When the weather is finally warm, a seat on a restaurant’s patio becomes one of the most coveted spots in the city. From casual lunch spots in Pilsen and Logan Square to swanky sidewalk cafes in the Loop and River North, here are 20 places to park it, feed your face, and bask in the sun this summer. See our full list of outdoor dining spots for even more options....
Eddy Clearwater, also known as “the Chief,” was a pioneer in the fusion of blues and rock ’n’ roll. Born Edward Harrington in Macon, Mississippi, in 1935, he moved to Chicago in 1950. Within a few years, he was gigging around the south-side blues-club circuit and had developed a hybrid sound that had heavy Chuck Berry influences but was steeped in deep blues feeling. By 1960 or so, playing in styles already recognizable as “rock ’n’ roll” instead of just “blues,” he was appearing in predominantly white clubs on the north side and in the suburbs, often in integrated bands—one of the very first African-American artists to do so....
A grassroots campaign is underway to have Eve Ewing, the poet and sociologist who tweets as Wikipedia Brown, hired as the new writer of Marvel’s Invincible Iron Man comic after longtime creator Brian Michael Bendis left the publisher earlier this week for archrival DC. Also Riri Williams has my haircut and general mode of dress pic.twitter.com/1jebqRbBUi — wikipedia brown (@eveewing) November 7, 2017 A change.org petition started by music writer Tirhakah Love has already gotten nearly 1,500 signatures since it was launched on Wednesday....
When Liz Crokin’s name appeared in national news stories due to her surprising connection to a controversy involving Roseanne Barr last week, it felt like an ironic twist of fate. Crokin, a Winnetka native, dished tabloid-style gossip about the lives of Hollywood stars for Chicago print media for almost a decade. But now it’s the former Tribune and Sun-Times columnist’s name popping up in other journalists’ lurid news stories. Roseanne was Right, President Trump is on Track to Increase Human Trafficking Arrests 500% in 2018 Over 2016!...
Holy Hive call their sound “folk-soul,” and you couldn’t ask for a better demonstration of what that term means than the Brooklyn trio’s debut album, Float Back to You. Auspiciously released over Memorial Day weekend—the traditional kickoff to the summer season—this ethereal record blends the folky falsetto vocals of Paul Spring with deep shades of beachy 60s soul courtesy the funk skills of drummer Homer Steinweiss. Spring is a singer-songwriter with a 2013 children’s album under his belt, while Steinweiss is a former member of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and a longtime session musician (that’s him on the annoyingly catchy Bruno Mars song “24K Magic”)....
Earlier this month, we recorded our Savage Lovecast Christmas Spectacular live at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon. The audience submitted questions on tiny cards before the show, which allowed questioners to remain anonymous and forced them to be succinct. More questions were submitted than my guests and I could get to, so I promised the crowd I would answer as many of their unanswered questions as I could in this week’s column....
I’m not going to lie—I judged Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity, comedian and Last Comic Standing winner Iliza Shlesinger’s debut book, by its cover. For one, I was turned off by the sexist title, styled in faux-math font. Then I saw that the actress Mayim Bialik—who recently argued that you should sleep in the same bed as your children because bears do—contributed the foreword. A poor way to validate an allegedly pro-woman publication is to include a recommendation from someone who believes that modesty is what kept her from being assaulted by Harvey Weinstein as a teen....
Live Nation Entertainment is the biggest concert promoter in the world—and it was even before it merged with the monolithic Ticketmaster in 2010 or bought a controlling stake in C3 (the company behind Lollapalooza) in 2014. These days, according to the New York Times, Live Nation operates more than 200 venues globally and manages 500 musical acts (including U2 and Jay-Z), and last year it presented more than 30,000 shows and sold half a billion tickets....
Tuesday, October 1, marks the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, a milestone that Hong Kong—under British rule at the time—doesn’t share. In the 48 years before the colonizer turned the island back over to the mainland and up until the present, Hong Kong has maintained its own identity, not a small part of which is its standing as the world capital of Cantonese food—probably the most internationally recognizable regional Chinese cuisine among so many....
“But in a case like TMIAS’s, where the issue is ongoing and the subject is over 55,” said Dr. Winter, “a typical evaluation would include a PSA blood test (a prostate cancer screening test), as well as testing for STIs (such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, and herpes), along with a urinalysis to check for blood in the urine and urinary infections. If those tests were not revealing, I would consider doing an ultrasound or MRI of the prostate and surrounding organs, as well as putting a camera up the urethra (called cystoscopy) to check out the plumbing....
Good luck slapping a label on Gary Clark Jr. The Austin native won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance in 2013, but his music cuts across genres, including blues, rock, and hip-hop. In the 2015 Rolling Stone mini documentary Gary and Eve, Clark says he once imagined following in the footsteps of a soulful group such as Boyz II Men but found himself drawn to the rebelliousness of rock ’n’ roll....
“Everything is touchable,” says art collector Paula Addington as she navigates the maze of sculptures and various art objects in her Gold Coast high-rise. She and her husband, Gordon, began buying art 25 years ago after the pair toured some home collections. They’ve since assembled a mix of contemporary and outsider art—plus enough Walgreens memorabilia to fill an entire room. Andrea Bauer Bottle cap vest by Gregory Warmack, aka Mr. Imagination Despite the couple’s growing collections, their unit remains surprisingly organized and clutter free....
Q: I’m a nearly 80-year-old straight male with undiminished libido. I have no problem with it, just a persistent curiosity. Like, why now? And why so various? And is it common among us old geezers? Male and female? I’m more sex-obsessed than ever before, including adolescence. Until my 60s, tits were my sexual focus, and other body parts were strictly subsidiary, whether I was looking, fantasizing, masturbating, or fucking. Now butts, bellies, assholes, cunts, legs, arms, shoulders are equal turn-ons....
After years of focusing its annual May celebration on Chicago and its suburbs, the Illinois Craft Brewer’s Guild now includes events across the state. Accordingly, it’s changed the name of the event to Illinois Craft Beer Week. Ultra Fresh All the beer served at this festival from the Hop Review (an online beer journal that focuses on Chicago and the midwest) will have been packaged within the past five days, making it—as the name would suggest—very fresh....
Chicago’s Malcolm London juggles more roles at once than some people can list on their entire resumés: he’s a poet, activist, rapper, and educator. How does he do it? “I’ve come to the conclusion that I have to be my whole self at all times,” he told the website DJ Booth in January. “When I’m onstage and I’m a rapper, I don’t forget that I’m an educator and that there’s young people watching me....
Adam Schubert, who plays guitar and sings in Chicago psych-rock unit Cafe Racer, took up music more than a decade ago. At age 14, he shattered his ulna (one of the bones in his forearm) in a skateboarding accident; since he couldn’t skate, he decided to pick up the guitar. By age 16, he’d gotten comfortable enough with the instrument to write and record his own material. He kept his solo work private up until a few years ago, when he started releasing lo-fi tracks as Ruins....
Four years ago, the City Council passed a historic reparations ordinance for survivors of torture perpetrated by former Chicago police commander Jon Burge and those working under his leadership. The ordinance was passed after years of organizing by survivors and advocates and included a package of measures to address the harm caused to the individuals who were tortured, to their communities, and to the city as a whole. The ordinance called for: $5....
Listening to a new Crippled Black Phoenix record is a bit like unwrapping a present. Even if you have an idea what’s under the intricate ribbons and shiny paper, you can still get surprised. That’s partially by design. Though the the songs of British multi-instrumentalist Justin Greaves provide the group with a common thread, Crippled Black Phoenix have routinely changed lineups—and their sound has changed with them, at various times adorning the band’s tapestry of cinematic prog and postrock with threads of British folk, spaghetti western scores, psychedelia, doom metal, and cabaret....
Gossip Wolf has been laying on the eyeliner and slouching around local clubs to the darkwave sounds of Chicago postpunk trio Staring Problem since they were wee goth babies from Carbondale—but it was 2011 when they last rewarded this wolfy loyalty with new material! Last week the band finally released a six-track album for free on Bandcamp, and they’ll put it out as a vinyl LP via BLVD Records this summer, with another seven-inch of new songs due on Modern Tapes in the fall....
ARTIST: Steph Hughes SHOW: Dick Diver at Empty Bottle on Wed 7/1 MORE INFO: jackywinter.com/artists/steph-hughes
