Print Issue of August 24, 2017 (Volume 46, Number 46)

C H I C A G O ’ S F R E E W E E K LY | K I C K I N G A S S S I N C E 1 9 7 1 | A U G U S T 2 4 , 2 0 1 7

Development

Chicago blog

threatens one of the

Lyrical Lemonade

south side’s only

shares its juice

dog-friendly areas. 17

with rising rappers. 25

“I said, if someone could run for president of the United States and say ‘I’m a democratic socialist,’ then, hell, I can come out of the closet. I’ve come out of the closet before.”

—Chicago alderman and new Democratic Socialists of America member Carlos Ramirez-Rosa

Inspired by Bernie, outraged by Trump, and betrayed by the neoliberal establishment, the reinvigorated Democratic Socialists of America set out to paint the town red.

By RYAN SMITH 11

Come discover the new Navy Pier Navy Pier is the People’s Pier. Now moving into its second century as a mission-driven nonprofit, we’re transforming the Pier’s programming to reflect the diversity of the city itself, offering dynamic experiences for all to enjoy.

Navy Pier serves more than 9 million guests annually with free programming, including a series of art, wellness and cultural programs. It’s your Pier, Chicago. Come see it in a new light. www.navypier.com

SP ECI AL T H A N KS TO O U R PA RTN E RS:

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THIS WEEK

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EDITOR JAKE MALOOLEY CREATIVE DIRECTOR VINCE CERASANI CULTURE EDITOR TAL ROSENBERG FILM EDITOR J.R. JONES MUSIC EDITOR PHILIP MONTORO ASSOCIATE EDITORS STEVE HEISLER, KATE SCHMIDT SENIOR WRITER MIKE SULA SENIOR THEATER CRITIC TONY ADLER STAFF WRITERS MAYA DUKMASOVA, LEOR GALIL, DEANNA ISAACS, BEN JORAVSKY, AIMEE LEVITT, PETER MARGASAK, JULIA THIEL SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR RYAN SMITH GRAPHIC DESIGNER SUE KWONG MUSIC LISTINGS COORDINATOR LUCA CIMARUSTI FILM LISTINGS COORDINATOR PATRICK FRIEL CONTRIBUTING WRITERS NOAH BERLATSKY, MATT DE LA PEÑA, ANNE FORD, ISA GIALLORENZO, JOHN GREENFIELD, ANDREA GRONVALL, JUSTIN HAYFORD, JACK HELBIG, DAN JAKES, BILL MEYER, MICHAEL MINER, J.R. NELSON, MARISSA OBERLANDER, LEAH PICKETT, BEN SACHS, DMITRY SAMAROV, DAVID WHITEIS, ALBERT WILLIAMS INTERNS PORTER MCLEOD, EMILY WASIELEWSKI ---------------------------------------------------------------VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT NICKI STANULA VICE PRESIDENT OF NEW MEDIA GUADALUPE CARRANZA SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER EVANGELINE MILLER ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES FABIO CAVALIERI, BRIDGET KANE MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER BRYAN BURDA DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL JOHN DUNLEVY ADVERTISING COORDINATOR HERMINIA BATTAGLIA CLASSIFIEDS REPRESENTATIVE KRIS DODD

FEATURES

POLITICS

Socialism’s new bloom

PHOTO ESSAY

Inspired by Bernie, outraged by Trump, and betrayed by the neoliberal establishment, the reinvigorated Democratic Socialists of America set out to paint the town red.

BY RYAN SMITH 11

All south-side dogs go to exercise heaven

The future of Jackson Bark, one of the only dog-friendly areas south of the South Loop, is being threatened by a multimillion-dollar golf course development plan.

PHOTOS BY ADAM JASON COHEN 17

MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE

Lyrical Lemonade shares its juice with rising rappers

By showing love to potential stars as well as certified sensations, Cole Bennett and Elliot Montanez have built a community alongside their blog and brand.

BY LEOR GALIL 25

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BY STM READER, LLC, 350 N. ORLEANS, CHICAGO, IL 60654.

IN THIS ISSUE 4 Agenda The play Machinal, SummerDance Celebration, the film Marjorie Prime, and more recommended goings-on about town

8 Transportation Some members of the Italian-American community would “fiercely oppose” renaming Balbo Drive, a tribute to a Mussolini henchman.

ARTS & CULTURE

COPYRIGHT © 2017 CHICAGO READER. PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT CHICAGO, IL.

20 Theater Trevor: the Musical is the best After Shool Special you’ll ever see.

22 Movies Opening night of “Noir City: Chicago” brings a double feature of L.A. Confidential and Dragnet (1954).

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CHICAGO READER, READER, AND REVERSED R: REGISTERED TRADEMARKS ®.

MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE ON THE COVER: PHOTO BY COLLEEN DURKIN. FOR MORE OF HER WORK, GO TO COLLEENDURKIN.COM.

CLASSIFIEDS

38 Jobs 38 Apartments & Spaces 39 Marketplace

CITY LIFE

7 Street View A pair of drag scensters discuss their extraterrestrial ensembles.

28 In Rotation Current musical obsessions include Youssou N’Dour, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, and more.

29 Shows of note Laura Toxvaerd Trio, Ken Vandermark, 2 Chainz, and more of the week’s best

FOOD & DRINK

34 Restaurant review: Blue Door Farm Stand The Lincoln Park farmto-table reboot has plenty of safe standards and a few surprises.

36 Bars Drink in the sights at Apogee, the Dana Hotel’s luxe rooftop bar.

40 Straight Dope Is it logical to believe we’ve been visited by aliens?

41 Savage Love Should a bad dad be shut out forever? Plus: Don’t fuck Nazis.

42 Early Warnings John Carpenter, Lindstrom, the Used and more shows you should know about in the weeks to come.

42 Gossip Wolf Hydrofoil’s guitarist relocated to Los Angeles, but the band’s still playing together, and more music news.

AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 3

AGENDA RSM

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READER RECOMMENDED

P Send your events to agenda@chicagoreader.com

b ALL AGES

F culminates in a graphic and horrifying description of rape and murder. Had it started there rather than with a litany of platitudes, this might have been a powerful chronicle of a catastrophe. Elayne LeTraunik directed. —DMITRY SAMAROV Through 9/10: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport, 773-935-6860, genesistheatricals. com, $32, $17 students and seniors.

www.BrewView.com 3145 N. Sheffield at Belmont

Movie Theater & Full Bar $5.00 sion admis e for th s Movie

18 to enter 21 to drink Photo ID required

Friday, August 25 @ 6:30pm Sat-Sun, Aug 26-27 @ 3:30pm & 8:30pm

The Big Sick Friday, August 25 @ 8:45pm Sat-Sun, August 26-27 @ 6:00pm

Valerian & the City of a Thousand Planets

Friday, September 8 @ 7:00pm

L7: Pretend We're Dead Tickets: http://L7movie.bpt.me

“NOT SINCE SPIKE JONZE’S ‘HER’ HAS

HUMANITY’S UNEASY EMBRACE OF SEDUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY BEEN GIVEN SUCH SOULFUL CONTEMPLATION.” –THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

JON HAMM GEENA DAVIS TIM ROBBINS LOIS SMITH

THEATER More at chicagoreader.com/theater Gypsy “Gypsy has long been R regarded by many as the greatest book musical of all time,” Music

Theater Works artistic director Rudy Hogenmiller writes in the program notes for his company’s production of the classic show. Count me among those many. With a crackling book

by Arthur Laurents and tuneful, witty songs by veteran composer Jule Styne and up-and-coming lyricist Stephen Sondheim—fused into a seamless whole under the genius guidance of original director Jerome Robbins—Gypsy is the fact-based (but highly fictionalized) story of how Seattle single mom Rose Hovick tried to turn her daughters into vaudeville stars, refusing to realize that vaudeville was in its Depression-era death throes. Burlesque, however, was thriving, and Hovick’s elder child became Gypsy Rose Lee, the highest-paid stripper in showbiz, whose memoir inspired this 1959 Broadway hit. Hogenmiller’s staging emphasizes the show’s comical and sentimental aspects, driven by Mary Robin Roth’s brassy portrayal of “Madame Rose,” the overbearing, frustrated stage mother wondering when it’s going to be her turn in the limelight. —ALBERT WILLIAMS Through 8/27: Wed-Thu 2 PM, Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sun 2 PM, Cahn Auditorium, Northwestern University, 600 Emerson, Evanston, 847-467-4000, musictheaterworks.com, $34-$96.

Machinal Think of Helen Jones R as Woyzeck’s great-great-greatgranddaughter. Born around 1836, a

MARJORIE PRIME

A FILM BY MICHAEL ALMEREYDA

STARTS FRI AUG 25

Gypsy ò BRETT BEINER

FACETS CINÉMATHÈQUE 1517 W. FULLERTON AVENUE (773) 281-4114 CHICAGO

4 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

creation of German genius Georg Büchner, Woyzeck is the prototype of the alienated modern: a soldier so routinely jacked around by the powers (and lovers) that be that he turns murderous.

With Machinal (1928), playwright Sophie Treadwell regendered the scenario and updated it to jazz-age America. Treadwell’s anomic twentysomething Helen supports herself and her implacable nag of a mother by working as a corporate stenographer. When her idiot boss gets romantic with her, she can either marry him or be fired, so she settles for a life

of conjugal emptiness—until she meets a mysterious stranger. Featuring crisp movement by Elizabeth Margolius, Jacob Harvey’s Greenhouse Theater Center production respects Treadwell’s expressionist aesthetic without getting homage-y about it. The result is at once clinically distanced and painfully immediate as it dissects Helen’s untenable life.

Like Woyzeck himself, Heather Chrisler’s Helen hovers between antihero and schlemiel. Her scene with Cody Proctor’s stranger is quietly agonizing.

—TONY ADLER Through 9/24: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2:30 PM, Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln, 773-4047336, greenhousetheater.org, $41, $20 students.

A Persephone Pageant Yes, R there are votaries with moss and flowers in their hair waving gauze

and satin streamers as they process, barefoot, in tunics and shiny pajama pants, singing not altogether tunefully about peace, love, and saving the planet.

Yes, there is a power-mongering man, as shirtless as Putin when he goes horseback riding, who wants Lake Michigan to bow to his every whim. Yes, there is a chalk-white behemoth Zeus who waves his arms about like a broken clock.

Walkabout Theater’s A Persephone Pageant features gods on stilts battling it out like gladiatorial Transformers in flowing robes, songs composed by Mark Messing to text by Sarah Ruhl and Morgan McNaught, local children frolicking, and the occasional ever-welcome fish puppet. In an ecological twist on the Sartrean dictum—if we had any doubts— hell is people. —IRENE HSIAO Through 9/2: Sat-Sun 6 PM, various locations; see website, walkabouttheater.org, $25 (9/2 performance only). F Sister Africa Genesis Theatricals presents the world premiere of Stephanie Liss’s drama based on her experiences as a Jewish humanitarian aid worker in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A rabbi, humanitarian volunteer, victim, rescue worker, and child soldier in turn offer soliloquies on suffering. Each character is a composite, and the speeches are syntheses of multiple experiences, which results in several well-meaning sermons but not much of a story. The play

The Veil Set in 1822 in a gloomy, decaying Irish manor home, Conor McPherson’s 2011 play, about a once-powerful Irish family now destroyed by madness, follows the formula of a traditional gothic tale a la Ann Radcliffe or Edgar Allan Poe—the house is even haunted. But the story McPherson tells, about an upperclass household coping (or not coping) with the loss of their protective bubble, is right out of Chekhov. The result is a sometimes creaky hybrid that pulls its punches when describing a corrupt system that just 20 years later would result in the deaths of a million Irish people and the migration of a million more. The ghost, when it appears, isn’t scary. And we never really care about the fate of McPherson’s benighted Lambrokes—at least not in Ann Kreitman’s competently directed but ultimately cold production.

—JACK HELBIG Through 9/17: Thu-Sat, Sun 3 PM (no show 9/3); also Sat 9/2, 3 PM, the Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway, 773-769-9112, idlemuse.org, $20, $15 students and seniors.

DANCE Inside/Out New work is previewed and critiqued at this showcase of modern, ballet, and jazz dance—a chance to be a part of the creative process and contribute to the pieces’ finalization. Thu 8/24, 12:15 PM, Harold Washington Library Center, auditorium, 400 S. State, 312-7474050, chipublib.org.

Planet Chicago Returning for a second year, this night of dance features works in multiple genres from six different companies. To keep things interesting, dancers aren’t the only ones moving their feet—audience members progress from one performance to another along

the South Dock. Fri 8/25, 5:30 PM, Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand, 312-595-7437, navypier.com. F Set Free The final weekend of this summer’s residency program at Links Hall features J’Sun Howard’s Better Versions of Prayers, which explores miracles and divinity, and the nature-inpsired Evergreen, improvised by bassist Katie Ernst and dancer Jessica Marasa.

8/24-8/27: Thu-Sun, 7 PM, Links Hall at Constellation, 3111 N. Western, 773-2810824, linkshall.org, $12, $10 students and seniors, $20 two-night pass.

SummerDance Celebration This all-day event, part of the city’s SummerDance program, includes dance competitions, social dancing (including circle dancing on the Great Lawn with Ethnic Dance Chicago), performances by professional companies, and a DJ party at the Bean.

Sat 8/26, noon-9:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Michigan and Randolph, 312-742-1168, cityofchicago.org/city/ en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_summerdance9.html. F

COMEDY Bard Dogs In the same vein as the excellent Improvised Shakespeare Company, the comedy troupe Part Dog improvises a tale by the Bard, this one with a bit more frantic energy. Through 9/23, Fri-Sat 8:30 PM, Cornservatory, 4210 N. Lincoln, 773-650-1331, cornservatory.org, $10.

BrewTube Comedy Beer and stand-up join forces at this evening of comedy featuring Joe Fitzpatrick, Reena Calm, and Adam Burke (a whip-smart Chicago stalwart who’s a regular on Wait Wait . . .

Don’t Tell Me!). Hosted by Dwight Simmons. Mon 8/28, 8 PM, On Tour Brewing Company, 1725 W. Hubbard, 312-796-3119, ontourbrewing.com, $15.

Helltrap Nightmare Sarah R Sherman, one of the most lauded stand-ups in the city, hosts this show featuring alt-comics, noise musicians, and a ton of surprises. No material is concrete, so Sherman and coproducer Julia Dratel

Told ò REBECCA SHROM

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Best bets, recommendations, and notable arts and culture events for the week of August 24

LIT & LECTURES Celia C. Perez The young adult R author reads from The First Rule of Punk, her novel about an adolescent

Inside/Out ò HEIDI ZEIGER PHOTOGRAPHY are likely just as excited as the audience to see what shakes out. Sat 8/26, 9 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433, hideoutchicago.com, $7.

rock music enthusiast’s struggle to fit in at a new school. Perez’s work is inspired by her love of punk culture and zines, and has been featured in the Horn Book Magazine and El Andar magazine as well as on NPR’s Talk of the Nation. Thu 8/24, 7:30 PM, Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark, 773-769-9299, womenandchildrenfirst.com.

Ray William Johnson Johnson, best known for his popular Youtube series, Equals Three, and his acclaimed performance as Crabapple in the Annoying Orange webseries, takes the stage for some outlandish stand-up. Wed 8/30, 7 and 10 PM, Under the Gun Theater, 956 W. Newport, 773-270-3440, undertheguntheater.com, $19.

Pat McGann The Chicago comic, who’s been featured on The Late Show With David Letterman, shares his experiences with marriage and fatherhood in his incisive stand-up. Mon 8/28-Tue 8/29, 8:30 PM, Zanies, 1548 N. Wells, 312-337-4027, zanies.com/chicago, $25.

Murder the Hypotenus: An Improvised Soap Opera What you get with this show is a mildly amusing spoof of corny tropes from the soap opera universe. In two acts’ worth of incoherent plots on themes suggested by the audience, many of the conventions of daytime TV drama get referenced, from the sudden reappearance of a long-lost family member to the casual deletion of one side of a love triangle—the so-called “murder of the hypotenuse.” Some of the gags were good enough, but tellingly, the show’s funniest bits came when the “soaps” cut away to hilarious “commercials.” —MAX MALLER Through 8/25: Fri 7:30 PM, Under the Gun Theater, 956 W. Newport, 773-270-3440, undertheguntheater.com, $12.

Ten Dollar Comedy Comedy collective Potential Boyfriends hosts this weekly hodgepodge of sketch, improv, and stand-up. Hey, gotta cover all the bases.

Performers include Peter Corey, Pat Ivansek, and Nick Johnson. Through 8/29: Tue 8:30 PM, Judy’s Beat Lounge, Second City Training Center, 230 W. North, second floor, 312-337-3992, $10.

Told In the vein of iO’s longR running hit the Armando Diaz Theatrical Experience and Hootenanny,

storytellers inspire improv from vets and newer comedians alike. Only here, music or spoken word poetry can act as a jumping-off point. Opening night features chef Rick Bayless (Frontera Grill, Xoco). Open run: Fri 8:30 PM, iO Theater, the Chris Farley Cabaret, 1501 N. Kingsbury, ioimprov.com/chicago, $16.

leads a guided viewing of works that incorporate found imagery, including pieces by Martha Rosler, Curtis Mann, and Doug Rickard, among others. Thu 8/24, 6-7 PM, Museum of Contemporary Photography, 600 S. Michigan, 312-6635554, mocp.org.

Fantastic Facade The past and its relation to our current worldview is explored in this exhibition featuring three differing artists. Katie Bell browses through forgotten debris and materials to create sculptural paintings, Hannah Carr transforms tangible items to represent the current digital age, and Jenn Smith utilizes evangelical motifs to provide airy commentary. Through 9/10.

Sun 1-4 PM and by appointment. LVL3 Gallery, 1542 N. Milwaukee, third floor, lvl3media.com/gallery.

Turning Pages Cuban artist Pablo Perea returns to his roots in oil pastel paintings with these skewed images of objects like chairs and portraits. Opening reception Sat 8/26, 6-10 PM. Through 9/26. Noon-5 PM. Havana, 1139 W. Webster, 773-549-2492, havanagallery.com.

“Turning Pages” features work by Pablo Parea at Havana Gallery David M. Hamlin The former ACLU executive reads from Winter in Chicago, a novel about a radio news reporter who discovers that an apparent suicide is a friend of hers from high school and starts investigating, which leads her into a world of drugs, corruption, and scandal. Hamlin’s previous work includes The Nazi/Skokie Conflict, a firsthand account of the monumental free speech case in the 1970s. Thu 8/24, 7 PM, Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln, 773-293-2665, bookcellarinc.com.

MOVIES More at chicagoreader.com/movies NEW REVIEWS The Chicago Way Donald Washington, director of this locally produced documentary, makes a valiant effort to confront the gun-violence epidemic on the south and west sides, but his movie is such a hodgepodge that it never arrives at any sort of conclusion.

For more of the best things to do every day of the week, go to chicagoreader. com/agenda.

excoriating Governor Rauner for his cuts to public services. At the very least this grants a much-deserved megaphone to Ronnie Man of the activist group New Era Chicago, who marches through South Austin with a real megaphone trying to unify besieged neighbors with a galvanizing message of black unity and civic engagement. —J.R. JONES 48 min.

Also on the program: Tristan Hanson and Arlen Parsa’s Blueprint for Bronzeville, examining the threat to affordable housing in the Bronzeville community that was posed by Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics. Washington, Hanson, and Parsa attend the screenings, part of the Black Harvest Film Festival; for a full schedule visit siskelfilmcenter.org. Mon 8/28, 8 PM, and Wed 8/30, 8:30 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center

JUNE 29 to NOVEMBER 19 FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Alphawood Gallery 2401 North Halsted Street Chicago, Illinois 60614

ALPHAWOODGALLERY.ORG

The Hitman’s Bodyguard In this asinine action comedy, a world-weary bodyguard (Ryan Reynolds) must escort a globe-trotting assassin (Samuel L. Jackson) from London to the Hague, where the latter will testify against a criminal organization at the International Court of Justice. The two characters start out as enemies (the hit man has tried to take out the bodyguard dozens of times over his career) but bond as they escape from sticky situations and shoot down anonymous baddies.

The tone is sophomoric and snide, the wisecracks are uninspired, and the action sequences lack dynamism and suspense. Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3) directed; with Salma Hayek,

Jack “King” Kirby 100th R Birthday Celebration Without Jack Kirby we wouldn’t have Captain

America, the Hulk, or the Fantastic Four.

On what would be his 100th birthday, the prolific comic book artist is honored by fans, friends, and artists like Tom Kelly and BD Mead. Proceeds benefit Kirby4Heroes, an organization aiming to help comics creators in need. Sat 8/26, 11 AM-11 PM, Challengers Comics + Conversation, 1845 N. Western, 773-278-0155, challengerscomics.com.

Lit Up! Drinkers With Writing Problems regulars read new works alongside other Chicago literary pals. Myriad writing styles (nonfiction, poetry, etc) are welcome at this free bar event. Hosted by photographerJeff Phillips. Fri 8/25, 7:30 PM, Brisku’s Bistro, 4100 N. Kedzie, 773-279-9141, briskus.com.

VISUAL ARTS Museum of Contemporary Photography Print Viewing: Found Photography Curatorial fellow Sophie Haslinger

The Chicago Way Gripping scenes of public grief and an avalanche of grim statistics establish the magnitude of the crisis, driven home even more powerfully by a man-onthe-street interview whose man on the street must beckon the interviewer to safety when gunfire erupts nearby. The most provocative sequence, an attack on public welfare as the scourge of the traditional black family, is flimsily supported and later muddled by a segment

Gary Oldman, and Richard E. Grant.

—BEN SACHS R, 118 min. For listings visit chicagoreader.com/movies.

Kékszakállú This Argentine drama, about a group of privileged girls wrestling with their first glimpses of adulthood, appropriates the Hungarian title of Bartók’s opera Bluebeard’s Castle but shares little in common with the work. Director Gastón Solnicki µ

AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 5

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AGENDA until 1965, it was widely shown and honored in Europe, but it’s never received the recognition it deserves stateside. If you’ve never seen it, prepare to have your mind blown. —JONATHAN ROSENBAUM 94 min. 16mm. Fri 8/25, 7 and 9 PM. Univ. of Chicago Doc Films

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164 North State Street

Between Lake & Randolph

Twitch of the Death Nerve R Mario Bava, the godfather of Italian horror, made a dramatic

MOVIE HOTLINE: 312.846.2800

BUY TICKETS @ siskelfilmcenter.org/blackharvest

DIRECTOR MICHAEL SEAN HALL & ACTOR GLENN PLUMMER IN PERSON!

The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis

DIRECTOR TONI PARKER IN PERSON!

90 MINUTES OF THE FEVER THE RHYTHM IN BLUE AUGUST 23 & 24

AUGUST 19 & 20

BRONX GOTHIC AUGUST 23 & 24

ALSO PLAYING — NEW INDEPENDENT FEATURES & DOCUMENTARIES!

THE B-SIDE

FROM THE LAND OF THE MOON

ELSA DORFMAN’S PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

NEW FROM ERROL MORRIS!

STARRING MARION COTILLARD & LOUIS GARREL!

August 18 - 24

Fri., 8/18 at 2 pm & 6 pm; Sat., 8/19 at 8 pm; Sun., 8/20 at 4:30 pm; Mon., 8/21 at 7:45 pm; Tue., 8/22 at 6 pm; Wed., 8/23 at 7:45 pm; Thu., 8/24 at 6 pm

August 18 - 24

Fri., 8/18 at 2 pm & 8:15 pm; Sat., 8/19 at 6:30 pm; Sun., 8/20 at 3 pm; Mon., 8/21 at 6 pm; Tue., 8/22 at 8:15 pm; Wed., 8/23 at 6 pm; Thu., 8/24 at 8:15 pm

“Literally a tale of amour fou ... intriguing and affecting.”

— Time Out London

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“So vast, so bittersweet and so kind and giving, a brilliantly casual portrait.”

— Newcity

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EARLY WARNINGS

chicagoreader.com/early 6 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

B uses some of the opera’s compositions to lend gravity to his subjects, whose mundane struggles range from disinterest in school to disenchantment with menial labor to amorphous ennui. His formal, minimalist approach produces some haunting imagery: the girls are more like artworks than people, especially when shot against the imposing architecture of Buenos Aires and Punta del Este, Uruguay. Eating, brooding, and sunbathing, they seem frustratingly mysterious—even to themselves.

In Spanish with subtitles. —LEAH PICKETT 72 min. Fri 8/25-Thu 8/31.

Facets Cinematheque The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis Set during the early years of the Pinochet regime, this plodding Argentine drama focuses on a meek white-collar worker, Francisco (Diego Velázquez), who’s unexpectedly thrust into a dangerous dilemma when an old friend importunes him to save the lives of two political dissidents. As an impetuous young man, Francisco wrote a stirring revolutionary poem that inspired the left, but this doesn’t quite explain his willingness to risk his life and his family’s security to alert two strangers of their imminent “disappearance” by the military.

Directors Francisco Márquez and Andrea Testa, adapting a novel by Humberto Constantini, follow their protagonist around as he searches for a solution that will safely relieve him of any moral responsibility; as darkness falls, and one begins to wonder if he isn’t too late already, he inches closer to an act of courage. It’s a long night all right, though it may have been longer for me than for him. In Spanish with subtitles. —J.R. JONES 78 min. Fri 8/25, 2 and 8:15 PM; Sat 8/26, 6:30 PM; Sun 8/27, 5:15 PM; Mon 8/28, 6 PM; Tue 8/29, 8:15 PM; Wed 8/30, 6 PM; and Thu 8/31, 8:15 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Marjorie Prime Adapted R from a play by Jordan Harrison, this painful but acutely reflec-

tive chamber drama opens with a prolonged scene in which 86-yearold Marjorie (veteran actress Lois Smith, reprising her stage role) tries to develop a relationship with Walter Prime (Jon Hamm), a hologram of her late husband in his 40s that responds to her through advanced artificial intelligence.

Enter Marjorie’s tense daughter (Geena Davis), who is scarred by their past relationship, and the daughter’s loving husband (Tim Robbins), who lives patiently with that trauma. Artificial intelligence is hardly a new topic in movies, yet this one bypasses the hackneyed debate over what it means to be human, focusing instead on the people alone and whether their need for an image of a dead loved one can spring from anger as much as grief. Michael Almereyda (Experimenter) directed, honoring the play’s quiet solemnity and carefully crafted dialogue. —J.R. JONES 98 min. Fri 8/25-Thu 8/31.

Facets Cinematheque REVIVALS Salt of the Earth This rarely R screened 1954 classic is the only major American independent

feature made by communists; a fictional story about the Mexican-American zinc miners in New Mexico then striking against their Anglo management, it was informed by feminist attitudes that are quite uncharacteristic of the period. The film was inspired by the blacklisting of director Herbert Biberman, screenwriter Michael Wilson (A Place in the Sun), producer and former screenwriter Paul Jarrico, and composer Sol Kaplan, among others; as Jarrico later reasoned, since they’d been drummed out of Hollywood for being subversives, they’d commit a “crime to fit the punishment” by making a subversive film. The results are leftist propaganda of a very high order, powerful and intelligent even when the film registers in spots as naive or dated. Basically kept out of American theaters

comeback in 1971 with this bloody black comedy about greed and the battle of the sexes. The first nine minutes transpire without a word of dialogue, as an ailing countess living in her estate on a bay is hanged by her husband, who’s then stabbed to death by persons unknown. Their deaths set off a Shakespearean array of murder plots among three couples angling for control of the waterfront property, the women often goading the men into action. In a self-contained subplot two young couples spin onto the deserted estate grounds in their dune buggy looking to get laid, and are serially slaughtered, the graphic ripping and impaling eerily punctuated by shots from the killer’s point of view. Though the sequence totals less than 20 minutes, its icy suspense and ritual punishment of casual sex would spawn an endless series of slasher movies in the 1980s. —J.R. JONES 2003 84 min.

Sat 8/26, 3 PM, and Tue 8/29, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center

SPECIAL EVENTS Chicago Onsceen Presented by the Chicago Park District, this series of nine outdoor screenings collects Chicago-made and Chicago-centric shorts and features by independent artists. For a full schedule with park locations visit chicagoparkdistrict.com/events/ chicago-onscreen. Tue 8/29-Sat 9/2, 8 PM Noir City: Chicago 9 Music Box and the Film Noir Foundation present their ninth annual festival of noir. The opening-night program pairs Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential (1997) with Jack Webb’s Dragnet (1954); see page 21 for J.R. Jones’s review. Tickets are $12; for a full schedule and more information visit musicboxheatre.com. Fri 8/25Thu 8/31, Music Box Silent Summer Film Festival The Silent Film Society of Chicago presents its annual summer festival, with Jay Warren providing live organ accompaniment for three comedies: A Fool There Was (1915), starring Theda Bara (Fri 8/25, 8 PM); Mantrap (1926), starring Clara Bow (Sat 8/26, 8 PM); and Don’t Change Your Husband (1919), starring Gloria Swanson (Sun 8/27, 3 PM). Tickets are $15; for a full schedule and more information visit musicboxheatre.com. Filament Theatre v

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CITY LIFE Street View

ò ISA GIALLORENZO

Close encounters

“ALIEN STREET WALKER” was the inspiration as Jackson Powell and Sean Marburger—known on the city’s drag circuit as Mizz Chelsla Green and Trisha Bass—headed out to Queen!, a weekly party at Smart Bar welcoming “kings, queens, and everything in between.” “The idea was,” Powell said, “an alien lands in Chicago and tries to fit into society.”

“You’d think a queer bar in Wrigleyville would be a bore, but the staff and hosts make this the event of the week,” Marburger said. Powell agreed: “I’ve never once felt judged or unwanted there. It’s a safe space to let your creative freedom shine and sparkle.”

While the Macy’s beauty advisers fully embrace their “boy selves,” they’ve learned a lot from their alter egos. “Chelsla has definitely challenged me to take a step out of the box and show my true colors, because people respond better to that rather than to a person you’re pretending to be,” Powell said. “Drag has changed my life for the better. I feel more comfortable in my own skin. I have also found a ton of people that I consider family. These people are the most supportive individuals. Because I started drag I started having confidence to wear pink as a boy, or to pop a lip color on and not care what others think. Drag has made me view fashion as a genderless item, a visual representation of who we are and what we like.”

—ISA GIALLORENZO See more Chicago street style on Giallorenzo’s blog chicagolooks.blogspot.com.

SURE THINGS Ñ Keep up to date on the go at chicagoreader. com/agenda.

SUNDAY 27

e Wizard World Comic Con Nerd out to the max with four days of science fiction, fantasy, film, horror, anime, manga, cosplay, comics, card games, and celebrities.

Charisma Carpenter, John Cusack, Dulé Hill, and Gene Simmons will be there. 10 AM-5 PM, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 N. River Road, Rosemont, rosemont.com, $40-$60

THURSDAY 24

FRIDAY 25

Th e Tragedy of He -Manlet , Prince of Ete r nia By the power of Greyskull, He-Manlet fights to save his homeland from the evil Skeletor (fun fact: Skeletor is He-Man’s uncle). As with the show’s Shakespearean predecessors, its characters have questionable motives. 8 PM, Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, $20.

ñ Dest roy Yo ur Art Local filmmakers challenge the concept of permanence by presenting their short films, then destroying them in front of the only audience they’ll ever have. Kind of like Trump deleting a tweet.

Lost Arts, 1001 N. North Branch, destroyyourart. com, 8 PM, $5.

MONDAY 28

TUESDAY 29

­ Duck and Cove r Classroom Our Justin Hayford writes, “I can’t vouch for Escape Artistry’s trumpeted dedication to ‘equality, environment, and education,’ but I can attest to the aesthetic and cryptological rigor of this tantalizing, exasperating, and ingenious escaperoom game.” Various times, Time Gallery, 1342 N. Milwaukee, $30.27

k Ten Do llar Comedy It’s closing night for the comedy collective Potential Boyfriends’ weekly hodgepodge of sketch, improv, and stand-up.

Hey, gotta cover all the comedic bases. Performers include Peter Corey, Pat Ivansek, and Nick Johnson. 8:30 PM, Judy’s Beat Lounge, Second City, 230 W. North, secondcity.com, $10

SATURDAY 26

J Melanin Vo ices: An Evening of Poet r y an d Li ve Lit This performance collective presents poetry and short stories illuminating the experiences of black women. Part of the Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series. 4-6 PM, Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W. Jackson, donations accepted.

WEDNESDAY 30 E No ir City The shadowy, scandalous, and seductive films in the genre are celebrated at the Music Box’s annual festival. Screenings include Dragnet, Cash on Demand, and a 20th anniversary showing of L.A. Confidential.

Various times, Music Box, 3733 N. Southport, musicboxtheatre.com, $85 festival pass, $12 individual films.

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Rocky Balbo

Some members of the Italian-American community say they’d “fiercely oppose” renaming Balbo Drive, a tribute to a Mussolini henchman.

By JOHN GREENFIELD

W CHICAGOREADER.COM

hen battle lines were drawn in Charlottesville, standing among the white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and Ku Klux Klan members (“some very fine people,” according to President Donald Trump) were men brandishing shields bearing the image of an ax bundled with wooden rods—a symbol of fascism. That weekend’s tragic events, which swirled around a “Unite the Right” rally against the city’s decision to remove a public Confederate statue, reminded Northwestern University history professor Bill Savage of the disturbing fact that there’s a 2,000-year-old Roman pillar on Chicago’s lakefront, donated to the city by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

Ironically, the Balbo Monument stands by the Lakefront Trail near the Soldier Field World War II veterans’ memorial. It commemorates the 1933 transatlantic flight by Italo Balbo, a leader of the Blackshirts, the paramilitary wing of Italy’s National Fascist Party, who later became Mussolini’s air commander and governor of Libya. The aviator led a squadron of 24 seaplanes in formation to our city’s Century of Progress World’s Fair. An inscription on the pedestal reads, in part: Fascist Italy, by command of Benito Mussolini presents to Chicago exaltation symbol memorial of the Atlantic Squadron led by Balbo that with Roman daring, flew across the ocean in the 11th year of the Fascist era

Balbo became a hero to Chicago’s ItalianAmerican community, and within a year Mayor Edward Kelly changed the name of Seventh Street to Balbo Drive to curry favor with that immigrant constituency.

The day after the August 12 Unite the Right rally, Savage tweeted, “CHICAGO: Time to remove monuments to racism & fascism, ‘Balbo

8 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

Column’; & rename Balbo Drive too.” “Every time I bike by that column it irks me,” he later told me. “A street in our city center named for a fascist? No.” This wouldn’t be the first time Chicagoans have tried to get rid of these tributes. As detailed in a 2008 Chicago magazine piece, shortly after World War II, Chicago alderman John Budlinger led a campaign to rename the street that was backed by veterans, Gold Star families, businessmen, and even the state Parent-Teacher Association, but the legislation died in committee. Proposals to change the street name and/or remove the monument have cropped up every decade or two since that time, and they’ve been met with stiff opposition from some local Italian-Americans who view the landmarks as vital historic artifacts and sources of ethnic pride.

Aspects of Balbo’s biography support Savage’s argument. Following World War I Balbo orchestrated vicious Blackshirt attacks on anti-fascists, including, it’s suspected, the horrific clubbing murder of opposition priest Don Giovanni Minzoni. Balbo was a key planner of the 1922 “March on Rome” coup that brought the dictator to power. Some historians have said that during Italy’s unprovoked invasion of Ethiopia, Balbo’s air force dropped bombs and fired machine guns at unarmed citizens (although local apologists for the aviator say that story is a myth). And after the airman was accidentally shot down by his own troops in Libya in 1940, Hitler credited Balbo for his own rise to power in a 1942 speech, noting that “Brownshirts might perhaps not have arisen without the Blackshirt.”

Like Nazi artifacts, the fascist pillar belongs in a history museum, not public space, and it’s time the drive be renamed. Would the local Italian-American community be on board with removing these tributes to fascists if they were replaced with ones memorializing more worthy figures? Saint Frances Cabrini or University of Chicago physicist Enrico Fermi are worthy candidates who actually lived in Chicago. Cabrini founded a Catholic religious

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Italo Balbo, right ò SUN-TIMES PRINT COLLECTION

institute with dozens of branches that served the sick and poor, died here in 1917, and was the first naturalized American to be canonized.

Fermi, who fled the fascists in 1938, led the creation of the world’s first nuclear reactor.

To get reactions to the idea, I contacted the offices of northwest-side Italian-American aldermen Nicholas Sposato, Margaret Laurino, and Anthony Napolitano. I left messages with the downtown aldermen whose wards include Balbo Drive, Brendan Reilly and Sophia King (her district also includes the pillar). I also left a message with southwest-side alderman Ed Burke, who leads the city’s Finance Committee, the staff of which creates local history exhibits for City Hall.

The next morning, the Sun-Times’s Michael Sneed reported that Burke and northwest-side alderman Gilbert Villegas were calling for “righting a wrong” by removing the Balbo tributes. “I’m amazed the citizens of Chicago have not demanded that these symbols of fascism . . . be removed decades ago,” Burke told Sneed. The aldermen said they plan to lobby the Chicago Park District, which owns the column, to remove it, and petition the City Council to rename the street for former mayor Martin Kennelly, who was Irish-American.

Alderman King’s spokeswoman Joanna Klonsky provided a joint statement from King and Reilly saying that they too were exploring options for renaming Balbo Drive and removing the monument. “Balbo is a symbol of racial and ethnic supremacy, and in this day and age we need positive symbols,” King says in the statement. “It’s high time we removed these symbols of oppression and anti-democracy from our city.” Reilly added that, since Chicago has been home to “many great Italian-

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Americans,” the aldermen hope to rename the street after a “worthy” one. They say they’ll announce plans for the alternative street name in the near future.

A couple of Internet petitions calling on city leaders to remove the Balbo tributes also appeared online recently. Labor organizer Matt Muchowski’s campaign, which doesn’t propose a new street name, had more than 370 supporters as of August 17. An anonymous petition calling for the drive to be renamed in honor of anti-lynching activist, journalist, and suffragist Ida B. Wells, a black Chicagoan, had garnered over 670 signatures by that date.

It’s clear that the Balbo abolition movement has legs. Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said officials plan to meet with aldermen soon for “a thoughtful discussion” of the issue. South-side alderman Anthony Beale, who chairs the city’s Transportation Committee, told me he’s interested in collecting feedback about changing the street name.

North-side alderman and gubernatorial hopeful Ameya Pawar has also tweeted support for the removals.

The Italian-American aldermen I spoke to were also generally receptive. “I would be in favor of replacing the [street] name with that of a distinguished Italian or Italian-American,” says Laurino, adding that she also supports removing the pillar.

Sposato, whose family immigrated from Italy in the early 1900s, is in favor of taking down the Mussolini-donated column. “Anyone who sided with Hitler was not a friend of America, I’ll tell you that,” says the alderman, who adds that his great uncle died fighting the Axis powers in World War II. Still, he opposes changing the street name on J

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CITY LIFE continued from 9 the grounds that erasing geographic names that honor problematic leaders could be “a slippery slope.”

While Sposato acknowledges that the current focus on removing memorials to enemies of the United States, such as Confederate generals, is justified, he points out that there’s been discussion of changing the name of Chicago’s Washington Park, which was dedicated to the first U.S. president, who was a slaveholder. The park would instead honor the late Mayor Harold Washington. “Where do you draw the line?” (On August 17 Mayor Rahm Emanuel indicated that changing the park’s name is a nonstarter, but he also said he’s open to exploring Burke and Villegas’s proposal.)

Sposato added that, if Balbo Street is going to be renamed, “It’s got to be after a famous Italian-American,” rather than Kennelly.

Local Italian-American civic leaders, contacted about replacing the Balbo tributes with memorials to Cabrini or Fermi, had mixed responses to the proposal. George Randazzo, founder of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, calls it a “no-brainer.”

“Two great names are being offered, and the monument can go in a museum,” he says, “I don’t see how anyone loses here.” The community should also consider other possible honorees, he adds.

But other longtime advocates for preserving Italian history in Chicago disagree.

“Italo Balbo is a hero in our community, and we will fiercely oppose efforts to remove his memorials,” says Dominic DiFrisco, president emeritus of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. Back in 1933, he notes, Italy was considered an ally of the U.S., Balbo dined with Franklin Roosevelt, and his arrival in Chicago was an unprecedented source of pride for Italian immigrants, a scientific achievement that belied stereotypes about Italians being technologically backward.

While DiFrisco makes no apologies for Mussolini, he argues that, despite claims that the Balbo is a symbol of bigotry, the aviator was the only leader of the Fascist party to oppose the anti-Semitic legislation the dictator passed in 1938. “Afterwards,” DiFrisco says of Balbo, “he made a point of hosting his Jewish friends in public restaurants to show his disdain and disgust for the law.” He says that Balbo was also alone among Fascist party leaders in opposing Mussolini’s alliance with Hitler, partly due to the fact that Nazis viewed Italians as genetically inferior to northern Europeans.

DiFrisco points out that Enrico Fermi was

The Balbo Monument ò CHICAGO CRIME SCENES

also once a member of the Fascist party. The physicist joined in 1929, shortly after Mussolini appointed him to the Royal Academy of Italy. But since Fermi’s wife, Laura Capon, was Jewish, he became an anti-fascist and left the country after the 1938 racial laws were passed.

Don Fiore, an amateur historian and former columnist for the local Italian-American publication Fra Noi (“Between Us”), is also against removing the tributes to the aviator, although he says he’d be open to changing the inscription on the column to remove the mention of Mussolini. Fiore also has a dim view of replacing the column and street signs with tributes to Cabrini or Fermi. The saint already has a namesake roadway in Chicago’s Little Italy, he says, and the scientist is memorialized by the eponymous particle physics lab in suburban Batavia.

Fiore acknowledges that Chicagoans who defend Balbo’s legacy are a dying breed. Most are older residents whose parents witnessed the squadron landing, he says.

One local senior, Water Santi, was actually present himself at age nine. “It was quite a sight to see the planes come in one by one,” recalls the 94-year-old retired machinist. “Later on they flew over the city and those noisy, two-engine planes rattled our windows.” He doesn’t feel strongly about whether or not Balbo deserves the tributes but argued that the debate is a distraction from more pressing issues such as the region’s economic woes.

“I know when we’re gone [the memorials will be taken down] because there won’t be anyone to voice opposition,” Fiore says. “But while I’m still here I’m going to say what I’m going to say.” v

John Greenfield edits the transportation news website Streetsblog Chicago. v @greenfieldjohn

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SOCIALISM’S NEW BLOOM Inspired by Bernie, outraged by Trump, and betrayed by the neoliberal establishment, the reinvigorated Democratic Socialists of America set out to paint the town red.

By RYAN SMITH

EVERYTHING WAS COMING UP ROSES

on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus. Red rose symbols were emblazoned on scarlet T-shirts, branded on pinback buttons affixed to messenger bags and backpacks, printed on brochures and pamphlets, and projected onto the walls of a lecture hall in the student center on the east side of the school’s grounds. One would’ve been forgiven for mistaking the gathering for a conference of professional florists.

All of the floral iconography was in fact political in nature. During the first weekend of August, UIC played host to the national convention of the Democratic Socialists of America. The image of the rose, which has served as a

symbol employed by leftist movements for more than a century, is a central emblem of the DSA. Two “red scares” and the cold war have chilled much legitimate talk about socialism over the course of the last century, but the ubiquity of rose-bedecked swag was just the most visible sign that the anti-capitalist movement is blossoming.

The size of the DSA’s proverbial rose garden that weekend was larger than any in the nonprofit organization’s 35year history. The convention drew 1,000 attendees from 49 states, including 697 delegates and about 300 observers. One DSA official called it a “historic moment,” noting that a single room was packed with more people than had attended the previous three conventions combined. The sight of the rose-filled student center prompted Harold Meyerson, editor at large of the progressive political magazine the American Prospect and a DSA member since 1975, to marvel to a fellow longtime member, “Look at all these new faces. I can’t believe it!”

Chicago alderman and new Democratic Socialists of America member Carlos Ramirez-Rosa ò COLLEEN DURKIN

The most prominent of those new faces was a man whose last name—fittingly enough—is Spanish for the word “rose”: Chicago alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, who joined the DSA in March. On the eve of the convention’s first day, the 28-year-old councilman, a red rose pinned to the lapel of his dark suit jacket, delivered a rousing welcome speech that made it clear he wasn’t there simply to serve as a city ambassador. “I address you tonight not as an emissary of the mayor of the 1 percent or the class of City Hall,” he said, “but as your comrade. As a proud Democratic Socialist, I welcome you.” Amid cheers and applause, the alderman paused briefly to smile.

The three days that followed were rarely so exhilarating. “The trouble with socialism,” Oscar Wilde is often quoted as saying, “is that it takes up too many evenings.” He was talking about all the meetings, and indeed the DSA convention’s days and nights were J

AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 11

But it’s the DSA, officially formed in 1982 during a convention in Detroit, that’s experienced the most marked growth. Membership has more than tripled since 2015, from 8,000 to 25,000. Today it’s the largest Marxist organization in the U.S. since World War II. Locally there are more than 1,300 members among the chapters on the north side, south side, and Oak Park, with a west-suburban addition in the offing.

Chief among the factors drawing new members to the DSA is the ecosystem of collective DIY activism, from mass marches on the national level to small local committees and chapter-specific working groups focused on mobilizing action on issues such as anti-racism and feminism.

Whereas the Tea Party was a GOP movement masquerading as populism, one intended to gum up the works of the Obama administration, the new breed of lefties joining the DSA wants to fight the worst excesses of the Trump agenda while also raging against the Democratic Party machine. They view the Democrats as stuck in passive #Resistance mode, a weak-kneed party trading Russian conspiracy theories while failing to offer a compelling alternative vision to the hellish Trumpian present.

It was telling that the segment of Ramirez-Rosa’s speech at the DSA conference that garnered the most enthusiastic reaction was when he threw jabs at the Democrats. He lambasted the administration of Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel for neglecting public education in favor of overpolicing black and brown neighborhoods.

Democrats, he said, are too often “corporate shills who [wear] blue ties instead of red,” politicians whose agenda too often resembles something like Trump’s.

“As Democratic Socialists, we know that just as rigorously as we resist the right wing and their mouthpiece president, so too must we resist the neoliberal Democrats,” Ramirez-Rosa said. “If it’s barbarism or socialism, I choose the latter.”

During the DSA National Convention in early August, delegates voted on a range of issues, from membership dues to socialized national health care. ò PORTER MCLEOD

continued from 11 overstuffed with lengthy, frequently heated, sometimes hiss-filled debates on administrative rules about dues collection and formal votes governed by tedious parliamentary procedure. But ultimately the DSA collectively agreed to leave the Socialist International—a loose confederation of worldwide member parties—and expressed support for the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. It also advocated for a socialized national health care system devoid of the profit motive, endorsed Black Youth Project 100’s Agenda to Build Black Futures, and elected to create a national Afro-socialist caucus.

By the close of the weekend, the DSA had managed to push its political priorities further to the left than ever before. For recent converts like Ramirez-Rosa—many of them young, female, queer, and people of color—it was one hell of a coming out party, and a glimpse of the promise of the new wave of socialism.

12 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

E

ight years ago, a segment of the right responded to the election of Barack Obama by jump-starting the Tea Party to block the Democratic majority’s agenda. Now that the electoral pendulum has swung hard to the right—and possibly completely off its pivot with the coronation of Donald Trump—a growing number of people, whether emboldened by the Bernie Sanders campaign or put off by the ineffectuality of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party, are swerving left and becoming card-carrying members of socialist organizations. (Full disclosure: I’m one of those people, having joined the Chicago DSA in May.) The International Socialist Organization has grown nearly 50 percent over the last couple years to about 1,000 members nationwide (including 125 in Chicago); the ISO’s Socialism Conference, held in Chicago in early July, hosted more than 2,000 people, a third larger than the previous year’s event.

A

socialist Chicago alderman who calls out Democrats for being Republicans in disguise? Until the most recent presidential election, the emergence of such a figure seemed unlikely if not impossible. Even among progressives, socialism through much of 2015 remained relatively taboo, a dirty word confined to the margins.

When conservatives labeled Obama a socialist early in his presidency, they meant it as an epithet.

That’s a dramatic shift from a century ago, when socialist movements surged throughout the world—most strikingly in the Russian Revolution of 100 years ago.

Chicago was the center of the radical left in America during its heyday prior to World War I, says Alan Maass, author of The Case for Socialism. “Chicago was a hub for transportation, industry, and for waves of immigrants who were some of the most radical of the early labor movement,” Maass says. By the 1910s, a dozen socialist newspapers were published in Chicago, and the city elected several aldermen who belonged to the Socialist Party founded by Eugene V. Debs. The union leader from Terre Haute, Indiana, was sent to prison for his role J

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AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 13

The ubiquity of rose-bedecked swag at the DSA conference was just the most visible sign that socialism is blossoming. ò PORTER MCLEOD

continued from 12 in the violent 1894 Pullman strike in Chicago and became radicalized by reading Karl Marx’s Capital. Debs helped form the Socialist Party and ran as his party’s presidential candidate five times, including a 1912 campaign in which he earned 6 percent of the popular vote.

As post-WWI interest in the left grew, the Bolsheviks’ rise to power together with domestic labor unrest spooked U.S. officials and prompted a counterattack in the form of a red scare. On New Year’s Day 1920, Chicago police raided union halls and bookstores and apprehended about 150 socialists, communists, and anarchists, many of whom were deported. Socialism was positioned as positively un-American. A second McCarthy-era red scare in the 40s and 50s broke the back of the movement. Socialist ideas have since had fleeting moments of relevance, including the New Left movement of the 60s, but over the last four decades there has been a slow erosion of significant radical movements—especially as the Republican Party began dismantling labor—and Democrats, lured by the siren call of Wall Street and “market-based solutions,” looked away.

It was in high school, after reading Noam Chomsky’s seminal critique of Western capitalism Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order, that Ramirez-Rosa began identifying as a socialist. Even as he came out as gay at age 16 while in the midst of his very first political campaign, for junior class president, Ramirez-Rosa felt compelled to remain closeted about his Marxist politics.

In a culturally tolerant city such as Chicago, where even Republicans have been known to march in the Pride

14 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

Parade, plenty of rainbow flags fly in public—but none that are socialist red. It made sense, then, that when Ramirez-Rosa launched his insurgent campaign against incumbent 35th Ward alderman Rey Colon in September 2014, he didn’t shy away from his sexual or racial identity (“openly gay 26-year-old Latino” was reflexively affixed to his name in the local media), but still opted to stay mum about the S-word.

“People that helped run campaigns told me, ‘Look, we have these same values. We also identify as socialist or leftist, but we don’t think you should run as one because you’ll lose,” Ramirez-Rosa says.

Then came Bernie.

“Bernie Sanders opened up that door for me,” Ramirez-Rosa says. “I said, if someone could run for president of the United States and say ‘I’m a democratic socialist,’ then, hell, I can come out of the closet. I’ve come out of the closet before.”

Improbably, it is a septuagenarian who deserves more credit than any other figure for socialism’s current vogue among millennials. The wizened Vermont senator—who embraced leftist politics and joined the Young People’s Socialist League while a student at the University of Chicago in the early 60s—got within spitting distance of the Democratic Party’s nomination for president with a grassroots campaign built on a platform infused with socialist ideology: free college and health care, economic redistribution in the form of higher taxes on the rich, and a “political revolution” against corporate power and oligarchy.

Among those the Sanders campaign lit a fire under was 22-year-old Jacquelyn Smith, who’d traveled from Washington, D.C., to attend the DSA conference. She came to socialism after struggling to connect with the culture of one-upsmanship among activists on her university campus. “College activism often turns into this battle of who’s the most woke, and I couldn’t get engaged in it,” Smith says. In the wake of the presidential election, she decided that sitting on the sidelines and simply holding progressive values wasn’t enough. “I knew I needed to fight for my values,” she says. A Google search for “democratic socialism”—a term she’d heard Sanders use repeatedly on the campaign trail—pointed her toward the DSA. Days later she joined the Metro D.C. chapter and attended a meeting in a library basement so crowded that it “wasn’t just standing room [only],” she recalls, “it was hallway room only.”

When Sanders lost the nomination to Hillary Clinton, it didn’t do much to dampen enthusiasm for him. According to the findings of a Harvard-Harris survey published in April, the senator still ranked as the most popular politician in America. The devotion was certainly on display at the People’s Summit, the Berniecrats’ second annual conference, held in June at McCormick Place. The line to see Sanders’s keynote speech at the summit snaked out the door as thousands—including left-leaning celebrities John Cusack and Danny Glover—packed the Arie Crown Theater. He delivered a kind of state of the political revolution address. “We may not have won the campaign in 2016,” Sanders said, “but there is no question that we have won the battle of ideas.”

Across the pond in the U.K., democratic socialist Jeremy Corbyn won the battle of ideas—and nearly the campaign. Though British conservatives and centrists alike dismissed him as a left-wing extremist, he earned enough votes in June’s special election to deprive prime minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May of a majority in Parliament. The American left has embraced Corbyn as a hero. The DSA convention crowd twice broke into a chant popular in the U.K.: “Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! Oh, Jeremy Corbyn!” set to the melody of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.”

In the U.S., meanwhile, DSA members and enlistees in “Bernie’s Army,” the affectionate nickname for Sanders’s political action committee, are starting to win smaller municipal elections. DSA member Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the 34-year-old who was elected mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, in June, told attendees at the People’s Summit that he wants to make the southern capital “the most radical city on the planet.” Another DSA member, Black Lives Matter activist Khalid Kamau, 40, won a seat on the city council of South Fulton, Georgia, in April, the same month that 28-year-old DSA member Dylan Parker was elected to the city council in Rock Island, Illinois.

A number of new DSA members who gathered at the national conference spoke of joining the day after the presidential election or soon after. Sixty percent of the Chicago DSA’s 1,300 members joined since November 9.

Delegate Ashwin Ravikumar, 30, an environmental social

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A range of merch was for sale at the DSA conference, from rose pins to literature from local radical publisher Haymarket Books. ò PORTER MCLEOD

scientist at the Field Museum, described something of a postelection come-to-Marx moment while on assignment in the middle of rural Peru.

“I wake up on November 9 assuming Hillary is the president. But I call my mom just to check in, and she told me Trump won,” he recalled. “My heart just starts beating—boom! boom! boom!—in my chest and I hang up and go into a daze. I spent that entire day with a machete weeding a coffee farmer’s field in the Peruvian Amazon.

There I was just hacking away at vegetation, and in my head raging against the Democratic Party for allowing Trump to happen and the failures of liberalism.”

Lucie Macías became a member of the Chicago DSA a couple days after Trump’s win. “The night of the election, I didn’t get any sleep. I watched it and I realized I didn’t want to just give up and say, ‘This is what it will be the next four years.’ I wanted to join something that would make a difference locally,” the 31-year-old said. “I’ve been doing lots of work so far. I work in environmental justice in Chicago, and here [at the DSA convention] I connected to other people and created a coalition focused on water issues in the Great Lakes in the midwest.”

Since the election the new left has also been strengthened by a vibrant independent media. Radical publisher Haymarket Books, which recently won approval to open a community center in a mansion in Buena Park despite protests from NIMBYs, scored big with its release of the latest book by social activist Naomi Klein, No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need. Klein’s anti-capitalist polemic— which she calls a “movement book”—charted at number two on the New York Times best-seller list immediately after it was published in June. The progressive magazine In These Times—founded in Chicago in 1976 by historian James Weinstein and modeled on a socialist newspaper from the turn of the century—has seen subscriptions jump to 50,000 from just 10,000 in 2011. The magazine’s editors are in the midst of redesigning and expanding the publication to respond to the influx of readers, both in print and online.

“The most popular politician in the country identifies as a socialist,” Miles Kampf-Lassin, In These Times’s

community editor, says of Sanders. “The ideas of socialism are popular, so we’re trying to reach this new, young, excited audience.”

In These Times shares part of its Logan Square office space with the local outpost of Jacobin, the New Yorkbased quarterly magazine “offering socialist perspectives on politics, economics, and culture.” The Baffler, the quarterly magazine of political and cultural analysis launched in 1988 by onetime Reader contributor Thomas Frank, moved operations to New York City last year.

Today especially the publication’s website reads like a

“THE THING WE’RE DOING IS NORMALIZING SOCIALISM TO SOME DEGREE AND SAYING, ‘THIS ISN’T JUST FOR WHITE DUDES. SOCIALISM IS FOR EVERYONE.’ ” —Luc —L ucieie Mac uc acíaíaías,s, Chihica cago ca go DSA mem embe berr be

socialist rag, with features such as labor journalist Sarah Jaffe’s Interviews for Resistance series. These days, rose emojis spring up like weeds on social media. The stars of Weird Twitter and Left Twitter, amorphous but overlapping subcultures, have become known for posting absurd, subversive, and incisive non sequiturs.

The common voice of the new-left media balances self-serious activism with an anarchic sense of ironic

humor. “We need socialism because only socialism can guarantee that Ringo gets the best healthcare in the world, and Paul gets the worst,” Australian cartoonist and Left Twitter luminary Ben Ward recently tweeted from his account @pixelatedboat, which has 112,000 followers.

Like many of his peers at the DSA conference, Zach Maril, 26, said he discovered the organization’s Metro D.C. outpost through Left Twitter and Chapo Trap House, a caustic and hilarious left-wing comedy podcast that ranks among the top 200 on the Internet. “It gives me hope, I can’t express how much it means to me,” said Maril, now the head of his chapter’s events and logistics committee, during a DSA conference panel introducing old and new members.

While in town for the convention, the three original Chapo Trap House cohosts, including Chicago native Felix Biederman, did a pair of postconvention live shows at the Hideout. During the summit, Biederman says, he was approached by several DSA delegates for whom Chapo was their gateway to socialism. “If they listened to us and thought the realm of political possibility was way further than they thought it was and it got them mad and they took action—that’s fucking amazing,” Biederman says.

Stand-up comedian and Catastrophe star Rob Delaney, who made a guest appearance on Chapo Trap House in April, is a proud DSA member and actively promotes the organization on social media: “My web-page’s sole purpose now is to lure teens & millennials into the #ripped arms of feminist socialism,” he tweeted in January to his 1.4 million followers alongside a link to the DSA’s website.

The outreach appears to be working, though socialism’s momentum among millennials could be due as much to changing political attitudes as to cultural cachet. According to a 2015 YouGov poll, while positive views of socialism remain a minority opinion, 43 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds hold a favorable opinion of socialism compared to just 26 percent who have an unfavorable opinion of it. Much of that can be attributed to this generation’s coming of age after the specter of the cold war had faded. Its defining anxieties stemmed not from the threat of communist totalitarianism but economic J inequality and a bleak job market.

AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 15

DSA conference attendees displayed their camaraderie. ò PORTER MCLEOD

continued from 15 When R.L. Stephens, 30, graduated from George Washington University Law School in 2014, the Minnesota native found a dearth of employment prospects.

“I realized I didn’t want to be an attorney, but I’m black and I had no job experience, so I found myself working at the Gap,” he says. After helping rally his coworkers to change the Gap’s scheduling policy, namely the use of “on-call shifts,” he began a job in Chicago as an organizer for the Unite Here labor union. But even unions weren’t influential enough to address the suffering Stephens saw—especially on the part of young black people in neighborhoods with disproportionate levels of violence and unemployment.

“I was like, yeah, this union is mostly people of color and this is tight,” Stephens says, “but how am I building a politics that builds a more socially transformative process? That’s when I really started thinking seriously about socialist politics.” He now cohosts the Jacobin podcast Stockton to Malone. He joined the Northside Chicago DSA in February and was swiftly elected to the National Political Committee, the organization’s board of directors. “How do you take the particularities of people’s suffering and subjugation and subordination and oppression and attach them to the fight for universal emancipation?” he asks. “That’s what this convention’s about—it’s about figuring out what that means.”

The DSA is trying, with some success, to diversify its membership in terms of gender and race. During the convention, half the spots on its 16-member National Political Committee were slotted for women, and four went to people of color. Nationally, the organization as a whole is still disproportionately white and male, but among the delegates in attendance in Chicago, 40 percent were women and about 20 percent were people of color, according to the DSA. Of Chicago’s three DSA chapters, 39 percent of the members are male, 60 percent are female, and 25 percent are people of color.

16 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

The common depiction of socialism as being full of “Bernie Bros” is a frustrating one, Macías says. “I’m not a white dude. I’m a Latino woman, and there are a lot of women and people of color here,” she said at the DSA conference. “The thing we’re doing is normalizing socialism to some degree and saying, ‘This isn’t just for white dudes. Socialism is for everyone.’”

Lately Ramirez-Rosa says he’s been trying to reclaim the term “Bernie Bro” from its pejorative use in the same way the LGBTQ community came to embrace the word “queer.” “I’m like, ‘Yes, this 28-year-old queer Latinx son of working-class immigrants is a Bernie Bro,’ ” he says.

“It’s cool when the left uses the term, but when you have neoliberal political operatives using that term to divide people and demonize people who are fighting for social and economic justice, it’s disgusting.”

A

s the DSA’s big convention weekend in Chicago neared its end, there seemed little doubt that the current iteration of socialism is a far cry from the stereotype of pointy-headed old white men muttering about Marx in the dusty corners of an academic library.

Further confirmation came during an afterparty on Saturday, August 5, at the shared office of In These Times and Jacobin on Milwaukee Avenue.

“Oh my god, this party is lit!” Stephens exclaimed, walking off the dance floor drenched in sweat. His voice was hoarse from straining to be heard above the hip-hop being blasted by a laptop DJ. Poster-size covers of old In These Times issues adorned the walls of the second-floor office as reminders of socialism’s past. But the hardwood floors were filled with the future of the movement— Ramirez-Rosa, Jacobin editor Bhaskar Sunkara, the cohosts of Chapo Trap House, and hundreds of youngish DSA delegates, many wearing rose-covered T-shirts representing local chapters. While some swayed to the music or took shots of Malort, others engaged in conversations about the practical value of third parties and

whether socialism should be a reform movement that embraces Scandinavian-style social democracy (as Sanders believes) or a full-fledged revolutionary movement with the objectives of redistributing wealth, transferring ownership of the means of production, and abolishing police and prisons. The affair was even crashed by a gaggle of Lollapalooza attendees who’d heard through the grapevine about a rager off the Blue Line.

A handmade sign taped to a column in the middle of the room carried a message for Chicago’s mayor: i hope everyone has a great night, except rahm emanuel. fuck rahm emanuel.

That’s not to say socialist organizations such as the DSA currently pose a significant threat to corporate Democrats such as Emanuel, much less President Donald Trump’s right-wing agenda. (Trump recently applied the term “alt-left” to anti-racist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, that included some socialists.)

Despite the recent spike in popularity, socialist organizations remain a relative blip on the nation’s political radar. The Chicago Teachers Union, for instance, has about 30,000 members as compared to the Chicago DSA’s 1,300. That’s why members like Ramirez-Rosa are careful not to rush into talk of socialists presenting a third-party challenge to the Democrats from the left.

The numbers just aren’t there.

The movement’s modest stature, however, isn’t stopping Ramirez-Rosa from marshaling the DSA and other ally organizations such as Reclaim Chicago and the CTU to help build up a progressive caucus in the city. In the next two years, he intends to help slate aldermanic candidates that he hopes will remake the City Council into “a real disciplined force for leftist policies that will uplift working Chicagoans.” By 2019, he says, he expects this caucus to put forward “alternative policies to those that favor the 1 percent. And hopefully we have a progressive mayor and we are then delivering to him the votes to push forward progressive policies.”

It’s an ambitious agenda for an alderman who hasn’t even completed his first term in office. But there are indications that socialism is at least helping to nudge the political needle left in Chicago and beyond—even if smashing capitalism remains far from reach.

Ramirez-Rosa has found Chicagoans remarkably receptive to socialist ideas—particularly if he has a chance to explain. “When we break through the false narrative put forward by the corporate media and actually go out and knock on doors and talk to people one on one, they’re actually with us. I don’t think there’s this big divide between rank-and-file regular Democrats and the members of the DSA. They’re actually with us on the policies, and so our job is to go out and present them a candidate and win those elections,” he says. “That idea frightens the neoliberal establishment.”

Something else that might frighten their foes is the chant delegates broke into as the convention was adjourned: “DSA ain’t nothin’ to fuck with!” v

v @RyanSmithWriter

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Photographer Adam Jason Cohen’s pit bull, Molly. “She’s not the most agile,” he admits.

Jackson Bark’s handmade agility equipment includes recycled tires built into steps that dogs can climb.

“There is an extremely strong sense of community within the fences of the park,” Cohen says. “Sharing made this place happen, and the tradition continues with something as small as sharing dog treats.”

ALL SOUTH-SIDE DOGS GO TO E X E R C I S E H E AV E N Jackson Bark, the only dog-friendly area south of the South Loop, is a community-built canine agility park on abandoned tennis courts. And now a multimillion-dollar golf course development plan is threatening its future.

Photos BY ADAM JASON COHEN

A

dam Jason Cohen grew up in New Jersey building DIY skate parks with his friends on unused land.

The reward was not just a place to skate, but also a chance to watch how new communities developed in those formerly abandoned spaces. When the Chicago-based photographer learned that a group of south-siders had done the equivalent for dogs on tennis courts in Jackson Park, except with handmade agility equipment instead of half-pipes—naturally they called it Jackson Bark—he took his own dog, Molly, a seven-yearold pit bull, to check it out.

Molly, it turns out, isn’t really a canine skate punk. She doesn’t want to show off by scaling the steep ramps or jumping through hoops or balancing on a seesaw. Her pleasures are much simpler: chasing after tennis balls and hanging out with other dogs.

But there’s plenty of space for that at Jackson Bark too. Spending time there makes her happy. Cohen tries to take her there once a week. Over the past few months, while Molly played, he used his camera to capture this vibrant community of dogs and dog people.

Although Jackson Bark is not officially recognized by the Chicago Park District, it’s the only dog-friendly J

AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 17

Jackson Bark at dusk.

After running through the agility course, dogs can cool off in the kiddie pools.

Because it’s equipped with lights, Jackson Bark is one of the only places in Chicago where dogs are welcome after dark.

Johnathan, his son, and dog Blue

continued from 17 area south of the South Loop and one of the only places in the entire city where dogs can play after dark. (The Park District has given preliminary approval to dog parks in Calumet Park and McKinley Park, but those are still only in the planning stages.) Woodlawn resident Todd Agosto began building the park in 2014 with pieces he salvaged from construction sites. Gradually other neighbors began to help with the project. Now Jackson Bark is the third-largest dog park in the city, with two separate play areas and 100 pieces of equipment, all maintained by Agosto and a collective of volunteers.

18 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

Earlier this summer, the city announced plans to build a new public golf course in Jackson Park, designed by Tiger Woods. As the plan now stands, the 7,354-yard course would take over almost the entire northern half of the park, including what is now Jackson Bark.

The dog-park community has begun a campaign to ask the city to find a new location for the golf course that will have sufficient room for both dogs and golfers.

Meanwhile, Jackson Bark celebrates its third anniversary on Saturday, August 26, which also happens to be International Dog Day. There will be a barbecue at the park. And lots and lots of dogs. —AIMEE LEVITT

Leland Woods with dog Buddy

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The “VIPups” wall honors the community members who helped build the park.

Damien Lee with dog Valentino

AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 19

ARTS & CULTURE

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READER RECOMMENDED

b ALL AGES

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Eli Tokash and ensemble ò MICHAEL BROSILOW

THEATER

A very good After Noon Special

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L I L L ST R E E T.C O M

T

revor is in big trouble. Any 13-yearold is at risk of pariahhood, of course.

Pubescence is cruel. But with his jazz-hands dance moves, gym-class cluelessness, fey mannerisms, and full-out idolatry of Diana Ross, Trevor’s got FRESH VICTIM written all over him. What’s more, it’s 1981: nobody’s giving anti-bullying seminars or gender diversity workshops.

Kids at mythical suburban Lakeview Junior High have only two categories available to them: normal and weird. And weird is lonely.

On the advice of the Diana in his head, Trevor attempts to negotiate the caste system on his own terms.

Given our current, charged social and political climate, you might expect a story like Trevor’s to be told with utmost earnestness, as a wandering-in-the-wilderness saga, full of pain, terror, and malicious ignorance. That’s not the approach Dan Collins and Julia Wick Davis take with Trevor: The Musical, based on a 1994 short film and getting its world premiere now in an entertaining production at Writers Theatre. Far from it. Nobody beats our boy to a pulp or toys with his sanity or douses him with pig’s blood a la Carrie, and the technology doesn’t yet exist to troll him

online. Even Trevor’s darkest night of the soul has an upside and a comic twist. Although idiosyncratic in the details, his coming of age fits neatly within the bounds of conventional adolescent suffering.

Which, oddly enough, may be the show’s greatest virtue. Trevor’s diva-ish preoccupations and dawning awareness that he might be gay are treated as no more or less alarming than any of the hundreds of revelations kids have about themselves while growing up—it’s just that his involve more sequins. What’s happening to Trevor, Collins and Davis seem to hope we’ll understand, is in no way aberrant and not necessarily dire. In fact, it’s normal.

But that assumption of normality also happens to be Trevor’s greatest weakness, because it reduces the stakes.

Our hero is already flirting with an amorphous sort of alienation when we first meet him, knowing only that (a) he doesn’t fit in with his TV-mesmerized parents and (b) the way forward is to emulate Diana and fulfill his “golden dream”—which is to say, become a major pop star. We get to (c) very soon thereafter, when, hanging out with best pal Walter, Trevor finds he isn’t aroused by the women in an underwear catalog. It’s the men’s page J

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AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 21

ARTS & CULTURE Dragnet

continued from 20

at the back that he can’t stop looking at.

Since Diana was discovered at a talent show, Trevor has decided to enter the one at school.

But the teacher in charge, Mrs. Kerr, bumps him because he plans to act out Fame, performing all the roles himself, including those of the women (Trevor: “You can’t do Fame without Coco! She has the best songs.” Mrs. Kerr: “Well I don’t know if everyone would understand that.”) Frustrated but not defeated, Trevor tries to convince Lakeview’s amiable lunk—i.e., lug + hunk—of a football star, Pinky Faraday, that the team should abandon their annual talent-show rite of dancing around in pink tutus and put themselves in his Bob Fosse-esque choreographic hands instead. Bizarrely, Pinky agrees and gets the team behind him. Meanwhile, Trevor’s falling in love.

As I watched all this unfold, I was primed to flinch in expectation of that awful, inevitable moment where Trevor’s hopeful motion would meet an unmovable object and all hell would break loose. And that happens, after a fashion, when a private notebook gets a public airing. Yet, at least in this staging by Marc Bruni, the fallout seems all too containable, and the flinch takes on some of the properties of a shrug. With its smooth tempo and easy resolutions, Trevor can feel like an After School Special.

Albeit the very best After School Special you ever saw. The cast features a large contingent of talented young people led by Eli Tokash’s ever wry but resilient Trevor. Building on textual hints that Pinky is more than he lets on, Declan Desmond never lets the character turn into a stereotypical jock (which makes it all the more disappointing that Collins’s book ultimately reduces him to that for the sake of a single sharp line). Tori Whaples is endearing as Cathy, Trevor’s would-be girlfriend, whose thoughts run far ahead of her child’s body; likewise Matthew Uzzaraga, as Walter. Eloise Lushina has the right mix of Chloë Grace Moretz and Lucretia Borgia as Mary, Lakeview’s arbiter of status. As for the production’s Diana Ross, Salisha Thomas doesn’t look the least bit like her, but that doesn’t much matter when she sings. v TREVOR: THE MUSICAL Through 8/9: Wed-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 3 and 7 PM, Sun 2 and 6 PM (2 PM only 9/3 and 9/10); also Wed 8/30 and 9/6, 2 PM, Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, 847-242-6000, writerstheatre. org, $60-$80.

v @taadler 22 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

MOVIES

Police lives flattered

By J.R. JONES

F

riday marks the opening of “Noir City: Chicago,” the weeklong festival of film noir presented by Music Box and the Film Noir Foundation. This is the ninth annual edition, which should give you some idea of the festival’s popularity, and with each passing year the programmers, having already screened most of the classic noirs of the 1940s and ’50s, have to strain a little harder to come up with fresh titles. Opening night is a case in point: a double feature of L.A. Confidential (1997), Curtis Hanson’s star-studded Oscar winner about corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department of the early 50s, and Dragnet (1954), Jack Webb’s theatrical spin-off from his wildly popular radio and TV show.

The two movies may not qualify as noir, strictly speaking, but they make for a striking double bill at a time when policing has become a critical issue in modern American life. Ezra Edelman’s recent documentary O.J.: Made in America helped acquaint some ssss EXCELLENT

sss GOOD

younger viewers with the darker history of the LAPD, whose aggressive tactics against nonwhite Angelenos were laid bare in 1991 by the videotaped police beating of Rodney King. You could trace a line from the four policemen in the King video all the way back to Sergeant Joe Friday, the upright, deadpan LAPD detective Webb brought to the small screen. As producer, director, and star of Dragnet, Webb struck a Faustian bargain with William H. Parker, the city’s controversial chief of police, trading creative control of the show for access to department resources.

The televised Dragnet, which ran from 1951 to 1959 and again from 1967 to 1970, would be praised for its authenticity even as it served as a powerful propaganda tool.

Born in 1920 and raised in downtown LA, Webb survived a rough childhood, the sort that can tilt a man toward authority figures.

His deadbeat father disappeared before Jack was even born, leaving him to the care of his divorced mother and her sister. Poor,

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sickly, and asthmatic, the boy dug through garbage cans for the fiction magazines he craved and found shelter and comfort in the public library while his mother was working.

Dreaming of aerial combat, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps during World War II, only to wind up as a desk jockey in Texas. Later, as a young radio actor back in LA, he created and starred in a popular hard-boiled detective series on ABC called Pat Novak for Hire. But the job that really changed Webb’s life was his small role in He Walked by Night (1948), an electrifying (and genuine) film noir about the LAPD using the latest technology to track a cop killer through the streets of the city.

Produced by the struggling Eagle-Lion Films, He Walked by Night contained many of the elements that would make Dragnet a classic: the opening title explaining that the names had been changed to protect the innocent, the close attention to modern crime-fighting methods, the commanding sense of Los Angeles as a sprawling 20th-century metropolis. During the shoot, Webb was assailed by the movie’s technical consultant, veteran LAPD officer Marty Wynn, who called out Pat Novak for Hire as a fantasy. Through Wynn (the real-life model for Kevin Spacey’s starry-eyed sergeant in L.A. Confidential), Webb was able to procure actual case files from the LAPD, and he conceived of a new

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Get showtimes at chicagoreader.com/movies.

ARTS & CULTURE show that would sweep away the whole Dashiell Hammett approach to crime drama with a meticulously accurate representation of police detectives evaluating forensic evidence, interviewing witnesses, and building a case for the district attorney’s office. Dragnet debuted on NBC in June 1949 and proved so popular that two years later it became the first radio series to graduate to television. Three years after that, it became the first TV series to graduate to the movies.

The spin-off feature screening on Friday shows Webb struggling to extend his narrative format to 90 minutes, but the first 30 demonstrate what made the series so compelling.

Making his feature directing debut, he opens with a dynamic and highly cinematic sequence in which a local hoodlum, lured into a field by an associate, is ambushed by a third man who takes him down with a shotgun. But after that the movie’s pleasures, in keeping with the show’s radio origins, are chiefly verbal: Friday’s rat-a-tat voice-over narration, compulsively noting the clock time of each errand; the high volume of technical information, as a forensic chemist explains the physical evidence recovered from the scene of the crime; the coiled, world-weary dialogue, ending inevitably in one of Sergeant Friday’s harsh judgments. If nothing else, Webb knew how to deliver a punch line. “Now listen to me, cop, I pay your salary!” cries one suspect. Friday snaps, “Sit down, I’m gonna earn it.”

The big-screen Dragnet also showcases the sort of fanatical realism that distinguished the TV and radio versions from their broadcast competitors. No detail of police work was too small for Webb’s notice—his set designers and decorators would visit police buildings and construct exact replicas of existing rooms. He fills the movie screen with official documents—rap sheets, writs of habeas corpus, etc—and every stamp and signature is faithfully reproduced. The dialogue is littered with obscure police terms, which had the unexpected effect of pulling viewers deeper into the story instead of deflecting them. In essence, Webb invented the police procedural as a TV genre, his documentary rigor setting a high bar for every crime series to follow. And yet Dragnet was really a fraud, an exercise in authenticity that purposely overlooked what was happening on the ground in Los Angeles during the 1950s. It may have been the truth and nothing but the truth—but it was far from the whole truth.

Dragnet was already a radio hit when Parker, head of the LAPD’s Internal Affairs division,

was promoted to chief of police and took over the scandal-plagued department in August 1950. By this time Webb had taken to soliciting story ideas from rank-and-file officers and paying $100 for any case history that generated an episode; Parker, who had done public affairs work in the military, put a stop to this immediately and ordered the TV producer to clear every script through his Office of Public Information, whose staff would eventually grow to 20 people. When Dragnet moved to television, Webb was even more dependent on the LAPD—not only for case files but for badges, insignia, squad cars, and all the other accoutrements of visual authenticity. Parker made him jump through hoops for the department’s cooperation, and this arrangement, combined with the overwhelmingly positive feedback Webb received from police who tuned in, inevitably turned Dragnet into a love letter to the LAPD. Webb always brushed off reporters’ questions about his fatherless childhood, saying he never gave it a thought. But he idolized Parker, a titanic figure in the history of the LAPD. Born in 1905 and raised in Deadwood, South Dakota, Parker was a policeman’s policeman, leather-tough and ramrod-straight, a childless workaholic and a heavy drinker. Over the years he would increase the department’s autonomy, bringing oversight of police misconduct inside the LAPD and away from prying eyes.

He worked to root out corruption on the force, but he also fought political pressure to integrate the white and minority units inside the LAPD. Under Parker, the department adopted a tyrannical “proactive policing” strategy that Joe Domanick, author of two books on the LAPD, summarized as “Confront and command. Control the streets at all times.

Always be aggressive. Stop crimes before they happen. Seek them out. Shake them down.

Make that arrest. And never, never admit the department has done anything wrong.”

Parker’s philosophy permeates the Dragnet movie, which is more violent than the broadcast versions. On TV, Webb’s robotic Joe Friday could show occasional glints of humanity, trading jokes with his partner and sympathizing with victims, but in the movie he’s a snarling, sarcastic avenger. The TV show typically functioned as a mystery story, but here the gangland assassins are identified quickly and most of the action involves the detectives’ dogged (sometimes tedious) efforts to build a solid case. Late in the film Friday and his partner conduct a “bumper-to-bumper tail,” really a daylong harassment in which they trail the

suspect and pull him over again and again to be frisked. The movie also exhibits a healthy contempt for the Fifth Amendment, which the suspects all invoke to protect themselves.

In the final shot Friday drops a signed Fifth Amendment plea onto the sidewalk, and the signature of the suspect, now dead, is washed away by the rain.

Onscreen this kind of aggression can be exciting, but in real life Parker’s paramilitary approach, with police cadets subjected to the sort of high-stress training favored by the marines, began to make the LAPD seem like an occupying army. Parker bowed to pressure and integrated all LAPD units in 1962, but the department’s relationship with the city’s black and Latino populations remained sour.

That same year the NAACP and Malcolm X both denounced the LAPD after a traffic stop of two Black Muslims culminated in 75 officers conducting a deadly assault on a Nation of Islam mosque. Between 1963 and 1965, LAPD officers killed no fewer than 60 black citizens, 27 of them shot in the back. Parker’s clueless response to the Watts riots of August 1965, combined with his increasingly visible alcoholism, had begun to isolate him politically when he died of a heart attack in 1966, at a dinner in his honor that was being emceed by Jack Webb.

Webb made a few attempts to massage the LAPD’s race problems in the 1968-’69 season of Dragnet, after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. In one episode Friday takes part in a TV debate to defend the LAPD against charges of bigotry and brutality; in another he’s tasked with recruiting more minority candidates for the force, which ends in frustration; in yet another he serves with the city’s Emergency Control Center to monitor black neighborhoods in the days following the King murder. The late-60s incarnation of Dragnet, more commonly rerun now, became a cultural touchstone for political hard hats with its angry condemnation of hippies and drug culture. When Webb died in 1982, police chief Daryl Gates—Parker’s protege—awarded Webb’s family a genuine LAPD badge to place in his casket, a final token of his authenticity.

Obituaries inevitably remembered Joe Friday’s catchphrase “Just the facts, ma’am.”

But people tend to shape history by choosing which facts to include and which to discard. v DRAGNET ss Directed by Jack Webb.

90 min. Fri 8/25, 10 PM, Music Box, 3733 N. Southport, 773-871-6604, musicboxtheatre.com, $12

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MUSIC Cole Bennett and Elliot Montanez in the offices of Haight Brand, where Montanez works his day job ò CAROLINA SANCHEZ

LYRICAL LEMONADE SHARES ITS JUICE WITH RISING RAPPERS By showing love to potential stars as well as certified sensations, Cole Bennett and Elliot Montanez have built a community alongside their blog and brand.

By LEOR GALIL

O

n the evening of Friday, July 28, while the temperature outside hung in the low 70s, the Portage Theater was an enormous steam bath. When I got there just before ten, a thick layer of haze hovered above the roughly 1,400 fans packed into the hall—in retrospect I’m sure it was mostly weed smoke, but my first thought was that the humidity in the room had literally formed a cloud. I’m just 31, but I looked to be one of the oldest people there— many of the dozen rappers who performed that night have audiences who on average are barely past voting age. Headliner Ugly God has parlayed his millions of Soundcloud plays into

mainstream visibility, and in June the Houston rapper became one of ten MCs selected for XXL’s annual “freshman class” issue. Some of the openers have built similarly impressive online followings (Famous Dex), while others are local cult favorites (Big Body Fiji). And they’d all been brought together by a scrappy Chicago hip-hop site called Lyrical Lemonade for its second annual Summer Bash.

Lyrical Lemonade, which launched in fall 2013, began with a mission to spotlight Chicago rappers who were getting zero or very little coverage elsewhere. It found a gap between what was attracting media attention and what local hip-hop heads wanted to hear,

and it made that space its niche. The Chicago scene responded with enthusiasm, and in short order Lyrical Lemonade grew into a brand, adding events such as the Summer Bash, a clothing line (often emblazoned with the site’s lemonade-carton logo), and sidelines in music-video production and artist management. The site continues to write about local rappers with two-digit Soundcloud followings, but it’s also become a sort of hub for the newest wave of rising stars—the hip-hop community, not just in Chicago but around the country, is so rich in talent and evolves so quickly that in less than four years Chance the Rapper has become part of the old guard.

Videographer and manager Cole Bennett, 21, launched Lyrical Lemonade as a senior at Plano High School, an hour southwest of Chicago. For more than a year now, his splashy, colorful aesthetic has been attracting rappers from farther and farther afield—at this point, about half the people who pay him to make music videos are from somewhere besides Chicago. He’s worked with grimy underground hit makers whose successes have done almost as much for him (and for Lyrical Lemonade) as they have for the MCs themselves. A video he made for Florida rapper Lil Pump, “Flex Like Ouu,” has accumulated more than 26 million YouTube views since it was posted in J

AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 25

MUSIC continued from 25

April; Pump’s “D Rose” video, also Bennett’s doing, has racked up 42 million since January.

Those jobs are the main reason Bennett is the only person who makes money through Lyrical Lemonade. The site doesn’t sell ads (though he plans to change that within a year), and the clothing line isn’t enough of a profit engine to pay anybody. “Almost all of the revenue collected from clothes is invested back into the brand,” he says.

Bennett hasn’t written anything for Lyrical Lemonade in more than a year. The enterprise’s other principal, Elliot Montanez, who came aboard in early 2015, now edits the blog and oversees its small team of volunteer writers. The two of them hope to pay their contributors once they monetize the site, but they figure this approach will guarantee the writers are part of the team first and foremost to share music they love. “It’s a hobby,” Bennett says.

“We want to know everyone’s really in it for the right reasons.”

Montanez pays his bills working full-time for entertainment-management company Haight Brand, which his older brother Eric cofounded with Michael Ahern and Chance’s manager, Pat Corcoran; based in Logan Square, it provides website design, merchandise support, and other services. He and Bennett also manage a couple rappers apiece, though they don’t take a cut of their clients’ earnings.

At the Summer Bash, I saw Bennett—a slim white guy in a camo-green T-shirt and orange shorts—seemingly everywhere I turned. He was at the entrance hustling people inside, ducking into doors that led who knows where, and addressing the crowd on mike between acts. But his demeanor at our interview seems relaxed, despite his businesslike attentiveness.

He and Montanez are both single-mindedly focused, and apparently always on the clock.

Montanez has just spent several hours editing Lyrical Lemonade after putting in a full shift at Haight that started at 6:30 AM. And Bennett’s relentlessness has impressed Chicago rapper Femdot, one of Montanez’s clients: “That man Cole, he never sleeps,” he says. “I don’t sleep, and I know he’s the only other person I can call at 4 AM who’s gonna answer the phone.”

His mother, Susan Bennett, says her son has had that kind of determination since he was a kid. At age five or so, he joined a youth tackle football team, and in no time he was rattling off facts about the pros and dreaming of a sports career of his own. “He swore he was gonna be in the NFL—went to practice and practiced really hard, and he never really

26 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

achieved greatness,” Susan says. When Bennett was ten, he saw the writing on the wall and sat his mom down for a serious discussion about his future. “He’s like, ‘Mom, let’s face it, I’m never gonna make it in the NFL,’” she says. “‘I’m gonna have to figure something else out with my life.’”

In his junior year of high school, Bennett got hooked on shooting and editing video. That spring, Chance the Rapper dropped his Acid Rap mixtape, which rocketed him to international fame, and his work with videographer Austin Vesely inspired Bennett as he tried to figure out how to contribute to Chicago’s hip-hop scene from an hour away. He’d drive to the city to see shows with his friend Bernie Niyonzima, a childhood friend of Vic Mensa’s who now raps as Duffle Bag Buru.

Buru also helped Bennett film in Chicago, and in June 2013 he conducted an interview with South Holland rapper Kembe X that became the first video on Bennett’s YouTube channel. At around the same time, Bennett convinced his friend to try his hand at rapping.

“He’d be like, ‘Yo, man, we should make videos, you should rap—you could be the best rapper in the town,’” Buru says.

Even then, Bennett had grand ambitions.

“I was like, ‘I wanna do something more—I wanna be more involved, I wanna be able to help people have a voice, and build a platform,’ because I saw an opportunity,” he says. “There was definitely blogs around, but there weren’t nearly as many as there are now. You had Fake Shore Drive, Elevator, and stuff like that. I was like, ‘You know what, I think it would be cool to make my own music platform.’” He started bouncing ideas for site names off his mom.

“I don’t even know where it came from,” Susan says. “But I just said, ‘Lyrical Lemonade.’ He’s like, ‘That’s it!’”

Bennett wrote blog posts after school, covering obscure up-and-comers as well as the occasional established local such as Vic Mensa. Some of his first posts were about Sunnie Storm, Max Bouvagnet, and Carl, who’d eventually join Hurt Everybody (he now records and performs as Qari). In February 2014, he threw his first Lyrical Lemonade showcase, a free concert at the Music Garage’s modest performance space with more than a dozen acts, among them Treated Crew member Saint Millie, pop-forward rapper-producer Supa Bwe, and hip-hop group Supreme Regime (whose members included Carl).

“I got to meet a lot of cool people for the first time, ’cause it was all Internet relationships prior to that,” Bennett says. Alex Wiley of

Chicago collective the Village showed up, and Bennett asked if he wanted to do an impromptu performance. “He came out and performed a song, and that was the craziest thing ever,” Bennett says.

In fall 2014 Bennett started classes at DePaul, which brought him closer to the scene he’d loved from afar. But at least at first, he concentrated on school, where he studied digital cinema and later communications. He wanted to prove to himself that he could do well. “I had nearly a 4.0 my freshman year—in high school I was a standard student, so that was a big deal for me,” he says.

Lyrical Lemonade began with a mission to spotlight Chicago rappers who were getting zero or very little coverage elsewhere. It found a gap between what was attracting media attention and what local hip-hop heads wanted to hear, and it made that space its niche.

Bennett shortly realized that his college workload would make it impossible for him to handle Lyrical Lemonade by himself, so in early 2015 he put out a call for writers on Twitter. He wound up adding two people to the team: One was Bryan Snow, aka aspiring rapper Space Snow, who died in a car accident last fall. The other was Elliot Montanez.

A native of downstate Coal City, Montanez had already crossed paths with Bennett, though he didn’t remember it—they’d played on competing high school football teams.

Montanez had heard of Lyrical Lemonade before he came aboard, but he wouldn’t have known enough to want to answer Bennett’s call if it hadn’t been for a chance meeting at Vic Mensa’s Chop Shop show in March 2015.

Montanez was selling merchandise for Mensa, and after he got to talking with an overzealous teenager who’d sneaked into the venue, he invited the kid to help out. The teenager’s name was Luis Rodriguez, and he was a friend of Bennett’s. He also had a lot to say about Lyrical Lemonade. “He talked about Cole for about ten minutes,” Montanez says.

“The way he spoke about him . . . it made me want to meet him.”

Montanez had some experience writing about music—he’d occasionally contributed to his older brother’s blog, See Beyond Genre— and within a couple weeks he had his first byline at Lyrical Lemonade. Rodriguez died in a car accident about a month later. “It’s like when you meet an angel—you meet someone and they point you in the right direction,” Montanez says. “Only time I ever met that kid, he put me on to Cole.”

In summer 2016, after a little more than a year with Lyrical Lemonade, Montanez took over as the site’s editor and administrator.

After a day of work at Haight Brand, he’ll use a computer in the company’s headquarters to edit and approve blog posts for a few hours.

The site had 15 or 16 regular contributors when Montanez took over—“If you had two arms and could write sentences, you could write for Lyrical Lemonade,” he says—but he and Bennett soon whittled that down to seven or eight. Among the busiest these days are Vancouver resident Jake Lusted, whose early enthusiasm nearly alienated Montanez (“This kid was seriously e-mailing me every day for like a month”), and Lane Cowherd, a friend of Montanez’s from high school.

Montanez insists that his buddies don’t get special treatment (“I’ve cut my homies, I’ve cut my roommate—I don’t play that shit,” he says), but friendship is nonetheless a crucial part of Lyrical Lemonade’s success. “My main thing with anything—with Cole, with any of my friends, with anybody I manage, anybody I work with—if I don’t feel the friendship before anything, it just doesn’t work for me,” Montanez says. He manages Isaiah G and Femdot, and he says he spent about a year hanging out with Femdot before taking him on as a client.

Femdot definitely noticed that Montanez was putting in the time. “It just shows that it’s not something he’s trying to do just to get something—in terms of monetary gain or status,” the rapper says. “He genuinely believes in what I’m doing, and wants to be a part of it in any facet.

There’s been many times where [he’d be] like, ‘Even if I don’t manage you, I’m still gonna rock with you—you’re my friend. That’s solid.’”

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MUSIC Montanez also put Femdot’s three 2016 EPs on Lyrical Lemonade’s list of the top 50 local projects of the year—at number ten, between Jamila Woods’s Heavn and Mick Jenkins’s The Healing Component. This might look like a conflict of interest, but given that the blog has no revenue and Montanez doesn’t get paid to manage Femdot, it’s tough to persuade yourself that anything really sinister is happening. “We don’t charge for posts or promotion or anything like that,” says Bennett.

Bennett manages a couple rappers too, including his friend Duffle Bag Buru. Buru had put music on the back burner after graduating from high school, but in October 2016 Bennett convinced him to return to the mike. “[Bennett] was bigger than any rappers that we even knew in the city—he had more of a name for himself,” Buru says. “The Lyrical Lemonade platform just made it easy. I didn’t have to worry about if people were gonna hear the music—I just had to worry if it was gonna be good.”

Bennett has helped Buru network by bringing him along on video jobs in LA and New York. This summer he landed his friend a featured verse from up-and-coming Atlanta rapper Pollari (on Buru’s track “New Bag”), and in February he booked him to open for irreverent Atlanta hit maker Playboi Carti at a Lyrical Lemonade show. “Cole’s place in the scene, his credibility—people are way more willing to accept the music,” Buru says.

Last winter Bennett decided to teach himself how to add animation to live-action videos, a skill that would shortly boost his profile hugely. Though he was still swimming against a torrent of homework (by then he was a sophomore at DePaul), he watched online tutorials to get the basics, drinking too much coffee and staying up even later than usual. A few weeks later he collaborated with Chicago videographer Laka Films to add animated flair—mostly bright white lines flashing from or outlining peoples’ bodies—to the video for Soulja Boy’s “Workin’ It.” The clip features a cameo from Chicago sensation Famous Dex, and Dex called Bennett and asked him to make a video for his own “Hit Em Wit It.” In early March 2016, Bennett ran a no-frills shoot in Dex’s Englewood basement. Up till then Dex’s videos had been quick and dirty, edited and uploaded within an hour, so he didn’t have much patience for Bennett’s process— editing and animating the clip took him about two days. “I’m coming home from class—he’s blowing up my phone,” Bennett says. “I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m gonna FaceTime him—I’m gonna show him what I’ve got.’ I remember he

had his hand over his mouth, like he’d never seen anything like that.”

For his part, Bennett had never seen anything like the numbers Dex’s video racked up. His most-watched video at that point had about 100,000 views. “Hit Em Wit It” now has more than 15 million—though doors have been closing in Dex’s face since September 2016, when surveillance footage that leaked on Instagram apparently showed him beating his longtime girlfriend. XXL editor in chief Vanessa Satten has cited the video to explain why Dex didn’t make the cut for the magazine’s 2017 “freshman class” issue.

But at the time, that leak was still months away, and “Hit Em Wit It” opened the floodgates for Bennett. He began making videos for local stars such as King Louie and Lil Bibby, as well as for the Soundcloud rappers who began breaking out this year—his video for “Ski Mask,” by Miami MC Smokepurpp, hit the Web last July, four months after “Hit Em Wit It.” Not long after his work with Dex, in spring 2016, Lyrical Lemonade was demanding so much of Bennett’s time that he sat down with his mom and one of his older sisters to talk about the idea of taking time off from school.

“We all as parents think your child should go to college and get a job—you just envision that as normal,” Susan says. “It was a little frightening, but exciting at the same time, for Cole to make a decision like that. It was very well thought out, and I know that he considered everybody’s feelings along the way. I knew that he was making the best decision for him and his career.” Montanez had already left Robert Morris University, quitting in late 2015 to focus on his music-industry ambitions.

Both Bennett and Montanez seem to have made the right call. In just a few years, Lyrical Lemonade has gone from throwing small shows at the Music Garage and Jerry’s in Wicker Park to putting together big showcases with rising stars—including Lil Uzi Vert’s first Chicago gig, at the Metro last April, and Playboi Carti’s February concert at the Portage.

Bennett says Carti’s road manager told him at the show that the rapper hadn’t planned to play any dates before releasing his self-titled mixtape in April—not until Lyric Lemonade came calling. “She’s like, ‘We did it because it’s a Lyrical Lemonade show—we’ve seen your work, we know what type of shows you guys do, we know that you guys have a good reputation in the music scene,’” Bennett says.

Bennett puts a lot into the Lyrical Lemonade concerts—if tickets sell better than he’d hoped, he plows the extra money back into the

production, spending it on a light show or on T-shirts to toss out to fans. Now he’s booking a Lyrical Lemonade fall tour.

Today Bennett coud probably work exclusively with rising stars, but he still wants to invest in Chicago’s hip-hop scene on a grassroots level. Since 2015 he’s filmed free public cyphers in parks and on beaches, inviting anyone who feels like it to rap a cappella in front of his camera—he’s been uploading the series to his YouTube channel under the running title “Chicago’s Biggest Cypher, Ever.” The fifth installment will be this fall, but given the growth of Lyrical Lemonade’s following, Bennett expects a crowd so big that he’ll have to think carefully about a location.

Bennett and Montanez take pride in Lyrical Lemonade’s continued coverage of unknown artists—they get just as much attention as rappers name-checked in glossy magazines.

For this reason, I’ve used Lyrical Lemonade as a resource myself: to learn about promising young local rapper Ausar Bradley, I read his Lyrical Lemonade Q&A. Lyrical Lemonade doesn’t do top-tier numbers on its blog—Quantcast reports 27,708 unique visitors from within the U.S. for June 2017. But because that statistic doesn’t say anything about who those people are, it also doesn’t say much about the site’s influence or reach. Rather than discuss website stats, Bennett and Montanez prefer to talk about the person in Portugal who recently ordered a Lyrical Lemonade shirt.

Bennett continues to shoot videos for Chicago rappers, including Cdot Honcho, Roy French, and his management clients, Duffle Bag Buru and the rabble-rousing Warhol.SS. But he hopes to take on new ventures soon—among them creating a literal lemonade sharing the brand’s name (“We can print out and assemble the carton right now”) and opening a physical storefront to sell Lyrical Lemonade clothing.

The most recent Lyrical Lemonade clothing collection dropped Monday, August 14, and in less than 24 hours the swim trunks had sold out. For the past year, Lyrical Lemonade has contracted with Haight Brand to help with manufacturing, online sales, and shipping— Montanez’s day job sometimes involves fulfilling orders for his passion project.

“Lyrical Lemonade had the second most sales this month, behind Chance the Rapper, with over 30 clients on that list,” Montanez says.

“Did that happen?” Cole asks.

“Yeah,” Montanez says. “It’s cool.” v

v @imLeor AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 27

bottom lounge

MUSIC IN ROTATION

A Reader staffer shares three musical obsessions, then asks someone (who asks someone else) to take a turn.

Herb Alpert (left) on tour with the Tijuana Brass in early 1969 ò SUN-TIMES PRINT COLLECTION

Seven-inch singles at the Record Dugout

08.26 J ROCC & KARRIEM RIGGINS (LIVE)

ò ALISON GREEN

PEANUT BUTTER WOLF / MATA

08.27 THE ALMAS

THE UNDERCLASS / LEVER MONARCHY OVER MONDAY

08.31 THE LIVING END

THE DOLLYROTS / TOP SHELF LICKERS NORTH COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL AFTERSHOW

09.01 MANIC FOCUS RUSS LQUID

NORTH COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL AFTERSHOW

09.02 EOTO 09.07 WEEDEATER TELEKINETIC YETI

Free Salamander Exhibit at Beat Kitchen on July 31 ò PHILIP MONTORO

SILVER WRAPPER PRESENTS

09.08 YHETI

DMVU / TOADFACE

09.13 JAKE MILLER THE STOLEN

RIOT FEST LATE NIGHT

09.15 CAP’N JAZZ 09.15 RAPPERCHICKS

09.18 COAST MODERN 09.19 ASGEIR 09.22 GABRIELLE APLIN KEELAN DONOVAN

09.26 THE EARLY NOVEMBER & THE MOVIELIFE HEART ATTACK MAN

ALT NATION PRESENTS

10.05 ATLAS GENIUS

FLOR / HALF THE ANIMAL

10.06 TOGETHER PANGEA

TALL JUAN / DADDY ISSUES / LALA LALA

10.10 TRUCKFIGHTERS NIGHT ONE - AUTUMN OF THE SERAPHS 10TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

10.11 PINBACK

DRAGON DROP NIGHT TWO

10.12 PINBACK 10.12 PAPER MICE

10.17 BEACH FOSSILS SMAIL MAIL / RAENER

10.20 MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT DJ BUD SWEET

10.21 LA FEMME 10.31 LORDS OF ACID

COMBICHRIST / CHRISTIAN DEATH EN ESCH / WICCID

11.04 THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA VEIL OF MAYA / SILENT PLANET THOUSAND BELOW

11.17 SHE WANTS REVENGE COSMONAUTS

12.02 THE WHITE BUFFALO www.bottomlounge.com 1375 w lake st 312.666.6775

28 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

PHILIP MONTORO

THYMME JONES

TONY YOUNG Also known as rock-era

Youssou N’Dour at Millennium Park on August 10 The evening’s rain passed the park by before Youssou N’Dour took the stage, and the night just got better from there. With its first note, his penetrating, supple voice made the hair on my neck stand up, and I especially loved the buoyant, bubbly new single “Yitél.”

I had even more fun dancing alongside my Senegalese-American neighbors knowing that I was defying our asshole president, who wants me to hate immigrants and Muslims.

Michael Mantler/Edward Gorey, The Hapless Child and Other Inscrutable Stories Setting Edward Gorey text to music is a formidable task, and finding a vocalist to navigate the resultant melodic convolution is yet another.

Fortunately, composer Michael Mantler found Robert Wyatt, the one person capable of humanizing (via whimsy and wistfulness) these obtuse phrases. Increasing the likelihood of disaster was the inclusion of four uncompromising avant-jazz luminaries: Jack DeJohnette (drums), Terje Rypdal (guitar), Steve Swallow (bass), and Carla Bley (piano). Somehow, even with these gigantic personalities making no attempt to “shrink themselves,” the music coheres . . . perhaps because I love every one of these people. If you don’t, listening to this dense album could feel like the longest, most uncomfortable elevator ride of your life.

Stereo equipment from the 1970s My friend has a Pioneer turntable from the late 70s. It’s hooked up to a Fisher Studio Standard amp from the same era. Add the classic Pioneer speakers and wow! The real memories of how the music I loved so much made me feel come back again. The warmth and depth really do exist . . . they’re not a myth.

Reader music editor

Zabelle Panosian, I Am Servant of Your Voice: April-May, 1917 The day Bandcamp donated its proceeds to the Transgender Law Center, I bought a bunch of music off my want list—including this recent Canary Records collection of songs recorded by Zabelle Panosian, an Armenian who fled the Ottoman Empire’s Hamidian massacres and arrived in the U.S. at age four in 1896. Her unearthly, quavering soprano seems to struggle through the scrim of surface static on the original 78s, carrying the heart-stopping grief of a woman who survived the extermination of her people.

Free Salamander Exhibit at Beat Kitchen on July 31 This five-piece includes four alumni of the inimitable Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and its 2016 debut, Undestroyed, keeps faith with that band’s wild, chimerical prog rock (though without Carla Kihlstedt and her violin, it leans more on guitars). At this show, front man Nils Frykdahl framed the songs’ surreal fables of late-capitalist apocalypse with sly, dadaist patter that unsettled you just enough to absorb their revolutionary messages.

Founding member of Cheer-Accident

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, 1966-’69 At one point in the mid-60s, Herb Albert & the Tijuana Brass had four albums on Billboard’s top ten at once. Their fifth record, Going Places, sold 1.3 million copies . . . before its release.

But Alpert began to feel like a product, and it got inside his head. En route to his nervous breakdown in 1969, a sublime melancholia crept into his playing. Here’s a sampling of songs that exemplify it: “It Was a Very Good Year” (1966), “The Shadow of Your Smile” (1966), “Shades of Blue” (1967), “Love So Fine” (1967), “She Touched Me” (1968), “The Brass Are Comin’” (1969), and “I’ll Be Back” (1969).

Summertime insect sounds Cicadas! It’s August! Listen to those cicadas!

musical encyclopedia Top 40 Tony

Vintage seven-inch singles It seems that when people speak of the resurgence of vinyl recordings, they speak only of LPs—that is, 12-inch albums. How about seven-inch singles?

Often when I go to resale shops and stores, they’re treated dismissively. However, vintage singles can be full of astonishing sonic surprises. Their A sides sometimes feature alternate versions and mixes of their album counterparts. Nonalbum B sides are also a plus, as a few may not have made their way to digital format.

The differences in how music charts today Changes to the methodology of music charts have affected long-standing accomplishments on the national level. The Beatles had 14 simultaneous Billboard Hot 100 singles in April 1964 (a record tied by Drake in 2015), but Linkin Park recently landed 23 at once—albeit on the 50-position Hot Rock Songs chart, where there’s less competition. The death of front man Chester Bennington prompted a glut of downloads and YouTube streams, both of which Billboard now tallies. Since there’s a difference in how we consume music in the digital era, charts today don’t seem comparable to those 50, 30, or even ten years ago.

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Recommended and notable shows and critics’ insights for the week of August 24

MUSIC

b ALL AGES F

Elysia Crampton ò JULIA GROSSI

THURSDAY24 Actress, Elysia Crampton Actress headlines; Elysia Crampton and RXM Reality open. 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $15.

21+

ò ARIS THEOTOKATOS

JOSEPH CHILLIAMS, SQUEAKPIVOT, JEAN DEAUX, AND MFN MELO Mon 8/28 7 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $13, $10 in advance. b

PICK OF THE WEEK

Chicago rapper Joseph Chilliams refracts the west side through the lens of pop culture IN A RECENT interview with Chicago culture and news site These Days, rapper and Pivot Gang cofounder Joseph Chilliams discussed an epiphany he’d had about making music while watching a Louis C.K. special: “I realized that as long as it’s entertaining, it can be about absolutely anything.” Fortunately, he also understands the value of grounding his entertaining self-expression with sincerity and personality. His forthcoming debut, Henry Church—a rough Spanish-to-English translation of Enrique Iglesias’s name—is filled with pop-culture references and mature recollections of Chilliams’s youth in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, delivered deadpan. On “FN-2187,” named after John Boyega’s character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Chilliams pulls from a library of film and pop-music history to provide colorful descriptions of his neighborhood’s corners and of his own prowess; he’s playful, and he often sounds like he’s rapping just for the fun of it, especially on lines such as “I sound like Neo without the hat on / Get read Miranda rights with a Miranda Lambert track on.” —LEOR GALIL

British producer Darren Cunningham, who’s been making music as Actress since 2004, has built a career flouting dance-music conventions. Though he’s used the language of dubstep, ambient music, and Detroit techno over the years, Cunningham has sculpted a highly personal sound that often conveys a fragile, almost handmade quality, whether he’s creating gritty noise or hypnotizing abstraction.

His recent AZD (Ninja Tune) is the latest in a series of retrenchments, embracing a more deliberate dance-floor direction but retaining the wonderfully crusted-over hiss and abrupt editing techniques of 2014’s Ghettoville. “CYN” samples influential New York hip-hop icon Rammellzee, but the track fuses a futuristic, muted strain of techno with deliberately primitive production; that sort of dissonance is maybe the one constant in Actress’s work. Native American producer Elysia Crampton, another dissident from dance-music orthodoxy, uses her work to explore issues of Latinx and trans identity; she’s one of the most fascinating figures in experimental electronic music today. The first seven tracks on Crampton’s latest album, Spots y Escupitajo (Vinyl Factory), zip by in just 90 seconds, flailing with noisy field recordings and weird electronic spasms. The rest of the album comprises six full-length tracks that are just as odd, and that only occasionally deliver what anyone might call dance music. I’m not crazy about the collision of retro sound effects, chintzy fake-string synth washes, and some of the voiceovers, but I can’t think of anything else that sounds remotely like what she’s doing. —PETER MARGASAK

Laura Toxvaerd Trio A duo of Fred Lonberg-Holm & Avreeayl Ra opens. 9 PM, Elastic, 3429 W. Diversey, $10 suggested donation. b Saxophonist and composer Laura Toxvaerd has been on the Danish jazz scene since the turn of

the century, but she isn’t nearly as well-known as she deserves to be. Last year Toxvaerd released three equally powerful albums with three different combos—including Pladeshop, a trio recording featuring dazzling pianist Simon Toldam and veteran drummer Marilyn Mazur. Each effort has its own sound, but Toxvaerd’s grainy, biting tone is constant across the three records, whether she’s delivering tender balladry or blowing jagged phrases that knife across the sound field. An improviser’s heart powers her work, but she’s embraced her own form of graphic scoring—marked by variable uses of color, shape, written instruction, and conventional notation, and collected in the lovely book Compositions: 18 Graphic Scores. The book is an incitement to creativity for Toxvaerd and her collaborators; by including initial sketches that show how pieces developed over time, she gives her players more to work with. In her first visit to Chicago, she leads a young trio with Norwegian drummer Ole Mofjell and Copenhagen keyboardist Jeppe Zeeberg—the latter performed on last year’s Compositions Part 2 as part of the trio Dødens Garderobe, which adapted to Toxvaerd’s eclectic scores with grace and sensitivity. —PETER MARGASAK

FRIDAY25 Dave Rawlings Machine 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport, $30-$37, $27 in advance. b

Best known for his work with Gillian Welch, David Rawlings seemed intent on using his second album, 2015’s Nashville Obsolete, to differentiate himself from his partner and her sharp updates of American rural traditions. He ended up sounding lost and turbid, extending simple folk-rock themes into endless drones. With his terrific new Poor David’s Almanack (Acony), he’s regained his footing, distinguishing himself by putting his voice front and center. On a loose adaptation of the old folk tune “Cumberland Gap,” Welch’s biting harmonies remind the listener of their bond, and the song’s stripped-down groove and dark melody inject some of the horror of Neil Young’s “Ohio” into Rawlings’s invocation of the gap’s harrowing physical danger. Like Welch, Rawlings embraces the themes and basic language of folk music in his best material, speaking truths J

AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 29

MUSIC AN EVENING WITH...

THE CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS

SEP 28

LOVEJOY

MAGIC CITY HIPPIES

OCT 01

SAM AMIDON

OCT 04

SONGHOY BLUES

OCT 05

AN EVENING WITH...

OCT 09

TRASHCAN SINATRAS

AN EVENING WITH...

NEW

OCT 24

MASHROU’ LEILA

NOV 10

NEW

HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER

GRETA VAN FLEET

NOV 30

TICKETS AT WWW.LH-ST.COM

continued from 29

that remain undiminished with time. On “Lindsey Button,” he sings about a forgotten beauty who came down the mountain and turned heads in church, and “Yup” is a droll story of a farmer giving the devil his blessing to abscond with his wife—only to have Satan return her because “if I kept her there longer she’d a’ torn up Hell.” Rawlings plugs in his guitar here and there, but the bulk of the songs on Almanack keep it rustic, with skeletal arrangements played beautifully by a crack band that includes guitarist and fellow old-time traveler Willie Watson, Punch Brothers bassist Paul Kowert, and Crooked Still fiddler Brittany Haas—all of whom will join Welch and Rawlings live. —PETER MARGASAK

Ken Vandermark/Eric Revis Quartet See also Saturday. 9 PM Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway, $15. 21+

TIM DARCY

SEP 13

NEW

FIRST LIGHT TOUR

JOSH JACOBSON

OCT 05

NEW

THE BALLROOM THIEVES

NOV 02

NEW

J.VIEWS

NOV 08

SATURDAY26

NEW

Because competition for gigs in New York is so tight, jazz musicians often need to carve out a very specific niche—to become the best at mainstream postbop or neo-swing or whatever. Under those circumstances, musicians who refuse to box themselves in are special by default—and bassist Eric Revis is a unique case by any measure. Revis came up with brilliant jazz singer Betty Carter and hit his stride in the Branford Marsalis Quartet, but his curiosity has led him in plenty of less obvious directions, such as working with German free-jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann or star guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. In 2009 Revis invited Chicago saxophonist Ken Vandermark to join some of his own regular colleagues—pianist Jason Moran and drummer Nasheet Waits—in a new band, wedding two distinct schools of thought and generating impressive results on 2012’s Parallax. A newer quartet with Vandermark works even better: the album Sing Me Some Cry (Clean Feed) is a dazzlingly diverse effort with pianist Kris Davis and drummer Chad Taylor, duly reflecting the aesthetic range of its makers (all four contribute a tune). The quartet meshes the musicians’ individual tendencies beautifully: Vandermark blows muscular, jagged lines over playing by Davis that alternates between tonally oblique and rhapsodically tender, while Taylor (who’s sounded better than ever in the past year or two) deftly balances deep groove and power. The music covers a lot of ground, pivoting between postbop, free jazz, and pure improvisational energy.

This is the sort of band that will seriously raise the stakes onstage. —PETER MARGASAK

SONREAL

NOV 18

NEW

BEN SOLLEE AND KENTUCKY NATIVE SEP 12

Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard.

NOOSA

PIERCE FULTON AND NVDES

DEC 04

Bric-a-Brac Scummer Slam The Okmoniks headline; Aquarian Blood, Dana, Erik Nervous, No Men, KO, Spodee Boy, Monica LaPlante, Drag, the Make-Overs, and Geezers Senior open. 1 PM, East Room, 2354 N. Milwaukee, 21+. F

NEW

DEVON WELSH

CHET PORTER

30 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

DEC 08

In a little more than four years, Bric-a-Brac Records, which occupies a cozy storefront on the border between Logan Square and Avondale, has become a crucial part of the local creative community. Owners Nick Mayor and Jen Lemasters have accom-

plished this in part by hosting a bevy of all-ages shows featuring vital underground rock, punk, garage, and hip-hop acts from across the country and abroad. If for some reason you’ve yet to make it to one (and if you’ve missed Bric-a-Brac’s off-site shows too), the second-annual Scummer Slam is a great way to sample the types of sounds the store traffics in. Among the highlights are Chicago noise makers No Men, Chicago/Beijing indie-pop group KO, mutant Kalamazoo postpunk Erik Nervous, and experimental South African garage duo the MakeOvers. At the top of the bill are Tuscon’s Okmoniks, featuring Justin Champlin (better known as Nobunny) on drums; they deal in jittery rock tunes with an early-60s feel, balancing pop sweetness with a bit of punk spunk. Shows at Bric-a-Brac’s store are usually all ages, but you have to be old enough to drink legally for this one. The organizers are still thinking of the kids, though: they’ll collect donations throughout the day, with all money going to Goethe Elementary School’s music program. —LEOR GALIL

88 Fingers Louie The Lillingtons, Able Baker Fox, and Evil Engine open. 7:30 PM, Metro, 3730 N. Clark, $20, $17 in advance. b It’s been 19 years since local melodic hardcore outfit 88 Fingers Louie released a proper full-length, and on the brand-new Thank You for Being a Friend (Bird Attack), the reunited band haven’t skipped a beat. Throughout the 90s, 88 Fingers Louie made beyond-catchy, turbo-speed, uplifting punk that was without a doubt better than (but unfortunately not as popular as) that of their skate-punk peers.

The band broke up in 1999, with two members going on to the massively popular Rise Against, but they’ve come back together for a couple reunion stints over the years. The re-formation of 2013— the band’s 20th anniversary—stuck, and they’ve been on tour ever since. On Thank You for Being a Friend, they’re a well-oiled machine: drummer John Carroll (who’s been playing with math-pop masterminds Paper Mice) is faster and sharper than he’s ever been, guitarist Dan “Mr. Precision” Wleklinski reels off flawless technical riffs, and vocalist Denis Buckley sings just as clearly and powerfully as he did decades ago. It always felt like 88 Fingers lived in the shadow of the NOFXs and AFIs of the world, but on this new record, they proudly stand on their own. —LUCA CIMARUSTI

Gospel of the Serpent III Hod headlines; Black Devotion, Nucleus, Carpathian Funeral, Ptahil, and Funeral of God open. 8 PM, Cobra Lounge, 235 N. Ashland, $12, $10 in advance. 18+ Chicago’s Murder City Promotions and Temple of the Old Serpent have scored some massive metal energy for their Gospel of the Serpent III, a ritualistic multiband blowout. (Gospel of the Serpent II will take place August 25 in Hamtramck, Michigan, and next year’s fest has already been booked for July 2018, per the Facebook page.) From “Satantonio,” Texas, come headliners Hod (short for the Norse god Hodur), the fiercely rhythmic and riffing blast machine who dropped the mike straight through to the void on 2014’s Book of the Worm.

In terms of locals, Carpathian Funeral return from

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MUSIC 2 Chainz 7 PM, Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State, $30-$100. b Atlanta rapper Tauheed Epps, better known as 2 Chainz, has built a career out of recording selfaggrandizing verses even more outsize than his sixfoot, five-inch frame. He litters June’s Pretty Girls Like Trap Music (Def Jam) with rich raps; on the lilting “Rolls Royce Bitch,” Epps explains that his life of luxury is at a different level than most of us can can grasp by telling us about his car’s unusual features (“My doors go that way”). But the MC, who once went by Tity Boi, also understands the value of growth, and throughout the album he reflects on the path he took to the present with a mix of anguish, heartache, euphoria, and a sense of responsibility. On “4 AM” he stitches together an outline of his life, but rather than laying it out chronologically, he presents memories as each moment sparks something within him. His relaxed rapping allows him to describe a mess of hardto-pin-down emotions in subtle vocal shifts as he recalls, within the space of two breaths, the birth of his first daughter and the fortune he made selling drugs. Epps pulls it off with an assured cool, proving that he contains multitudes—just like his bank account. —LEOR GALIL 2 Chainz ò JAMIE MCCARTHY

their first Murder City fest appearance (at last year’s Death to False Metal), and Nucleus are fresh off Fragmented Self, a split release with Macabra that came out in May. Oklahoma’s Black Devotion, Indiana’s Ptahil, and Ohio’s Funeral of God round out a very solid lineup with consistent satanic principles. —MONICA KENDRICK

Latimore Mr. Lee’s 55th Anniversary with Denise LaSalle, Latimore, Enchantment, Sidney Joe Qualls, and Mr. Lee & Co. 7 PM, Country Club Hills Theater, 4200 W. Main St., Country Club Hills, $40-$65. b On Benny Latimore’s latest album, A Taste of Me: Great American Songs (Essential Media), the soul-blues veteran wraps his smoldering baritone around standards from the Great American Songbook (“Smile,” “The Very Thought of You”) as well as contemporary classics (“What a Difference a Day Makes,” “At Last,” “You Are So Beautiful”). He adds reworkings of his own “Dig a Little Deeper” and “Let’s Straighten It Out,” both of which prove themselves fully worthy of such august company.

Still sexy and robust at 77, Latimore delivers a show that’s intimate and playful, exuding the tough-buttender machismo that has made “Let’s Straighten It Out” such a potent boudoir anthem for more than 40 years. This concert, billed as a celebration of dancer-comedian-emcee-promoter Lee “Mr. Lee” Kirsky on the occasion of his 55th year in show business, also features Denise LaSalle, Enchantment, Sidney Joe Qualls, and Mr. Lee & Co featuring Kirksy’s son, Lee Jr. —DAVID WHITEIS

Ken Vandermark/Eric Revis Quartet See Friday. 8 PM, Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway, $15. 21+

MONDAY28 Joseph Chilliams Themind, Jean Deaux, Mfn Melo, and Squeakpivot open. 7 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $13, $10 in advance. b

TUESDAY29 Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble Nicholas Krgovich and Astrobal open. 8 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $15. 21+ Laetitia Sadier has been pairing honeyed, seductive melodies with lyrics that read like strident Marxist tracts since her days in Stereolab. On her new solo album, Find Me Finding You (Drag City), the tactic still works for me, more or less—I qualify that judgment because I often don’t bother paying attention to what she’s singing about, preferring to bask in the beauty of her rarefied hybrid of Brazilian pop and French chanson. Considering how awkwardly some of her lines function as lyrics—when she sings “The adjustments ahead to be made colossal” in “Double Voice, Extra Voice,” it’s a bit like watching a gymnast trip off a balance beam— the fact that I can ignore their content ought to count as high praise for the music. The record is billed to the Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble, a new name for a crew of players she’s found a real sweet spot with—they embroider their meticulously etched arrangements with bits of analog static, elegant vocal harmonies, and (on one song) a lovely cornet solo by former Chicagoan Rob J

SEPTEMBER 1& 2 ON SALE NOW TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE CHICAGO THEATRE BOX OFFICE OR The Chicago Theatre provides disabled accommodations and sells tickets to disabled individuals through our Disabled Services department, which may be reached at 888-609-7599 any weekday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

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Never miss a show again.

MUSIC

Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard.

EARLY WARNINGS Find a concert, buy a ticket, and sign up to get advance notice of Chicago’s essential music shows at chicagoreader.com/early.

The Okmoniks play the Bric-a-Brac Scummer Slam on Saturday. ò GRACE CLAIBORN

FESTIVALS

3855 n lincoln ave.

chicago

LARKIN POE SUN 8/27

sat sept 23

for complete listings, tickets, and social updates... martyrslive.com facebook.com/martyrslive @martyrslive 32 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

Little Village vibes, POC punk, south-side Pride, and more Logan Square Food Truck Social A flotilla of food trucks descend upon Logan Square, soundtracked by the likes of Endless Boogie, the Gories, and the Eternals 6.

8/25-8/27, music at 6 PM on Friday, 1:30 PM on Saturday and Sunday, Humboldt between Armitage and Bloomingdale, foodtrucksocial.biz, $5 suggested donation, all-ages Or Does It Explode: Black and Brown Punk Show Festival Twenty-one acts, mostly punk and hardcore, play to benefit black activist groups Assata’s Daughters and the Chicago BTGNC Collective.

Local legends Los Crudos and La Armada headline; see page 42. 8/25-8/26, 4 PM, ChiTown Futbol, 2343 S. Throop, $20-$30 suggested donation, $15-$25 before 7 PM, $30 two-day pass, under 16 free, all-ages Bric-a-Brac Scummer Slam Bric-a-Brac Records presents an all-day garage-rock blowout headlined by the Okmoniks. See page 30. 8/26, 1 PM, East Room, 2354 N. Milwaukee, free Villaplaooza This street fest celebrates the Latinx heritage

of Little Village with sets by Fidel Nadal, Combo Chimbita, AJ Dávila, the Chamanas, and more. 8/25-8/26, noon, 26th and Central Park, villapalooza.org, free, all-ages Bucktown Arts Fest For 32 years Bucktown has hosted this gathering of visual artists and musicians; acts performing on its two stages include Amy Rigby, Paranoid Style, and the Peter Joly Band. 8/26-8/27, 1 PM, Oakley and Lyndale, bucktownartsfest.com, $5 suggested donation, all-ages Fahrenheit Chicago—Pride South on the Lake Cakes da Killa, Cor.Ece, Serpent, and others perform at this end-of-summer beach party for the LGBTQ community and their friends and families. 8/27, 11 AM, Oakwood Beach, 41st and Lake Shore, chicago.gopride.com, free, all-ages The 7 Deadly Chicago Sins East Room hosts its second all-day banger of the weekend, this time with Absolutely Not, the Right Now, Gant-Man, and more. 8/27, 2 PM, East Room, 2354 N. Milwaukee, free

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Mazurek. The music could sometimes benefit from a jolt of energy, but Sadier’s voice has rarely sounded so plush and at ease, whether she’s critiquing the idea of enduring romantic love in “Love Captive” (a duet with Hot Chip front man Alexis Taylor where Sadier intones, “We are made to love, not fall in love”) or cooing the stark “Sacred Project,” where she rejects the idea that there are any opposites to love, life, and joy. —PETER MARGASAK

WEDNESDAY30 Depeche Mode Warpaint opens. 7:30 PM, Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, I-80 and Harlem, $29.50-$325. b Released this past March, Spirit was heralded by AllMusic as Depeche Mode’s finest album since 2005’s Playing the Angel. A textbook case of damning with faint praise, but maybe the best we can hope for from Depeche Mode is a pretty good LP, not an actually great one, every decade or so. True, the leaden spirit of Delta Machine (2013) or Sounds of the Universe (2009) doesn’t afflict Spirit, likely due to the absence of longtime producer Ben Hillier. The new man behind the boards, James Ford, retains the band’s campy goth elegance and tactile proto-microhouse production. Spirit doesn’t have a stop-you-in-your-tracks cut like “Precious” (from Playing the Angel) or mark a radical break in Depeche Mode’s sound, like 1993’s still-captivating Songs of Faith and Devotion. Nevertheless, this is the same band that made the arena-optimized anthems “Enjoy the Silence,” “Never Let Me Down Again,” and “Personal Jesus,” so if you need to endure some average songs from Spirit to see those tracks performed live, that’s a sacrifice worth making. —TAL ROSENBERG

Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer Also Thu 8/31. 8 PM, City Winery, 1200 W. Randolph, $30-$40. b On the new Not Dark Yet (Silver Cross/Thirty Tigers), their first collaborative album, sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer don’t harmonize in the manner of other famous country siblings, such as the Delmore or Louvin Brothers. Though the two of them grew up singing together, their approach is intuitive, so at certain moments emotion supplants technique (including on an intimately ragged cover of Nirvana’s “Lithium”). Produced by Teddy Thompson, Not Dark Yet was recorded in Los Angeles with a top-notch cast of players, and though it feels loose, it’s not a tossed-off effort. In the best parts, including a rough-hewn take on the Louvin classic “Every Time You Leave,” the two voices coalesce in a way that seems both casual and sisterly. The bulk of the record reaches into country history, with covers of tunes by Jessi Colter (“I’m Looking for Blue Eyes”), Townes Van Zandt (“Lungs”), and Merle Haggard (“Silver Wings”), but the sisters also transform less obvious songs—for example, Nick Cave’s stark, harrowing “Into My Arms.” Lynne and Moorer no doubt feel a deep connection to the material, but it ultimately seems secondary to the bond between them. —PETER MARGASAK v

1800 W. DIVISION

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Downtown Skokie

FRI A Flock of Seagulls 8:45 pm

The Alarm 6:45 pm

10/20 11/3 & 11/4 11/5 12/1

Radney Foster Milk Carton Kids Richard Shindell Asleep at the Wheel “Merry Texas Christmas Ya'll!”

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 8 & 9:30PM

Avishai Cohen Quartet at Constellation, 3111 N Western Ave

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 8:30PM

SUNDAY, SEP 3 ................ CITY IN A GARDEN

Bideew Bou Bess

EVERY MONDAY AT 9PM ANDREW JANAK QUARTET EVERY TUESDAY AT 8PM OPEN MIC HOSTED BY JIMI JON AMERICA AUGUST PHOTO SHOW BY JOE NAGEL

In Szold Hall

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 7PM

Devil in a Woodpile 8 pm on the beer tent stage

SAT Soul Asylum 8:30 pm

Tift Merritt

with special guest Weatherman • In Szold Hall

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 7PM

Inside/Out with Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre In Szold Hall Beer Tent Stage 7 pm Frisbie James Elkington 4 pm 5 pm The Differents Matt Hendricks & Cash Curtis 2 pm Bach & Beethoven Ensemble 12 pm 3 pm Carsick 1 pm Jodee Lewis Trio

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 8PM

Trace Bundy

In Szold Hall

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 11AM

SUN TRIBUTOSAURUS 6:30 PM

Okee Dokee Brothers

5 pm Louis Zagoras & Rollover 3 pm The Frantastic Sound System 1 pm Luciano Antonio Trio

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becomes R.E.M.

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Frances Luke Accord In Szold Hall

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 7:30PM

Loudon Wainwright III

Discussion and Q&A for his new book Liner Notes

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1 8PM

Garifuna Collective In Szold Hall

ACROSS THE STREET IN SZOLD HALL 4545 N LINCOLN AVENUE, CHICAGO IL

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OLDTOWNSCHOOL.ORG AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 33

FOOD & DRINK

BLUE DOOR FARM STAND | $$

2010 N. Halsted 312-265-0259 bluedoorfarmstand.com

Left (clockwise from top): burger, cheese curds, Cobb salad, salmon fillet; above: honeydew and watermelon tossed with string and shell beans, black lentils, and feta ò JAMIE RAMSAY

W

RESTAURANT REVIEW

There’s nothing to fear at Blue Door Farm Stand The Lincoln Park farm-to-table reboot has plenty of safe standards and a few surprises.

By MIKE SULA 34 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

hat are you afraid of? The dark? Dogs? Not making rent?

White supremacists? Your own potential? Sickness and death?

Whatever it is, restaurants are in the business of helping you forget your troubles and fears. It’s been that way for all time. You wouldn’t tear into your fresh kill with the wolves behind your back, would you? Of course not. You’d drag it to the cave and start a fire. The original safe space was the place you went to eat where you wouldn’t get eaten. A modern restaurant’s job is to put diners in the same primal psychic mind-set.

Some do it with all-you-can-eat buffets: “You’ll never starve!” Some draw you in with dreams of luxury and escape: “Travel the cosmos over 24 courses.” Still others invite you down on the farm, where the food comes from the back 40, and there’s never any rain on the scarecrow or blood on the plow.

That’s the MO at Blue Door Farm Stand, a restaurant that existed in a smaller, limited incarnation a few years ago, when it operated blocks away on Armitage, in Lincoln Park, Chicago’s most problem-free neighborhood.

That didn’t last long, and in the interim it transformed itself into a small grab-and-go operation to keep the dream alive until this new spot took shape. It’s a bright, breezy twofloor arrangement, with a take-out counter and bar, and abundant white wainscoting and denim upholstery on high-backed Louis XVIstyle chairs.

The chef, Rey Villalobos, was summoned from Art Smith’s Blue Door Kitchen, the Gold Coast mothership, where he’s chef de cuisine. But here he’s offering three squares a day instead of two, with weekday breakfast including juice, coffee, fruit plates, oatmeal, pancakes, and something called a “brown line wrap.”

Brown isn’t exactly an appetizing color to associate with what is, in effect, a breakfast burrito, but at lunch and dinner the menu also offers something called “polite slurps,” i.e., lentil or tomato-and-cream soup in a cup or bowl. (I don’t know about you, but when I live on a farm we won’t slurp our soup at the table.)

The core of Villalobos’s Farm Stand menu is salad. Salads for people who don’t want to eat anything but salad. They are heartstoppingly sized salads. If you tried to eat that much pork in one sitting, you’d die in your chair. But it’s salad, and instead you’re going to eat it and live forever. OK, there’s bacon in a couple of them. But swine is forgiven, because these are monuments to arugula, romaine, and kale.

I ate those greens on different occasions in the Farm Stand Cobb Salad, and the Green House Salad, the latter of which pits summer squash, tomatoes, and quinoa against what tastes suspiciously like canned white beans.

Somehow, sadly, each of those piles of verdure tasted limp, soft, sapped of crunch and vitality, as if it could’ve been picked on somebody

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Search the Reader’s online database of thousands of Chicago-area restaurants—and add your own review—at chicagoreader.com/food.

NEIGHBORHOOD

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Panna cotta with a chewy cluster of shredded coconut and pumpkin seeds ò JAMIE RAMSAY

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Otherwise, unthreatening entrees abound, including roasted chicken, seared tuna, and a firm, fluorescently orange sockeye salmon fillet, almost a garnish atop a pile of crispy quinoa large enough to cause a panic in Peru and dressed with sweet charred onions and tomatoes.

Occasionally things go off-script. That’s the case with the pork belly steamed buns, fish tacos, shrimp-and-scallop ceviche suspiciously devoid of acid or chile heat, and a murky brown, mushroom-rich soup described as pho, which resembles nothing like any bowl you’ve ever had.

Desserts run conventionally from brownies and buttermilk chess pie studded with blueberries to a surprising turmeric-andcardamom-scented panna cotta with a chewy cluster of shredded coconut and pumpkin seeds riding atop.

Escapist good intentions abound at Blue Door Farm Stand. The rural fantasy is convincing only so far as you’re willing to be convinced. What’s harder to overlook is the kind of uninspired conventionality that should frighten more intrepid eaters. v

v @MikeSula

REGGIES // SOUTH LOOP

Everyday: $3.75 Moosehead pints & $2.50 Hamms cans

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else’s farm, far, far away.

Fortunately there are some pretty wholesome dishes that’ll have you patting yourself on the back as you walk out the door. Eat this before summer is gone: chunks of ambrosial honeydew and watermelon tossed with snappy string and shell beans, tiny black lentils, and showered with crumbles of briny feta.

This is the sleeper salad on Blue Door’s menu.

Billed as a “small bite,” it’s a multisensory composition that slays those vegetative leviathans on the menu.

Th e re ’s h u m m u s, k a l e c h i p s, a n d kale-and-artichoke dip that will surely appease whatever loving God you believe is supervising your existence. But if you want to stick your thumb in his eye, you can sneak out and visit the carny with a pile of battered and fried cheese curds, topped with ringlets of sweet pickled pepper and drizzled with buttermilk dip and your endangered soul.

Of course, there’s a burger. What if someone who’s given up on a clean life comes in?

She’s going to want a burger. This one is hot and gooey: two thin, smashed patties with lacy edges smeared with a melted-cheeseand-caramelized-onion slurry that will put you in a stupor.

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Argentine steakhouse offering a wide variety of meat cuts cooked on the grill or slowly roasted over Quebracho wood.

“...Folklore has been my favorite steakhouse in Chicago for years!”

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AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 35

APOGEE

2 W. Erie 312-202-6060 apogeechicago.com

FOOD & DRINK

Hundreds of bar suggestions are available at chicagoreader.com/ barguide. Bottoms up!

BARS

Drink in the sights at Apogee

By JULIA THIEL

1-Up; Deep End; Fifth Char ò COURTESY OF APOGEE

T

he first half of the menu at Apogee, the Dana Hotel’s luxe rooftop bar, looks more like a high-end magazine than a drinks list. Printed on glossy paper, it shows strikingly beautiful cocktails set against a black backdrop that highlights the drinks’ myriad colors. Knowing what the options look like can be useful for ordering, but Apogee approaches aesthetic gratification as an end in itself.

Located 26 stories up, the lounge provides dizzying views of the streets below (the last occupant was called Vertigo) and often a peek

into the windows of the surrounding high-rise apartments. Outside, long couches atop artificial turf are surrounded by planters with neatly trimmed bushes, giving the impression of an immaculately maintained rooftop garden; indoors, marble and gold accents dominate.

The atmosphere comes at a price: cocktails range from $13 to $18 for an individual serving and climb steeply from there; the largest serves six to eight people and costs $400. Glasses of wine start at $12, bottles around $50. You can get a Corona Light for $6 or a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 25-year-old

BARRA

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36 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

bourbon for $15,000. Not everything on the bottle-service list is quite so extravagant, but the cheapest option—Tito’s vodka—will still run you $300.

The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group is responsible for the bar’s renovation, and the group’s beverage director, Benjamin Schiller (the Berkshire Room, the Sixth), created the drinks menu. From Schiller’s other bars, a couple of staid-looking bourbon-based classics (the Weston and the Old Money) show up here as well, but the rest appear ready to enter a beauty contest. One is topped with cotton candy and basil powder, another with an edible butterfly; serving vessels include a bong, a huge snail shell, and a fish-shaped pitcher. They seem to dare you not to photograph them, especially the large-format cocktails, Apogee’s specialty.

Their frilly appearance doesn’t mean the drinks lack substance. The 1-Up, served in a vessel that resembles a toadstool and garnished with pastel-colored candy, combines gin, chartreuse, absinthe, and oregano over crushed ice for an appealingly herbal concoction. Much like the Sixth’s ever-popular Silly Rabbit, the Sancerre involves fruitflavored ice cubes—in this case grapefruit, lemongrass, and pear—with a little beaker of liquid you pour over the top. Gin is mixed with an aperitif (Aperol when I visited), and on first

sip the drink is pleasant but unremarkable.

As the ice cubes melt it becomes more interesting, with the fruit and lemongrass becoming more apparent, but also sweeter.

Then there’s the Deep End, which looks like it was vomited up by a unicorn. Tequila, grapefruit, lime, and watermelon juice are served over crushed ice and topped with blue curacao. For the first few sips, granules of sea salt cold-smoked over chardonnay wine barrels added a welcome smokiness and a salinity that balanced out the drink’s sweetness, but the overall flavor was thin from the beginning and quickly became watery as the ice melted. Stirring in the curacao just made things worse. Fortunately we fared better with the Fifth Char, a whiskey and demerara rum cocktail also served over crushed ice that incorporates a spiced falernum syrup.

Aside from the burnt marshmallow it’s garnished with, the drink is pretty dry.

There’s a certain expectation for rooftop bars: a fancy space, nice views, beautiful people. Apogee not only checks all the boxes, it raises the stakes when it comes to spectacular-looking cocktails. Some even look as good as they taste. As for the ones that don’t—well, your Instagram followers never need to know. v

v @juliathiel

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 | 7-10PM | SPIN 344 N STATE | CHICAGO Join the Reader and top mixologists as they create drinks that take you THROUGH THE DECADES! Inspired by Chicago Reader’s POPULAR DRINK-MAKING SERIES, Cocktail Challenge invites you to ENJOY cocktails by some of Chicago’s most skilled mixologists, then VOTE for your favorite. #ReaderCocktailChallenge

Tickets are on sale now at chicagoreader.com/cocktail MUST BE 21+ PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 37

General

General

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TECHNOLOGY EXPEDIA, INC. has openings for the following positions in Chicago, IL (various/levels/types): Software Engineers (Job ID#: SW817-CH): Design, implement, and debug software for computers including algorithms and data structures. BI Developers (Job ID#: 728.2549): Gather business requirements from end users and translate them into specification designs. To apply, send resume to: Expedia Recruiting, 333 108th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA 98004. Must reference Job ID#.

OPERATIONS RESEARCH ASSOCIATE. Chicago, IL. Require Master’s in Mgmt Science, Industrial Engineering or IT degree plus 2 yrs. exp. as S r Consulting Engineer providing business case development and business analysis services. Submit resume to Pace Harmon LLC, Attn: Katie Sears, HR Dept 8150 Leesburg Pike, Suite 850, Vienna VA 22182 or at ksears@paceharmon. com.

38 CHICAGO READER | AUGUST 24, 2017

Architectural Drafter / Project Technician. Req. Bachelor’s in Architecture & 2 yrs. exp. in Architecture office, 3 yrs. exp. w/ Revit, high Revit rendering skills & hand drawn perspective renderings. 7-4, 40h per wk. Employer: Jobsite: Bedford Park, IL. Send resume Attn: S. Rocci, at ALPA Construction, 6601 S Central Ave, Bedford Park, IL. 60638 ref. Job Code: 17-3011.

Opportunities at NUTS ON CLARK POPCORN stores at O’Hare Airport & other locations.

Get paid while training. Apply in person at CORPORATE OFFICE, 3830 N. CLARK STREET, CHICAGO. 9 AM TO 11 AM Mon thru Sat. Must bring ID’ s to apply.

Cost Analyst for analyzing biz data. Req: MBA w/ accounting concentration or Masters in accounti ng/rel. fld. Apply: BV USA LLC, 1680-1682 Carmen Dr, Elk Grove Village, IL60007, Attn HR EXPERIENCED MOVERS WITH drivers license and/or truck to move items on Northside. Please call after 3pm 312-774-4742. This is a temporary position only.

STUDIO $500-$599 Chicago, Beverly/Cal Park/Blue Island Studio $600 & up, 1BR $685 & up, 2BR $885 & up. Heat, Appls, Balcony, Carpet, Laundry, Prkg.

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CHICAGO, HYDE PARK Arms Hotel, 5316 S. Harper, maid, phone, cable ready, fridge, private facilities, laundry avail. Switchboard. Start at $ 160/wk Call 773-493-3500

STUDIO $700-$899 near Warren Park. 1904 W. Pratt.

Hardwood floors. Heat included. Cats OK. Laundry in building. $725/ month. Available 10/1.

Sublease available 10/1 for $725/month, with lease ending March 31, 2018. 773-7614318,

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BIG ROOM with stove, fridge, bath & nice wood floors. Near Red Line & Buses. Elevator & Laundry, Shopping. $121/wk + up. 773-561-4970

1 BR UNDER $700 SUMMER SPECIAL: STUDIOS starting at $499 incls utilities, 1BR $550, 2BR $599, 2BR $699, With approved credit. No Security Deposit for Sec 8 Tenants. South Shore & Southside. 312-446-3333 or 773-2879999

SUMMERTIME SAVINGS! NEWLY Remod. 1 BR Apts $650 w/ gas incl. 2-5BR start at $650 & up.

Sec 8 Welc. Rental Assistance Prog. for Qualified Applicants offer up to $ 400/month for 1 yr. (773)412-1153 Wesley Realty

7022 S. SHORE DRIVE Impeccably Clean Highrise STUDIOS, 1 & 2 BEDROOMS Facing Lake & Park.

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Parking & Apts. Are Subject to Availability. TOWNHOUSE APARTMENTS 773-288-1030

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88TH & ELIZABETH: Extra large 2BR apt, newly rehab’d, 2 flat bldg, 1st flr, well maintained. heat incl’d.

Sec 8 welc. $900-$1100 773-5109290 NEWLY UPDATED S. Shore 7017 S. Clyde. 1BR, Kit/BA, hdwd flrs, ten pays heat, nr Metra & shops. $615/mo $325 move In fee 630.660.5031 û NO SEC DEP û 1431 W. 78th St. 2BR. $605/ mo. 6829 S. Perry. Studio/ 1BR. $465-$520.

HEAT INCL 773-955-5106 CLEAN ROOM W/FRIDGE & micro, Near Oak Park, Food -4Less, Walmart, Walgreens, Buses & Metra, Laundry. $115/wk & up.

773-637-5957 Pay 1st month rent only - No Security dep req’d. Nice lrg 1BR $575; 2BR $699 & 1 3BR $850, balcony. Sec 8 Welc 773-995-6950

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RENTALS

DOLTON-144TH ST. 1BR, $625/ mo +1.5 mo sec. Move-in special $200 credit, Heat & Appls incl, off st pkg. $25 app fee 708-502-2526

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1, 2, 3 & 4 BRs, laundry rm.

Sec 8 OK. Niki 773.647.0573 www.livenovo.com

NEWLY REMOD 1BR & Studios starting at $580. No sec dep, move in fee or app fee. Free heat/ hot water. 1155 W. 83rd St., 773619-0204 79TH & WOODLAWN and 76th & Phillips, 2BR, 1BA $775-$825, 1BR, 1BA $650-$700. Remodeled, Appliances avail. FREE Heat 312286-5678 108TH & PRAIRIE: 1BR $685 & 2BR $750, Newly decorated, heat & appls incl. Section 8 ok. 888-2497971

NICE ROOM w/stove, fridge & bath Near Aldi, Walgreens, Beach, Red Line & Buses. Elevator & Laundry. $130/wk & up. 773-275-4442 6930 S. SOUTH SHORE DRIVE Studios & 1BR, INCL. Heat, Elec, Cking gas & PARKING, $585-$925, Country Club Apts 773-752-2200 ONE MONTH FREE. Move In NOW!!! Studios - 1 Beds Hyde Park.

Call Megan 773-285-3310

1 BR $700-$799 8318 S INGLESIDE, 1BR, $660, new remod, hdwd flrs, cable, lndry, Sec. 8 welc. 8001 S Colfax 1BR $650, new remod, hdwd flrs, cable. Sec 8 welc. 708-308-1509 or 773-493-3500.

BLUE ISLAND - Large 1BR, fireplace, liv rm, carpet, new decor, appls ,din. rm, nr metra & pace, ten. heated, $725mo+ sec, Vic 125th & Western 773-238-7203

ALSIP: Beautiful , Large 1BR, 1BA overlooks the park. $750/ mo., Appliances, laundry, parking & storage.

Call 708-268-3762

1 BR $800-$899 LARGE ONE BEDROOM for sub-lease. 1341 W. Estes. Hardwood floors. Cats OK. Laundry in building.

Heat included. Available 10/1, with lease ending 4/30/18. $810/month.

773-761-4318

1 BR $900-$1099 LINCOLN SQUARE (5000N.2200W.) Spacious, quiet 1 bedroom + den, 2nd floor/2-flat, newly decorated, new dishwasher, CAC, no pets. Security deposit/ credit check. $1015. 773-5619266 lv msg.

LARGE ONE BEDROOM near the Red Line. 6828 N. Wayne. Hardwood floors. Pets ok. Heat included.

Laundry in building. $900/month.

Available 10/1. 773-761-4318.

E ROGERS PARK: Deluxe 2BR + den, new kitc., FDR, oak flrs close to beach. $1450/heated, 774-7434141 ww.urbanequities.com

3BR, 5258 S. HERMITAGE. $665.

5246 S. Hermitage: 3BR, 2nd floor, $625 & 2BR basement $400. 1.5 mo sec required. 708-574-4085.

1 BR $1100 AND OVER

CHICAGO, NEAR 81ST & KINGSTON , 2BR, wall to wall carpet, $700/mo + 1.5 mo. sec.

Tenant pays own utils. Immed. Occupancy. 708-207-7433

EDGEWATER 1000SF 1BR: new kit, SS appls, quartz ctrs, built-ins, oak flrs, lndry, $1250/ heated 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com EDGEWATER 2 1/2 RM studio: Full Kit, new appl, dinette, oak flrs, walk-n closets, $875/mo incls ht/ gas. Call 773-743-4141 or visit ww w.urbanequities.com

1 BR OTHER APTS. FOR RENT PARK MGMT & INV. Ltd. Hot Summer Is Here Cool Off In The Pool OUR UNITS INCLUDE HEAT, HW & CG Plenty of parking 1Bdr From $765.00 2Bdr From $925.00 3 Bdr/2 Full Bath From $1200 **1-(773)-476-6000*** APTS. FOR RENT PARK MGMT & INV. Ltd. SUMMER IS HERE!!

Most units Include..

HEAT & HOT WTR Studios From $475.00 1Bdr From $495.00 2Bdr From $745.00 3 Bdr/2 Full Bath From $1200 **1-(773)-476-6000** ROUND LAKE BEACH, IL Cedar Villas is accepting applications for subsidized 1BR apts. for seniors 62 years or older and the disabled.

Rent is based on 30% of annual income. For details, call us at 847-546-1899 ∫ MOST BEAUT. APTS! 6748 Crandon, 2BR, $875. 7727 Colfax, 2BR, $875.

6220 Eberhart, 2 & 3BR, $850-$1150.

7527 Essex, 2BR, $950 773-9478572 / 312-613-4424 ORLAND PARK 2BR balcony, 2nd flr, 2BA, ances, in unit laundry, No pets. Call after 1 9914

condo w/ all appliheat incl.

708-749-

No. Southport DLX 2BR: new kit w/deck, SS appl, oak flrs, cent he at/AC, lndry $1595+ util pkg avail.

773 -743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

3 BR OR MORE UNDER $1200

BRONZEVILLE SEC 8 WELCOME! 4950 S. Prairie. 1BR. $680 and up. remod, hdwd flrs, appl inc, laundry on site. Zoran 773.406.4841 LIVE IN A nice neighborhood, 2BR, $730, 1BR $630, heat not included.

Near 82nd & Hermitage, nicely decorated. No pets. 773-783-7098 646 E. 73RD ST. Newly Decorated 2BR, 1st flr, tenant pays utils, no pets, section 8 welc. $775/mo. 1 mo rent + 1 mo dep. Roy 773-383-2583 HARVEY - 183 W. 154th St. 2BR apts, Newly renovated, tenant must pay elec & heat. No Pets. $750 + 1 mo sec. 708-899-2097

2 BR $900-$1099 SECTION 8 WELCOME, Sharp 2 & 3BR Apts, fenced yard. $985-$1000/mo. Will accept 1 or 2BR Voucher. Also, 3BR House Avail. 708-250-0748

RICHTON PARK 2/3 BR townhouse. Central A/C, finished bsmt hdwd flrs, Avail pool & clubhouse $995+association fee 312-2316972 GLENWOOD, Updated lrg 2BR Condo, HF HS, Balcony, C/A, appls, heat/water incl. 2 pkng, laundry. $975/mo. 708.268.3762

68TH/ROCKWELL. Newly decorated, Nice size 2 & 3BR, 1st flr, LR, DR, kit, HEAT incl. $900-$1100/ mo + move in fee 773-851-2232

SOUTH SHORE, 8230 S. Merrill, Quiet Large 2 BR, remod, hdwd floors LR, DR, heat incl, $1035+ 1 mo sec 708-951-4486

73RD EVANS CONDO like Apt. Great Blk 3Br 1Bth Appl Includ, Secty Sys Nr Schol Libry Trans. HW Flrs, Crpt n Bdrms Lndry Rm n Bsmt Tent Heated $950. $25app fee Call: 773550-0291 Chicago, 6915 S Artesian, 2nd floor, beautiful 3 large bedrooms, incl heat, stove, + fridge, wall-towall crpt, hdwd floors, laundry room, newly renovated, no security dep, $950. Section 8 ok. 773983-6671 BRONZEVILLE, 4542 S King Dr. 2nd flr, 3BR, 2BA, hdwd flrs, kitchen, pantry, LR & DR, lots of closets, sun porch, ten pays gas & heat.$1100 +$1200 sec. 773965-1584 aftr 6pm 61ST/LANGLEY - 3BR, 1BA in 2 unit bldg, Avail Now, beautiful apt, new BA & Kit, W/D in bsmt, nr trans & sch, Sec 8 ok $1000.

312-464-2222

Chicago, Quiet, Large 3BR, living room, dining room, near 103rd & State. $900/month. By appointment only. Call 773468-2643

4300 BLOCK OF AUGUSTA, newly remod., 2BR, 2nd flr, lndry facility on site. $1150/ mo, utils incl. Sect 8 ok. No p ets/smoking. 773-418-0195

4BR APT, 2nd flr, nr 115th/ Michigan, 1BA, stove, crpt, background check req. Tenant pays utils. No Dep. $ 900. 773-405-3472

ELMHURST: DLX 1BR, new appls & carpet, a/c, balcony, $895$950/mo. incl heat, prkg. OS lndry, 773-743-4141 www.urbanequities. com

CALUMET CITY 3-4BR, 1.5 BA, 2 car gar, fully rehab w/ gorgeous finishes & hdwd flrs. Beautiful bkyd.

Sec 8 ok. $1150-$1350. 510-735-7171

CHICAGO - BEVERLY, large studio, 1 & 2BR Apts. Carpet, A/ C, laundry, near transportation, $680-$1020/mo. Call 773-2334939 74TH/KING DR & 88th/Dauphin.1 & 2BRs. Spac, good trans, laundry on site, security camera. 312-341-1950

LOOKING TO MOVE ASAP? Remodeled 1, 2 , 3 & 4 BR Apts.

Heat & Appls incl. Sec 8 OK. Call 773-593-4357

CHICAGO, RENT TO OWN! Buy with no closing costs and get help with your credit. Call 708868-2422 or visit www.nhba.com

HOMEWOOD- 2BR NEW kitchen, new appls, oak flrs, ac, lndry/ stor., $1195/mo incls ht/prkg, near Metra. 773.743.4141 Urban Equities. com

103rd Street, small 2 bedroom. No security deposit. Heat and appls included. 773-719-2695

2 BR $1100-$1299

EDGEWATER 900SFT 1BR, new kit, sunny FDR, vintage builtins, oak flrs, Red Line, $975/mo heated www.urbanequities.com 773-743-4141

RAVENSWOOD DLX 3/RM studio: new kit, SS appl, granite, French windows, oak flrs, close to Brown L; $975/heated 773-7434141 www.urbanequities.com

SECTION 8 WELCOME West

$500 gift certificate for Sec 8 tenants. 773-287-9999 or Westside Locations 773-287-4500

SUBURBS, RENT TO OWN! Buy with No closing costs and get help with your credit. Call 708868-2422 or visit www.nhba.com

beach: new appl, FDR, oak flrs, French windows, lndry $995/mo heated.

773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

SOUTHSIDE, 2BR, basement, near shopping/ transportation/ school. $700 /mo., heat included. Call 73349-5534

CHICAGO, 5015-25 W. Iowa Ave. Augusta & Cicero. Newly Rehab, 2 & 3BR, $1000+/mo.

Section 8 OK. David, 773-6639488

CHICAGO SOUTH SIDE Beautiful Studios, 1,2,3 & 4 BR’s, Sec 8 ok.

ONE BEDROOM NEAR Warren Park and Metra. 6800 N. Wolcott.

Hardwood floors. Cats OK. Heat included. Laundry in building. $925/ month. Available 10/1. 773-761-4318.

E ROGERS PK 1BR, close to

71ST & FAIRFIELD, B e a u t i f u l 2BR, 2nd floor, unheated, stove & fridge incl., $650/mo + 1.5 mo sec. Please Call Mr. Robinson, 773-238-5188

ROUND LAKE BEACH, IL Cedar Villas is accepting applications for Subsidized 2 and 3 bedroom apt waiting list. Rent is based on 30% of annual income for qualified applicants. Contact us at 847-546-1899 for details

NO SECURITY DEPOSIT NO MOVE IN FEE 1, 2, 3 BEDROOM APTS (773) 874-1122 ACACIA SRO HOTEL Men Preferred! Rooms for Rent. Weekly & Monthly Rates. 312-421-4597

2 BR UNDER $900 CHICAGO 7600 S ESSEX 2BR $599, 3BR $699, 4BR $799 w/ apprvd credit, no sec dep. Sect 8 Ok! Call 773-287-9999 Westside Locations 773-287-4500 2 BR APT, nr North & Cicero $895 inc heat /water, coin op W/D on site, No Sec dep or credit check, seniors welcome 877-350-5055

SOUTH SHORE - 2BR, 1.5BA, hdwd floors. appls incl, fin basement. near beach & Metra. $1250/mo, utilities not incl. 708-868-3225

SECTION 8 WELCOME. No Security Deposit. 7721 S Peoria, 3BR apt, appls incl. $1050/mo.

708-288-4510

SOUTH SHORE 2BR, spacious, sunny, front & back, updated BA & kitchen, heat incl, no pets, Sec 8 Ready. $1200/mo. 773-636-4566

WOODLAWN COMMUNITY (CLOSE to U of C campus) 3 BR,

SOUTHSIDE - 69TH & Parnell, 4BR, 2BA, total rehab, carpet, heat and water incl. No sec. dep. Section 8 ok. Rent $1,175. 773-684-1166

Harvey- 3BR , living rm, dining rm, kitch en, full bsmt, large fenced in bkyd, $1000/ mo plus 1 mo sec, Ray 708-720-2344

73RD & DORCHESTER, 2BR, refrig & stove, lndry hookups, off street prkg, enclosed yard, $975/ mo. No security dep. 773-684-1166

3 BR OR MORE $1200-$1499

2 BR $1500 AND OVER EAST LOGAN: 2BR + den/1BA. Remodeled 2nd floor unit; new kitchen w/SS appliances, updated bath, new hardwood floors, freshly painted. laundry in building, EZ parking, separate utilities. No smoking. No pets. $1600+ one month security deposit. Available now. Call 773-879-2430

2 BR OTHER NW - CALIFORNIA/FOSTER 2BR & Den, 1st flr, newly remod. heat incl. 1 mo. Dep. 1 yr lease, no Pets, ADT Protected. 773-275-9758

1 BA, includes heat, Sec. 8 OK. $1,050/mo. 773-802-0422

BRICK 4BRS/1.5BA 62nd & Winchester. $1300/mo & 8955 S. May. $1550/mo.

Move-in Fee, Sec 8 Ok. 773-720-9787 or 773-483-2594 SECTION 8 WELCOME 7134 S. Stewart. Nice 5BR/1BA House, Carpet & appls incl, washer/dryer hookup. $1350/mo.

312-683-5174

7043 S. MICHIGAN. Deluxe 3BR Apt in 2 flat, near L, heat & appls incl, sec 8 ok, NoPets. $1300/mo.

Call Marie 773-343-9111 HARVEY SECTION 8 Welcome $500 cash back. $0 Security for Sec 8. 3BR, $1300/mo. Fine cond. ADT Alarm. 708-715-0034

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3 BR OR MORE $1500-$1799 HUMBOLDT PK, 3BR/2BA Duplex: new kit & appl, oak flrs, lrg master suite deck, prkg, lndry, $15 95/+ util 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com EVANSTON DLX 1BR + Den, vintage beauty, new appl, oak flrs, French doors Laundry $1095/ heated, 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

Bronzeville DLX 1/BR: new kit, private deck & yard, SS appls, FDR, oak flrs, new windows, $925950/heated 773-743-4141 urbaneq uities.com MELROSE PARK 1st floor, 3BR, very large living room, kit. 2BA. No dogs/cats. $1,600/mo. plus 1 mo. sec. dep. 708-645-6381

EVANSTON 2BR, 1100SQFT, New Kit/ oak flrs, new windows, OS Lndry, $1295/incl heat, 773743-4141 urbanequities.com Wrigleyville DLX 3BR, new kit, private deck & yard, FDR, oak floors, sunroom $2100/heated 773-743-4141 urbanequities.com

HOUSES FOR RENT - 4, 3 & 2BRs. Newly decorated. W/D, stove & fridge incl., central heat. $1100/mo & up. Call 847-732-6383 10234 S. CRANDON, s m a l l home, 3BR, 1BA, kit & util room, totally ren a/c, all appls incl, nice bkyrd. CHA welcome. 773-317-4357

SOUTH OR WEST SIDE. Furnished rooms, incl all utils, Male adults pref. $400/mo.

773-691-6455

MARKETPLACE GOODS

HOMEWOOD, 4BR, 3BA, 2 car gar., 2 decks, Homewood/ Flossmoor School Dist. $210 0/mo. Rent with option to buy. Call 630-439-5259

RUMMAGE SALE THE Center

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, 3BR, 1BA, NEWLY REMODELED, APPLS INCL , SECTION 8 OK. NO SEC. DEPOSIT. 708-8224450 16 E. 122ND PLACE, 4BR House, LR, DR, full bsmt, fenced backyard.

Close to schools, CTA & metra. Sect 8 ok. $1350/mo. 773-610-1332 HOUSES FOR RENT from 7th St-138th St, 3-4 BR, newly remodeled all appliances included Section 8 Welcome 773-220-0715

Children’s Farm 12700 SW Hwy (E. side) Fri & Sat. Aug. 25 & 26. 8am-1 pm.

AKC

REGISTERED

NEW-

FOUNDLAND puppies for sale.

Black, brown and brown & white.

UTD on shots, vet checked, dewclaws removed. Well socialized and beautiful. M & F available. Starting at $650. USDA & State licensed.

Call today 574-305-1957 or email anniescloudnine@hotmail.com to schedule a visit.

ALB Pk DLX 3BR + den, new kit, SS appl, granite, oak flrs, on-site lndy, $1495/+ util. 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

3 BR OR MORE $1800-$2499 LARGE 3 BEDROOM apartment near Wrigley Field. 3820 N. Fremont.

Two bathrooms. Hardwood Floors.

Cats OK. $2190/month. Parking available at additional cost. Available 10/1.

773-761-4318.

SECTION 8 WELCOME: 6BR hdwd flrs, newly remodeled close to trans, garage, S State St & 120th Pl. 847-778-8808 MORGAN PARK - $1600/mo.

115th & S. Throop. Remodeled 5BR, 2BA, Hdwd flrs, fenced yard, near trans, Sect. 8 welc. 773-766-2640

HEALTH & WELLNESS SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREAT-

CLASSICS WANTED ANY CLASSIC CARS IN ANY CONDITION. ’20S, ’30S, ’40S, ’50S, ’60S & ’70S. HOTRODS & EXOTICS! TOP DOLLAR PAID! COLLECTOR. CALL JAMES, 630-201-8122

MENT offered at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center (Lake View).

Services for those challenged by substance use disorders include intensive outpatient, DUI, harm reduction, relapse prevention, Smart Recovery and individual counseling. Payment: most commercial, Medicare and Medicaid plans. To schedule appointment: 773296-3220.

2002 CHEVROLET SILVERADO 1500 Z71 in very good

FULL BODY MASSAGE. hotel, house calls welcome $90

8641 S. KINGSTON, 4BR, 1.5BA, Sec 8 Welcome, 4BR Vouchers only, newly rehabbed, ceramic flrs.

773-437-5816. leave message

YARD SALE, 7513 TRIPP , Skokie (Howard & Touhy), Friday, Saturday & Sunday 9am-5pm.

Furniture, toys, baby & adult clothes, electronics (TV/DVDs), household items & more.

condition, 150k miles, 4WD, 5.3 engine 8Cyl, automatic. $2100.

Call:2242520952

special. Russian, Polish, Ukrainain girls. Northbrook and Schaumburg locations. 10% discount for new customers. Please call 773-407-7025

GENERAL

3 BR OR MORE OTHER SECTION 8 WELCOME $300 Move-In Bonus, No Dep. 225 W 108th Pl, 2BR/1BA . 7134 S. Normal, 4BR/2BA. ceiling fans Ht, ht water & appls incl 312-6835174 CHICAGO HOUSES FOR rent.

Section 8 Ok, w/app credit $500 gift certificate 3, 4 & 5 BR houses avail.

Call 708-752-3812 for

101ST/MAY, 1br. 77th/Lowe. 1 & 2br. 69th/Dante 3br. 71st/Bennett.

2 & 3br. 77th/Essex. 3br. New renov. Sec 8 ok. 708-503-1366

ADULT SERVICES

non-residential SELF-STORAGE

CENTERS.

T W O locations to serve you. All units fully heated and humidity controlled with ac available. North: Knox Avenue.

773-685-6868.

South: Pershing Avenue. 773-523-6868.

Westside locations 773-287-4500

roommates 56TH/ASHLAND, NEWLY REMOD. Large 2 & 4BR, hdwd flrs, appls. Sect 8 OK. 3BR vouchers welcome. No deposit for Sect 8. 773-895-9495

ADULT SERVICES

SOUTH SHORE, Senior Discount. Male preferred.

Furnished rooms, shared kitchen & bath, $545/mo. & up. Utilities included. 773-710-5431

8457 S. BRANDON, 4BR, 3BR or 2BR voucher ok. 2707 E 93rd St. 5BR, 2BA, hardwood floors, Sec tion 8 ok. 3BR voucher ok. Call 847-312-5643

Clean & secure room, Incl Bed, TV, mini blinds, c-fans., utils, Share Kitch & Bath. $450/mo. 312-479-5502

ADULT SERVICES

ADULT SERVICES

2402 E. 77TH St (77th/Yates).

COLLEGE GIRL BODY RUBS $40 w/AD 24/7

224-223-7787

Find hundreds of Readerrecommended restaurants, exclusive video features, and sign up for weekly news chicagoreader.com/ food.

AUGUST 24, 2017 | CHICAGO READER 39

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STRAIGHT DOPE

restaurants exclusive video features

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EARLY WARNINGS

chicagoreader.com/early 40 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

q : Years ago you wrote that, despite

extensive research, scientists were skeptical that ball lightning really existed. I just learned that Chinese researchers have captured it on video, proving it’s real.

What’s more, I’m hearing ball lightning isn’t all that rare; it’s just that trained observers have been reluctant to report sightings for fear of ridicule. Doesn’t it stand to reason the same is true of UFOs? The search for extraterrestrial intelligence assumes that with the vast number of planets out there, intelligent life is bound to have evolved somewhere. Isn’t it logical to believe we have, in fact, been visited? —LIAM WAHLBORG, SAN FRANCISCO

A : It’s true that the field of ball-lightning studies has really busted wide open since that Chinese footage emerged in 2014. So sure, why not aliens? As you say, one prior constraint on the conversation surrounding ball lightning may well have been that, given the scant evidence for its existence, scientists were reluctant to take it seriously in public, even if they’d seen it themselves—it’d be like claiming to have spotted Bigfoot. Or, indeed, a UFO. This fear of stigma is apparently out there, or at least was. An early 70s survey of members of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics returned reports of sightings of unexplained flying objects, and even some scientists professing their belief that UFOs were “real,” but these were anonymous responses. Peter Sturrock, emeritus physics prof at Stanford, has said that back then many colleagues privately expressed interest in seeing high-level UFO research but figured no peer-reviewed journal would ever publish it.

Things have changed since the pre-Close Encounters, era, though—more on that later.

To back up: the logical question you refer to, Liam, is known as the Fermi paradox. The gist is basically that given the vastness of space, it seems almost impossible there isn’t life out there, and given enough time any civilization should be able to figure out interstellar travel—yet we’ve neither observed alien life nor been visited by it (so far as the government is letting on, anyway). How come?

Possible answers run the gamut from “We haven’t found them because they don’t exist” to “It’s in the nature of intelligent life to eventually destroy itself.” Humankind is doing an efficient job of creating a test case for the latter proposition. Could this be the case with every other advanced civilization? As a July article in New York magazine put it, “In a universe that is many billions of years old, with star systems separated as much by time as by

SLUG SIGNORINO

reader-recommended

space, civilizations might emerge and develop and burn themselves up simply too fast to ever find one another.”

On the other hand, we might hear from one yet. Earlier this year, two scientists proposed an explanation for the strange space phenomenon of fast radio bursts, fleeting but ultra-high-powered blasts picked up by radio telescopes. Adding to the already numerous theories about their origin, the new paper suggests FRBs may be “beams set up by extragalactic civilizations” to provide power to light sails—reflective panels that can be propelled through space by a stream of photons. An occupied craft, the authors argue, could travel this way at high speed with an FRB-size energy beam to push it along.

This paper, we’ll note, comes out of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and was published in the highly legit Astrophysical Journal Letters. While the stock mainstream perception of UFO believers as crackpots remains stuck in the 70s, there’s serious scientific work being done. And serious money behind it: check out Breakthrough Listen, a decade-long project begun in 2015 and funded to the tune of $100 million to search the skies for alien signals.

In other words, we’re way past flying saucers. An even more recent paper has addressed the Fermi paradox with this reasoning: (a) advanced civilizations will eventually go postbiological—that is, leave these meat suits behind and upload their brains to the mainframe; but (b) the continually cooling universe is still a little too hot right now for computers to run at top efficiency; therefore (c) these civilizations are lying dormant till conditions are right for optimal hardware performance.

That’s why they haven’t flown over to say hi.

Given the time line on which the universe will cool to their desired range, it’s safe to say we’ll be long gone. But the authors suggest that might be no obstacle to making contact: we could figure out some way to provoke the sleeping civilizations—say, by dispatching a probe to go mess with their stuff. Can’t imagine what could go wrong with a plan like that. v Send questions to Cecil via straightdope.com or write him c/o Chicago Reader, 350 N. Orleans, Chicago 60654.

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SAVAGE LOVE

By Dan Savage

My dad the john Should a daughter reach out to her estranged father? Plus: Don’t fuck Nazis.

Q : A few years ago, my dad

was busted by the cops for using an online forum to solicit escorts. The arrest and infidelity destroyed his marriage to my mom. My brother and I were in our midteens at the time and were angry enough with him that we asked him to not seek custody. He obliged, and neither of us has seen him since. I miss my dad—or the man I thought he was.

As I mature, I’m wondering if I was unfair to him by cutting off all contact. I don’t think sex work is immoral.

I don’t think people who see sex workers are bad.

But because my dad was involved in this bust, and because I had to become aware of the double life he led, I felt uncomfortable around him. It doesn’t help that some of the girls were not much older than I was at the time. I think I’d like to get to know my dad again, but I’m not sure what kind of relationship I’m ready to have. He was a wonderful father—and on some level, I recognize I cut him off when he showed me he was human. How do I reach out to him? —PLEASE HELP

A : Each of us is a writhing

mass of contradictions, PH. It’s possible for someone to be a good dad and a shitty husband.

You don’t say why your dad was seeking sex outside the marriage, PH, and I can’t imagine that was a conversation you wanted to have with your dad in your midteens— and it may not be one you ever want to have. But it’s possible your parents’ marriage was more complicated than you know. (“The victim of an affair is not always the victim of the marriage,” as psychotherapist Esther Perel says.) Still, you’re not an awful daughter for refusing

to see your dad during a contentious, confusing, and most likely humiliating time.

As for how to reach out, I think e-mail is the best way to reestablish contact after an estrangement. You can take your time crafting what you want to say, and your dad can take his time crafting a response.

PS: Give your mother a heads-up, PH, so she doesn’t feel blindsided. Good luck.

Q : I’m a woman in my

early 30s having sex with a guy in his early 20s. The sex is more than casual, and we really care about each other. My concern is this guy has some alt-right sympathies that reveal themselves in our political discussions. He’s a Trump guy, but hesitates to admit it because he knows I’m antiTrump. He shares memes created by Mike Cernovich and Milo Yiannopoulos, he gets his news from hardright publications, and his sister and brother-in-law are Holocaust deniers. This concerns and confuses me because he’s such a sweet guy and, honestly, so goddamn good in bed. He might be the best lay I’ve ever had. I can’t reconcile these two sides of him, but I also can’t help trying to enlighten him a little bit. I feel a responsibility to this young, confused, and frankly not-too-bright person who’s surrounded by bad influences. I want to be understanding and gently guide him in a better direction, but sometimes his ignorance is aggravating.

I can also sense that he’s beginning to feel a little judged, which can only make things worse. I keep thinking of your Campsite Rule, and I wonder at what point does one give up throwing logic and articles at someone

who thought Hillary Clinton ran a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor. Can I continue to have sex with someone who thinks the left is conspiring to turn everyone communist? —CONFLICTED LOVER

A : Don’t fuck Nazis.

If someone you just met tells you he’s a Nazi, don’t fuck that Nazi. If you’re already fucking someone and he reveals himself to be a Nazi, stop fucking that Nazi. If someone tells you he’s a Nazi and you fuck that Nazi anyway and keep fucking that Nazi because he’s good at sex (for a Nazi), your effort to “gently guide” that Nazi away from being a Nazi doesn’t make it OK for you to fuck that Nazi.

OK, OK: This guy might not be a Nazi at all—although it sure as fuck sounds like his family is. It’s possible this young, confused, and nottoo-bright boy is merely a Trump-supporting conspiracy theorist, and maybe I’m still too upset about Charlottesville to be impartial. Or, hey, maybe this guy is already a Nazi and hasn’t revealed the full extent of his odious political beliefs to you, CL, because the sex is good and he’s hoping to fuck the Nazi into you before you can fuck the Nazi out of him.

Finally, good people don’t worry about making Nazis “feel a little judged.” Nazis should be judged—a la Judgment at Nuremberg, an old film with a feel-good ending that’s worth watching right about now. Another thing good people don’t do? They don’t fuck Nazis. v Send letters to mail@ savagelove.net. Download the Savage Lovecast every Tuesday at savagelovecast. com. v @fakedansavage

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UPCOMING

Naomi Punk ò JAMIE NADEL

NEW

Algiers 10/19, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM Asleep at the Wheel 12/1, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Julien Baker, Half Waif 10/22, 7:30 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM b Ballroom Thieves 11/2, 9 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM The Band Camino 9/15, 9 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Bleep Bloop 11/16, 8:30 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Blu & Exile 10/19, 7:30 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Camera 10/30, 8 PM, Empty Bottle F John Carpenter 11/9, 9 PM, Aragon Ballroom, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM, 17+ Chicago Jazz Festival with Jason Moran, the Mary Halvorson Octet, Sheila Jordan with the Steve Kuhn Trio, Matt Wilson’s Honey & Salt, and more 8/31-9/3, Millennium Park F b William Patrick Corgan 10/24-25, 8 PM, Athenaeum Theatre, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM Crankdat 10/28, 9:30 PM, Bottom Lounge, 18+ Curren$y 10/5, 8:30 PM, Metro, 18+ Cynthia & Johnny O 12/31, 8 PM, Concord Music Hall, on sale Fri 8/25, noon Destructo 9/3, 10 PM, the Mid Don Diablo 9/2, 10 PM, the Mid Eoto 9/2, 10:30 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Fay Ray 10/19, 8 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM Flying Lotus in 3D 11/14, 7 PM, Riviera Theatre, on sale Fri 8/25, noon, 18+

Gondwana 10/23, 7:30 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Greensky Bluegrass 12/29-31, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM, 18+ Hatebreed 12/3, 7 PM, Metro, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM, 18+ Hell or Highwater 9/4, 6 PM, Wire, Berwyn Peter Himmelman 11/12, 7 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Hipshakes 9/27, 9 PM, Empty Bottle In Hearts Wake, Fit for a King 11/11, 7 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Bonnie Koloc, Eddie Holstein 11/19, 6 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM b Lindstrom 11/11, 10 PM, Smart Bar Listener 11/15, 7 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Bob Log III 10/13, 9 PM, Beat Kitchen Lostboycrow 10/31, 6:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM, 17+ Manic Focus 9/1, 10:30 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Mashrou’ Leila 11/10, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM, 18+ James Vincent McMorrow 10/16, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM b Milk Carton Kids 11/3-4, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Naomi Punk 9/18, 9 PM, Hideout Pelican, Wolf Eyes 10/14, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Pentatonix 12/3, 7:30 PM, Chicago Theatre, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM Phantoms 10/19, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM, 18+ Chet Porter 12/8, 8 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM, 18+

42 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

Eric Prydz 9/1, 10 PM, the Mid Pujol 10/29, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM Racquet Club 10/12, 8 PM, Subterranean Ratboys 10/20, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Xambuca 9/22, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Slow Magic 11/15, 9 PM, Bottom Lounge, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM, 18+ Spill Canvas 12/17, 7 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Tegan & Sara 11/4, 8:30 PM, Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM Torche 9/29, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM Shania Twain 5/19, 7:30 PM, United Center, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM Twinsmith 9/30, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ TWRP 10/6, 7:30 PM, Subterranean, 17+ The Used, Glassjaw 11/3, 6:30 PM, Aragon Ballroom, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM b Welshly Arms 10/4, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Aaron West & the Roaring Twenties 11/9, 6 PM, Subterranean b White Reaper 11/14, 7 PM, Metro, on sale Fri 8/25, 10 AM b Wurst Music & Beer Fest with Murder by Death, Anniversary, Diarrhea Planet, Masked Intruder, and more 9/8-10, Plumbers Hall Zeke 10/7, 8 PM, Reggie’s Music Joint

UPDATED Perturbator 10/6-7, 9 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, second show added, 17+

Alvvays 11/3, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Atlas Genius 10/5, 6 PM, Bottom Lounge b Tim Barry, Gallows Bound 10/12, 7 PM, Cobra Lounge, 17+ Beach Fossils, Snail Mail 10/17, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Brand New 10/16, 7:30 PM, Aragon Ballroom, 17+ Cannibal Corpse, Power Trip, Gatecreeper 11/24, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Cap’n Jazz, Rapper Chicks 9/15, 11 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Cherubs 11/11, 9 PM, Empty Bottle The Drums, Methyl Ethel 11/9, 7 PM, Metro b EMA 11/18, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Eyehategod, Cro-Mags 9/2-3, 8 PM, Cobra Lounge, 17+ Flamin’ Groovies 10/19, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Fleet Foxes 10/3-4, 7:30 PM, Chicago Theatre Froggy Fresh 9/11, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen A Giant Dog 9/17, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Goblin 10/25, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Halsey, Partynextdoor, Charli XCX 11/19, 7 PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont High Waisted 10/24, 8 PM, Schubas, 18+ Peter Hook & the Light 5/4, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ Ice Balloons 10/10, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Insane Clown Posse 10/29, 6:30 PM, Portage Theater b Janet Jackson 10/26, 8 PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont Japandroids, Cloud Nothings 11/2, 8 PM, the Vic, 18+ Judge 11/5, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Kesha 10/18, 7 PM, Aragon Ballroom b King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard 9/24-25, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall La Femme 10/21, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ L.A. Witch 11/12, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Lemon Twigs 10/26, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Living Colour 9/3, 6 and 9 PM, City Winery b Lorde 3/27, 7 PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont Mastodon, Brain Tentacles 9/9, 8 PM, Metro, 18+ Metz 9/25, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Motionless in White, Amity Affliction, Miss May I 10/22, 5:30 PM, House of Blues b Gary Numan, Me Not You 11/29, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Conor Oberst 9/9, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ Pears 10/11, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+

ALL AGES

WOLF BY KEITH HERZIK

EARLY WARNINGS

CHICAGO SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN THE WEEKS TO COME

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Never miss a show again.

Sign up for the newsletter at chicagoreader. com/early

Penny & Sparrow 9/21, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall Pere Ubu 11/18, 8 PM, Beat Kitchen Protomartyr 10/8, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Quicksand 9/27, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche 9/19, 8 PM, City Winery b Sheer Mag, Flesh World 9/15, 9:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Slowdive 11/5, 8 PM, the Vic, 18+ Tobacco 9/14, 10 PM, Smart Bar Today Is the Day 9/6, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Together Pangea 10/6, 7 PM, Bottom Lounge b Wand, Darto 9/30, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ War on Drugs 10/19, 8 PM, Aragon Ballroom, 18+ Wire 9/16, 8 PM, Metro, 18+ Zola Jesus, John Wiese 10/8, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+

SOLD OUT Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile 10/26, 7:30 PM, Rockefeller Memorial Chapel; 10/27, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall; and 10/28, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Jon Bellion, Max 9/1, 7:30 PM, Metro b Between the Buried & Me, Contortionist 9/30-10/1, 6:30 PM, Bottom Lounge b Brockhampton 9/6, 7 PM, Bottom Lounge b Cold Waves VI with Front 242, KMFDM, Stabbing Westward, Cold Cave, Ohgr, and more 9/29-10/1, 6:30 PM, Metro, 18+ Dinosaur Jr., Built to Spill 9/16, 11 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Gryffin, Autograf 10/13, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Haim 9/15, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre b Daniel Johnston, Jeff Tweedy 10/20, 7:30 PM, the Vic, 18+ Manchester Orchestra 9/24, 6 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ The National 12/12-13, 7:30 PM, Civic Opera House b SZA 8/31, 6 PM, Concord Music Hall Taking Back Sunday, Sleep on It 9/17, 11 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Avey Tare 10/6, 10 PM, Hideout Grace Vanderwaal 11/15, 7 PM, Park West b Wonder Years, Laura Stevenson 9/25, 5:30 PM, Bottom Lounge b v

GOSSIP WOLF A furry ear to the ground of the local music scene IT’S BEEN TWO years since Gossip Wolf mentioned an event by the Black and Brown Punk Show Collective, which advocates for POC in the DIY scene— but it would’ve been flat-out negligent to overlook this weekend’s two-day festival at ChiTown Futbol, entitled Or Does It Explode. The fest’s 21 acts include more than punk—Saturday’s bill features local rapper and self-described “gender abolitionist” Sol Patches, for instance. Both nights’ headliners are Chicago hardcore heroes: Los Crudos on Saturday and La Armada on Sunday. But you should show up early, and not just because it’s cheaper—some killer acts play each afternoon, among them Sol Patches and nervy postpunks Bruised (on Saturday) and posthardcore band Xille Xille Xille and gnarly crust punks Red Moon Rising (on Sunday).

Suggested donation is $20 to $30 ($15 to $25 before 7 PM) or $30 for a two-day pass. A portion of the proceeds benefits radical black community organizers Assata’s Daughters and the Chicago BTGNC Collective (which stands for “black, trans, and gender-nonconforming”).

When guitarist Ryan Weinstein (the Cairo Gang, Coffin Pricks) decamped for Los Angeles in January, Gossip Wolf feared it was the end for Hydrofoil, his semi-improvised space/surf-rock trio with Doug McCombs (Tortoise, Eleventh Dream Day) and Bobby Burg (Love of Everything, Joan of Arc). But last week, the Mag Mag label (run by Miami band Jacuzzi Boys) dropped a green one-sided Hydrofoil flexi called “Skylawn Preservation Union,” and it’s a totally far-out, fuzzy jam! Weinstein says Hydrofoil is still afloat and hopes to keep playing shows.

This month Moniker Records dropped a new cassette EP from Lil Tits, and as usual for this local punk trio, The Usual bristles with ferocious sludge! On Saturday, August 26, the band celebrates with a set at Sarah Squirm’s monthly Helltrap Nightmare party at the Hideout. —J.R. NELSON AND LEOR GALIL Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail gossipwolf@chicagoreader.com.

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8.27

1200 W RANDOLPH ST, CHICAGO, IL 60607 | 312.733.WINE

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JOAN OSBORNE SINGS THE SONGS OF BOB DYLAN 9.14 RUTHIE FOSTER 9.17-18 VICENTE AMIGO 9.24-25 MADELEINE PEYROUX WITH SPECIAL GUEST DAYNA KURTZ 10.1-3 ARLO GUTHRIE RE:GENERATION TOUR 10.11-15 THE CITY CHURCH OF THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT

JOHN GORKA Shelby Marty Lynne Stuart & Allison & his Fabulous Moorer Superlatives

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6 pm & 9 pm shows

8.24-25 8.26 8.28 8.29 9.1

9.4 9.7 9.8 9.9

9.3

Living Colour

UPCOMING SHOWS

9.9 9.10 9.10 9.19 9.23

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO & JOE ELY MAYSA 7 PM & 10 PM SHOWS THE ALARM WE BANJO 3 DEACON BLUES WITH SPECIAL GUEST PAUL WERTICO HOWARD HEWETT OF SHALAMAR JESSE COLIN YOUNG (OF THE YOUNGBLOODS) JOE PURDY WITH AMY VACHAL MAKANA & JOHN CRUZ 1 PM SHOW RONNIE BAKER BROOKS STORY JAM BRUNCH 12 PM SHOW IAN MOORE SUZZY ROCHE & LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE DAN WILSON - WORDS & MUSIC

AUGUST 24, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 43

®

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 22 VIC THEATRE

SPECIAL GUESTS:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7

NOVEMBER 14

IN 3D

ON SALE THIS FRIDAY AT NOON!

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 23 PARK WEST 22 SHOWS! SHOWS! 8:00pm 8:00pm & &

ALL 3 SHOWS ON SALE THIS FRIDAY AT 10AM! COORS LIGHT PRESENTS HAIM – Sept. 15-SOLD OUT • THE SCRIPT –Friday, Oct. 6 • MARILYN MANSON –Oct. 10 • GOV’T MULE –Saturday, Oct. 14 –Oct. 15 • TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVE. –Saturday, Oct. 21 • PVRIS –Oct. 22 • BEN FOLDS – Saturday, Oct. 28 • SILVERSUN PICKUPS –Nov. 8 –Saturday, Nov. 11 • THE MOUNTAIN GOATS –Friday, Nov. 17 • LIAM GALLAGHER –Nov. 21 • GRIZZLY BEAR –Nov. 29 • ANGEL OLSEN –Saturday, Dec. 9

MISTERWIVES BLEACHERS

BUY TICKETS AT 44 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 24, 2017

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