have been able to stand on her own. After injuring her spine in a kayaking Legalizing equity accident, she had trouble standing with- Iout leaning on anything. The cortisone shots Advocates say the adult-use cannabis legislation doesn’t go far and other treatments weren’t working, and enough to help diverse entrepreneurs enter the budding market. she was left contemplating surgery. A couple of years ago, around her 30th birthday, her By T W -M aunt gave her a bottle of ResQ organics can- nabidiol, or CBD, oil. Only a few days after she consumed the CBD, she felt optimistic, a sur- prise for her as a person who’d su ered from clinical depression for a decade. Thankfully, her back pain had been greatly reduced. From then on, she “got really religious” about CBD, experimenting and researching. A year later, she met serial entrepreneur Coco Meers, and together the two founded Equilib- ria, a women-focused CBD wellness product company. Vermillion is one of many Illinoisans watch- ing how the cannabis sector evolves now that the state legislature passed HB1438, which legalizes adult cannabis consumption and includes provisions for cannabis conviction expungements and resources for diverse en- trepreneurs. While the bill somewhat lowers the barrier to entry to the cannabis industry, some worry that it gives the mostly white cultivators and dispensary owners an edge in the budding marketplace. Advocates also say it doesn’t go far enough in its cannabis con- viction expungement provisions, and could lead to discrimination against POC cannabis consumers.
t’s di cult to determine just how homoge- nous Illinois’s legal cannabis market is. The ICompassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act has provisions that require medical and adult-use cannabis companies to disclose their ownership demographics, but the diversity of the state’s current mar- ket has largely been concealed. Under the state’s medical marijuana law, agencies are forbidden from disclosing the contents of cultivation centers and dispensary application information. To understand how many diverse applicants were denied entry into the state’s cannabis market, the Reader fi led FOIA requests for fi g- ures outlining how many dispensary and culti- vation center applications the Illinois Depart- ment of Financial and Professional Regulation and the Illinois Department of Agriculture had
JACQUELINEALCÁNTARA denied from people of color, women, veterans, 6 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll NEWS & POLITICS
and people with disabilities. cannabis companies wasn’t wrong. The Chica- The IDFPR denied the Reader’s request for go Tribune reported that existing companies, records, citing the law’s prohibition of appli- their executives, and lobbyists have spent cation information disclosure, but the Illinois approximately $600,000 on political contribu- Department of Agriculture said it had denied tions since 2017. 22 applications from women, 11 from people Under the adult-use cannabis bill, existing of color, nine from veterans, and none from dispensaries and cultivation centers are people with disabilities. required to pay fees aimed at subsidizing “We cannot speak to the decision of the newcomers from diverse backgrounds, includ- previous administration to not track the de- ing those from communities that have been 65 mographics of dispensary applicants in a more upended by cannabis criminalization, said consistent manner,” an IDFPR spokesperson Illinois deputy governor Christian Mitchell. said in an e-mail. “The focus of this admin- Existing dispensaries must pay $30,000 to- FLOORS. istration is to have the best data possible to ward the Cannabis Regulation Fund, and ex- track minority participation in the cannabis isting cultivation centers must pay $100,000 industry and to promote policies that remove to grow and sell cannabis for recreational ZERO barriers to entry for those communities.” consumption. The IDFPR spokesperson confirmed that Luckily, Meers had put aside money to start about 4 percent of people with ownership a cannabis company. That funding plus Meers’s RIGHT stakes in cannabis dispensaries operating in personal connections enabled the company to the state are people of color, but the current acquire a farm for growing, researching, and law prevents the department from sharing developing their cannabis products. “We’ve ANGLES. their identities. been lucky that we’ve been able to use existing When asked whether the Illinois Depart- connections to raise capital and be in a place TAKE ONE OF OUR ment of Agriculture had made e orts to assist that’s a little further along. But if all these diverse entrepreneurs in establishing cultiva- things didn’t come together, no, I don’t think 85 TOURS AND SEE tion centers, the IDA spokesperson said the the company would exist,” Vermillion said. CHICAGO FROM department couldn’t provide assistance to any State representative Kelly Cassidy, the lead permit applicants in order to “ensure the in- house sponsor of the adult-use legislation, A FASCINATING tegrity of this competitive selection process.” said allowing existing cultivation centers to PERSPECTIVE. Some worry that the current cannabis com- start growing cannabis for recreational use panies will have too much power to expand. was the only way to ensure that there would Current dispensaries aren’t in predominantly be cannabis available by January 1, 2020. It Black or Hispanic neighborhoods, and they’ll can take a year or two for cannabis companies likely be able to expand into communities of to find land that adheres to local zoning re- color by the time craft growers and dispensa- strictions, not to mention that cannabis plants ries enter the market, said Donte Townsend, for recreational use will take time to grow. communications director of Chicago NORML, Waiving 50 percent of fees for social equity a Chicago-area chapter of the national canna- applicants felt like a fair compromise between bis advocacy and education organization. The lowering the barriers of entry for disadvan- existing growers have the advantage of being taged cannabis entrepreneurs but also ensur- able to stock up on plants and product, thus ing that they can run their business, Cassidy taking a larger share in the market, he added. said. “That fee waiver is about trying to make “To have 1 percent of shelf space in a dispen- sure that we put it in the realm of possible for sary, how much of a win is that?” Townsend folks,” Cassidy said. “You do need to be able to said. “Take these crumbs, and if you can make come up with something. There does need to some bread with it, a’ight.” be skin in the game.” Vermillion said existing cannabis com- Though the bill provides reduced fees and panies with more money have the ability to financing for social equity applicants, some lobby legislators for permission to open more say establishing cultivation centers and dis- dispensaries and create a monopoly. “If you pensaries may still be cost prohibitive. decide to open a dispensary a mile away from The funding for social equity applicants one of theirs and you’re like the mom-and-pop will at least curb the need for traditional bank equivalent, they’ll put you out of business loans. According to a 2017 Federal Reserve easy,” Vermillion said. “They’ll be excited to analysis, one in four Black-owned firms de- do it.” clined to apply for credit, with 56 percent of Her instinct about the political infl uence of those Black-owned businesses stating J ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER7 NEWS & POLITICS
continued from 7 makeup, Vermillion said. Opening a dispen- cation efforts to inform people about how On top of being behind the established can- that they didn’t want to rack up debt and 60 sary but getting cannabis from another farm they can and cannot consume and produce nabis cultivators and dispensaries, new en- percent saying they anticipated being denied. could potentially compromise the quality of cannabis once the law takes e ect next year, trants into the recreational cannabis market Out of the 17.7 percent of Black-owned busi- their products while saving them money and Townsend said. Under the adult-use cannabis will have to learn how to operate a business to nesses that applied for loans, fi nancial institu- time in the short-term, she said. legislation, for example, only medical patients be successful, said Seke Ballard, managing di- tions denied 53.4 percent of their applications, “The response from the majority of my can grow cannabis at home. That was a blow rector of Good Tree Capital. His fi rm is looking the analysis also found. friends in this industry was that even the to casual cannabis consumers looking to grow to fi nance cannabis entrepreneurs who have Beyond the pervasive gender and racial loans and the subsidies and various things their own, but it was understandable for pa- shown potential to be successful business lending gap, many banks are apprehensive they’re trying to do to make it equitable were tients whose conditions make it di cult to go owners. “The head start that existing licens- about serving companies in the cannabis not enough,” Vermillion said. to the state’s current dispensaries, Townsend ees get is probably the most disappointing industry. On the day that Vermillion spoke said. The homegrown provision nearly killed component of the bill,” he said. with the Reader, she said her company had s entrepreneurs prepare to descend the bill in the state legislature several times; Though the bill makes considerable strides problems with payments processors. While upon the cannabis market, individuals the pushback against the homegrown provi- toward shepherding diverse entrepreneurs the 2018 Farm Bill legalized CBD hemp farm- Awith cannabis convictions will begin sion stemmed from law enforcement o cials into the market, industry insiders say up-and- ing, dispensaries have an even worse time navigating the expungement process. Though who were concerned about the emergence of coming cannabis companies could use other handling their money, because they can only the state is authorizing the mass sale of recre- another black market, Cassidy said. resources to get their businesses on the right accept cash, she added. ational cannabis, the Illinois state legislature “There’s just this perception that fi ve plants track. For example, entrepreneurs in Oakland, The costs levied by the state to enter the in- opted to o er expungement options based on is going to be enough for someone to become a California, and Texas can access incubators dustry are steep. Under the adult-use cannabis the nature of the conviction, a sign of the lin- major dealer,” Cassidy said. “There’s a fair bit for cannabis entrepreneurs. Cannabis en- legislation, cultivation center applicants must gering conservatism in lawmakers’ attitudes of ‘reefer madness’ out there still, and that’s trepreneurs will likely need help navigating pay a nonrefundable license fee of $100,000, toward cannabis legalization. what we were up against.” the licensing application process as well as plus 5 percent of their total sales between July For people with minor cannabis offenses, Chief among the things that cannabis con- education on back-end business functions like 1, 2018, and July 1, 2019, or $500,000, whichev- meaning violations involving 30 grams or less, sumers need to remember is that they can con- accounting, managing inventory, and assess- er is less. Dispensary license applicants must law enforcement agencies will automatically sume the substance at home but not in public ing metrics, Ballard said. pay a $60,000 licensing fee plus an application erase the violation from their records. Individu- spaces. The bill allows local governments Commercial real estate doesn’t come cheap fee of $5,000. Infusers must pay a $5,000 als with o enses involving more than 30 grams to decide where to allow social use spaces in Illinois, and the existing coworking spaces license fee and $5,000 for the application fee. will need to petition the court to have their for cannabis consumption, which is akin to aren’t always the best fi t, Vermillion said. “It Social equity applicants will have their fees record expunged, or state’s attorneys can move allowing cigar clubs or hookah bars in certain would’ve been nice to have somewhere where reduced by 50 percent. to expunge the convictions on their own. areas, Cassidy said. Law enforcement will be we could’ve been like on a three-month lease Although many entrepreneurs draw on fam- Both Mitchell and Cassidy pointed out the watching for consumers and entrepreneurs to and have warehouse space with it,” Vermillion ily wealth to start a business, that option may oddity of imposing separate expungement do something wrong, which means consumers said. “My biggest complaint would be lack of not be available for Black entrepreneurs. For processes for more substantial cannabis of- of color especially need to be aware of what community, lack of space to get started.” one thing, a 2017 Economic Policy Institute fenses under the new adult-use cannabis law the rules are, Townsend said. She said she was glad that the state has analysis of 2013 Survey of Consumer Finance given that the state will allow licensed busi- It’s also important to have a proper protocol legalized cannabis, but she stressed the im- data found that white Americans have an aver- nesses to sell cannabis in large quantities. for determining how impaired someone is portance of making the market accessible to age of $678,737 in wealth compared to $95,261 “With any legislative measure, you have to after consuming cannabis, especially given as many diverse entrepreneurs as possible to for Black Americans. Even among college fi gure out what is the most relief you can get that cannabis highs are not the same as alco- keep up with the state’s demand for products degree holders, the median wealth for white for the most amount of people while still being hol impairment. “Until we come up with a re- and make cannabis accessible to everyone. Americans was $180,500 compared to $23,400 able to pass the bill,” Mitchell said. “For more ally good impairment protocol, that part does Many of her company’s clients are mature for Black Americans, and the median wealth conservative Democrats and Republican legis- make me a little bit nervous that we’re going women, usually in their 50s or 60s, who are for white Americans with graduate degrees lators who are supportive in the house and the to wind up with, to be honest, mostly people of turning to CBD for help with sleep, pain, and was $293,100 compared to $84,000 for Black senate, that 30-gram line of something that’s color being pulled over and getting tossed into anxiety. Those women might not feel com- Americans, the analysis found. Meanwhile now going to be a rmatively legal under this prison cells because they possessed some- fortable with the environment of a typical between 1950 and 1970, Black home buyers legislative measure was what made sense for thing they bought legally and then someone dispensary, and “budtenders” might not bought 60,100 homes purchased under pred- those folks.” says, ‘I think you’re impaired,’” Vermillion even think to ask older customers whether atory contracts and paid on average at least Vermillion’s husband, a combat veteran said. they’re taking additional medications, which $587 more in today’s dollars per month than who su ers from PTSD, had gotten into some Another potential problem with the new law taking cannabis products could inadvertent- they would’ve paid with FHA loans, thus los- legal “trouble” when he returned home and is that workplaces can enact a zero-tolerance ly impact. ing between an estimated $3.2 billion and $4 was wrongfully convicted of a crime, she said. drug policy. Cassidy said cannabis consumers “We must have companies run by the same billion in today’s dollars, according to a 2019 He is currently undergoing the expungement can report concerns to the Illinois Department types of people that it is being sold to in order report by the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on process. of Human Rights or the Illinois Department to have an equitable and fair way we handle Social Equity at Duke University. As people with cannabis convictions pursue of Employment Security if they feel they’re the industry,” she said. She paused for a sec- Equilibria grows its industrial hemp at a a clean slate under the new bill, advocates and unfairly targeted for drug testing or they have ond, searching her memory for any cannabis farm in Commerce City, Colorado, and began business owners say there will need to be a been wrongfully fired from their job. Given dispensary owners of color she knew. She selling its initial round of CBD products last broader education process for both consum- that marijuana remains federally illegal, some couldn’t think of any. v fall. Owning its own farm allows the company ers and aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs. of the discrimination issues will be resolved to maintain quality control over its product Chicago NORML plans to continue edu- by the courts, Mitchell said. @Tati_WM 8 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll 24 lumpenradio.com 7 coprosperity.org
Music, Shows, WLPN 105.5 ON Art Events LP FM AIR ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER9 H SK | R W. Lawrence -- FOOD & DRINK himalayansherpakitchenchicago.com
Clockwise from le : Sherpa Special Vojan featuring goat curry; chhoila; mango ice cream ALEXUSMCLANE
standards (duck chhoila in particular), but still spans the subcontinent with di usely inspired dishes like Goan fish curry, butter chicken, and tandoori venison. Places like Chiya Chai and the Momo World focus on the country’s famous dumplings but don’t go much deeper than that. Enter Bhim Rai, an eight-year veteran of Highwood’s Curry Hut, who along with three partners opened Himalayan Sherpa Kitchen in Lincoln Square with a menu that goes deeper into Nepalese regional and multiethnic foods than anywhere else in town. Rai grew up cooking next to his mother in the Khoathaong District of northeastern Nepal, and at an early age was exposed to the cooking of friends in the Sherpa community, the group most closely associated with momo, but also a handful of less common Tibetan dishes that have found their way onto his menu too. As Rai began cooking professionally he was exposed to the food of other ethnic groups ranging from the midland-dwelling Thakali minority—famous for a multidish set similar to an Indian thali—to the urban Newari, who inhabit the capital and the Kath- mandu Valley at large. It wasn’t until Rai left Nepal that he even learned to cook common Indian dishes, and though a section of his menu is devoted to familiar menu mainstays like vindaloo and chicken tikka masala, it’s dominated by truly Nepalese dishes. Start with sephaley (commonly spelled shabaley), a kind of Tibetan empanada stu ed with minced chicken and peas, lacquered with ghee, and served with a thick, mustardy dip- ping sauce. Mustard—greens and oil—plays a promi- or whatever reason, Nepalese food nent role across the menu, adding pungency has become a thing this year. To be and appealing bitterness. Fresh sauteed mus- RESTAURANT REVIEW sure, Chicago has been home to nom- tard greens steal the show from another Tibet- inally Nepalese restaurants for years. an dumpling known as ting-mo, spongy, bland Nepal House , Cumin , Himshikar , twists of warm dough enlivened by the chiled Himalayan Sherpa Kitchen FChicago Curry House, and Curry Hut are well greens and the roasted tomato and garlic rel- established, but their menus often rely heavily ish, called golbheda ko achaar, they’re meant on the not insignificant Indian influence on to be dipped in. Mustard oil announces itself goes deeper into Nepal Nepalese cuisine and largely ignore the re- in the mainstay chhoila, combining with the gional and ethnic di erences within Nepal. tingle of Sichuan peppercorn (in Nepal they The Lincoln Square spot draws on the country’s regional and This is true even among the brand-new crop use a close cousin) that distinguishes this dish ethnic specialties. of legitimately exciting Nepalese restaurants, of chopped boneless chicken sprinkled with BM S such as Vajra, a fine-dining newcomer that crunchy beaten rice (baji) from the others that offers interesting takes on a few Nepalese have begun appearing around town. The sea- 10 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll Search the Reader’s online database of thousands of Chicago-area restaurants—and add your own review—at chicagoreader.com/food. FOOD & DRINK ALEXUSMCLANE
soning leaches into a bed of iceberg lettuce, concedes this is a dish of his own invention, in- taking that normally useless garnish to a new spired by the freshwater river fi sh he catches level. Rai applies the same profile to an ap- on visits back home. petizer version of this Newari festival staple: All or most of these can be eaten together in “base camp potatoes,” crinkle-cut french fries, a set, noted on the menu as the Thakali Vojan o ered to bring vegetarians to the party. or the Sherpa Special Vojan, aka khana, a kind Of course there are momo, here vegetable- of ri on the common thali that the famously or chicken-stu ed momo in three varieties— business-oriented ethnic group adopted as steamed, stained with chile sauce and fried, or their own, this one with a side of ghundruk ko bathing in the curried tomato soup known as achaar, a dense, crunchy, but somewhat less jhol. These are in fact a good place on which to mild version of the fermented mustard leaf set up a base camp before moving on to Rai’s grown and sun-dried by Nepalese refugees more uncommon dishes, such as thenthuk, from Bhutan less than a half mile west on Law- a large bowl of chicken soup thick with fat, rence at the Global Garden Refugee Training hand-shaved noodles. There’s an uncommon Program . pumpkin curry, built on thin slices of gourd, Rai and his partners o er a lot more specifi - rich with ghee; and kwati, a seven-legume cally Nepalese dishes, enough to keep novices stew that Rai steeps and cooks for nearly 24 in exploratory mode for some time. Dishes like hours in order to sprout the beans (for maxi- grilled Sichuan-kissed grilled goat sekuwa, mum digestibility). bitter melon in tomato sauce, and the partic- Meaty bone-in–curries of goat, beef, or lamb ularly Nepali love letter to chow mein all show laced with fenugreek and cinnamon balance that Rai and his partners did their research. out such wholesomeness, along with a sur- “We visited a lot of places in Chicago, and we prising number (for a landlocked nation) of haven’t seen those,” he says. v seafood dishes, most notably a salmon curry almost electric in its bright, acidic profi le. Rai @MikeSula
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L ’S K L ’G B N. Lincoln, --, N. Damen, --, luellassouthernkitchen.com luellassouthernkitchen.com
Shrimp and grits LESLIEFREMPONG
y reward for sitting through when they come to Luella’s,” says owner-chef The Pruitt family (top) and the Moore family enjoy a er-church brunch at Luella’s Southern Kitchen. church was always food. Darnell Reed. “Like a piece of home that takes LESLIEFREMPONG Growing up, I’d stumble them back to when they were a child.” through Hail Marys, impa- Reed named the restaurant after his tiently checking my dad’s great-grandmother Luella Funches and includ- Mwatch to see how close we were to breakfast. ed many of her family recipes on the menu. Bell, as general manager to keep it all in the “Adrian Miller wrote that African Ameri- I’d strategize how to beat the closing-hymn While the shrimp and grits and fried chicken family. cans in the past called fried chicken ‘gospel crowd to make sure we got the license-plate have taken on a life of their own, Luella’s- “We opened Luella’s [in February 2015] bird,’” says Reed. “It was usually prepared for booth at Riley’s, the local diner in my home- the-restaurant’s famous corn-bread recipe a week before my daughter was born,” says Sundays or church days, and when I read that I town, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The booth sat is a Luella-the-great-grandmother original. Reed. “I had a second daughter born in July thought that’d be a great concept.” under the wood wall showing all the places Luella moved to Chicago from Morgan City, [2018] and realized I needed more income, so Luella’s Gospel Bird opened in November food could take you. Family is a feeling you Mississippi, in 1943, and growing up, Reed we opened a second location.” 2018 in a cozy storefront in Bucktown. Reed can’t stray far from, but one you can revisit in spent hours after school hanging around her Luella’s Gospel Bird was inspired by culi- named its signature dish the Gospel: it’s a homemade southern food cooked fresh daily kitchen. The taste of her unique, homemade nary historian Adrian Miller’s book Soul Food: serving of buttermilk fried chicken with spe- at Luella’s Southern Kitchen in Lincoln Square. food inspired the decision to open his own The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, cial “gospel” sauce that features African benne “I want people to have that family experience restaurant. Reed later hired his brother, Tyris One Plate at a Time. (sesame) seeds. As with Luella’s Southern 12 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll Residential and Commercial Painting Stain, Masonry, Stucco, Cedar Siding, Soffit & Trim Carpentry & Gutter Replacement Install Drywall, Plaster & Taping Repair Hardwood Flooring Stain Installation - Sanding - Refinishing - Staining Varnish CHECK OUR WEBSITE TO VIEW OUR WORK Licensed & Insured Call for FREE estimate 708-825-8979 mycolonialpainting.com
Brown sugar French toast LESLIEFREMPONG
Kitchen, Reed chose to open it in an area de- great-grandmother’s kitchen, serving her void of southern soul food. southern recipes in a cheerful wood-paneled “We looked at di erent neighborhoods and storefront fi lled with Motown music and Ernie my real estate agent told me there’s nothing Barnes artwork. People may come for the food like what you want to do in Lincoln Square,” but they stay for the connections. Reed remembers. “We opened Luella’s South- “Because I work in the kitchen daily, I’ve ern Kitchen there because it was unique. Once established relationships over four years with I ate at surrounding restaurants, I knew I could people who come in often. I’ve gone to some of o er something Ravenswood didn’t have. their shows and bought clothes from one for “More southern soul-food joints started my girlfriend,” says Reed. popping up in Chicago,” he continues, “but we There are two families in Luella’s Southern were one of the fi rst. The fact that everything Kitchen after church lets out. Luella’s is the is homemade sets us apart from others.” epicenter of churches in Lincoln Square, and The restaurant gained popularity after it I can feel the exhilaration of people abandon- was featured on the Cooking Channel show ing their cars on the street to get a seat near Cheap Eats in 2016. People from Alabama, the window. A father laughs at his ambitious Georgia, and, surprisingly, California came daughter pouring syrup over her chicken and out to try Luella’s cuisine. Chicagoans trav- wa es the same way my dad did when I’d ask eled from the south side regularly for the the waitress for more. She looks out the win- homemade food they saw on TV. Weekends are dow as her dad wipes food o the counter and especially busy for both locations. watches leaves fall. “We see a lot of churchgoers on Sunday,” “We had someone start coming to us right says Reed. “Church defi nitely plays a factor in when we opened, and now her daughter is to Sunday being our busiest time. Sometimes three and a half,” Reed says. “I hope we create we get a before-church crowd, but if we open memories they can look back on when they’re later, we get an after-church crowd.” older.” v Brunch at both Luella’s restaurants evokes the feeling of family by re-creating Reed’s @meggie_gates ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER13 Heartbreak sandwich Life is full of disappointments, but the shawafel wrap at Middle East Bakery & Grocery is never one of them. By R H
M EB&G W. Foster, --, middleeastbakeryandgrocery.com
he first thing you need to know order, the shawafel wrap features a near-cha- about the shawafel wrap at Mid- otic convergence of disparate tastes, the Stra- dle East Bakery & Grocery is that vinsky to other sandwiches’ Bach. everything in it is fresh. Its ingre- We’ve developed a ritual, the sandwich and dients are delivered three times I. It has come to occupy the distinct role of food Tweekly; the constituent parts are assembled I turn to when faced with profound sadness. and cooked each morning. Hisham Khalifeh, I have other emotionally driven food-based who opened Middle East Bakery & Grocery rituals: a strawberry milkshake from Potbelly in 1981, says it’s the freshness and quality of to celebrate accomplishments, a chocolate ingredients that sets the food at his grocery doughnut from 7-Eleven after completing a store and cafe apart from other Mediterranean dreaded and arduous task. I love sugar. But fare in Chicago. In addition to sandwiches, he sweetness, much as I may crave it, ultimately sells chocolate baklava, macaroons, and an lacks the range to comfort me through true entire refrigerator rack’s worth of sheep’s milk despondency—some feelings require a savory cheeses. fl avor palette. “We use high-quality ingredients, fresh The night my boyfriend told me he was in chickpeas, fresh onions—and our customers love with someone else, I took the train 11 know it,” says Khalifeh. stops to Middle East Bakery. I tried not to The cafe, an expansion on the Andersonville cry in public, but tears dripped onto the pita grocery, has been around for five years. The despite my best e orts. In that moment, the shawarma, both chicken or beef, does partic- cafe table where I sat felt like its own little ularly well, according to Khalifeh, as do the island and everything on the other side of the kebabs. But for me, there is only the shawafel storefront window—the cars, people walking wrap. their dogs, the train that I would eventually I came across the sandwich four years ago have to ride back home—felt indescribably during my first trip to Middle East Bakery distant. with a friend. After I took that fi rst bite, I sat in I’d return a year or so later, on an early silence for so long that my friend looked at me December afternoon that was snowy but still “This is the best sandwich I’ve ever had.” JAMIERAMSAY/HANDMODELEMILYKOCEVAR with concern and asked if I was OK. bright. I was about to leave school without “This,” I mumbled through a full mouth, not knowing when or if I’d return; college, I’d re- so much to him as to the universe at large, “is alized too late, was never meant for me, and which is, of course, impossible to avoid. Every ried that I have mentally hyperbolized the the best sandwich I’ve ever had.” trying so hard for so long at something I just major disappointment breeds its own minia- shawafel wrap, and it won’t be as good as I re- It’s di cult to overstate the sheer number couldn’t seem to succeed at had drained me ture cycle of grief—for the life you might’ve membered. Somehow, though, it always man- of fl avors and textures the sandwich manages until I was unable to try anymore. My fear and thought you would have if things had gone ages to live up to my expectations, and always to contain. The falafel, soft and fluffy with regret were sprawling, infecting everything according to plan, or for the person you would brings some unique gustatory pleasure that a crisp breaded crust, is loaded with garlic, they touched, but in the cafe, biting into the have liked to be, but aren’t. That my genera- I hadn’t noticed before. The shawafel wrap while the chicken shawarma is tender and shawafel wrap, I still found temporary shelter tion is poised to inherit a world fi lled with cri- never disappoints, and that’s what makes it soaked in a savory marinade. The lettuce and and comfort. sis, horror, and uncertainty is an undue added the perfect comfort food, one that can with- pickle add a much-needed crunch, while the I realize that I’m not going to stop getting layer of grief, one that neither I nor anyone I stand the whirlwind of heartbreak. And it’s hummus and creamy tahini pull everything my heart broken anytime soon. It comes with know seems equipped to handle. always fresh. v together and keep the wrap refreshing. Where the territory of harboring expectations—of Whenever I walk into Middle East Bakery, most sandwiches are composed with rigid yourself, of those you love, of the future— inevitably distraught, I do so nervously, wor- @boughsofhawley 14 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll NUE Peach Tea NUE Sunrise
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ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER15 MICHAELSALISBURY
t 8 PM on a Friday night, the But most of the booths are empty; framed marquee lights are winking collages of smirking mobsters (the casts of Night shift at the Hollywood Grill on the The Sopranos, The Godfather, Goodfellas) corner of North and Ashland. glower down at empty chairs. A three-tiered What really goes on at the Hollywood Grill at 3 AM? It’s still dinnertime, but the display of untouched cakes and pies rotates restaurantA feels comparatively quiet. A silently while Cyndi Lauper hiccups through By G H handful of patrons are scattered throughout “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” at low volume. the space, eating their strawberry shortcake The whole place seems to be holding its H G French toast or their Drugstore Cowboy Burger breath. Much later, in the wee hours of the W. North, --, hollywood-grill.com deluxe, which comes with fries and a choice of morning, throng after throng of drunk twen- soup. A man with a hand tattoo and a baby ush- tysomethings will descend upon the 24-hour ers two other children into a booth in the back. Wicker Park mainstay. They’ll come from At the front of the restaurant, a woman loudly Beauty Bar, from Wicker Park Fest, from other asks her friend at the counter if he’s noticed her bars that closed at two. Large groups will push new hairdo. She fl u s her coi ure fl irtatiously. tables together in the main dining room, while 16 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll FREE! ADMISSION AUG. 23-25 2019 Downtown Skokie Live Music on the Main Stage Friday 8:30 pm Smithereens with guest vocalist Marshall Crenshaw 6:45 pm Material Issue Beer tent opens 6 pm on Friday. Saturday 8:30 pm WAR 6:45 pm The Imperial Sound 5 pm Mike Zabrin’s Funktastic 3 pm Fruteland Jackson 1 pm Gros Ngolle Pokossi Trio
Catch live acts between main stage sets on the beer tent stage. Sunday 6:30 pm Tributosaurus becomes The Rolling Stones 5 pm Morry Sochat Hollywood Grill night shi manager Perry MICHAELSALISBURY & The Special 20s 3 pm Bailey Dee 1 pm Company Strangers smaller groups will be relegated to the booths of water to a group of teenage boys who just fl anking the windows facing Ashland. The cli- sat down in one of the booths; “[I like] being Carnival MEGAPASSES for unlimited rides! entele is as bizarre a hodgepodge as the items around di erent people, it’s something to look RESTAURANT & BAR Purchase online! on the menu—there always seems to be a gag- forward to while you’re working.” He inter- 960 W 18TH ST - PILSEN, CHICAGO gle of drunk teenagers, a couple on the verge rupts his train of thought as a bearded man of breaking up, and some guy in Adidas slides comes in. “You’re the pickup? Chocolate chip picking up a turkey club to go at 3 AM. pancakes?” he asks, handing over a takeout “The weekend never stops,” says Perry, the bag. shift manager. (He declined to give his last While Hollywood Grill remains the go-to PARTY WITH name.) Perry has been working the night shift spot—and really one of the only spots in the YOUR PUP here for 20 years but it hardly shows; bright area—for 24-hour diner food, Perry is quick www.BacklotBash.com eyes glow under his black baseball cap, and a to mention that it’s not like it once was. He ON OUR grin peeks out from under his salt-and-pepper describes how between 1995 and 2010, on busy Carnival • 5K Run • Bingo • Classic Car Show mustache. He looks like the type of man who nights, there used to be a line out the door and • Family Stage & Classic Movies dresses up for everything: even at midnight down the street. “People [would] come from • Rotary Pancake Breakfast • Food & Beer on a Sunday, he’s wearing a crisp white dress all over,” he explains, “coming like [it was] an DOGFRIENDLY PATIO • Exhibits at the Skokie Heritage Museum shirt and clean, black dress pants. Perry’s coy airport.” Sponsored by: about his age. “You can say I’m a middle older But the neighborhood was different back person,” he o ers. then. “You remember when there used to be a Perry talks while he works, explaining his gas station across the street?” he asks, gestur- 312.666.8601 love for the night shift while bringing a tray ing to what is now a construction site for a J ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER17 Yoga + Beer A practice that feeds the mind, body, and soul By J CS
oga in Sanskrit means “unity”: yoga experience attend practices. When of mind and body, the corpore- writing this article, I invited a friend who al and the spiritual. And now, hadn’t done yoga since college to take a beer and poses. Several Chica- class with me, and he agreed. Would he have go-area breweries, including been willing to do it without the promise of TwistedY Hippo, Great Central, Lake Effect, a beer? Probably not. Would I have asked? Metropolitan, and Temperance in Evanston, Nope. Each of the breweries says something are now o ering beer yoga. With these class- similar: beer yoga is about forming and es, though, come contradictions related to strengthening community. the clarity of sobriety and the cloudiness of While there’s a perception of quasi-reli- alcohol, of fitness and pleasure. Beer yoga gious dogma around craft beer snobs and seems perfectly at home in America, land of yogis, the beer yoga trend typifi es our yearn- excess and paradox, where we swat away one ing to find like-minded people, especially vice with a puritanical hand and reach for a when being a text message or a click away di erent vice with the other. from anything or anyone can ironically make Instead of having participants sip and in- us feel more isolated. Servers grab tegrate their beers into the poses, the brew- According to Josh Gilbert, owner and orders from eries provide a free pour after the practice. founder of Temperance Brewery, “We may the kitchen; the Kristin Gulliford, owner of Namaste for Beer, carry inaccurate ideas about yoga and craft remains of a which Great Central employs for their beer beer the same way we may have unhelpful late-night meal MICHAELSALISBURY yoga classes, says that “to pay respect to stereotypes of what a craft beer drinker both practices, consuming separately allows looks like, versus what a yogi looks like. With the patron to focus on the yoga, and then Temperance Trikonasana, we’re breaking fully appreciate the beer.” down those stereotypes and correcting Why people have latched on to the trend the inaccuracies.” Temperance’s monthly likely stems from a need to cultivate equa- sessions are fund-raisers for local nonprofi t nimity in their lives, and to fi nd communities organizations, and the entire $20 fee goes to in which they’re encouraged to do so. a di erent nonprofi t. “We see the brewery— continued from 19 Perry certainly shows no sign of slowing “A lot of people enjoy the reward system,” and especially the Tap Room—as a vehicle hotel. “The hookers used to trick over there.” down. His shift at Hollywood Grill runs from says Chelsea Matsumonji, retail operations for building community,” Gilbert says. “It’s He describes when the buildings on Ashland 10 PM to 7 AM, but it doesn’t seem to bother manager at Begyle Brewing, which has of- a much more enriching experience than if were all vacant, the neighborhood was full of him. He says he’s been working the night shift fered beer yoga in the past. “‘I was able to get we were just offering yoga. And of course, clubs, and the corner of Ashland and North at a variety of restaurants for 52 years. “I love up early, do a yoga class, and now I deserve the beer is a nice bonus at the end.” Since was full of lonely businessmen with a free the nightlife, plain and simple,” he says. this beer.’” 2015, Temperance has raised almost $14,000 night and their company credit cards. A bald man in a button-up shirt comes up Begyle instructor Jessica Noble concurs. for nonprofi ts. So much for my earlier point Perry describes Wicker Park back then as to the counter to pay his tab. “You guys are “If a beer is consumed after in celebration, about capitalism. the place to be if you were “in search of love really 24/7?” he asks Perry, surprised. He’s then I think that’s as beautiful as the yoga Jenny Arrington, instructor at Tem- and good times,” he says. “A wild era, let’s put visiting from abroad and mentions how he’s practice.” perance, tailors her class to the monthly it that way. Even the waitresses were wild, like struggled to fi nd late-night restaurants in the There’s a symbiotic economic relationship fund-raiser, and her class is about more this one here.” He jokingly points to a blond United States. There are more than 50 24-hour here: breweries get people to drink their than just the asanas or the beer; it also woman behind the counter. She shakes her restaurants in Chicago, but the man tells Perry beer, and yoga companies get people to take provides strategies for self-care and tools head, grinning despite herself. it’s not as common to fi nd late-night food as it their yoga. And let’s be honest, because this for healing. “At Temperance Trikonasana, Now, the vibe is more relaxed: “more calm, is in other countries. “[Some places] close at is capitalism: both the brewery and the yoga participants experience a class that in- more peaceful,” Perry says. The clientele ten, it’s crazy!” company want to make money. cludes philosophy, mantra, pranayama, and has changed—fewer club kids, more people “Not this place!” Perry declares proudly, Yet there’s also a social cross-pollination meditations. I also make sure that everyone in their 30s, parents with kids—though the punching in the man’s total into the register. taking place. More health-minded people knows how these teachings can help them restaurant does get its occasional wild night. Laughing, he adds, “not yet!” v visit the brewery, and those with limited in their everyday life.” 18 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll Practitioners in savasana at Temperance Trikonasana COURTESYOFTEMPERANCEBEERCO
On the surface, the goals of yoga, especial- moderation seems the better choice for most ly clarity of mind, don’t exactly align with people. “The path to self-improvement is not alcohol, which everyone inevitably realizes creating strict rules for ourselves (that we’re impairs clarity. likely to break) or engaging in extreme behav- “The whole subject of intoxicants is defi- iors,” Gilbert tells me, “but rather approaching nitely something that’s discussed—sometimes everything with a sense of curiosity (Beer and hotly debated—amongst the [yoga] communi- yoga? Let’s try it!) and moderation.” ty,” Noble says. While she takes no issue with a The quiet of the practice, of breathing, of postpractice beer, she has reservations about challenging ourselves, and letting go of what drinking during the practice. we carry, is indeed beautiful. To then be in a Arrington agrees: “I am obviously moder- brewery and share a space, in quietude, when ate and love that we can cultivate the idea of an early light slants through the windows temperance at a brewery with the same name, and across the floors, beside tanks of beer but changing the practice of yoga itself is an and bags of barley and hops, is to be part of appropriation I won’t support.” something beautiful too. Employees set up That line—between pleasure and self-med- chairs and get glasses ready behind the bar. ication, between the physical and the mental, People’s conversations unfold as if you were between the corporeal and the spiritual—is a part of them. There is, forgive me, a mind- everything. Yet we sometimes struggle to fulness to it. navigate it. As the folks from Twisted Hippo If yoga teaches us about how the body feels LOVELYTHEBAND tell me, “Exercise is primarily for the body, and observes, how we breathe and perceive, yoga brings contentment and focus to the of the attachments we feel and need to let go Friday Pilots Club Marina City Love in October Jugo de Mango mind, and a well-crafted, delicious beer can of, perhaps beer yoga illuminates the idea feed the soul.” that being in good physical and mental shape CHICAGO 6 BAND Perhaps William Blake was wrong about doesn’t have to mean starving out things that (Featuring Chicago Bears Alumni) where the road of excess leads. The road of bring us pleasure. v ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER19 Bliss CBD Shop o ers a new vision for self-care This girly stoner heaven sells CBD products, smoking accessories, and sex toys. By AM
B CBDS N. Pulaski, --,blisscdbshop.com
At Bliss CBD Shop, handblown glass pipes can resemble anything from a bowl of ramen to the eggplant emoji. COURTESYBLISSCBDSHOP
icture your happy place. Perhaps ideal with Instagram-worthy aesthetics and your oasis from stress involves a picturesque products. At Bliss, fl owers bloom glass of wine, a bubble bath, and a from hand-blown water pipes, you can smoke good book. Maybe a joint or a CBD from a tiny glass cactus or pomegranate, and bath bomb is more your speed. it’s hard to tell the di erence between a vape PChristine Yu, owner of Bliss CBD Shop, thinks and a vibrator. that many women are choosing the latter op- Yu knows that the wide array of products at tion to unwind. Bliss can be daunting to some customers, but “Since I’ve been in this business, I’ve no- she’s there to answer any and all questions. “It ticed that a lot of women who are 35-plus are could be something as simple as how to use using cannabis to help relax at the end of the a water pipe,” she says. “For a lot of people evening,” Yu said. “But they’re too scared to that might sound basic, but it really isn’t. If go to the shop and buy a cute smoking acces- you were lucky enough to have someone show sory, so instead they’re just dipping into a gas you how to use one in college, then you’re set. station and buying whatever cheap pipes they But there’s a lot of people, especially the older have there.” generations, that are not used to using a sim- This kind of surreptitious purchase exas- ple pipe.” perates Yu. She believes that there should be Even I, a college student and self-identifi ed a space where women can take their time and weed nerd, was unfamiliar with some of Bliss’s ask questions about cannabis and smoking products. The glass selection transcends the accessories, but she’s found that most smoke typical pipes offered at my neighborhood shops give o bros-only vibes. Out of the need smoke shop, blurring the line between art and for a haven for female stoners, Bliss CBD Shop function. Yu mentioned that she’s thought was born. about hosting a gallery night with local glass- Venus & Flora, Bliss’s house brand Bliss CBD Shop opened its doors in Albany blowers—and if she could showcase some of CBD oil, contains essential oils Park this February. The store, which adver- female artisans, that would be even better. from citrus fruits and mangoes. COURTESYBLISSCBDSHOP tises “CBD, pretty pipes, and sexy toys” on its While the glass and gadgets are more pop- front window, lives up to its female-friendly ular with Bliss’s millennial clientele, the J 20 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER21 ICAGO READ CH ER POOCH PARTY Urban Pooch Training & Fitness Center WEDNESDAY 5400 N Damen Free with RSVP Sept. 18 Bliss CBD Shop offers CHICAGOREADER.COM/POOCHPARTY 6-9pm CBD cartridges as well as tinctures, topicals, and edibles. COURTESYBLISSCBDSHOP
continued from 20 lifestyle change in order to see the full e ects. BEST-IN-SHOW CBD products draw in an older demographic. “You can’t take CBD but continue eating the COSTUME COMPETITION CBD, or cannabidiol, is a nonpsychoactive way that you do or drinking or not being active chemical compound found in cannabis. Al- and expect it to do something miraculous,” CHICAGO-STYLE THEME though it is not FDA approved, CBD is popular- she said. “You need to make those changes in ly used to relieve anxiety, infl ammation, and your life as well for the CBD to be at its optimal other ailments. level.” Bliss o ers CBD tinctures, topicals, fl ower, Such a shift requires a financial commit- HOSTED BY COMIC and edibles—and that’s just the basics. To ment—Bliss’s products aren’t cheap. The most complement the selection of sex toys, there’s popular CBD tincture in the store costs $80 for also some CBD-infused lubricant that Yu says a bottle that will serve about a month of daily CARLY can be helpful for women who have trouble use, and a handmade pipe can go for as much BALLERINI naturally lubricating postmenopause, or for as $100. However, Yu maintains that someone those who experience pain during sex due to could spend that money on a spa treatment, scar tissue. a fancy dinner, or a night of drinking. So, she You’ll also find custom-made products at asks, why not invest in a different kind of the shop, including Venus & Flora, Bliss’s self-care? Doggos and proprietary CBD oil. Yu worked with her friend Between the girly comfort of the store and Jorge Apacicio, a formulation specialist at the luxury appeal of a boutique glass piece humans of all Agility demos Hemp for Fitness in Glenview, to develop what or CBD oil, perhaps what Yu is really selling is essentially a signature scent for the Bliss is the Bliss lifestyle. She says she hopes that ages welcome! brand. when recreational cannabis becomes legal beers & bites Apacicio says he chose a couple of terpenes, in Illinois next year, women will be excited which are essential oils found in cannabis and to invest in quality smoking accessories and other plants, to create an aromatic profi le for explore cannabis freely. In the meantime, she pooch Venus & Flora. The terpenes give the oil a one- has created a space where relaxation is a real- portraits of-a-kind fragrance as well as an extra “calm- ity and women can treat themselves, whether ing and relaxing e ect,” Apacicio said—think they’re seeking sexual pleasure or an herbal of it like a CBD-aromatherapy love child. remedy. v Venus & Flora may sound like bottled bliss, but Yu says people need to treat CBD as a @amichelson18 22 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll R READERRECOMMENDEDb ALLAGESF THEATER
FEATURE A decade of keeping it fl y The Fly Honey Show celebrates inclusivity with a burlesque twist. By KR
t was supposed to be a one-o event in an artists’ loft space. But the buzz kept growing. Now in its tenth year, The Fly T F H S Honey Show has become so hot that by R Through /: Thu-Sat PM, the time you’re reading this, most of the Den Theatre, N. Milwaukee, Itickets will have been snapped up—even the --, thedentheatre.com, priciest $100 VIP ducat, which comes with a $ standing room, $ general admission seating, $ VIP. reserved table and a swag bag. (A portion of the proceeds this year goes to UltraViolet, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting sexism and
The Fly Honey Show ERICSTROM/GLITTERGUTS creating inclusivity in politics, media, and pop culture.) J
ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER23 W G R Through /: Thu-Sat PM, Sun PM, Factory Theater, W. Howard, --, babeswithblades. THEATER org, $, $ students and seniors, $ industry. continued from 23 that makes the biggest impact. “A couple Women of 4G JOEMAZZA Still, Fly Honey’s creator, choreographer of years ago, we started holding free public Erin Kilmurray, says that she thinks the workshops. That’s how we’ve met a lot of show, which started out at the multidisci- new ensemble members over the years. It’s plinary arts incubator the Inconvenience, been pretty crucial.” Participants don’t need where she is a company member, is still to have previous dance experience. Kilmur- “pretty niche. There’s lots of folks who are ray notes, “The ensemble has always been, familiar with the project but haven’t been from the very beginning, a really wide range able to see it yet.” On opening night this year, of movers, novice to professional.” Recog- I was one of the newbies, and in talking to nizing that this kind of work can sometimes other audience members, it’s clear I wasn’t bring up unexpected issues around sexuality the only virgin in the house. and body awareness, performer Nora Sharp The show involves so many artists that the also hosts a series of meet-ups for “people friends-and-family demographic alone could who are in the project and just want to talk fill the Den’s Heath mainstage space, which about whatever they’re going through and REVIEW has been the show’s home for the past three how they feel,” says Kilmurray. years. There’s a rotating cast of more than She adds, “This show offers a lot of op- Space: the final feminist frontier 300 performers, from the core group of “Hon- tions. If you don’t feel like dancing in the Babes With Blades break out the fi sticuff s in the sci-fi thriller Women of 4G. eys” (women or femme-identifi ed performers ensemble, you can propose to be a featured and dancers) to the “Hive” (men or mostly artist.” This year, the curation team also By KR male-identified performers who serve as asked past performers to nominate other backup dancers and running crew) to featured artists who might be interested in partici- t one point in the 1999 sci-fi comedy would get credit for the launch. artists and one-night-only special guests. The pating. Performers also have what Kilmurray Galaxy Quest, Sigourney Weaver’s exas- Wollman (Jazmín Corona), creator of the emphasis is on body positivity and inclusivity. calls “an outrageous amount of agency. We Aperated communications o cer, whose satellite, fi ghts for her scientifi c baby, while Keeping the proceedings—a high-octane have pretty open communication for feed- only function on board (aside from providing the hotheaded navigator, Nataki (LaKecia cabaret show of burlesque-inspired dance, back throughout the whole process. The eye candy) is to repeat whatever Tim Allen’s Harris), is ready to take down anyone who comedy, music, and spoken word—on track is performers costume themselves, so they can captain has just said to the computer, blows questions her competency, especially the a trifecta of hosts: Mary Williamson (who has wear whatever they want.” up at her crewmates. “Look, I have one job on engineer, Baston (Catherine Dvorak). The been with the show since the beginning and One exception is that all the performers this lousy ship. It’s stupid, but I’m going to do medical team of Cava (Renee Lockett) and cowrote it this year with Shannon Matesky), who are topless—male, female, and nonbina- it, OK?” Toulle (Judi Schindler) provide sharp comic actor-singer Sydney Charles (moonlighting ry—must wear pasties, thanks to antiquated The all-female crew in Amy Tofte’s Women relief throughout, as well as reminding their with the Fly Honeys while in rehearsal for The city laws requiring dancers in clubs where of 4G, now in a nifty local premiere from Babes colleagues of the dangers of ageism. (Baston, Color Purple, opening next month at Drury booze is sold to cover their nipples. The law With Blades under Lauren Katz’s direction, realizing that disobeying the chain of com- Lane Theatre), and longtime actor-physical really only applies to women, but in the Fly face higher hurdles and tougher jobs. What’s mand and fi nishing the mission might end her theater star Molly Brennan. Honey spirit of egalitarianism, the men tape admirable is that Tofte’s script and the career, laments “I’m not ready to retire,” to Opening night, the featured performers over their nipples too. Kilmurray notes, “I Babes cast mostly manage to balance a lot of which Schindler’s Toulle acidly retorts “You and guests included nonbinary comedian have so many questions about what is or competing genres—space-opera parody, who- think I am?”) The youngest crew member, Shannon Noll, who revealed the results of isn’t provocative art. You can be topless in dunit, race-against-time apocalyptic thriller, Pierce (Jillian Leff), embodies both naivete their recent top surgery and delivered a the MCA or in an art gallery space that’s a melodrama-with-a-feminist-twist—with only and cunning, to the exasperation of her ship- sharp-elbowed stand-up set about the prob- performance art situation.” a few scattered bobbles in tone. The deliber- mates, who realize she’s the only one who lems suburban housewives named “Kathy” Kilmurray and Fly Honey producing direc- ately low-fi aesthetics of Jessica Baldinger’s might be able to save them. have with using they/them pronouns, and tor Missi Davis have talked about taking the gray modular movable set pieces and the The fi ghts (created by Maureen Yasko) in- the all-woman mariachi band Mariachi Sire- show to other cities or other venues during old-school tools (socket wrenches never go volve straight-up fi sticu s instead of blades. nas, whose lead singer noted that “sirenas” the year. (The Fly Honeys already get hired out of style, apparently) add to the sense that Not all of the blows land believably on the means “mermaid—and you know what they for some gigs outside of their regular August we’re in a world that is both retro and on life small stage, but the verbal thrusts and parries do to men.” Michelle Zacarias, who performs run.) The challenge is how to get bigger with- support. tear through the chain of command as the under the name Cherry Darling, recalled a out losing sight of the collaborative nature In the first moments, we learn that the women confront their own mortality and what series of “not-shit” relationships in a spo- of the show and turning it into just another ship’s captain (the only male in the crew) has their mission (or its failure) might mean for ken-word piece. And the entire three-hour burlesque-inspired showcase. “I’ve always died under suspicious circumstances. Stark future generations, especially women. Un- sweaty extravaganza included one pel- been attracted to spectacle, to audience (Ashley Yates) takes command and wrestles derneath all the nods to other familiar tropes vic-thrusting, gyrating, defi ant, and sexy en- engagement, and shaping environments to not only with fi guring out what happened to contained in the story, the show maintains semble dance number after another. Consent o er a lens into the work,” says Kilmurray. her predecessor, but also with whether the a poignant note of despair and sadness that and respect are reinforced early on by the “What’s so fascinating about this project is crew should complete its mission of launching women’s gambits for personal glory must be hosts, who make it clear that anyone touch- that it’s been a decade-long performance a satellite that could reverse global climate measured against the expectation that they ing the artists or fellow audience members practice, you know? It is a social research change, or preserve their future careers by will always sacrifi ce themselves for the great- without permission will be eighty-sixed. practice.” v following protocol and returning to earth. The er good. v For Kilmurray, it’s the community that latter means the all-male “shadow ship” right builds up around the show all year round @kerryreid behind them (hilariously named “Adonis 5”) @kerryreid 24 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll A love letter to Chicago journalism
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A live telethon online to launch the Reader’s new monthly donors campaign
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The Chicago Reader is once again editorially independent and locally owned. Our coverage is focused on politics and culture, and we can’t do this work without the support of of our Featured readers. We need you. As we move toward our 50th anniversary, every dollar you give helps will be Reader writers, fund the experienced, diverse journalists and editors producing the Reader online daily, and in photographers, illustrators, print weekly. We speak Chicago to Chicagoans. Because the media advertising landscape has changed dramatically, your support makes everything we do possible. Please give what you can editors, business staff, and to help keep journalism independent and thriving in Chicago. more, joined by past Reader contributors, Chicago icons and much more. ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER25 R READERRECOMMENDEDb ALLAGESF THEATER
A scene from the 2017 Peacebook Festival, produced by Collaboraction. JOELMAISONET
PREVIEW Beyond snakes F A P F Thu /-Sat /, PM, Kennedy-King College Theater, W. rd; Fri /, and stones PM (opening performance by Loretta Pop Magic’s devised “Firekeeper” Hawkins), and Sat /, international performance PM, LaFollette Park, N. Laramie, ; Fri /, PM (opening performance piece on Medusa tours by Prince Roc), and Sat /, PM, Chicago neighborhoods. Douglas Park, S. Sacramento;Fri /, PM (opening performance By J by Jason Robinson), and Sat /, PM, Hamilton Park, W. nd, - -, collaboraction.org. Free meal and preshow activities at all Sat performances. F
espite sporting the most recogniz- able hairdo in all of literature, gener- Dal knowledge about the mythological year’s season entirely on the south side, Ken- fi gure Medusa tends to boil down to three nedy-King serving as the home-court locale of perfunctory traits: “She’s the monster with future productions. snakes for hair. She gets her head cut o . PREVIEW Collaboraction managing director Marcus If you look at her, you turn to stone. That’s Robinson and founder Anthony Moseley are about it,” says Denise Yvette Serna, direc- undaunted by the challenges inherent in put- tor and lead deviser of the upcoming Pop Collaboraction gives ting on three di erent evenings of seven-act Magic performance piece named after the productions (if you want to binge-watch all 21, storied, steely-eyed Gorgon. check the opening-weekend schedule) with a “As we’ve explored through our re- peace a chance budget that would barely cover the costumes hearsals and continued our research,” says at some of Chicago’s bigger institutions. Serna, “we found it to be much more com- The annual Peacebook Festival showcases short Robinson, an Englewood hypnotherapist and plex.” Across five venues throughout the plays about peace and justice. community organizer who recently relocated city, Pop Magic Productions—in partner- from Michigan, is unshakable in his belief in ship with Global Hive Laboratories and En By CS theater’s ability to heal, uplift, and foment Las Tablas Performing Arts—will stage an change. experimental multidisciplinary retelling viction and art. As a grade-schooler heard out loud. As Kelley puts it: “My main “The blues came from oppression, and of the classic myth with a new translation in Bronzeville, Nambi E. Kelley character is also from the south side of Chi- changed the musical landscape of the world. by dramaturg and scholar Emma Pauly, learned that surviving the former cago. She’s experiencing homelessness, and Gospel music changed the way we worship to be informed by contemporary cultural meant embracing the latter. Now 45, she’s like, ‘How come Michelle Obama gets out and pray. Both came from the south and west conversations and personal experiences of Kelley is a widely acclaimed play- of here with this fi ne-ass chocolate president sides of Chicago, out from under the crushing the show’s ensemble. Ewright, actor, and screenwriter. Still, evictions husband and I’m left in the bottom of the ele- weight of poverty and oppression, “ Robinson Building off developments and lessons have a way of leaving a mark on people. Kelley vator shaft?’” says. “What I’ve learned is that art is healing facilitated by weeklong workshops at used her memories as a launching point for To be clear, Kelley is nowhere near the bot- for both the artists and the audience. We play Global Hive Laboratories-partnered com- the ten-minute, south-side-set Ode to Mama tom of an elevator shaft, metaphorically or the blues for each other so we can commune panies in London, Paris, and Piacenza, Pop Obama by Someone Who Was a Little Black literally. “I can’t really explain how that evic- over our hardships. We can see each other. Magic’s Chicago production will draw par- Girl in the ’Hood, debuting alongside 20 other tion helped me create, but I can say that there Really see each other.” allels between Medusa being punished and short works of dance, drama, poetry, comedy, was—and is—no other outlet to express what I Robinson will be holding what he terms “monsterized” by Athena for the “crime” of and spoken word in Collaboraction’s 2019 was feeling except through art,” she says. “crucial conversations” after each Peacebook being raped by Poseidon in Athena’s tem- Peacebook Festival, opening Thursday at En- That succinctly sums up Peacebook’s am- performance, discussions he promises will go ple and the victim-blaming in rape culure glewood’s Kennedy-King College. bitions: to provide an outlet for anyone who deeper than your average talkback. “We want that the MeToo movement has called out. Kelley’s playlet takes the (almost) mythic wants to get involved with theater, whether to get beyond talking about what happened “This idea of a victim of assault being pun- origin story of Michelle Obama and her south- that means snapping up (always free) tickets onstage, and into what happened to you when ished for what has happened to them—that side working-class roots and fi lters it through to a show or devising a scene or interviewing you experienced it.” v was really potent for us,” says Serna. the prism of a Black woman whose perspective Chicagoans about issues of the day. The com- And by choosing an ancient myth with on Obama’s humble beginnings isn’t often pany has also committed to producing this @CateySullivan a rich and sometimes inconsistent drama- 26 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll M Through /: times and locations vary, see popmagic.org/medusa. F THEATER
BLOCK
Medusa MATTHEWGREGORYHOLLIS PARTY
Sat. AUG. 24 11am-5pm Join us as we celebrate our 40th Anniversary on
(Farragut Ave. at Clark St.)
turgical history, Pop Magic hopes to enable are here. And when the opportunity comes to We’re saying thank you to the community that made us casts in each host city to lend their own lin- have people here to use the space, people that guistic and cultural interpretations. believe in the same things that we believe, that 40 Years Strong with live entertainment from: For coproducer and En Las Tablas executive have a mission very similar to ours, we’ll open director Maritza Nazario, the opportunity to our doors immediately.” host and support a fellow arts organization For Serna, Medusa also represents an op- Drag Queen Story Hour She’s Crafty (Chicago’s All-Female with a shared emphasis on grassroots experi- portunity to proactively incorporate aspects with Muffy Fishbasket Beastie Boys Tribute Band) mentation and accessibility was a no-brainer. of accessibility that can often go overlooked “[These] two blocks between Pulaski and in more institutionalized arts organizations. The Clamor & Lace ShaZah Keeler—we’re being really daring, I guess.” “We’ve observed that access services for peo- Noise Brigade The 13-year-old Hermosa-based nonprofit ple who are disabled, and other access things community arts organization o ers programs such as free and discounted tickets, child care, Plus a mini “Taste of Andersonville” with free refreshments from a variety of neighborhood restaurants! for all ages, though as Nazario notes, most of things like that . . . they’re all too not consid- Plus kids games, a feminist crafting station and more! its engagement is with children; the creatives ered when a show is being created. They’re behind Medusa, on the other hand, hope to something that’s tacked on afterwards as connect with adults and draw attention to sort of the one special day or two special This event is free and open to everyone! services o ered at En Las Tablas. days that they happen. We’re interested in “We have our bodies, and we have our creating devised theater that has that in every See the full line-up & learn more at www.womenandchildrenfirst.com mouths, and we are colorful,” says Nazario, performance.” v “and we take advantage of that and try to make a lot of noise so people know that we @DanEJakes ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER27 R READERRECOMMENDEDb ALLAGESF THEATER
Black Ballerina OPENING COURTESYBASILCLUNIE You can’t walk away from Diamond Lil without feeling at least a smidge more defi antly hopeful about The importance of being earnest the future than you did when you walked in. Such is the All That He Was is a heart-on-sleeve musical power of numbers like the lyrically whack, harmonically about the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic. intricate, and bygawd bonkers “There Are Fairies in the Bottom of Our Garden,” which is akin to watching A little more than two decades ago, composer Cindy Ziegfeld Follies, only with lyrics written at an ayahuasca O’Connor and lyricist-book writer Larry Todd Cousineau retreat. The show’s delights aren’t restricted to the teamed up while still graduate students to write this all-hands-on-deck ensemble shebangs. wherein every- chamber musical. It won a National Playwright’s Award one sashays about like imps on absinthe at the Folies and had a successful Los Angeles run, but even in its Bergère (there is a terrifi c cancan number, btw). On the updated form, premiering at Pride Films & Plays, it’s awesome, growling “BD Women Blues,” Carolyn Nelson unmistakably a student eff ort—which gives it both a sounds like she’s got a choir of ancestors holding her naive charm and an unsatisfying superfi ciality. It’s set up. “The Cabaret Boys” is a sly ode to chorus cuties. at the 1992 funeral of the Man, who’s just died from Orlando Shelly shows off some formidable clarinet AIDS complications at age 26 and acts as unseen host chops on “Downhearted Blues.” There are off -kilter as warring key fi gures from his life assemble. In the title oddities as well, including a ditty about a child who likely opening number, each character’s big issue is laid out: time to time, which feels more like an awkward exposi- especially vital, as the script o en moves too quickly pushed his sister down a well and another about a toxic the Mother is guilty, the Father is ashamed, the Sister tional device than anything else, though Rivers imbues through their sessions and the progression of their case of poison ivy. A er Chicago mayor Anton Cermak is self-righteous, the Brother is adri . No one thinks the Marie with a potent mix of cynicism, regret, and pride in relationship. Peacock performs a number of monologues was assassinated in 1933, his successor, Edward J. Kelly, Lover should be there at allI. her daughter’s talent. that address Caplan’s relationship with his son, who shut down Diamond Lil’s. In resurrecting her, Freeman It’s all a bit schematic, and most of the show’s But the dance interludes (choreographed by Rose- was killed in Afghanistan. These moments are stunning, and Smith have done us all a favor. —CS 105 minutes feature heart-on-the-sleeve ballads and borough and Béa Rashid) and the fi ghts both Adrienne thanks to Peacock’s ability to use silence and tempo to D L & P C Through 9/7: anthems that delineate rather than dramatize each and Olivia have with white people in charge of their his advantage. In stark contrast, Teff ner is tasked with Thu-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 4 and 7:30 PM, Berger Park character’s tortured back story. Not only does this careers capture both the joy of ballet and the heart- performing the severe physical manifestations of PTSD Coach House Theater, 6205 N. Sheridan, 312-970- make every other number feel like the show’s emo- break of discrimination with beauty and truth. —K from which Jason suff ers. These moments could feel dis- 9840, threecatproductions.com, $25, $15 seniors. tional climax, but it leaves everyone stuck in emotional R B B Through 8/25: Sat 7 PM, ingenuous in the wrong hands, but Teff ner captures the cement—until they unaccountably reconcile their issues Sun 2 PM, Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., stark reality of the situation. Watching the story unfold, Political parties in a single closing number. Evanston, 847-866-5914, cityofevanston.org, $20. it’s powerful to imagine what it might mean for audience A president-elect’s son fi ghts for his own voice in But the show’s youthful vigor can pluck the heart- members who sees themselves in it. —K P Now or Later. strings, especially in moments revisiting the darkest Battle scars B Through 8/31: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 2 PM, days of the epidemic. Director Cousineau’s earnest if at R Boogieban traces the eff ects of war on Chicago Dramatists Theatre, 1105 W. Chicago, 330- It’s not Christopher Shinn’s fault that living in the Worst times overwrought performers sing the stuffi ng out of soldiers of two diff erent eras. 962-5547, nonetoofragile.com, $35. Time Line Ever has made the hot-button issues in his a demanding score. Even the wish-fulfi lling fi nale, per- 2008 play Now or Later feel more like mild provocations. fectly devoid of cynicism, feels like something of a tonic. Two soldiers of diff erent generations come together The Gay 30s When presidential tweets contain more fodder for out- .—J H A T H W Through 9/9: in D.C. Fidler’s Boogieban, a contemporary exploration R Diamond Lil & and the Pansy Craze rage every day, a story about the closeted college-age Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 5 PM; also Mon 8/19, 8 PM (industry of the enduring trauma of war. Presented by None Too revisits a famous Chicago nightclub. son of a presumptive Democratic president-elect performance), Pride Arts Center, 4147 N. Broadway, Fragile Theatre, an Ohio-based company, the story attending a party dressed as the Prophet Muhammad to 773-857-0222, pridefilmsandplays.com, $30-$40, $25 follows Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence Caplan (David Long before the Viagra Triangle took root in the prove a point about free speech on campus is just sort students and seniors (not valid Sat). Peacock), a Vietnam veteran and military psychologist Gold Coast, 909 Rush Street was a haven for artists of, well, quaint. who is assigned to treat Specialist Jason Wynsky (Travis and audiences who celebrate life outside the gender Shinn, who tackled homophobia on campus in 2013’s Black swan queen Teff ner), whose recurring nightmares have led to his binary. Jason Paul Smith and Roy A. Freeman’s Teddy Ferrara at the Goodman, mostly avoids easy R Black Ballerina provides a stunning release from his unit in Afghanistan. With each session, jukebox journey through the history of the infamous dialectics in his story, and Bradley Hamilton’s staging for showcase for Kara Roseborough. both men see themselves more clearly refl ected in the Diamond Lil’s invokes the 1930s by echoing both the Intrinsic Theatre also keeps the self-righteous posturing other. As they connect, the depths of their pain become tawdry glamour of Cabaret and the optimistic sheen to a minimum. But there is a distinct lack of urgency on The story of Black women in classical dance is obscure more profound and the consequences of their service of 42nd Street. Shaped around more than 30 songs both the page and the stage. The story unfolds in real enough that any show spotlighting the pioneers is wel- feel more urgent. you have surely never heard, Diamond Lil (Michael time on Election Night in the hotel room of John (Joe come as a history lesson alone. But in Fleetwood-Jour- Peacock and Teff ner navigate their respective roles Hampton, as shiny as the Chrysler Building in full Sharkey) as his father’s aides and his mother, Jessica dain’s Black Ballerina (cowritten by artistic director Tim with the utmost empathy. Under director Sean Derry, fl apper regalia) and his sparkly sextet—some in drag, (Debra Rodkin), try to persuade him to issue an apology Rhoze and Stephen Fedo), dancer Kara Roseborough’s they reveal the humanity in the characters and display some not—host a fabulous music-laden history lesson for photos from the party that have just gone viral. His stellar performance in two diff erent roles, along with their bond for each other with authenticity. This feels on Chicago’s Pansy Craze of the 1930s. friend, Matt (Kyle Patrick), off ers moral support and a her breathtaking technique, makes us feel that history philosophical sounding board. in the solar plexus. There’s no serious question about the party pictures More than once, characters note with exasperation derailing the campaign of John Sr. (Scott Olson). The that Misty Copeland isn’t the fi rst Black woman in the fear is that it will give the media and the GOP-majority art. Roseborough plays both contemporary Adrienne Congress an excuse to derail his agenda. (I know—ador- and her grandmother in the 1950s, Olivia. Despite the able, right?) It’s the family confl icts that work best 50 years’ diff erence, both women wrestle with whether here, as when Olson’s politico essentially gets his it’s better to keep fi ghting for acceptance in a frankly son to admit that going to the party was more about racist world (the fetishization of “purity” in the corps de Diamond Lil & and needling annoying classmates (and pissing off his dad) ballet being a convenient fi g leaf for that racism) or to the Pansy Craze than making a political pronouncement. But for the walk away—or at least audition for Alvin Ailey American JASONPAULSMITH most part, though the play contains potent ideas about Dance Theater instead. how being in politics renders everyone nervous about The connective tissue between Olivia and Adri- public perceptions (unless you’re Donald Trump), the enne is Shariba Rivers’s Marie (Olivia’s daughter and execution is too muted to pack an equivalent emotional Adrienne’s mom), whose own career was cut short punch. —KR N L Through 8/31: when her jazz musician-addict husband ran off the road, Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM; also Mon 8/19, 7:30 killing himself and his bassist, Reuben (Zach Finch), and PM, Edge Theater Off-Broadway, 1133 W. Catalpa, injuring Marie. Reuben’s ghost and young Marie (Bijou intrinsictheatrecompany.com, $25, $15 students and Carmichael) drop by to chew the fat with Marie from seniors, $10 industry. v
28 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll R READERRECOMMENDEDb ALLAGESN NEWF FILM
nonfi ction, that his doc makes a persuasive case for Dick existing. It is odd and arguably antithetical to the Two teenage girls (Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams) purposes of documentary fi lmmaking that the director touring the White House in the mid-70s stumble upon reveals much more about himself than his subject. Nev- some secrets of Richard Nixon (Dan Hedaya) without ertheless, Berman pulls off a neat trick with the cards realizing what they are, and when things snowball he’s dealt. In the end, even Szeles is surprised. —L wind up as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s “Deep Blinded by P 91 min. Streaming on Hulu Throat” informant. This is silly and shameless stuff the Light (1999) that made me laugh quite a lot, in part because NBlinded by the Light it provides the perfect antidote to the neo-Stalinist How much does Bruce Springsteen have in common pomposity of Oliver Stone’s Nixon and glib self-im- with a 16-year-old Pakistani boy growing up in a small portance of Alan J. Pakula’s All the President’s Men. English village in 1987? According to Blinded by the Andrew Fleming (Threesome, The Cra ) , who directed Light, a lot more than one would think. Based on the from a script he wrote with Sheryl Longin, lacks the life of screenwriter Sarfraz Manzoor, this is the coming- polish and pizzazz of Stone and Pakula, but arguably his of-age story of Javed (Viveik Kalra), a young writer who notions about American politics are healthier and more fi nds a sense of purpose a er discovering the music of earthbound than theirs; in his book, Nixon and Kissinger “the Boss.” Director and cowriter Gurinder Chadha tries and Woodward and Bernstein are all deserving of to cover a lot of ground, from the frustrations of high ridicule. In some ways this is like Forrest Gump without against him. A more savvy documentarian probably school to navigating tradition and family to the attempt the neocon trimmings, which for me makes it bracing NOW PLAYING would have precluded or circumnavigated the manip- to fi nd one’s voice while living in a town riddled with and energizing, though younger viewers may not catch ulations of a subject like Johnathan, aka John Edward Islamophobia. However, most of the fi lm’s emotional all the historical references. With Harry Shearer as G. NThe Amazing Johnathan Szeles, the “amazing” provocateur who asked multiple weight is undermined by cheesy sing-alongs with the Gordon Liddy, Saul Rubinek as Kissinger, and Teri Garr. documentary crews to follow him in the wake of his lyrics visualized in such a garish way that the supposed —J R PG-13, 94 min. Fri 8/16-Sat Documentary announcement, in 2014, that he had one year to live. thematic signifi cance bashes the audience in the head. 8/17, midnight. Music Box What is most evident and fascinating about this doc- Cut to 2017, and Berman is shocked to discover that The fi lm senselessly pivots from a corny but harmless umentary following the “farewell tour” of its titular he’s far down the list of people making a movie about comedy musical to a tense family drama and without The Gleaners and I comic-magician is the inexperience of its director, Ben Szeles, though his fi lm is at its least interesting when he’s being either successfully. —C C PG-13, 114 R A superb documentary (2000) by Agnès Varda, Berman. Previously, Berman had only directed television wallowing in self-pity about this. It’s not until Berman min. Block 37, ArcLight, Century 12 and CineArts 6, the sole woman member of the French New Wave, and comedic shorts, and the fact that this shows in his dives deeper, questioning his motivations to pursue the Century Centre, Cicero Showplace 14, City North 14, who not only wrote and directed but also shot the fi lm shaky handling of a new medium works both for and subject matter and testing the ethical limits of narrative Ford City with a digital camera. The fi lm begins by musing on
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B people who pick up what’s le on the ground a er celebration of Cunningham, who died at age 90 in 2009. mechanical harvesting and moves on to interviews with His presence is spine-tingling throughout, whether in other types of gleaners: artists who use found objects, the wild, thrilling contortions of the current dancers; a Michelin two-star chef who forages for herbs, and the original performers, luminous against an abstract One Child Nation folks who troll for discarded food in supermarket dump- set designed by Andy Warhol; or Cunningham himself, sters, pick up edible detritus a er market stalls have seen in piquant archival footage. The fi lm may not been struck, or furnish their homes with sidewalk dis- compare to seeing RainForest in its purest form, live and cards. Varda seamlessly weaves in poetic interludes on sans context, but no matter: dance nerds and visual art famous images of gleaners by French artists, a magical obsessives will fi nd much to appreciate. —LP sequence in which she stumbles upon a junk-shop work 83 min. Fri 8/16, 2:15 and 6 PM; Sat 8/17, 5:15 PM; Sun 8/18, that combines two of her favorite harvest paintings, and 3:15 PM; Mon 8/19, 6 PM; Tue 8/20, 8:15 PM; Wed 8/21, 8 her own feelings about aging, travel, and the cinema. PM; and Thu 8/22, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Not to be missed. In French with subtitles. —M B 82 min. Fri 8/16, 8 PM. PO Box Collective F The Last Black Man in San R Francisco NIf the Dancer Dances the next, emphasizing the characters’ way of life over The perpetrators of the attack leave the base shortly The problem with making a fi lm about the making of Lifelong San Francisco resident Jimmie Fails plays a narrative development. (The diverse soundtrack, which therea er, and the heroine, teaming up with an Aborig- art—be it a painting, an album, or in this case, a dance fi ctionalized version of himself in Joe Talbot’s ambitious ranges from contemporary classical to Joni Mitchell, inal tracker, follows in pursuit with the aim of taking work—is that knowing how a piece was constructed debut feature, which takes a poetic view of gentri- adds greatly to the fi lm’s aff ecting impact.) It sometimes revenge. In its focus on symbolic, violent retribution, the o en depreciates the work itself, demystifying its core fi cation, underemployment, and other issues facing feels as if Talbot is overplaying his hand—his use of fi lm is thematically similar to Quentin Tarantino’s revi- and fl attening a more personal meaning the viewer may the city’s Black population. The episodic story centers slow-motion, for instance, feels needlessly arty—but one sionist historical fantasies, though Kent’s deglamorized, have otherwise attached to it. Still, this documentary on Fails’s eff orts to rehabilitate an old mansion that can’t deny the seriousness of his concerns or his emo- relentlessly unpleasant depiction of suff ering couldn’t from journalist-turned-fi lmmaker Maia Wechsler is a once belonged to his grandfather. When the home’s tional investment in the material. With Jonathan Majors, be further from the adolescent glee of Tarantino’s fi lms. gorgeous dissection of RainForest, a 1968 modern dance most recent owners move out, Fails breaks in with his Mike Epps, and Danny Glover. —BS R, 120 min. Still, there’s something vaguely two-faced about Kent’s masterpiece from choreographer Merce Cunningham, best friend (an aspiring playwright who works in a fi sh Fri 8/16, 2 and 7:45 PM; Sat 8/17, 3 and 7:45 PM; Sun 8/18, revenge narrative—the heroine’s progress has the eff ect and the process of its contemporary restaging. Ste- market), and the two begin squatting there, symbolically 5 PM; Mon 8/19, 8 PM; Tue 8/20, 6 PM; Wed 8/21, 6 PM; of overshadowing the history of atrocity that the fi lm phen Petronio and dancers from his eponymous New reclaiming a neighborhood that had once been predom- and Thu 8/22, 7:45 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center wants to confront. —BS R, 136 min. Fri 8/16-Thu York-based company toil under the sharp eyes of three inantly Black but had long since priced out most of its 8/22, 1:15, 4:10, 7, and 9:50 PM. Music Box dancers from the original ensemble to perfect every Black residents. Talbot structures the fi lm like a piece of NLost Gurl move. The fi nal performance ties into a centennial music; this proceeds gracefully from one observation to Watching a fi lm where a young person is groomed to be NOne Child Nation in an abusive relationship is a bit like watching a horror R New York-based fi lmmaker Nanfu Wang was fl ick. You know that whatever lurks behind the proverbial born in China in 1985 during its mandated one-child door is bad news, and the heroine is screwed. In Lost policy, a stringently enforced 36-year social experiment Gurl, that heroine is Nola (played by talented Chicagoan meant to curb the nation’s burgeoning population and Kristin E. Ellis), a bright teenager with plans to attend stave off widespread famine. Wang’s parents were DePaul until she meets Jay (Simeon Henderson), an exceptional in that they also had a son; in rural areas older man who charms her off her feet before pulling some families were allowed two children if the fi rst-born her into a world of drugs and violence. This feels like a was female in the hopes that the next infant would be a modern update to the old-school PG-rated drama of an highly prized male. A er Wang’s own son was born, she ABC A erschool Special, and perhaps that’s the point. journeyed back to China, baby in tow, to uncover bitter What it lacks in plot twists and character development, truths about the horrifi c practices and consequences it makes up for in messaging. And though violence of such state intrusion while her codirector, Jialing permeates the fi lm, director and writer Edward J. Wilson Zhang, remained in the U.S. to closely monitor Wang’s takes care to leave the most graphic bits (including movements via GPS in case she aroused potential- sexual assault) just out of view. I hope this fi lm becomes ly dangerous government scrutiny. The two women available to anyone who needs to see it. —J interviewed not only former bureaucrats, abortionists, L 70 min. Wilson and selected cast and crew and crusading journalists, but also Wang’s own family, attend the screenings. Showing as part of the Black whose experiences during those decades included Harvest Film Festival. Fri 8/16 and Tue 8/20, 8:30 PM. her grandfather’s fi ght with authorities to prevent her Gene Siskel Film Center mother being forcibly sterilized a er Nanfu was born; Get Your Swag! her uncle’s abandonment of a daughter in the local Manos: The Hands of Fate market; and her aunt’s sale of her baby girl to a human www.chicagoreader.com/shop Drive-in delicacy from 1966, involving occult goings-on traffi cker. Some archival footage—particularly a shot of in a house controlled by the title whatsis and his harem corpses of discarded female infants rotting in a public queens. This backyard horror cheapie never made it out garbage dump—is gruesome, but just when you think of El Paso, though its director, Harold P. Warren, has you’ve seen the worst come the revelations of the been touted as the Ed Wood of the Texas Panhandle. corruption that mushroomed a er China opened its —PG 69 min. Wed 8/21, 7:30 PM. Beverly Arts doors in 1992 to adoptions by outsiders: the he y fees Center Westerners paid orphanages (with the money trickling up and down between local civilians and offi cials) NThe Nightingale encouraged outright the of babies to keep this new Jennifer Kent’s second feature (a er The Babadook) is niche market booming. The fi lmmakers also follow a a postmodern critique of British colonialism that consid- couple in Lehi, Utah, adoptive parents themselves, on ers the chauvinism as well as the racism of the colonial a mission to reunite missing Chinese “orphans” with project. Set in early 19th-century Australia, it centers their birth parents. Not surprisingly, some adopted kids, on a young Irishwoman who, along with her husband, loved by their American families, aren’t interested, even has recently fi nished a seven-year period of servitude if their original parents didn’t give them up willingly. In on a British military base. Kent addresses early on how English and subtitled Mandarin. —AG R, brutal the British were toward anyone they considered 85 min. Fri 8/16-Sun 8/18, 11:30 AM, 2:45, 5:30, 7:50, and socially inferior with a harrowing scene in which soldiers 10:05 PM; Mon 8/19-Thu 8/22, 2:45, 5:30, 7:50, and 10:05 gang-rape the heroine, then kill her baby and husband. PM. Century Centre Cinema 30 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll Get showtimes and see reviews of everything playing this week at chicagoreader.com/movies. FILM
Wolf attend the screenings. Showing as part of the Black Crossings, Showplace ICON, 600 N. Michigan, Studio NWhere’d You Go, Harvest Film Festival. Sun 8/18, 5:30 PM, and Mon 8/19, Movie Grill Chatham, Webster Place Love African American Style R Bernadette 7:45 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Six U.S. and UK short fi lms about love by David E. Bright, How to Survive a Plague / BPM Asha Flowers, LeRon E. Lee, Carmen Elly Wilkerson, A profoundly serious fi lm despite its lighthearted Black History—Lost and Found Anthony E. Williams, and Gian Smith. 81 min. Showing surface tone, Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Maria A program of four short fi lms, with work by Khinmay (Beats per Minute) as part of the Black Harvest Film Festival. Fri 8/16, 6 PM, Semple’s novel is a critical (if characteristically humane) Lwin van der Mee, Adetokumboh M’Cormack, David de An AIDS-themed double feature screening of David and Sat 8/17, 8:15 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center assessment of American society in spiritual crisis. Cate Rozas, and Ashley Paige Brim. Showing as part of the France’s 2012 documentary How to Survive a Plague Blanchett stars as the title character, a trailblazing Black Harvest Film Festival. Thu 8/22, 8:30 PM. Gene and Robin Campillo’s 2017 French drama BPM (Beats Silent Summer Film Festival architect who hasn’t designed anything in two decades; Siskel Film Center per Minute), followed by a discussion. Sun 8/18, 5 PM. when the movie begins, she’s on the verge of emotional ACRE Projects F Weekend collapse, addicted to a variety of prescription drugs, and Color Me Creative The Chicago Silent Film Society presents four programs making enemies with the women in her neighborhood’s A program of fi ve shorts by Addison Wright, Keisha Rae Innocents of Paris over three days of silent fi lms with live accompaniment, improvement league. Bernadette remains a caring wife Witherspoon, Elodie Edjang, the Umma Chroma collec- Maurice Chevalier stars as a singing junkman who including the Anna May Wong drama Toll of the Sea, and mother, but her closest confi dante is a paid assis- tive, and David Larson and Darren Durlach. Showing as must decide between love and fame in this 1929 musi- short comedies starring Buster Keaton and Harold tant based in India with whom she communicates via part of the Black Harvest Film Festival. Sun 8/18, 3 PM. cal-romance. Richard Wallace directed. 78 min. 35 mm. Lloyd, and the Soviet sci-fi fi lm Aelita: Queen of Mars. text message. Linklater depicts the heroine’s terminal Gene Siskel Film Center Preceded by a selection of short subjects made in 1929 Visit silentfi lmchicago.com for more information. Fri self-involvement wittily and sympathetically, making (approx. 40 min, 16 mm). Thu 8/22, 7 PM. Music Box 8/16-Sun 8/18. Filament Theatre v her problems (obsessing over routines, dreading face- NEvery Time I Die to-face communication, and generally feeling stuck) A murdered man’s consciousness inhabits the bodies of NJirga resemble exaggerated versions of what many people his friends as he tries to prevent their deaths at the hand Benjamin Gilmour directed this Australian drama about experience in everyday American life circa 2019. He of his killer. Robi Michael directed. 98 min. Fri 8/16-Sat a soldier returning to Afghanistan to fi nd the family of a doesn’t see these problems as insurmountable, however, 8/17, 7:45 PM; Sun 8/18, 6 PM; Mon 8/19-Thu 8/22, 7:45 civilian he killed. In English and subtitled Pushto. 78 min. and this optimism is both winning and refreshing. The PM. Facets Cinematheque Fri 8/16, 7 and 9 PM; Sat 8/17, 3, 5, 7, and 9 PM; Sun 8/18, ensemble supporting cast—which features Billy Crudup, 1, 3, 5, and 7 PM; Mon 8/19-Thu 8/22, 7 and 9 PM. Facets Kristen Wiig, and Laurence Fishburne—is wonderful as NGood Boys Cinematheque well. —B S PG-13, 130 min. Block 37, Century A trio of adolescent boys’ attempt to get some makeout Centre Cinema, Century 12 and CineArts 6 tips by spying on some older teens with a drone leads to NKingdom a day of increasingly outrageous events in this comedy Shinsuke Sato directed this Japanese action fi lm based While I Breathe, I Hope directed by Gene Stupnitsky. R, 89 min. ArcLight, Cen- on Yasuhisa Hara’s manga about a boy in ancient China R “I just want to be a change agent, and politics tury 12 and Cine Arts 6, Cicero 14, City North, Ford City, who aspires to become a general. In Japanese with is the way I can change people’s lives,” says 34-year- Lake Theatre, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood subtitles. R, 134 min. City North 14, River East 21 old Bakari Sellers in Emily L. Harrold’s fl y-on-the-wall portrait of the idealistic attorney, politician, and CNN commentator. At 22 years of age, he ran for offi ce as his district’s state representative and unexpectedly defeated his Republican opposition, but disillusionment THIS WEEK AT soon set in. “I’m a Democrat in South Carolina, so my job is the defi nition of insanity, because I repeatedly do the same things over and over again, and don’t accomplish much,” he says of his tenure. And indeed one of his fi nest achievements occurred a er he was out of offi ce: THE LOGAN while he was working as a social activist in the wake of the 2015 mass shootings at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, he and others succeeded in fi nally con- vincing the state legislature to retire the Confederate fl ag from the statehouse grounds. Whatever you think of Sellers, who is immensely likable, if more openly emotional than the average guy—but hey, he’s hardly average—don’t miss this enlightening documentary, a primer on the risks and rewards of politics, and why it’s absolutely fundamental that all citizens engage LORD OF THE FLIES in its discourse, on whatever level we can. —A G 72 min. Showing as part of the Black Harvest AUGUST 16-19 AT 11 PM Film Festival. Fri 8/16, 4:15 PM, and Tue 8/20, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center
ALSO PLAYING NThe Angry Birds Movie 2 Thurop Van Orman directed this sequel to the 2016 animated fi lm based on the popular video game. PG, 99 min. Block 37, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Chatham 14, YOJIMBO Cicero Showplace 14, Ford City, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, 600 N. Michigan AUGUST 20-22 AT 10:30 PM MMMMMMM ----- 8/22 8:30 Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts Jeff rey Wolf directed this documentary about self- taught outsider artist Bill Traylor, a former slave and sharecropper, who began drawing in the 1930s in his 2646 N. MILWAUKEE AVE | CHICAGO, IL | THELOGANTHEATRE.COM | 773.342.5555 80s. 76 min. Director Jeff rey Wolf and producer Jeany ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER31 Recommended and notable shows and critics’ insights for the week of August 15 MUSIC b ALLAGESF
MAURITANIA DOESN’T HAVE the global pop footprint of its neighbor Senegal; its THURSDAY15 PICK OF THE WEEK local musical culture is dominated by tradi- Ashbringer Terranaut, Dismalimerence, and tional forms played at weddings and other Tides|Cult open. 7 PM, Reggies’ Music Joint, 2105 S. State, $10. 21+ ceremonial venues. Noura Mint Seymali is determined to change that. The griot and Minnesota-based guitarist, composer, and vocalist Noura Mint Seymali takes Nick Stanger is only 22, but he’s already built a singer has deep roots in Moorish and Mau- promising portfolio of heavy music. He started ritanian musical traditions: she grew up Ashbringer as a one-man band in 2013, released Mauritania to the world singing backup for her stepmother, legend- the ten-minute single “The Bitter Taste of Life’s ary vocalist Dimi Mint Abba. But Seymali is Only Certainty” in 2014 and the full-length Vacant the following year, and then formed a five-piece also an heir to modernization: her father, group for his second album, 2016’s Yūgen. With their Seymali Ould Ahmed Vall, pioneered a folk-infl ected, dreamy sound, nods to misty ancient system of notation for Moorish music. With traditions, and devotion to themes of nature, the earth, and humankind’s insignificance in the cos- her band, she looks to the future and the mos, Ashbringer are kindred spirits to contempo- past for inspiration. Seymali delivers ulu- raries such as New Hampshire’s Vattnet and Ten- lating vocals and plays the ardin (a Moorish nessee’s Twilight Fauna. And they’re equally able to deliver instrumental richness onstage and in the harp reserved for women griots) while studio—the latter of which is abundantly clear on backed by Western instruments, including their new record, Absolution (Prosthetic). The prog drum kit, bass, and guitar. The resulting inspirations and postrock complexity on the long tracks sometimes seem at odds with Stanger’s raw psychedelic desert fusion is as exhilarating vocals, but when he roars on “Shrine of Loss” and as that of other famous Sahel bands such as the band rises up to match his ferocity, it sounds Tinariwen (with whom Seymali has record- like someone who’s learned to choose their bat- tles fi nally fi nding the one they’ve been waiting for. ed). The group’s secret weapon is Seymali’s —M K husband, Jeich Ould Chighaly, who plays an electric guitar modifi ed to play quarter Cherubs Sweet Cobra and Salvation open. tones; it sounds like a sitar with warped 8:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $18. 21+ strings. You can hear his idiosyncratic, in- stantly recognizable style at the beginning In their brief existence, from 1991 till 1994, Cherubs gifted the world with two perfect documents of of the title track of Seymali’s 2014 album, streamlined, intense, pummeling noise-rock: 1992’s Tzenni (Glitterbeat), before the band kicks Icing and 1994’s Heroin Man (both on King Coff ey’s into a rolling, sweaty Western groove. Trance Syndicate label). The sounds the Austin trio hammered out weren’t too far from what their Seymali sings with perfect, unpredictable east-coast contemporaries in Unsane were doing, control, stretching out and lifting out the and Icing and Heroin Man remain testaments to notes before allowing them to settle back how eff ective rock music can be when it’s no-frills, loud, and mad. Two decades after their split, into her throat. Mauritania can’t contain JACOBCRAWFURD Cherubs seemingly reemerged out of nowhere, J &O N M S that voice, and neither can the rest of the and in the fi ve years since then they’ve matched the Thu 8/15, 6:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph. F b world. —NB productivity of their initial run. In 2015 they released their third full-length, 2 Ynfynyty (Brutal Panda), and
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32 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll ® Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard. MUSIC
Ajani Jones PAULARAKI
this summer they’ve kept up their impeccable streak hours at a lousy job far from home—a situation with the brand-new Immaculada High (Relapse). made even more exhausting by the historic struc- It’s a smasher of an album, furious and blown out, tural inequality that young Black men face. “Wor- channeling the exact power that made Cherubs so kin’ this 5 AM shi , in Rogers Park, that’s daily,” he beloved in the fi rst place. Though most bands have raps. “Takin’ the Red Line from 63rd, it would drive a diff erent energy a er a long-awaited reunion than me crazy / Seein’ those lights gave me a spark, they did in their early days, Cherubs exude the this ain’t LA baby.” Jones, who grew up all over same dark, irreverent vibe they always have. They Chicago’s south side and south suburbs, likes to haven’t missed a beat yet, and now that noise-rock use such autobiographical details to evoke the is resurgent, its masters are welcome back with paradoxical love that so many Chicagoans have open arms. —L C for a city that o en seems indiff erent to their exis- tence—in its best moments, Dragonfly articulates the joy of building a space for yourself here. Jones’s Noura Mint Seymali See Pick of the Week, muscular, agile fl ow is something that authenticity- page 32. Jupiter & Okwess headline. 6:30 PM, obsessed hip-hop heads and casual browsers of THE Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 E. Spotify’s “Rap Caviar” playlist can agree on. On Randolph. F b “3D” he raps about physical and mental violence toward young Black people, with lyrics impression- FREDDY JONES istic enough for listeners to see their own stories in his. —LG BAND FRIDAY16 with “Original Members” Jim and Rob Bonaccorsi, Ajani Jones J-E-T-S (Jimmy Edgar & Experimental Sound Studio 2019 Gala Simon Horrocks and Wayne Healy Machinedrum) headline; Ajani Jones opens. 9 PM, honoring George Lewis George Lewis/ Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, $22. 18+ Sam Pluta/Mwata Bowden headline; Kim Alpert & Friday, November 29 • Park West Rob Mazurek, Ken Vandermark with Claire On Sale T his Friday at 10am! After Chicago rapper Fredrick “Ajani” Jones left Rousay and Macie Stewart, Angel Bat Dawid & the University of Iowa in 2015 to focus on music, Douglas R. Ewart, Kotoka Suzuki, and Katie he picked up a warehouse gig in Rogers Park to Wood open. Hosted by Douglas R. Ewart. 7 PM, BUY help fund what he hoped would be his real career. Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $50-$100. b TICKETS On “Pluto,” off his recent debut album, Dragon- AT fly (Ajani Jones/Closed Sessions), the 25-year-old Experimental Sound Studio has been assisting talks about pursuing his dream by working long boundary-pushing artists since 1986. It pro- J ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER33 Est.Est.1954 1954 Celebrating over 6165 years of service service to Chicago! 1800 W. DIVISION (773) 486-9862 MUSIC Come enjoy one of Chicago’s finest beer gardens! continued from 33 FEBRUARYSEPTEMBERJAAUGUSTNUARY 11...... 15 20 23 ...... MIKEDA DOGVID QUINN WON’T FLABBY FELTEN HUNT HOFFMAN SHOW 8PM vides studio services, opportunities to perform SEPTEMBERJAAUGUSTNUARY 12...... 16 21 .....WAGNER PETE CAUTIOUS AMERICAN& MORSE DRAFT and show work, events that facilitate dialogues FEBRUARYSEPTEMBER 22 24 .....THE .....BRETTDADYRKNAMOS KOONTZROOM MENAND THE TRUANCY CLUB JAAUGUSTNUARY 13...... 17 SCOTTY DJ “BAD SKID BOY” LICIOUS BRADBURY between artists and audiences, and archiving SEPTEMBERJA NUARY 14...... 23 ....WHOLESOMERADIOANDWHITEWOLFSONICPRINCESS JONTONY MCDONALD DO DJRO NIGHTSARIO GROUP AUGUST 19 MURPHY JOSHUAMOJO THOMPSON 49JERN JAZZ 9:30PM ORCHESTRA 7PM resources for avant-garde and exploratory music JA NUARY 17...... MIKEPROSPECT FELTENJAMIE FOURWAGNER 9:30PM & FRIENDS JAAUGUSTNUARY 18...... 21 THE MORSE RON MIKEAND & WAGNER RACHEL FELTON SHOW 5:30PM materials that might otherwise be lost. This year’s FEBRUARY 25 .....WHOLESOMERADIOJOEY FALDUTO DJ NIGHT SEPTEMBERJANUARY 19...... 24 .....RC BIG BAND SITU 7PMATION DAVID ESS gala fund-raiser has a twofold purpose: to PAT ABBOTTMAXLIELLIAM ANNA FEBRUARY 26 .....RCBIRDGANGSHOSTA BIG 9:30PMBAND 7PM help finance upgrades to the recording studio JA NUARY 20...... TITTYTHE CITTY SURE FIRST WHYWA RDNOTS PROBLEMS AUGUST 22 DUDE FREAK SAME SHOW CABARET and to honor musician, composer, historian, and FEBRUARYJA NUARY 21...... 28 .....PETERLISA LIGHTNINGTO CASANONY DO ROVASARIOQUARTET GROUP 8PM SEPTEMBERJA NUARY 22...... 26 .....PETERRICH CASANOVA EXPERIENCE RC BIG QUARTETBAND 7PM educator George E. Lewis. Currently a professor MARCHSEPTEMBERJAAUGUSTNUARY 1...... SMILIN’ 24...... 23 27 .....DORIAN THE ACOUSTIPUNKSTA PETERJ BO CASONOBBY ANDVA THEQUARTET CLEMTONES of American music at Columbia University, the SEPTEMBERJAAUGUSTNUARY 25...... 24 28 .....TO JAMURS THE THE JAM WICK MARCHAUGUST 2...... ICE 25 BULLY WHOLESOME PULPITBOX AND RADIO BIG HOUSEDJ NIGHT 67-year-old Chicago native took classes at the JAAUGUSTNUARY 26...... 26 RC BIG THE BAND HEPKATS SEPTEMBER 29 .....SOMEBODY’SRICK SHANDLINGSKIPPIN’ SINS RO DUOCK Association for the Advancement of Creative Musi- MARCHAUGUST 3...... CHIDITAROD 28 FEATURING NUCLEAR JOE JAZZ LANASAAND QUARKTETTARRINGTON 10PM SEPTEMBERJAAUGUSTNUARY 27...... 29 30 .....OFF EMBASSIES THE VINE THE 4:30PM STRAY BOLTS cians’ neighborhood school as a teen. Decades later, MARCHJAAUGUSTNUARY 7...... 28...... 30 NUCLEAR FIRSTJAMIE WHOLESOMERADIOWARD JAZZWA QUARKTETGNER PROBLEMS & 7:30PM FRIENDS DJ NIGHT he told the avant-garde jazz organization’s story EVERYEVERY TUESD TUESDAY (EXCEPT 2ND) 2ND)ATAT8PM8PM in A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and OPENOPEN MIC ON MIC TUESDAY HOSTED BYEVENINGS JIMIJON (EXCEPT AMERICA 2ND) American Experimental Music (University of Chica- go Press, 2008). Lewis has been giving workshops and performing at ESS since 1989, and he will renew his association with the organization by playing a set here with electronic musician Sam Pluta and multi-instrumentalist and AACM member Mwata Bowden. Their performance will draw together elements of Lewis’s work as a scholar, composer, improvising trombonist, and pioneer in the devel- opment of interactive computer-music systems, and it won’t be the only set of the evening to cross generational and disciplinary boundaries. Fellow AACM multi-instrumentalist Douglas R. Ewart will appear with singer and multi-instrumentalist Angel Bat Dawid, who recently released her first album; genre-defying experimentalist Rob Mazurek will perform with video artist Kim Alpert; and veteran clarinet and saxophone player Ken Vandermark will improvise with keyboardist and violinist Macie Stewart and new-music percussionist Claire Rous- ay. Sound artists Katie Wood and Kotoka Suzuki will also perform new works. —B M SATURDAY17 Crucial Conflict Part of the Chicago Westside Music Festival. Faith Evans headlines; Monifah, Da Brat, and Crucial Confl ict open. 2-9 PM, Douglas Park, 1401 S. Sacramento. F b
The annual Chicago Westside Music Festi- val brings national talent to Douglas Park while spotlighting hometown heroes. In previous edi- tions, the free daylong event has leaned heavi- ly on beloved mainstream R&B acts such as Bell Biv DeVoe, but the opener of this year’s festival is dynamic but not-so-family-friendly Chicago hip- hop group Crucial Conflict. The group’s mem- bers began honing their skills together at parties singles, most obviously “Ride the Rodeo”—in some DeafKids Neurosis headline; Bell Witch and in the K-Town section of the west side in the early early interviews, they even described their music Dea ids open. 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. 90s before hitting the radio hard with the 1996 sin- as a new genre, RODEO (“Rhymes of Dirty English Allport, $25. 17+ gle “Hay,” an ode to the kind of grass you might Organization”). These days “Hay,” which eventually find yourself “smokin’ in the middle of the barn,” reached number two on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs For local heavy-music fans, this stacked bill— as they sing in the chorus over a sample from the chart, reliably makes me think of Lil Nas X’s megahit which also includes pioneering postmetal mas- 1974 Funkadelic ballad “I’ll Stay.” Despite the rural “Old Town Road”—I think it would be fun if Lil Nas X ters Neurosis and beautifully crushing doom imagery, those lyrics actually refer to the Barn, and Crucial Conflict collaborated on a new track. duo Bell Witch—is among the most-anticipated Crucial Conflict’s recording studio, storefront The Chicago Westside Music Festival also features concerts of the summer. But anyone planning to hangout, and community space, where they cre- ebullient west-side native and former Kenwood go should make sure to arrive in time for the Chi- ated some of the material they released later that Academy student Da Brat as well Monifah (a former cago debut of Brazilian trio Deafkids, who open year on their debut album, The Final Tic. The “old Heavy D protege) who makes grown-up-lady R&B. the show. Formed in 2010, Deafkids build their west” vibe appealed to their fans for its original mix Headlining is soul and R&B icon Faith Evans, whose songs on a base of explosive polyrhythmic percus- of country and rap, and the group played up the gorgeous, world-weary, raspy mezzo-soprano could sion, over which they layer raw, frenetic combina- western motif in their fashion and in other album entrance a statue. —S C -J tions of punk, psych, Brazilian jazz, dub, chanting, 34 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard. MUSIC Less scrolling.
D e a i d s JEANRIBEIRO
harsh noise, and more. Steve Von Till of Neurosis, non & the Clams), with whom he shares the song- who runs the Neurot label, signed the group for writing and singing. The band’s bouffant hairdos their recent third studio album, Metaprogramação, and garish makeup, outrageous stage outfi ts (Bog- and he’s described what they do as “sonic ayahuas- art o en wears a cheetah-print Speedo and leath- ca.” This music is like rocket fuel for the most brain- er jacket), and scuzzy, 50s-influenced punk vibe bending mindfucks on the planet, no illicit substanc- give them a DIY campiness that would make John More strumming. es required (actually, scratch “planet” and add outer Waters proud. Though they haven’t dropped a track space too). Metaprogramação (“Metaprogram- since 2017’s girl-group-inspired “Baby of the Band,” ming”) questions the existence of personal free- their two full-lengths tell a sort of queer coming-of- dom as constant media and government messag- age story through sugary vocal harmonies, a mix of ing tries to divide and exploit everyday people. The punk, hardcore, and doo-wop infl uences, and lyrics album urges listeners to resist such programming about cruising, crushing, and necking. The title track and strive for unity and liberation, and the way the of their debut studio album, 2011’s Too Young to Be songs seamlessly bleed into each other seems to in Love (Hardly Art), begins with a charmingly sim- suggest one way of accomplishing this. The band’s plistic plea to a potential lover: “Why won’t you do live shows are even more incendiary than their it with me / I want to do it with you.” But even when recordings—even grouches who claim to have heard Hunx & His Punx toe the line between naive and it all will have to pick their jaws up off the fl oor a er explicit, they hit on the sticky-sweet sincerity of a Dea ids fi nish shaking the room. Before setting off teenager ready to have their heart stomped on. The on their maiden voyage through North America ear- band are headlining the fi h annual Do312 Rock ’n’ lier this month, the band spent some time in São Roll Market, a daylong garage and punk minifest Paulo recording new material with Killing Joke’s Jaz that also features vintage and DIY vendors—if you’re Coleman (to a “Hell, yeah!” from heavy-music freaks on the hunt for a cheetah Speedo of your own, this everywhere). Word of that release should come could be the place to score one. —M K soon enough; in the meantime, you can let Dea ids simultaneously open and obliterate your neural pathways at Thalia Hall. —J L Matt Muse Ausar, Loona Dae, DJ Cash Era open. 8 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $15. b
Hunx & his Punx Part of the Rock ’n’ Roll Chicago rapper Matt Muse first studied his craft Market (see page 36). Hunx & His Punx headline; through mentorship nonprofi t Art of Culture (back White Mystery, Blacker Face, Bev Rage & the when it was still called Donda’s House), but he didn’t Drinks, Clickbait, and Dead Gremmies open. DJ begin performing in earnest until he started classes E2H2 and the Tangerine Beat DJs spin between at Northern Illinois University in the early 2010s. sets. Noon-8 PM, East Room, 2354 N. Milwaukee, “That played a huge role in helping me improve $5 suggested donation. 21+ my performance skills,” Muse told Passion of the Give your digital life a break. Weiss in September. “What college is supposed to Hunx is the swaggering, sneering alter ego of be, a practice before you get to the real world, it Connect over music, dance & more. singer Seth Bogart. He originally adopted the was that for my music.” Muse says he played hun- pseudonym as a member of San Francisco elec- dreds of shows while at NIU, and since graduat- troclash group Gravy Train!!!!, then branched off ing in 2016 he’s been making his career in Chicago. Anyone can play! Find your to launch his own band, the Punx, in 2008. Though Over the past few years he’s served as a teaching summer class at oldtownschool.org the group has been through several lineup changes artist at Young Chicago Authors, which has helped and a brief breakup, Bogart has found a solid cre- bring him deeper into the city’s overlapping hip- ative counterpart in Shannon Shaw (also of Shan- hop and literary scenes—and his new self-re- J ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER35 Find more music listings at MUSIC chicagoreader.com/soundboard. N LINCOLN AVENUE, CHICAGO IL OLDTOWNSCHOOL.ORG . .
JUST ADDED ON SALE THIS FRIDAY! Across the Sea: Jeff Peterson, Greg Sardinha, Tsun-Hui Hung Bush Tetras Julia Jacklin with special guest Christian Lee Hutson PLUS A brand new series of World Music Wednesday concerts! FOR TICKETS, VISIT OLDTOWNSCHOOL.ORG FESTIVALS SATURDAY, AUGUST PM Celebrate sangria, Tribute to Mercedes Sosa rock ’n’ roll, and Chicago by Mario Gonzavarg • In Szold Hall neighborhoods at this FRIDAY, AUGUST PM weekend’s festivals Robben Ford Join us Thursday, August for a very special masterclass with Robben Ford! Learn more at ots.fm/workshops
SUNDAY, AUGUST PM
Rosie Flores In Szold Hall
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER PM 3 yards Bangin’
Gauche JENDESSINGER The ultimate backyard party (even though Sun Kil Moon it’s not in a backyard anymore), 3 Yards Bangin’ celebrates its 15th year with an SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER PM continued from 35 ist and drummer Laurie Spector (of Foul Swoops international bill of house music, including leased EP, Love & Nappyness, which he celebrates and Hothead) joined before their 2015 debut EP, Tracy Grammer with this concert, demonstrates his growth as a Get Away With Gauche. Since then, they’ve fur- sets from Brian Furious Frazier and DJ with special guest Heather Styka • In Szold Hall rapper and writer. With this second installation in ther fl eshed out their sound by adding saxophon- Mello Sounds. Sat 8/17, 3-11 PM, 8600 S. An- his Nappy series (following last year’s Nappy Talk), ist and vocalist Adrienne Berry (a touring member thony, $10-15. F b SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER PM Muse set out to explore fi ve diff erent types of love. of Downtown Boys) and recruiting a rotating cast That approach provided him with a way to focus his of friends in their writing and recording process. Phil Ochs Song Night insightful lyricism and gave him room to show off (As Regalado told Bandcamp in July, “We’re kind Chicago Westside MusiC Festival featuring Greg Greenway, Pat Wictor, Reggie his growth as a vocalist. His rapping takes a sensual of a collective.”) Unsurprisingly, when Gauche bust See Crucial Confl ict, page 34. Sat 8/17, 2-9 Harris, and Tom Prasada-Rao • In Szold Hall turn on “Love Wrong [Eros],” where he holds on to out a shout-along chorus in one of their skeletal, PM, Douglas Park, 1401 S. Sacramento. F b syllables fl irtatiously, edging toward outright sing- dance-focused songs, it can feel like everyone on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER PM ing. And on “Shotgun [Philia]” he rides a fi ne line, the eastern seaboard has joined in. On their recent bringing the aff able feel of the rest of the EP to his debut full-length, A People’s History of Gauche Pilsen Fest bellicose, borderline- staccato rapping. On the silky (Merge), the band confront patriarchal privilege, Live music, Latino culture, and karaoke Amy Speace In Szold Hall funk number “Myself (Philautia II),” Muse confi dent- economic hardship, and technological dystopia converge at this celebration of diversity, ly sings a warmhearted hook before busting out atop zigzagging guitars, nimble funk rhythms, and SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER PM solidarity, and unity. Musical guests in- flamboyant, rapid- fire verses about self-love—evi- whimsical, melodic keyboard and sax. Anyone mar- clude Mexican groups Sussie 4 and Los dence that he’s committed to continuing to grow. ginalized by capitalism or just plain priced out of Delbert McClinton —LG a place they’ve called home should find at least Masters Plus. Sat 8/17 and Sun 8/18, noon-10 with special guest Gerald Dowd one song on the album that resonates so strongly PM, 18th and Blue Island, donation suggest- they’ll want to yell the chorus along with Gauche. ed. F b SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER PM SUNDAY18 —L G Crash Test Dummies Rock ’n’ Roll Market with special guest Port Cities Gauche Pledge Drive and Primitive Teeth open. This garage-rock parking-lot party fea- 8 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, $10. 17+ WEDNESDAY21 tures oodles of DIY and vintage vendors, food trucks, hot local bands and DJs, and ACROSS THE STREET IN SZOLD HALL D.C. postpunk unit Gauche exemplify their home- Surabhi Ensemble 8 PM, City Winery, 1200 N LINCOLN AVENUE, CHICAGO IL town DIY scene—partly because it seems like W. Randolph, $15-$22. b a headlining set by Hunx & His Punx (see Global Dance Party: everyone in that tight-knit community is connect- page 35). Sat 8/17, noon-8 PM, East Room, Jimmy Träskelin and Tallari ed to the band. Singer and multi- instrumentalist The Surabhi Ensemble was founded in 2010 by Indi- 2354 N. Milwaukee, $5 suggested donation. 21+ Daniele Yandel drums in Priests and helps runs an veena player Saraswathi Ranganathan, director WORLD MUSIC WEDNESDAY SERIES the Sister Polygon label; vocalist and bassist Mary of the Ensemble of Ragas School of Performing FREE WEEKLY CONCERTS, LINCOLN SQUARE Jane Regalado, who plays in Providence group Arts in Schaumburg and “Best Asian Entertainer Sangria Festival Mames Babegenush Downtown Boys, also performs with two mem- of the Year,” according to the 2018 Chicago Music Start with 20 types of sangria, add Subrata Bhattacharya & Abhisek bers of Gauche (keyboardist Pearie Sol and gui- Awards. The core of the group has included fel- fl amenco dancers, games, pop-up vendors, Lahiri / Lucio Feuillet Quinteto tarist Jason P. Barnett) in D.C. band Cool Peo- low local musical luminaries such as Spanish fla- and a mix of international artists and DJs, ple. In 2016 Sol released a solo cassette of “organ menco guitarist Carlo Basile, tabla master Dhan- and you might never want to leave this punk” recordings through Sister Polygon, and Bar- anjay Kunte, and percussionist Bob Garrett. About OLDTOWNSCHOOL.ORG nett is also in Flamers. Yandel, Regalado, Sol, and five years ago, the Surabhi Ensemble expanded lawn party. Sat 8/17 and Sun 8/18, noon-10 Barnett launched Gauche in late 2014, and bass- to include oud player Ronnie Malley and bassist PM, 3021 W. Division, $15-$55. 21+ 36 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll MUSIC 3730 N. CLARK ST METROCHICAGO.COM @ METROCHICAGO
ON SALE FRIDAY! ON SALE FRIDAY! THE WONDER half*alive SURE SURE YEARS + SPECIAL GUESTS TBA SAT OCT 12 SUN OCT 20
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Surabhi Ensemble JOHNBOEHM
Greg Neergard, and more recently it’s incorporat- band in Dakar, Senegal. A third guest musician for ed modern and Indian dancer Kinnari Vora and fl a- this concert is Tokyo-born Chicago violinist Emi menco dancer Leticia Aravena. Along with virtuo- Tanabe, who will improvise on a number of pieces sic musicianship, the Surabhi Ensemble is known and add some traditional Japanese melodies to the for its activist mission: to demonstrate connections program. The ensemble will debut some new col- between cultures and how togetherness can cre- laborative works, including a veil dance by Basile, ate positivity. Earlier this year, the Surabhi Ensem- Garrett, and Vora that combines original music and ble brought its art and message to Vietnam, Portu- dance with a traditional Hindustani raga and impro- gal, Spain, and Senegal through the group’s Global vised sections that should highlight Sai and Diop. Peace Tour, performing in schools, community and Other pieces will showcase the Surabhi Ensemble’s immigrant centers, and concert venues, and collab- delicately textured fusions, shaded with pulsing orating with local artists along the way. This concert oud notes, shimmering veena chords, and crystal- celebrates the collaborations that occurred during line Arabic-infl uenced fl amenco guitar, all backed the tour. Along with the core musicians and danc- by tapestries of rolling, intricate percussion and ers, joining the Surabhi Ensemble onstage will be accompanied by architectural dance forms. A back- two guests who performed with it during its travels: ground video will display moments from the tour, master mridangam artist Ragavan Sai of Chennai, while the group itself shares the fruits of a jour- India, who joined the group in Vietnam, and talking- ney that connected the best of Chicago’s global drum master Massamba Diop (whose work appears sounds with musical cultures in other parts of the SMARTBARCHICAGO.COM on the Black Panther soundtrack), who hosted the world. —C M Jv 3730 N CLARK ST | 21+
SATURDAY AUGUST 24
Tyree Cooper Change MUSEUM OF BROADCAST COMMUNICATIONS Request (live) 360 N STATE STREET | CHICAGO, IL Olin For InfoInfo & & Tickets visit www..museum..tv TICKETS AVAILABLE VIA METRO + SMARTBAR WEBSITES + METRO BOX OFFICE. NO SERVICE FEES AT BOX OFFICE! ll AUGUST - CHICA O READER37 CHICAGOSHOWSYOUSHOULDKNOWABOUTINTHEWEEKSTOCOME
EARLY WARNINGS b ALLAGESF WOLFBYKEITHHERZIK Midwest Live & Loud 2019 Never miss Pre Party with Fuerza Bruta, a show again. Victory, Brick Assassin, Law/ Less, Udüsic 8/29, 7 PM, Sign up for the Cobra Lounge, 17+ newsletter at Mud Morganfi eld 12/26, 8 PM, chicagoreader. SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri GOSSIP 8/16, 10 AM b com/early PJ Morton 11/16, 8 PM, Con- cord Music Hall, on sale Fri WOLF 8/16, 10 AM, 18+ Venom Prison, Homewrecker, Musiq Soulchild 12/19-12/20, Call of the Void, Knaaves A furry ear to the ground of 7 and 10 PM, City Winery, on 9/22, 7 PM, Cobra Lounge, 17+ sale Fri 8/16, noon b The Wailers 10/11, 7:30 and the local music scene Nana Grizol, Lee Bains III & 9:30 PM, Maurer Hall, Old the Glory Fires 10/1, 8:30 PM, Town School of Folk Music b EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCER Matthew Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 8/16, Windy Fest with Bianca Shaw, 10 AM Stunt Taylor, Ross Mac, Sage has run the Patient Sounds label for Nao, Jean Deaux 8/23, 7 PM, Ausar, Ami, Booman Forever, ten years, starting in Fort Collins, Colora- Metro b Isaiahg, Can Can, Tony do, and moving to Chicago fi ve years ago. Michael Nau 11/14, 8 PM, Famous, Aaliyah Allah, Yana He’s released crucial tapes from Japanese SPACE, Evanston b Renea, Hakim Dough, Rich- Nebula, Sasquatch, Cloud dapitt, Weswill, and more 9/1, footwork producer Foodman and Minne- Cruiser, Purepilot 9/11, 7 PM, 2 PM, the Lab on Lake b apolis ambient artist Lee Noble, as well Reggies’ Music Joint Wingtips (DJ set) release as his own work as M. Sage . But Sage has Mud Morganfi eld CHRISMONAGHAN Nocturna . Bellwether Syndi- party for Exposure Therapy decided to shut the label down. “Stream- cate (live), Autumn (live), DJ 8/22, 10 PM, Late Bar F Scary Lady Sarah 8/24, 9 PM, Wonder Years 10/20, 6 PM, ing is crazy, and I’m having a hard time Appleblunt, Selah Say, Jack 11/2, 7 PM, Reggies’ Rock Metro, 18+ Metro, on sale Fri 8/16, adapting with the model I set the label NEW Stepchild, Attack the Sound, Club, 17+ Oktave’s tenth anniversary 10 AM b up on,” he says. “I’m just gonna stop while Deem, and more 9/7, 1 PM, Rickie Lee Jones 10/20, 7 PM, with Carl Craig, Jeff Derrin- YFN Lucci 9/24, 8 PM, Bottom doing the best work I think we’ve done.” ’68, Inspector Cluzo, Messen- Homan Square Park F b Maurer Hall, Old Town School ger 10/5, 10 PM, Smart Bar Lounge, 17+ ger Birds 9/18, 6 PM, Cobra Sammy Figueroa & His Latin of Folk Music b Omni 10/25, 9 PM, Empty On Wednesday, August 21, Patient Sounds Lounge b Jazz Explosion 10/9, 8:30 PM, Booker T. Jones 11/14, 8 PM, Bottle throws a farewell party at the Hideout. Art Alexakis of Everclear 10/8, Szold Hall, Old Town School City Winery, on sale Fri 8/16, Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy 11/1, UPDATED The bill includes Noble, Missouri guitar- 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on of Folk Music F b noon b 7 PM, Reggies’ Rock Club, on Vic Mensa, Jesse 9/6, 8 PM, ist Lake Mary, and Sage himself, backed sale Fri 8/16, 10 AM b Sawyer Fredericks 1/19/20, Just Friends, Save Face, sale Fri 8/16, noon, 17+ the Vic, canceled; refunds Aquabats, Koo Koo Kanga 7 PM, City Winery b Sonder Bombs, Candy Pop Tom Paxton & the Don Juans available at point of purchase by a few friends (“like a jazz quartet play- Roo, MC Lars 9/12, 6:30 PM, Full Terror Assault 2019 9/27, 7 PM, Cobra Lounge b 10/25, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Purple Mountains, Bill MacKay ing noise music,” he says). The first 100 Metro b pre-party with Crisix, Meet Kaskade Redux 9/20, 10 PM, Town School of Folk Music b 8/24-8/25, 9 PM, Sleeping fans get a copy of a new, hour-long Patient Ayokay 10/23, 8 PM, Lincoln the Mailman, and more 9/5, Concord Music Hall, on sale Maisie Peters, Jack Gray 10/16, Village, canceled; refunds Sounds CD sampler. “I keep picturing it as Hall, on sale Fri 8/16, 18+ 7 PM, Cobra Lounge, 17+ Tue 8/20, 10 AM, 18+ 7 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri available at point of purchase Subrata Bhattacharya & Funtcase, Ubur 12/6, 8:30 PM, Stephen Kellogg 12/18, 8 PM, 8/16, 11 AM b a family reunion,” Sage says, “but it’s one Abhisek Lahiri, Lucio Feuillet Park West, 18+ City Winery, on sale Fri 8/16, J. Phlip, Paul Johnson, Duke of those family reunions where you meet Quinteto 9/11, 8:30 PM, Szold Beppe Gambetta 9/18, noon b Shin 9/27, 10 PM, Smart Bar UPCOMING up in the hospital where someone’s dying.” Hall, Old Town School of Folk 8:30 PM, Szold Hall, Old Town Nikki Lane 10/14, 8 PM, SPACE, Plaid 12/14, 9 PM, Sleeping Vil- Agnostic Front, Prong, Ugly- Local singer- songwriter Andrew Smith Music F b School of Folk Music F b Evanston, on sale Fri 8/16, lage, on sale Fri 8/16, 10 AM bones 9/19, 7 PM, Reggies’ Bijou 10/3, 10 PM, Spy Bar Mary Gauthier 12/14, 7 PM, 10 AM b Pvris 9/13, 11 PM, Bottom Rock Club, 17+ (maybe you’ve seen him advertising on a Taska Black 10/12, 8:30 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri Louis the Child, Cool Kids, Lounge, 17+ Black Flag 8/25, 11 PM, Reggies’ lamppost) has self-released heaps of mate- Chop Shop, 18+ 8/16, 10 AM b Duckwrth 11/29, 9 PM, Aragon Rachael & Vilray 11/1, 7 PM, Rock Club, 18+ rial since 2015, including lo-fi solo tapes, Chameleons Vox, Theatre of Ghostemane, 3Teeth, Horus Ballroom, on sale Fri 8/16, Maurer Hall, Old Town School Blackalicious 8/24, 7 PM, Sub- ambient recordings, and plenty of pro- Hate 10/13, 8:30 PM, Empty the Astroneer, Parv0 11/5, 10 AM, 17+ of Folk Music b terranean Bottle 6:30 PM, Metro, on sale Fri Louis the Child, Kami, Duck- Adam Raff erty, Michael J. Bottle Rockets 9/27, 7 PM, found pop under the name Jungle Green. Champagne Drip, Luzcid, 8/16, 10 AM b wrth, Ilo Ilo 11/30, 9 PM, Miles 12/22, 1 PM, SPACE, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn In fall 2017, he and his band made the Krilla 11/29, 8:30 PM, Chop Goose 12/12, 9 PM, Schubas, on Aragon Ballroom, on sale Fri Evanston, on sale Fri 8/16, Boy & Bear, Stu Larsen 9/23, brand-new Runaway With Jungle Green Shop, 18+ sale Fri 8/16, 10 AM 8/16, 10 AM, 17+ 10 AM b 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ at the LA studio of Foxygen’s Jonathan Circa Tapes (live), 2Lanes, Vivian Green 10/11, Madeon 11/21, 10:30 PM, Con- Ravenswood Winds 11/4, Brain Tentacles, Child Bite 9 /4 , Obe, JS Alvarez 9/12, 10 PM, 7 and 10 PM, City Winery b cord Music Hall, 18+ 7:30 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on 8:30 PM, Empty Bottle Rado, and it’s easily Smith’s best work—the Smart Bar F Half Alive, Sure Sure 10/12, Mames Babegenush 9 /4 , sale Fri 8/16, 10 AM b Coolio 9/28, 6:30 PM, Patio hushed, intimate vocals and lovely melody Cock Sparrer 9/14, 10 PM, 8 PM, Metro, on sale Fri 8/16, 8:30 PM, Szold Hall, Old Town Riot Fest Late Night Show Theater of lead single “Cryin’” are worthy of Elliott Reggies’ Rock Club, 17+ 10 AM b School of Folk Music F b with Emo Night Brooklyn Dark Star Orchestra 9/26, Smith. On Saturday, August 17, Jungle Cofresi, Megan Hamilton, Dante Hall 9/9, 8 PM, City Emel Mathlouthi 10/2, 8:30 PM, and more 9/13, 10:30 PM, 7:30 PM, the Vic, 18+ Good Sex 9/28, 8 PM, Chop Winery b Szold Hall, Old Town School Metro, 18+ Drax Project 9/8, 7 PM, Chop Green celebrate at the Hideout with the Shop, 18+ Hot Snakes 9/14, 11 PM, Cobra of Folk Music F b Ruel, Destiny Rogers 10/19, Shop Hecks and Peeper & Le Play. Collie Buddz, Keznamdi 11/20, Lounge, 17+ Mesck, Juss B, Myxed Up, 7:30 PM, Subterranean, on Jessica Hernandez & the Del- Local goth-pop duo Wingtips have been 10 PM, Concord Music Hall, Indigenous Peoples Day Qilin, Ceol 10/4, 8 PM, Reg- sale Fri 8/16, 10 AM b tas, Cell Phones 8/31, 9 PM, dropping singles from their debut album, on sale Fri 8/16, 10 AM, 18+ Concert Chicago with Frank gies’ Rock Club, 18+ Sea of Treachery, Aethere, Sleeping Village Creative Music Media Summit Waln, Nufolk Rebel Alliance, Midwest Live & Loud 2019 day Foxbat 9/7, 7 PM, Cobra Cody Jinks, Sunny Sweeney Exposure Therapy (Artoff act), and the lat- 8/27, 10 AM, Harold Washing- Opliam 10/16, 8:30 PM, Szold one with Traditionals, Old Lounge, 17+ 8/22, 7 PM, Concord Music est, “Here and Now,” captures the irresist- ton College F b Hall, Old Town School of Folk Firm Casuals, and more 8/30, Skegss 11/12, 7 PM, Bottom Hall, 17+ ible disintegration and woozy depths of Deacon Blues: the All-Star Music F b 5 PM, Cobra Lounge, 17+ Lounge b Jacob Jolliff Band 8/23, 9 PM, the Cure’s late-80s sound. The LP drops Tribute to Steely Dan 12/21, Julia Jacklin, Christian Lee Midwest Live & Loud 2019 day Space Laces, Must Die 10/11, Martyrs’ 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Hutson 11/15, 8 PM, Maurer two with Hub City Stompers, 8:30 PM, Park West, 18+ Joyryde 8/24, 8 PM, Concord Friday, August 23, and Wingtips members Dear Hunter 11/8, 8 PM, Hall, Old Town School of Wisdom in Chains, and more Svdden Death 1/10/20, 8 PM, Music Hall, 18+ Vincent Segretario and Hannah Avalon Bottom Lounge, on sale Fri Folk Music, on sale Fri 8/16, 8/31, 2 PM, Cobra Lounge, 17+ Concord Music Hall, 18+ Chrisette Michele 9/27, 8 PM, DJ a listening party at Late Bar the night 8/16, 17+ 9 AM b Midwest Live & Loud 2019 day Teen Top 10/30, 7:30 PM, Con- Patio Theater before. —JRN LG Elder Brother, Speak Low if Eilen Jewell 10/25, 8 PM, three with Monty Neysmith cord Music Hall, on sale Fri Pink Sweats 9/14, 7 PM, Metro You Speak Love 9/28, SPACE, Evanston b & the Bishops, Antagonizers 8/23, 11 AM, 17+ b 6:15 PM, Cobra Lounge b John 5 & the Creatures, Jared ATL, and more 9/1, 2 PM, Louie Vega 11/8, 10 PM, Smart Tropical Fuck Storm 9/14, Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail Feast Festival with Bonita James Nichols, Reverend Cobra Lounge, 17+ Bar 8:30 PM, Empty Bottle v [email protected].
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SAVAGE LOVE urologist in Portland, Oregon. “Penis length changes in real Shrinking in Seattle time based on a number of A 54-year-old fi nds to his horror that his factors, factors that include level of arousal, stress, and junk has lost a couple inches. WTF? Plus: ambient temperature. For this all-body multiple orgasms for men? reason, researchers like to limit variability by measuring By DS the ‘stretched fl accid length’ in a warm room.” : I’m an otherwise healthy would have embraced Needless to say, most men male of 54. When I was a without a second thought aren’t observing—much less teen, my cock measured out of embarrassment. My measuring—their dicks when about six and a half inches. confi dence is at an all-time they’re soft. Not small, not huge, pretty low. I’m actually afraid to “We know that almost average. I never kept track ask anyone out for fear of ZERO home dick measure- of the situation down south, “exposing” the evidence. I ments are done in the flaccid but suddenly I fi nd my junk assume there are no pills for state,” said Dr. Winter. “But reports in just over four this, but please tell me there unless SIS jotted down the inches. WTF? Is this normal? are options. —S room temp or precise level Do men lose size/girth as S of arousal when he measured they age? I’m only 54! How his teenage penis, it’s unlike- much more do I have to lose A: “We have to make a ly he’s comparing apples to before 60? And beyond? distinction between observed apples. Another issue—and a I’m single now and suddenly penile length and actual far less appreciated one—is I’m afraid to be intimate penile length,” said Dr. Ashley that the penis is anchored to with women I formerly Winter, a board-certifi ed the undersurface of your pel-
40 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll OPINION
vic bones, so nearly one-half of the average penis length is ‘hidden’ along the undersur- face of the pelvis.” There’s a very special tendon—the suspen- sory ligament—that runs from the base of your penis to your pelvis. In addition to providing you with some degree of control when you’re erect, SIS, the suspensory ligament also holds 60 MINUTES FREE TRIAL some of your dick up and inside the body. Men who want their cocks to look larger when THE HOTTEST GAY CHATLINE they’re soft and who don’t mind if their hard cocks are harder to control or flop around 1-312-924-2082 during intercourse will sometimes have this More Local Numbers: 800-777-8000 www.guyspyvoice.com suspensory ligament cut, which causes the penis to “drop.” Their cocks aren’t as useful Ahora en Español/18+ for sex, it’s true, but there’s more “observable” cock for other men to admire in locker rooms and at urinals. “The most dramatic cause of lost ‘observed’ penile length with aging is weight gain,” said Dr. Winter. “As the average guy gains weight, more of his fixed penile length gets hidden, as the crucial sit-bone-to-skin distance gets longer.” So your dick may not be any smaller than it was in your teens, SIS; it’s just that more of it may be hidden inside your now-mid- J
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Apply at www. an appointment please call dle-aged body thanks to length, he should shed extra deterioration, MSFS, not grouponcareers.com by REQUEST FOR NAME Long-Kogen, Inc. 773 764 CHANGE. Location Cook searching keyword R21575. 6500. (08/08) weight gain and that damn weight—if he’s overweight— their sudden improvement. (08/15) County - County Division - 1502 N. Artesian Ave., #2 ligament. and should also check in (Erections are harder to (Lincolnshire, IL) Nexus Chicago, IL 60622 Case But hey, let’s say you’re no with his doc for a test of his get, their orgasms are less Pharmaceuticals Inc. Type: Name Change from seeks Supply Chain Helen Kar Yee Ho to Helen thicker today than you were cholesterol, blood pressure, intense, and their jizz is less Business Analyst w/ Assoc Kar Yee Ho-Supanich, and deg in Bus Adm & 2 yrs in Mark Patrick Supanich to in your teens and that your and a diabetes screen,” said abundant.) job off ered or Sup Chain or Mark Patrick Ho-Supanich.. arousal levels are constant Dr. Winter. “Regular erec- But even if this isn’t a prob- Bus Anal exp, incl 1 yr w/ Case Initiation Date syst valid or user accept 07/11/2019 Court Date and that you’ve kept your tions do help keep the penis lem—even if this is a yahtzee— test (UAT); 1 yr w/ prod, sup 10/1/2019 at 1:00pm 50 W. chain, logis & other core Washington St., Chicago, apartment at a constant tem- healthy, so if he has some ED, what might be going on? funct; & 1 yr w/ IT Integ/ IL in Courtroom #8 Case # perature over the decades. a Viagra (or similar med) can “That’s the far more inter- Bus Anal funct. Apply to: A. 2019CONC000972 (08/22) Ahmed, 400 Knightsbridge Could something be causing preserve length.” esting question: Why is this Pkwy, Lincolnshire, IL 60069 STATE OF ILLINOIS, (08/15) PUBLICATION NOTICE your cock to actually shrink? happening?” said Dr. Winter. OF COURT DATE FOR “The main causes of actu- : I am 66 years old and “I don’t have a lot of quot- A ssoc Dir Search REQUEST FOR NAME Marketing: Conduct CHANGE. Location: District al penis shrinkage are hav- a gay man. A er a very able studies on that one, but I data-driven quantitative 4 Court, Cook County, IL - marketing research & apply County Division - 608 Beach ing your prostate removed, promiscuous youth, I have have a few thoughts. First off, results to actionable search Ave., La Grange, IL 60526 Peyronie’s disease (plaque settled down a lot as far this may have nothing to do marketing media plans for Case Type: Name Change assigned clients. Chicago, from Carey Anne Robin Ho development that narrows or as sex and mostly just with age and everything to IL location. Reqs M.S. to Kerri Aisling Martin. Case in Marketing Analytics & Initiation Date 07/30/2019 bends the penis), or the scar- masturbate, with a trip to do with his position. Contrac- Communication & 1 yr exp Court Date 10/01/2019 at ring of erectile tissue, some- the baths every few months. tion of the muscles in the pel- as Search Mgr. Send resume 9:30am 50 W. Washington to: Starcom Worldwide, Inc., BEDROOM St., Chicago, IL in Courtroom thing called corporal fibro- I have a question about vis, thighs (even calves!), and 35 W Wacker Dr, Chicago, Large 3 bedroom, 2 bath #0112 Case # 20194005032 IL 60601, Attn: M. Fowler. apartment near Wrigley Field. (08/22) sis. SIS would know if he’d orgasms. I have noted, since the muscles at the base of (08/15)) 3820 N. Fremont. Hardwood had prostate surgery, and I’ve gotten older, that my the penis (or clitoris) can con- CLASSIFIEDS floors. Cats OK. Laundry in Notice is hereby given, Relativity (Chicago, IL) building. Available 8/1. $2225/ pursuant to “An Act in he would have a noticeable orgasm from masturbation tribute to strength of erec- seeks Sr. Software Engineer month. (773)761-4318 www. relation to the use of an to architect, design, lakefrontmgt.com (08/15) Assumed Business Name in ‘lump’ or change in erection is very intense and seems to tion and intensity of orgasm, implement and test cloud the conduct or transaction shape if he had Peyronie’s. So last about fi ve minutes a er and certain positions may native software consistently ENTIRE FIRST FLOOR of Business in the State,” as applying best practice OFFICE SPACE! APPROX. amended, that a certifi cation the main concern here is cor- I ejaculate, during which I allow more effective muscle software engineering. Must 1800 SQ FEET7344 N. was registered by the JOBS pass HackerRank Code Western Ave: 1 block south undersigned with the County poral fibrosis. It can be insid- feel orgasmic feelings in my ‘recruitment.’ So differences Challenge pre-interview of Evanston! Reserved Clerk of Cook County. ious and is usually associated penis, legs, and sometimes in position or stance during screening test. To apply, parking! Large open Registration Number: ADMINISTRATIVE please email your resume to reception area, conference Y19001819 on July 18, with conditions that make my whole body. I’ve never partnered versus masturba- [email protected]. room, separate offices and 2019 Under the Assumed SALES & Please reference “JOB ID: Kitchen! Landlord pays 20% Business Name of CITY blood vessels unhealthy—like had this before. Is this tory activities may hold clues 19-9017” in the subject line of heating bill! Available VIRTUAL CONSULTANTS, high blood pressure, high normal? —MS F for MSFS.” MARKETING to be considered. (08/15) NOW: $1,925.00 (773) 381- LLC with the business 0150.www.theschirmfirm. located at: 323 E WACKER cholesterol, and diabetes. S Another possible expla- FOOD & DRINK com (09/05) DRIVE STE 4300, CHICAGO, IL 60601 The true and real SIS says he’s healthy, but the nation—and another definite SPAS & SALONS full name(s) and residence penis is often the first body A: “The question of “Yahtzee!”—is that you’re ever REAL address of the owner(s)/ BIKE JOBS partner(s) is: Owner/Partner part to manifest signs of the normalcy in sexual function so suddenly multiorgasmic. ESTATE Full Name Complete RENTALS Address TIFFANY WILLIS- above conditions because it is hammered into us from the “While it is more common GENERAL JOHNSON 323 E WACKER is so dynamic. Which means start—but it’s pejorative and for women to be multior- DRIVE STE 4300 CHICAGO, STUDIO IL 60601, USA (08/15) the penis, wonderfully and irrelevant,” said Dr. Winter. gasmic, there are men who Large studio apartment REAL near Loyola Park. 1337 W. STATE OF ILLINOIS, tragically, is often the ‘canary “As a physician, the relevant can do this too,” said Dr. Estes. Hardwood fl oors. Cats MARKETPLACE PUBLICATION NOTICE in the coal mine’ for cardio- question here is: ‘Does Winter. “Longer duration of OK. Heat included. Laundry GENERAL OF COURT DATE FOR ESTATE in building. Available 9/1. REQUEST FOR NAME vascular health.” MSFS fi nd this distressing arousal—common with porn $850-880/month. Sublease ADULT SERVICES CHANGE. Location Cook from 9/1/19 through 3/31/20 County - County Division Let’s say your canary is or harmful?’ It doesn’t watching—and certain medi- RENTALS available for $765/month - 5734 W. Giddings. St., Danielle’s Lip Service, Chicago, IL 60630 Case shrinking, SIS. What can you sound like fi ve-minute cations that prevent prolactin (773)761-4318. www. Erotic Phone Chat. 24/7. FOR SALE lakefrontmgt.com (08/15) Type: Name Change from do about it? total-body masturbation- surge in the brain and strong Must be 21+. Credit/ Lenise Lani Aguilar to NON-RESIDENTIAL Debit Cards Accepted. All Lenise Lani. Case Initiation “First and foremost, he induced orgasms are painful Kegels (those muscles again!) BEDROOM Fetishes and Fantasies Date 07/02/2019 Court Are Welcomed. Personal, should realize that far less for MSFS, nor are they may lead to the ‘condensed ROOMATES One bedroom apartment Date 10/03/2019 Case # Private and Discrete. 773- 2019CONC000850 Assigned near Warren Park and 935-4995 (08/15) women would care about his interfering with his day-to- multiorgasm,’ a phenomenon Metra. 6802 N. Wolcott. to Judge Calendar, 4 (09/05) Hardwood fl oors, Laundry in penis length than he does,” day quality of life. So by that may fit the description building. $995/month, Heat PERSONALS said Dr. Winter. “Studies defi nition they are ‘nothing MSFS is providing.” MARKET- included. Cats OK. Available 7/1. (773)761-4318. www. Older gentleman seeking including 52,000 individuals to worry about.’ Furthermore, But finally and again, PLACE lakefrontmgt.com (08/15) a couple of bi females to join him on a road trip to showed that 85 percent of they are not the harbinger MSFS, so long as those pow- Large one bedroom California. Visit museums, women were satisfied with of any dangerous medical erful, long-lasting, all-body GOODS apartment near Loyola Park. take in the sights, and 1335 W. Estes. Hardwood sample local cuisine. Prefer their partners’ penile length, condition. As you like to orgasms aren’t diminishing SERVICES floors. Cats OK, Laundry 25+. Must be 21+. Please while only 55 percent of men say, Dan, this is more of a your quality of life, they’re in building. $1025/month. text 708.369.3076. (08/15) HEALTH & Heat included. Available 7/1 were satisfied with their own ‘YAHTZEE!’ than a problem.” nothing to worry about. & Larger unit available 8/1 WELLNESS for $1050/month. (773)761- SERVICES length.” Anecdotal evidence—my Enjoy! v 4318. www.lakefrontinet. INSTRUCTION com (08/15) NIMRO PAINTING CO: And unlike you, SIS, the own, a huge pile of it, gath- Interior/exterior, fine finish, women you sleep with today ered over the years—indi- Send letters to mail@ MUSIC & ARTS aren’t going to be comparing cates that you’re something savagelove.net. Download NOTICES the dick you’ve got now with of an outlier, MSFS; most of the Savage Lovecast every MESSAGES the dick you had (or thought the older men I hear from Tuesday at savagelovecast. WANT TO ADD A LISTING TO OUR CLASSIFIEDS? you had) then. with questions about their com. LEGAL NOTICES E-mail [email protected] with details “But if SIS wants to max- orgasms are concerned @fakedansavage ADULT SERVICES or call (312) 392-2970 42 CHICA O READER - AUGUST ll Ragnar Benson Construction Company, an Equal Opportunity Employer, Chicago, IL 60606 – P: 312- 764-6600, is seeking disadvantaged businesses for the CTA MidCon Project MC-017 98th Rail Shop Bridge Deck and Drainage Projects located in — COMING — Chicago, IL for subcontracting opportunities in the following areas: Demolition, Lead Abatement, Concrete, Masonry, Structural & Misc. Steel, 2019 SPECIAL ISSUES Roofing, Traffic Control, Doors, Alum Windows, Painting, Plumbing, HVAC, Electrical, Shoring. Subcontracts will be awarded based on price and August 29 CHICAGO JAZZ FESTIVAL abilityNever to perform work. All disadvantage businesses should contact RAGNAR BENSON attention Kasia Popamiss at - [email protected] a 312-764-6600 September 5 RIOT FEST to discuss subcontracting opportunities. Please submitshow all bids no later than September 12th, 2019 WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL at 12PM. The bid will be publicly opened by CTA September 12 FALL THEATER AND DANCE on Septemberagain. 13th, 2019 at 3:00PM. September 19 ART & ARCHITECTURE
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