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To say that the COVID-19 pandemic has put a damper on live arts and cultural events would be to say that the Hindenburg was a little explosive. But as we’ve seen countless times since Chicago’s shelter-in-place order went into effect in mid-March, the virus is no match for the ingenuity of the city’s creative community. Mendicino says that the organizers intend to follow city guidelines for COVID-19 reopening every step of the way to ensure that the experience is as safe as possible for guests and workers alike: moviegoers must wear masks anytime they are away from their vehicle, and audio will be screened on FM radio instead of clip-on speakers (the company’s website advises picking up a new boombox if your car stereo is on the fritz)....

Bless the weirdos in the Curls. Beginning about six years back, the local experimental indie-pop outfit figured out their sound at DIY spaces, most notably Young Camelot—but their ambitious, expansive new album, Bounce House (Diversion), makes that incubation period feel like a lifetime ago. The six-piece group meld funk, indie rock, synth-pop, doo-wop, and various fringier styles into a brazen style that’s almost too eclectic for its own good. More often than not, though, it works: I never realized I wanted to hear a band mix glimmering Prince funk with jittery Dirty Projectors indie rock, but “Bad Boi” makes me wish the Curls would do it again....

Brockhampton, Billie Eilish, Khalid, and scores of other musicians who’ve emerged in the past few years have taken a wrecking ball to genre divides and gotten hugely popular in the process. The genreless state of pop has also produced a lot of gray, emotionally static music, of course, just like happens within any genre, but it’s been a boon to artists such as Chicagoan Blake Saint David, giving them permission to be as flexible as their vision dictates....

ARTIST: Nik Dali SHOW: Desmadre featuring Sammicee, DJ Squadooble, Eleeza Silva, and Jei at the Auxiliary Art Center on Thu 3/12 MORE INFO: Nik Dali

Chicago band Lifeguard make the kind of noisy, brooding rock that’s been foundational to generations of punk and indie bands, all the way back to the dawn of hardcore and no wave. On their self-released debut album, Dive, Lifeguard dispense driving bass lines that could enliven even the dreariest postpunk tune, impassioned drumming that ratchets up tension to the boiling point, and feral guitars so saturated with distortion it’ll rub off all over your face....

Moving past the concrete barrier marked “CLOSED,” Patrick Leacock and I slipped and slided our way into the woods, quiet except for the hissing cars and occasional woodpecker. Species of maple, oak, poplar, elm, and wild cherry were present, as well as last year’s leaves in the duff below our feet. There were plenty of tree snags and fallen logs decomposing. It’s important to know species, as fungi have woody associates, meaning they identify and grow on or with particular trees, or “mothers” as I am wont to say....

It’s been a cool 11 years since the first and only time I watched any of the Bachelorette/Bachelor franchise. I only made it a few episodes into Ali Fedotowksy’s season in 2010, bowing out shortly after it was revealed that one of the contestants still had a girlfriend, which ended with the potential suitor in question limping away on crutches through some plants because he refused to answer to Ali? It was trash TV at its finest, but not the queer kind that I like....

Brian Jackson/Sun-Times Aldermen Pat Dowell (pictured second from left), Joe Moreno (pictured second from right), and Ameya Pawar (pictured far right) will help provide analysis on election night at the Hideout—but they’re not allowed to gloat, no matter what happens. As a sign of my unshakable confidence that a change is gonna come to Chicago politics, I’ll be spending election night at the Hideout with—count ’em—three aldermanic supporters of Mayor Rahm....

Two years ago former Chicagoan Bill Salas, aka DJ-producer Brenmar, told Miles Raymer, “I just wanted to go into the club and have people dance.” That wasn’t always Salas’s prerogative—he cut his teeth in the local noise and punk scenes, and in 2007 he moved to Brooklyn to join wild art-rock outfit These Are Powers. But Salas gravitated toward kaleidoscopic, hard-to-categorize dance music, and today he releases his debut EP for Fool’s Gold, Award....

I take great pleasure in finally writing a preview blurb for Chicago’s great, all-woman (or mostly all-woman, depending on the lineup) garage strutters the Dishes. I could never do it back in their 90s-00s heyday, because guitarist Kiki Yablon was also the Reader’s music editor. The group released a handful of indelible, high-energy records and went out on a high note; their last show was in 2004 at the Shellac-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in the UK....

Country artist Junior Brown has a droll baritone reminiscent of Johnny Cash that works well in funny songs, including “Highway Patrol” and “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead.” But as great as his voice is, what keeps drawing the fans in is his thundering ax work. His live sets are designed to show off his proficiency on his custom-made guit-steel—a visually compelling double-necked instrument that joins a guitar and a lap steel....

I’ve never been to Houston, but I imagine it to be a place where the humidity is so omnipresent it can seep into your bones, cloud your vision, and permeate your art. Granted, my impression is informed by the languid thump of DJ Screw’s productions, the soupy drawl of the city’s prewar blues recordings, and the broiled, psych-soaked melodies of Josefus. Formed in 1968, Josefus foreshadowed heavy metal with the turgid riffs, brutal-but-sparse rhythms, and wild-man vocals across their 1970 debut, Dead Man....

Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week’s Chicagoan is Jim Peterik, 67, musician and songwriter (“Vehicle,” “Eye of the Tiger”). Our first single came out in 1966. The song was called “You Wouldn’t Listen,” and it was featured on American Bandstand. Suddenly the cheerleaders at school started talking to us. Then in 1970 we released “Vehicle,” which made it to number two on the Billboard Hot 100....

It can be daunting to try to keep up with prolific Chicago rapper Vic Spencer, who chews urgently through his lines like his head is so overstuffed with ideas it could burst open. Spencer drops three or four albums every year, but he doesn’t just grind them out mechanically—he sets the highest standards for himself, and each new release is required listening for any savvy Chicago hip-hop head. In August, he released his third—but likely not his last—album of the year, Bah Wounds (Old Fart Luggage), which is packed with the kind of no-prisoners takedowns, self-deprecating jokes, and uber-earnest mash notes to hip-hop that fuel his best material....

It’s a cliche to describe rock as “angular,” but it’s shorter than saying “influenced by a handful of important D.C. posthardcore bands, including Jawbox.” Formed in 1989 by vocalist and guitarist J. Robbins, bassist Kim Colletta, and drummer Adam Wade, Jawbox finessed the anthemic sound of D.C. punk into their own idiosyncratic style, which was both rhythmically adventurous and sweetly melodic. Jawbox soon recruited second guitarist and vocalist Bill Barbot, then reached their final form in 1992 after the departure of Wade, who joined art punks Shudder to Think and was replaced by Zach Barocas....

Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Friday, February 26, 2016 CPS high school students must now take computer science to graduate Computers are an important part of daily life for most students. Now Chicago Public Schools will require all graduating high school seniors to take computer science starting with the class of 2020. [TechCrunch]

Rob Magill is a ridiculously prolific musician and artist from Ojai, California, who churns out music at a manic pace, a situation that’s made dipping into his work a bit daunting. I first encountered him a couple of years ago when Sun Ark, the label operated by his fellow LA experimentalist Sun Araw (Cameron Stallones), dropped his sprawling 2016 album The Owl and the Pussycat. On the back cover Magill included a list of disparate influences from across the entire musical spectrum, among them the Flamingos, Elliott Carter, Marshall Allen, and Yma Sumac....

The Artifacts Trio first convened in 2015 in response to the 50th anniversary of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Flutist, vocalist, and electronicist Nicole Mitchell, cellist Tomeka Reid, and drummer Mike Reed have all held leadership roles in the organization; they also have a history more than a decade long of playing in one another’s bands. Originally the group’s repertoire consisted of tunes composed by AACM members, including Leroy Jenkins, Edward Wilkerson Jr....

When last we looked in on those wacky, warlike Brits—in May, courtesy of Chicago Shakespeare Theater—they were busy taking over France. First King Edward III did it. Then Henry V did it again. Then it was Henry VI’s turn to do it, but he made a mess of things and kept his Gallic domains only by the skin of his diplomatic teeth. And a significant reason for the improvement is the material....

This story was originally published by City Bureau on December 2, 2020. There were 150 Chinese-speaking poll workers in this November’s election, said Chinese outreach director Jane Lau, who has worked at the Board of Election Commissioners for 15 years. She’s worked with churches, libraries, high schools, and other organizations—over time, that outreach had allowed her to virtually recruit more people in this unconventional election year. Lau added she was encouraged to see that 25 percent of workers were high school or college students....