Print Issue of June 29, 2017 (Volume 46, Number 38)

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 | J U N E 2 9, 2 0 1 7

Inside the darkly humorous world of rising artist David Leggett 17

LIGHTS OVER PILSEN

The Mexican-American neighborhood celebrates the Fourth of July with a bang.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY RICK MAJEWSKI 10

James Elkington: The consummate sideman finally takes the reins. 23

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FEATURES

IN THIS ISSUE

PHOTO ESSAY

Lights over Pilsen

The Mexican-American neighborhood celebrates the Fourth of July with a bang.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY RICK MAJEWSKI 10

CHICAGO READER 350 N. ORLEANS, CHICAGO, IL 60654 312-222-6920, CHICAGOREADER.COM ---------------------------------------------------------------READER (ISSN 1096-6919) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY

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COPYRIGHT © 2017 CHICAGO READER. PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT CHICAGO, IL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CHICAGO READER, READER, AND REVERSED R: REGISTERED TRADEMARKS ®.

ON THE COVER: PHOTO BY RICK MAJEWSKI. FOR MORE OF HIS WORK, GO TO RICKMAJEWSKI.COM OR TURN TO PAGE 10.

4 Agenda The Bowie tap dance opera Changes, Chema Skandal!, Coco Picard’s graphic novel Chronicles of Fortune, the film The Ornithologist, and more goings-on about town 7 Fourth of July Navy Pier’s Freedom Fest and more ways to celebrate Independence Day

27 In Rotation Current musical obsessions: the Grateful Dead doc Long Strange Trip, Gina X Performance, Prince Rama, and more 28 Shows of note Chris Stapleton, Chosen Few Picnic & Music Festival, Mountain Goats, Ratboys, and more

VISUAL ART

David Leggett has the last laugh

Inside the rising local artist’s darkly humorous world

BY KERRY CARDOZA 17

FOOD & DRINK CITY LIFE

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MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE

MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE

Consummate sideman James Elkington takes the reins—but loosely

These days the former Zincs leader plays with Joan Shelley, Tweedy, Brokeback, Eleventh Dream Day, and more—and the new Wintres Woma, his first album under his own name, won’t change that.

BY PETER MARGASAK 23

8 Joravsky | Politics Where were the Illinois gubernatorial candidates when we really needed them?

9 Transportation What’s keeping people of color from using Divvy?

34 Restaurant review: The Spice Room Logan Square’s pansubcontinental storefront excels with the familiar.

37 Bar review: Park & Field The Logan Square spot boasts a patio with bocce ball, a camper bar, a fire pit . . . and some underwhelming food and drink offerings.

CLASSIFIEDS

38 Jobs 38 Apartments & Spaces 39 Marketplace

ARTS & CULTURE

19 Visual Art For Derrick Adams, black imagination is the future.

19 Theater Chicago Folks Operetta revives a landmark work by Kurt Weill, about a pacifist in WWI. 21 Movies Bong Joon-ho’s Okja is a big-screen fantasy you won’t see on the big screen.

40 Straight Dope Is Islamic terrorism mainly a reaction to Western intervention in the Muslim world?

41 Savage Love Micropenises and other pressing issues from Dan’s live Lovecast at the Music Box 42 Early Warnings Randy Newman, Gary Numan, and more shows you should know about in the weeks to come 42 Gossip Wolf Berlin hosts Big Dipper’s LaCroix Boi: The Party, and more music news.

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It Came From the Neo-Futurarium XII: Dawn of the Neo-Futurarium ò EVAN HANOVER

THEATER

More at chicagoreader.com/ theater Going to a Place Where You Already Are A couple of years ago, the Pew Research Center confirmed that the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans has risen significantly over the last decade. For a culture that already isn’t great at having conversations about end-of-life issues, that’s just a further wrench in how folks emotionally prepare for the inevitable. With shades of Calderón’s 17th-century allegory Life Is a Dream, Bekah Brunstetter’s 2016 drama follows an avowed atheist couple’s spiritual splintering after Roberta (Kathleen Ruhl) receives a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. Her newfound faith is met with passive discomfort from her granddaughter and—inexplicably—totally unsympathetic condescension and a sense of personal betrayal from her husband. Matt Hawkins’s Redtwist Theatre production makes a clear-eyed case for faith even if Brunstetter’s script relies too heavily on a straw man to do it. —DAN JAKES Through 7/23: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, 773-728-7529, redtwist.org, $30-$35, $25-$30 students and seniors.

In the Soundless Awe Saltbox R Theatre Collective’s production team create a minimalist visual feast

for this 85-minute fantasia on the 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the subsequent mental torment for court-martialed captain Charles McVay. With only a shallow pool of water, one piece of rope, a few lights, and simple projections, they paint alluring images of terror, tedium, heroism, hubris, and above all, paranoia. Director Brian Fruits enhances their design with graceful formal blocking, his eight cast members morphing effortlessly from one hallucinogenic moment to the next. The script,

by Jayme McGhan and Andy Pederson, lingers too long on Hollywood war tropes, ultimately shedding little light on the traumatic event or McVay’s ultimate demise. Still, the intoxicating imagery gives even the most cliched moments an epic sweep. —JUSTIN HAYFORD Through 7/23: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Prop Thtr,

3502 N. Elston, 773-539-7838, propthtr. org, $20, $15 students and seniors.

Late Company The knives come R out before hors d’oeuvres are even served at the dinner party in Cor

Theatre’s midwest premiere of Jordan Tannehill’s lacerating meditation on loss and forgiveness. A year after their gay teen son’s suicide, his parents invite the family of a classmate who tormented him over in an attempt to heal and move on with their lives. But no one in the dining room trusts anyone else’s motives, and it becomes clear that the grown-ups barely knew the boy, while his classmate will never reveal the extent of their relationship. Despite one crucial plot point which strains belief, this is as a tense and at times devastating study of the limits of parents’ understanding of their children. Jessica Fisch directed.

—DMITRI SAMAROV Through 7/16: WedSat 8 PM (no show 7/5), Sun 3 PM; also Mon 7/10, 8 PM, the Buena at Pride Arts Center, 4147 N. Broadway, 800-737-0984, cortheatre.org, $30.

Water + Power In his 2006 R drama, revived here by Urban Theater Company, Chicano playwright

Richard Montoya uses a mixture of dramatic styles—the gritty noir realism of TV, movies, and graphic novels and a much more mystical magic realism (one brother is haunted by a spirit animal, who appears throughout the play)—to tell the story of two Latino brothers, one a rogue police officer, the other a sell-out politician. Sometimes intriguing, sometimes just confusing, this hybrid style ultimately redeems Montoya’s tale, saving it from its occasional lapses into the worn tropes of TV police dramas, and giving the author room to create rich, layered, complicated characters. A less capable director might have gotten lost in Montoya’s material; Richard Perez’s simple, powerful production brings out its best. Ivan Vega is particularly stellar as the conflicted cop. —JACK HELBIG Thu-Fri 7:30 PM (no show Fri 6/30), Sat 7:30 (except 7/22, 6:30 PM benefit performance), Sun 3 PM, Urban Theater Company, 2620 W. Division, 773347-1203, urbantheaterchicago.org, $20 suggested donation, $40 suggested for the benefit performance Sat 7/22.

The Winter’s Tale Since winter stock isn’t a thing, summertime’s as good a time as any to be putting on a production of The Winter’s Tale. Honest Theatre does Shakespeare’s late romance as a five-hander in 90 minutes, with deeper cuts than those proposed for Medicaid and a dainty portable set made of PVC pipe and a tulle skirt. Britain Willcock is less compelling as Leontes, jealous king of Sicilia who wrecks his family by suspecting his faithful wife of adultery, than he is as Unnamed Shepherd, who finds a baby girl lying next to some money on the beach, figures he’s rich, and lets his sheep run away. There was a scene so short on people that Martin Diaz-Valdes had to play both sides of an argument, which I loved. —MAX MALLER Through 7/9: Sat-Sun 2 PM, Touhy Park, 7348 N. Paulina, 773-262-6737, pay what you can.

DANCE

Changes Truly a “Space OddR ity.” Harrison McEldowney and Mark Yonally present a sci-fi tap dance

opera set to the music of David Bowie.

Through movement and a remixed score, the story of clashing aliens is told.

Turn and face the strange, friends. 6/307/16: Fri and Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, 773-327-5252, stage773.com, $23-$37.

Sherry Zunker Get a sneak preview of the distinguished choreographer’s new works, including her collaboration with Joe Cerqua, Between Us. In addition to contributing to the development of the choreography, you will have the opportunity to gain insight into how the dance pieces were created. Thu 6/29, 7 PM, Old Town School of Folk Music, 909 W. Armitage, 773-728-6000, oldtownschool. org, $8.

COMEDY Capitol Steps The seasoned group of current and former congressional staffers finds comedy in the insanity that is our current political climate. No one, regardless of party affiliation, is off-limits, so get ready for some musical satirization of your favorite (and least favorite) politicians. Sun 7/2, 7 PM, City Winery, 1200 W. Randolph, 312-733-9463, citywinery.com, from $102.

Drag Party Party At one point during this hour-long sketch revue directed by Bina Martin, a running motif ends with a disgruntled pageant queen wielding a purple dildo to inflict blunt-force trauma.

It’s swift and even awkwardly amusing, but it also speaks volumes about the nature of goings-on at the Annoyance, where the default mechanism is to be outrageous. And while I laughed hard in spurts, as when the uber-talented Anita Cannoli (Julia DeFerdinando) narrates a scene from While You Were Sleeping in her thick Jersey accent, or when a girl’s night out at Sidetrack goes awry, the

The sci-fi tap dance opera Changes is a fitting tribute to David Bowie. ò RALPH GATTI

screwball antics of this self-described drag party tends to devolve to a level of strangeness that doesn’t do justice to the individual talent on stage—these kings and queens are at their best when the dial is turned down. —MATT DE LA PEÑA Through 6/28: Wed 9:30 PM, Annoyance Theatre, 851 W. Belmont, 773697-9693, theannoyance.com, $10.

The Hodgetwins The comedy duo, known for their conversational online videos, ditches YouTube and brings their unfiltered, daring stand-up routine to a live audience. Thu 6/29, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport, 312-526-3851, thaliahallchicago.com, $25-$210.

It Came From the Neo-FuR turarium XII: Dawn of the Neo-Futurarium Nobody said it would

be easy, but 12 years down the line, the Neo-Futurists are still out there bringing Chicago and its adjacent territories the finest in staged readings of terrible movie scripts. This year’s series begins with Caged!, a forgotten 1950 noir about a women’s prison. It seems to have very awesomely been a propaganda movie about how going to jail makes you a lesbian, and the Neo-Futurarian rendition featured radiant off-the-cuff work from Ida Cutler and the always-excellent Julie Williams, whom I’ve enjoyed in a number of storefront shows since last year. Next up is Face/Off (1997), which I actually like, followed by Suspiria (1977), and then the made-for-TV movie about venereal disease Someone I Touched (1975). Special mention must go to Kristie Koehler Vuocolo, whose preview for Face/Off was sublime. —MAX MALLER Through 7/15: Sat 7:30 PM, Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland, 773-275-5255, neofuturists. org, $15-$50.

Tommy McNamara The accomplished stand-up and Onion contributor brings his beach bash to town, which includes performances by local comedians, a demonstration of beach basketball, and an impromptu composing of what’s sure to be the song of the summer. Wed 7/5, 9 PM, Lincoln Lodge, 4008 N. Lincoln, 773-251-1539, thelincolnlodge.com, $5-$10.

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Best bets, recommendations, and notable arts and culture events for the week of June 29

Michelle Davey Is Lincoln The R Chicago comedian takes on an unexpected role: Abraham Lincoln.

Directed by Molly Todd (so close to Mary Todd,) this production takes a comedic but historically accurate look at the 16th president’s life. Spoiler alert: He’s a big theater buff. Through 7/7: Fri 9 PM, the Lincoln Loft, 3036 N. Lincoln, second floor, 773-362-5324, lotcchicago. wordpress.com, $5 suggested donation

Sleeping Giant Tom Rhoads is R six-foot-eight. That is tall. In his solo comedy, Rhoads enlightens us

“shorts” about how tough it can be to do something as simple as get in a car or negotiate the Jenga tower of doing the nasty. 6/30-7/1, 10 PM, Second City de Maat Theatre, 230 W. North, third floor, 312-337-3992, secondcity.com, $13.

The Sugar Ball This delectable variety show includes plenty of stand-up, sketch, candy, singing, candy, and sugar (candy). Featuring Andel Sudik, Rebecca O’Neal, and Sarah Squirm. And the classic comedic stylings of Werther’s Original. Fri 6/30, 7:30 PM, the Revival, 1160 E. 55th, 866-811-4111, the-revival.com, $10, $5 for students.

When the Fog Begins to Lift The lights come up on an empty stage. Two audience members with duct-tape mustaches storm forward. Surprise! They were in on the gag! So begins When the Fog Begins to Lift, a sketch comedy so meta it calls out its own metaness. Like when painful memories trigger a freeze and the Kill Bill soundtrack, and the only character aware of this meta-on-meta device wants to kill (Bill) himself. The plot is loosely about destroying quaint

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but I lost track when the actors—powering through lines like kids through Halloween candy—introduced or called back townsfolk by holding up wigs next to their wigs, then running off- and onstage in a hail of “fuck”-storms. Their vitriol and “fucks” are aimed mostly at the stage manager, whom they say isn’t good enough to be in the show. But he’s the only one tempering metamissteps with genial smiles. He comes out during blackouts and rearranges chairs, is caught onstage when the lights come up, reamed out by hopped-up actors, heading off overwhelmed with glee to be part of the show—even if the fourth wall of this jagged rhombus has already dissipated. —STEVE HEISLER Sun 7/2, Sun 8 PM, Annoyance Theatre, 851 W. Belmont, 773-697-9693, theannoyance. com, $8.

LIT & LECTURES

Coco Picard and Friends The R author discusses her graphic novel Chronicles of Fortune, the story of a brilliant but apathetic superhero. Sort of like Luke Cage in the Netflix show Luke Cage. (Most episodes had that “Why don’t you just punch somebody already?” vibe.) She is joined by fellow graphic novelists Neil Birdeau, Anya Davidson, and Jessica Campbell. Fri 6/30, 6 PM, Challengers Comics + Conversation, 1845 N. Western, 773-278-0155, challengerscomics.com.

Poetry in the Parks The Poetry Center and the American Writers Museum present an evening of prose in the park. Experimental poet Ed Roberson and SAIC professor Daniel Woody are set to share their work in this intimate and peaceful setting. Thu 6/29, 6-7:30 PM, Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park, 312-746-5100, garfield-conservatory.org.

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The Beguiled Terry Tempest Williams Experience the renowned author’s reading of her most recent book, The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks. The novel celebrates the gorgeous pockets of natural land that remain preserved in this constantly evolving world. Wed 7/5, 7 PM, Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark, 773-7699299, womenandchildrenfirst.com.

and Paul Machliss for the razor-sharp editing, and look for a cameo by director Walter Hill, whose 1978 thriller The Driver helped inspire this sleek exploitation flick. —ANDREA GRONVALL R, 113 min. ArcLight, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Chatham 14, Cicero Showplace 14, City North 14, Ford City, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, 600 N. Michigan, Webster Place

VISUAL ARTS

The Beguiled Thomas P. CulliR nan’s novel The Beguiled, about a wounded Union soldier being nursed by

“Spirit of 69” Chema Skandal!’s unparalleled and lively art exhibit celebrates the artist’s career and with a display of various prints and etchings, including some previously unreleased works. Opening reception Thu 6/29, 6-10 PM. Through 8/29. 2545 W. Diversey, ipaintmymind.org.

“Then They Came for Me” R Alphawood Gallery’s first original exhibition examines the unjust incarcer-

ation of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Especially poignant in the current political climate, the exhibition utilizes photos, videos, and artwork to illustrate this dismantling of civil liberties. 6/29-11/19.

Alphawood Gallery, 2401 N. Halsted, 773-687-7676, alphawoodfoundation.org.

MOVIES

More at chicagoreader.com/movies NEW REVIEWS

R

San Francisco, California, April 20, 1942, part of “Then They Came for Me” at Alphawood Gallery. ò DOROTHEA LANGE

Baby Driver Writer-director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) has been mashing up genres since he was an amateur filmmaker in his teens; here he tweaks the caper film by replacing the familiar figure of the aging protagonist who’s in for one last score with a fresh-faced kid (Ansel Elgort) who’s in debt to a criminal mastermind (Kevin Spacey). The hero is music mad and skilled at the wheel, which befits a movie powered by fast cars, a throbbing soundtrack, syncopated dialogue, and balletic violence. Oozing menace as addicted bank robbers, Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm are all the more charismatic thanks to Bill Pope’s luscious noir photography. Credit Jonathan Amos

a handful of Confederate women at an otherwise abandoned finishing school, was filmed back in 1971 by Don Siegel, with Clint Eastwood as the bemused soldier. This new adaptation by Sofia Coppola unfolds from a more feminine sensibility, and like her first and best feature, The Virgin Suicides (1999), it sets out to expose the inner dynamics and frustrated sexuality of a small, mysterious cloister of women. Nicole Kidman is typically fine as the strict headmistress, who can barely control herself after giving the new guest a sponge bath, and Kirsten Dunst, another Suicides alumnus, plays the girls’ French teacher, who wants the man all to herself. With Colin Farrell and Elle Fanning. —J.R. JONES R, 94 min. Crown Village 18, River East 21 The Big Sick Kumail Nanjiani, best known for his role on HBO’s Silicon Valley, collaborated with his wife, Emily V. Gordon, on the script for this semiautobiographical rom-com, dramatizing his Pakistani-American parents’ opposition to their mixed-race romance and her battle against an infection that ultimately landed her in a medically induced coma. Directed by Michael Showalter (Hello, My Name Is Doris), the movie chugs along on the chemistry between Nanjiani, acquitting himself well as a droll leading man, and Zoe Kazan as his sunny, devoted sweetheart, though they’re upstaged by Holly Hunter and Ray Romano as the girlfriend’s parents, who arrive on the scene to keep watch over their stricken daughter and whose fractious but enduring marriage offers the boyfriend an object lesson. In keeping with the latest trend, Nanjiani’s character is a stand-up comedian, but the movie’s cleverest lines come from Aidy Bryant and Bo Burnham as two of his performing buddies. —J.R. JONES µ

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AGENDA B R, 119 min. ArcLight, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Crown Village 18, Landmark’s Century Centre, River East 21, Webster Place The Book of Henry An insufferably precocious schoolboy (Jaeden Lieberher) dies of a brain tumor and leaves his single mother (Naomi Watts) with one hell of an inheritance: a journal in which he insists that the girl next door (Maddie Ziegler) is being sexually abused by her father (Dean Norris), the police commissioner, and lays out a plan of attack against him.

The story is so outlandish and emotionally freighted that only an iron control of tone and characterization might have salvaged it, but director Colin Trevorrow, working from a script by Gregg Hurwitz, tastelessly jumbles together eccentric, Salingeresque comedy and rickety, unconvincing melodrama.

Watts throws herself into the project, much like a first responder to an emergency. With Sarah Silverman and Bobby Moynihan. —J.R. JONES PG-13, 105 min. For venues visit chicagoreader.com/movies.

Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge The title of this French-Polish coproduction promises a generic and stodgy biopic, but it’s somewhat better than that. Director Marie Noëlle (who cowrote the script with Andrea Stoll) dutifully relates the facts of Curie’s biography, with clunky dialogue summarizing key incidents of her life and career. At the same time, Noëlle’s stylistic approach is unpredictable, changing virtually from scene to scene. When she considers Curie’s romantic life, the tone is wildly melodramatic; when she presents Curie’s work in chemistry, it becomes muted and focused. I preferred the melodrama—there isn’t much tension in people discussing the theory of radioactivity. Karolina Gruszka is very good as Curie, conveying a mix of intelligence and romantic impulse; unfortunately no one else in the cast comes close to her level of investment. In French, German, and Polish with subtitles. —BEN SACHS 100 min. Fri 6/30, 7 and 9 PM; Sat 7/1, 5 and 7 PM; Sun 7/3, 3, 5, and 7 PM; and Mon 7/3-Thu 7/6, 7 and 9 PM. Society for Arts The Ornithologist Like R the Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, João Pedro

Rodrigues of Portugal alternates between experimental shorts and narrative features, each informing the other. This strange and beautiful drama—about a bird lover who gets lost in the mountains and winds up on a spiritual odyssey— plays freely with story structure and sound design, and the influence of nonnarrative cinema is evident in passages that privilege setting over character. Rodrigues is interested in carnal as much as

The Ornithologist spiritual desire, granting every interpersonal encounter an erotic charge and bringing the natural environment to life. In English and subtitled Portuguese, Mandarin, Mirandese, and Latin. —BEN SACHS 118 min. Fri 6/30-Thu 7/6, 1:50 and 7:15 PM. Music Box Radio Dreams Writer-director Babak Jalali was born in Iran and educated in the UK, but somewhere along the way he must have encountered the old U.S. sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, which seems to have been the model for this laid-back comedy about a Persian-language radio station in San Francisco. All the archetypes are there: the grouchy station owner (Keyumars Hakim); the rebellious, idealistic announcer (Mohsen Namjoo); the beautiful station manager keeping the wacky staffers in line (Boshra Dastournezhad). The announcer, an exiled Iranian writer, has organized an on-air musical summit between the Afghani rock band Kabul Dreams (who play themselves) and their idols, Metallica, and the characters’ anxious wait for the superstars to arrive provides Jalali with enough tension to sustain his succession of low-key, character-oriented gags. In English and subtitled Persian, Dari, and Assyrian. —J.R. JONES 94 min. Fri 6/30-Thu 7/6. Facets Cinematheque REVIVALS

R

Army of Shadows JeanPierre Melville’s 1969 thriller about the French Resistance, which received its first U.S. release only in 2006, is a great film but also one of the most upsetting ones I know. Melville based his story on a novel by Joseph Kessel (Belle de Jour) published during the occupation that’s reportedly far more optimistic; in the movie a resistance leader (Lino Ventura) gradually discovers that he and his comrades must betray their own humanity for the sake of their struggle, though in the end their efforts are mainly futile. As Dave Kehr wrote, “Melville is best known for his philosophical pastiches of American gangster films (Le Samourai, Le Doulos), and some of their distinctive rhythms—aching stillness relieved by sharp flurries of action—survive here.” With Simone Signoret (in one of her

best performances), Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, and Serge Reggiani. In French with subtitles.

—JONATHAN ROSENBAUM 145 min.

Sat 7/1, 4:45 PM, and Wed 7/5, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Beat the Devil The birthplace of camp, with John Huston parodying the kind of material that made him a star director (The Maltese Falcon) and Truman Capote providing a ragged, day-by-day screenplay that left the actors stranded (and in Humphrey Bogart’s case, visibly annoyed). The film ranges from the diffident to the grotesque, with Huston selecting his lenses to make the performers look as freakish as possible (a style he returned to in Wise Blood). Released as a straight thriller in 1953, it baffled audiences everywhere, ending Huston’s long relationship with Bogart (who put up the money); reissued with a jokey ad campaign, it became a cult item in some circles, though Huston has since been bettered in this game by John Waters, among others. With Gina Lollobrigida, Jennifer Jones, and Robert Morley. —DAVE KEHR 89 min. Screening in a new digital restoration with five minutes of additional footage. Fri 6/30, 8 PM; Sat 7/1, 3 PM; Sun 7/2, 7:45 PM; Mon 7/3, 3 PM; Tue 7/4, 5 PM; and Wed 7/5, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center SPECIAL EVENTS Music Box 70mm Film Festival Music Box presents its third annual festival devoted to 70-millimeter film, the format that, upon its introduction in 1955, represented celluloid’s last, best hope for humanity.

Screening through July 15 are: the Walt Disney animation Sleeping Beauty (1959), Stanley Kurbick’s Spartacus (1960), Robert Wise’s West Side Story (1961), Carol Reed’s The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965), Richard Brooks’s Lord Jim (1965), Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Tony Scott’s Top Gun (1986), Steven Spielberg’s Hook (1991), Robert Altman’s Short Cuts (1993), Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014), and the just-released Kong: Skull Island, with director Jordan Vogt-Roberts attending the July 15 screening. —J.R. JONES For a full schedule visit musicboxtheatre.com.

Fri 6/30-Sat 7/15. Music Box v

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AGENDA Dy-no-mite! ò BRAD HAGAN

$59 adults, $49 kids under 15, free for kids under five.

Fourth of July Afternoon Booze Cruise The name says it all. Get a head start on the festivities with a toilet-side view of the technicolor heave. Tue 7/4, noon-2:30 PM, DuSable Harbor, 111 N. Lake Shore, $20-$30.

Evanston Fourth of July Twilight Concert and Fireworks The Palatine Concert Band plays from 7:30 to 9 PM before accompanying an impressive fireworks display, launched from Clark Street Beach, that should viewable from east of downtown Evanston. Tue 7/4, 7:30 PM; fireworks start at 9:30 PM, Centennial Park, Sheridan and Church, Evanston. F Freedom Fest Navy Pier goes out with the navy, in with the red, white, and blue for this annual rooftopalooza. The tradition, of course, includes the beer, brats, and best view of the fireworks the pier is known for. Bring the whole family to join the chant: “USA! USA! USA! USA!” Tue 7/4, 6:30-11 PM, Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand, 312-595-7437, navypier.com, $39.

FOURTH OF JULY

The best places to celebrate Independence Day

Whether you call them fireworks, sky candy, rocket dust, rainbow suspenders, dragon ball-sees, or BOOM, you’ll get a great view (and ribs) at these all-American parties.

By Steve Heisler Community Picnic & Fourth of July Fireworks Watch The Iraqi Mutual Aid Society, raising awareness of Iraq’s refugees and how we can help transition them into our country, shoots fireworks at dusk and offers the opportunity to chat with society members. Tue 7/4, 4-9 PM, Northwestern University, Norris University Center East Lawn, Northwestern University, Norris University Center, 1999 Campus, Evanston, F

The Fourth of July 3-D Fireworks Extravaganza Sure, we’ve all seen fireworks before—on Independence Day, in an alley lit up by “kids these days”—but have you ever seen them in . . . 3-D?! If you answered, “yes,” you are correct. But board this barge, don 3-D glasses, and experience explosions closer to your face. Freedom right before your eyes. Tue 7/4, 8-10:30 PM, Mercury Skyline Cruiseline, 112 E. Upper Wacker, mercurycruises.com,

Frontier Days Festival at Arlington Park For five glorious days, the city of Arlington Heights transforms itself into a festival of soap-bubble sculptures, reptile meet-and-greets, aquatic obstacle courses, and the multidimensional musical stylings of Hoobastank.

Close out with a rib-eating contest and, of course, explosions in the sky. 6/29-7/4: Thu 5-11 PM, Fri 4 PM-midnight, Sat 8:30 AM-midnight, Sun 7:30 AM-11 PM, Mon 5-11 PM, Tue 10 AM-10 PM, Recreation Park, 500 E. Miner St. Arlington Heights, $20-$25.

Northwest Fourth Fest Computers have put jobs in jeopardy, and this weekend-long event in Hoffman Estates, billed as “The Burbs’ Biggest Fourth of July Celebration,” has outsourced its July 7/2 fireworks to a mighty digital display.

Come to think of it, there’s nothing more American than letting someone—or something—do the heavy lifting. The festival also includes catering from local restaurants and a plethora of carnival rides for wee ’uns and bigger ’uns. 6/30-7/4: Fri 6-11 PM; Sat 11:11-1 PM (craft fair from 9 AM-4 PM; Sun 10 AM-11 PM (craft fair from 10 AM-4 PM); Mon-Tue 11 AM-11 PM, Sears Centre, 5333 Prairie Stone Pky., Hoffman Estates, 847-649-2270, searscentre.com, $50 for entire festival.

Oak Fest In honor of the 30th year of the festival, Oak Forest features two fireworks displays: day one, on

Thu 6/29, 9-10 PM, in honor of fallen heroes, and again on Tue 7/4 at dusk. There will also be craft beers and ample opportunities to adopt sheltered pets. Thu 6/29, 6-10 PM, Fri 6/30 6 PM-midnight, Sat 7/1 3 PM-midnight, Sun 7/2, 11 AMmidnight, Mon 7/3, 6 PM-midnight, Tue, 7/4, 3-10 PM, Sun 7/2, 11 AM, 159th and Central Ave, Oak Forest, $60 for all-festival pass.

Shoreline Sightseeing Architecture July Fourth Fireworks Cruise Put the “Chicago” back in “Watching the fireworks in Chicago.” This “freedom edition” of the popular architecture cruise lazily floats along the Chicago River, allowing us to marvel at our iconic buildings and landscapes before docking just in time for a special adddition: some temporary architecture in the sky. Tue 7/4, 8:15-9:45 PM, Shoreline’s Navy Pier, 474 N. Lake Shore, 312-222-9328, shorelinesightseeing.com, $69.

Spirit Fourth of July Fireworks Dinner Cruise For three hours and three courses over a bulging buffet, guests can gorge themselves silly at an open bar and test their drunken skills at giant Jenga.

And of course, the evening will be capped by an extraordinary view of the fireworks from Lake Michigan’s finest vantage point: anywhere on the lake. Tue 7/4, 7 PM, the Spirit of Chicago, Navy Pier, $149.90.

Taste of Oak Brook Fireworks will light up the sky as specialty local food lights up your stomach. Ironically brought to you by McDonalds.

Mon 7/3, 9:15 PM (closing time not available at press time), Oak Brook Polo Grounds, 700 Oak Brook, Oak Brook, 630-368-6428, chicagopolo. com. F v

164 North State Street

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Read Ben Joravsky’s columns throughout the week at chicagoreader.com.

Gubernatorial candidates Ameya Pawar, Chris Kennedy, Daniel Biss, and J.B. Pritzker were missing in action for the last few years. Or, worse—they were on the other side of the good fight they now profess to be waging. ò ASHLEE REZIN/SUN-TIMES MEDIA

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POLITICS

What have they done for you lately?

It’s good to see Democrats moving to the left as the gubernatorial primary ramps up—but where were they when we really needed them?

By BEN JORAVSKY

A SALE GALLERY CLOSING

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s far as I’m concerned, the high point of this still embryonic gubernatorial campaign happened a few weeks ago, when alderman Ameya Pawar blasted Governor Bruce Rauner as

a “racist.”

Pawar, who’s running for the Democratic nomination, castigated Rauner for using racial “code words” to rile white downstate voters and play to their fears that any aid to Chicago’s schools was a waste of money.

OK, maybe Pawar’s outburst was more therapeutic than pragmatic. It certainly didn’t solve the state’s budget crisis. But it did give me one of those at-least-someone’s-telling-it-like-it-is jolts of satisfaction. It also made me wonder— where’s Pawar been for the last five or six years?

In the last few weeks, he’s been sounding like the second coming of Eugene V. Debs, eloquently and passionately railing against income inequities, calling for progressive taxation, and demanding that Mayor Rahm Emanuel force the airlines at O’Hare and Midway to raise wages for their underpaid employees.

By contrast, Pawar was pretty much an Emanuel loyalist during the mayor’s first term, sticking with Rahm on many issues even as it

infuriated community activists. I’m not picking on Pawar. And he’s by no means alone. The gubernatorial race is filled with Democrats—state senator Dan Biss, businessman Chris Kennedy, and venture capitalist J.B. Pritzker—who’ve been missing in action for the last few years. Or worse, they were on the other side of the good fight they now profess to be waging.

Consider Biss. Back in 2013 he was part of the effort to fortify the state’s pension funds by stripping benefits from middle-class or working-class pensioners as opposed to raising taxes on the wealthy. Think of it as trickle-up economics.

As for Pritzker, he was nowhere to be found in any of the critical political fights of this decade.

In fact, it’s not even clear how much of a Democrat he really is. In 2012, he gave an interview with a Bloomberg television reporter in which he said he hadn’t made up his mind if he was going to vote for Barack Obama’s reelection.

Kennedy not only stayed out of all the local battles, he donated $5,000 to Emanuel’s reelection campaign.

Biss is pushing a bill that would end the carried-interest tax loophole, which enables wealthy hedge fund and private equity operators to dodge paying millions in Illinois taxes. A headline in Crain’s Chicago Business called him a “traitor” for proposing the bill—a rebuke that Biss considers “a badge of honor.”

Meanwhile, Kennedy is leading the charge to reform our antiquated and unfair property tax system. Man, we could have used some of his roll-up-your-shirt-sleeves outrage when Mayor Rahm was closing all those schools!

Of course, I get what’s going on: In a primary, Democratic candidates move to the left to woo voters like me. You know, the real Democrats in the party. But are we supposed to forget how these candidates behaved in the times when they were taking our votes for granted? For the last six years, they apparently bought into the conventional wisdom that Democrats should rule as if they were Republicans.

For the most egregious example, let’s go back to January 2012. Back then we had a Democratic mayor in Chicago (Rahm), a Democratic governor (Pat Quinn), and two Democratic-controlled houses in the Illinois General Assembly. And what did they do with that power? Emanuel, Quinn, state senate president John Cullerton, and house speaker Michael Madigan signed on to a tax break for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange at roughly the same time that the City Council (also filled with Democrats) unanimously passed Rahm’s budget that closed six mental health clinics in the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

There was apparently enough money to give a tax break to some of our wealthiest citizens, but not enough in the coffers to provide desperately needed therapy for people dodging bullets in high-crime areas. I don’t know if keeping those clinics open—or, better yet, opening new ones— would’ve curbed the violence of the last few years.

But it would’ve been a step in the right direction.

Instead, those in power shamefully went the other way. Oh, there were activists who protested—they even staged a sit-in at the mayor’s City Hall office. But no elected official, mainstream leader, or influential figure in the state or the city raised a voice in support—Biss, Kennedy, Pawar, and Pritzker included.

As a result of betrayals of this sort, the Democrats have lost a lot of credibility. They demonstrated they couldn’t be depended on to make a principled stand for the little guy when it mattered the most. Now look where it got them.

Voters in rural areas of Wisconsin and Michigan went for Donald Trump, even if it meant going against their economic self-interests. And many potential voters in black communities on the south and west sides of Chicago didn’t vote at all.

So between the voters who voted for the other guy or the Democrats who didn’t vote at all— well, that may help explain why Rauner’s in the governor’s mansion and Trump’s in the White House and Republicans control both houses of Congress.

Look, I’m not a Green Party fanatic who says there’s no difference between Democrats and Republicans. I’d vote for Biss, Kennedy, Pawar, or Pritzker over Rauner, a political lunatic who’s trying to bankrupt the state. But let’s be honest, Democrats: You dug yourselves a big hole, and now we all have to climb on out. v

v @joravben

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Participants on a ride hosted by Slow Roll Chicago, a group that aims to create a diverse and equitable cycling culture ò SLOW ROLL CHICAGO

TRANSPORTATION

Divvy’s unfair share

A new study looks at what’s keeping people of color from using Chicago’s bike-share program.

By JOHN GREENFIELD

A

taxpayer-subsidized bike-share system that’s mostly used by relatively wealthy and well-educated white folks isn’t equitable. But that’s the situation with Chicago’s Divvy network. A 2015 Chicago Department of Transportation questionnaire found that 79 percent of responding members were non-Hispanic whites, most of them had middle to upper incomes, and 93 percent had college degrees.

To its credit, the city of Chicago has in recent years taken steps to address Divvy’s social justice problem. These have included expanding the coverage area to more African-American and Latino communities, and rolling out the Divvy for Everyone (D4E) program, which offers onetime $5 annual memberships to Chicagoans making $35,310 or less a year and waives the usual credit card requirement. More than 2,500 residents have enrolled through the program.

Starting last summer, the city has hosted free adult cycling classes on the south and west sides to further encourage bike-share use. And later this year CDOT plans to add 40 new stations and 400 bikes to the system, with many of the new docks being used to increase station density in lower-income parts of the existing coverage area.

But Divvy still has a long way to go when it comes to providing equal access to diverse residents. That’s the conclusion of a new report that looks at the Chicago bike-share system alongside New York’s Citi Bike and Philadelphia’s Indego networks. The study, titled “Breaking Barriers to Bike Share: Insights From Residents of Traditionally Underserved Neighborhoods,” was produced by Portland State University in collaboration with the Better Bike Share Partnership, which provided a $75,000 grant for Divvy for Everyone.

The researchers talked to people in lower-income communities of color, including Bronzeville on Chicago’s south side, and identified a number of issues that will need to be addressed if the demographics of bike-share ridership are going to expand. Residents expressed concerns about traffic safety, crime, police harassment, financial barriers, and liability for the bikes. The survey also revealed that many residents in these neighborhoods are unclear about how the systems work, and showed there’s a need for more one-on-one outreach regarding the mobility, health, and economic benefits of using bike-share programs.

In all three cities studied, the researchers focused on areas where outreach has been done to spread the word about the local

bike-share programs. In Chicago this was the central portion of Bronzeville. Here CDOT has previously contracted Go Bronzeville, a group that was already promoting sustainable transportation in the neighborhood, to tell residents about the discounted D4E memberships. Researchers also surveyed a control group of residents in an area south of Washington Park where there was no Go Bronzeville outreach.

The study found that survey responses from Bronzev ille residents were qu ite similar to those from their counterparts in the predominantly African-American neighborhoods they canvassed in NYC and Philly, which may mean the results are applicable to other towns. In all three cities researchers found that people of color and lower-income residents cited more barriers to using bike-share programs, and cycling in general, than more aff luent and white residents. Concern about traffic safety was identified as the biggest obstacle, regardless of race or income—48 percent of the total 1,885 respondents in the three cities cited this as a major issue.

But for people of color, especially lowerincome residents, concerns about personal safety are also a significant barrier to using bike-share networks such as Divvy. While only 7 percent of higher-income whites cited fears of being the victim of a crime or an unfair police stop as an obstacle, 17 percent of higher-income people of color and 22 percent of lower-income residents of color expressed these concerns.

About half of lower-income residents of color cited high costs of membership and worries about liability for a lost or damaged bike as a major obstacle. (Presumably in Chicago these respondents were unfamiliar with the $5 D4E membership option.)

Lack of information or misconceptions about how bike-share programs work are also big barriers for this demographic. For 34 percent of lower-income black and Latino residents, not knowing enough about their local network was an obstacle to using it, compared to 19 percent of higher-income respondents of color, and a mere 7 percent of higher-income white residents. Common misconceptions about bike sharing included the notions that helmets are mandatory to use the bikes in these cities, and that credit cards are the only payment option (you can pay for a $5 D4E membership with cash). Surprisingly, 21 percent of respondents thought that the wheels of bike-share cycles will lock

CITY LIFE

up if the rider exceeds the time limit.

Based on survey feedback, the report recommends several strategies for growing bike-share ridership in communities of color, including: discounted memberships (such as D4E), free transfers from bike-share to transit, short-term passes or membership options, free or low-cost helmets and other gear, the option to buy a pass with cash at a store, and organized rides targeted towards particular demographics.

In general, local advocates who’ve perused a draft of the Portland State study say the new data will help inspire more and better-targeted efforts to bridge the Divvy race and class gap. Go Bronzeville leader Ronnie Matthew Harris says the report proves that his group’s outreach work is making a difference. “It leaves me elated to find that we haven’t been spinning our wheels,” he says.

“The Portland State University report is further evidence we have a lot more work to do,” Active Transportation Alliance’s Kyle Whitehead says. “The report shows traffic safety remains the biggest hurdle in lowincome neighborhoods, so building out a more seamless, low-stress, and equitable bike network is one of the best ways to get more people riding.”

Bernard Loyd, director of Bronzeville Bikes, a nonprofit that runs a bike shop next to the 51st Street Green Line station, praised the study for providing a wealth of info on the barriers for growing cycling in black neighborhoods. “Unfortunately, Divvy bikes in our neighborhoods mainly sit unused because most residents can’t afford them or don’t have the required credit card” for checking out a bike at a station or signing up for a membership online. He added that even though cards aren’t required for the D4E program, it still has limitations because it requires residents to travel to one of six enrollment centers across the city to sign up.

“Breaking Barriers” is the second report of a larger three-phase research project between Portland State and Better Bike Share Partnership called Evaluating Efforts to Improve the Equity of Bike Share Systems, which also includes an overview, released earlier this month, of how U.S. systems are addressing the diversity issue, and an upcoming study based on surveys of current bike-share users. v

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

JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 9

“He’s shooting that bottle rocket out of one hand and holding a bunch like a bouquet of flowers in the other hand,” Majewski says.

“The kids watching really want to do what the older guy’s doing, but they’ll have to wait until they get older.”

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LIGHTS OVER PILSEN

The Mexican-American neighborhood celebrates the Fourth of July with a bang.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY RICK MAJEWSKI

ick Majewski moved to Chicago to study photography at Columbia College in 2008, when digital was edging out film and disruption was the order of the day in journalism. “I wanted to be a photojournalist at the worst possible time,” the 30-year-old says. Despite the gloomy job prospects, Majewski pushed on. He’d been inspired by a road trip he took before moving to Chicago, during which he went to Baja California, with a photographer friend who’d traveled extensively through Mexico. “The farther [south] you got the better it was—the people were cooler, the food was better,” he says. “That started some wheels turning.” He discovered that Mexico had an annual fireworks festival in Tultepec, some 30 miles north of Mexico City, and it became his dream to go there and photograph. While at Columbia, he was working at Starbucks, and a fellow barista told him that if he was looking for a similar party atmosphere with tons of fireworks, he should go to Pilsen.

On the Fourth of July in 2010, Majewski took the Ashland bus to 18th Street. “There appeared to be absolutely nothing going on and I thought, Ah, this sucks.”

He walked east and began to hear popping sounds. “I turned a corner and there was a family on the sidewalk grilling, a small swimming pool in the street, and kids shooting off fireworks.” He started taking photographs.

“I was welcomed immediately,” he says. As the sun went down, more families came out of their houses and apartment buildings. People started blocking off the streets with garbage cans or vehicles. He’s returned every year since, camera in tow.

With his images of Pilsen on the Fourth, Majewski says he’s attempting to document the extraordinary gusto with which the predominantly Mexican-American community celebrates Independence Day. Of the residents who are immigrants, he says, “they’re very proud of where they came from, and they’re very proud to be in this country.” American flags are hoisted, Mexican food is served up, and amateur fireworks displays erupt on block after block.

When he began the series, Majewski was sensitive to the perception of him as a young white member of the creative class parachuting in to take photos. For the most part, he’s been accepted with open arms by residents, many of whom offer him beer or something to eat off the grill. But last Fourth of July, he was teased for being part of the gentrification that’s now so visible in the neighborhood. “It was all in good fun, although there was some truth to it,” says Majewski, who moved to Pilsen in 2014. Still, over the years he’s developed relationships with his subjects. “I’ve photographed some families for five years, so they know me and I know them, and it’s almost like a tradition. I’ve seen their kids grow up, and they’re always happy to show me their fireworks,” he says. “Even though I’m not family, on the Fourth of July they welcome me in.”

Where will he celebrate the Fourth this year? “I can’t imagine being anywhere else but Pilsen,” he says. “I won’t go to a fireworks show and sit on a picnic blanket. Why would I want to watch fireworks that are so far away when I can get up close and feel them in my chest?” —RUTH LOPEZ

JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 11

“When you have a lot of people shooting off fireworks, things can go wrong,” Majewski says. “In this case, someone threw a rocket in the middle of the street. When you see one go off on the ground, it really lights up the place for two seconds. I’m always trying to get shots like that, but once one started rolling towards me and I had to run—which is not easy to do while carrying two cameras and gear.”

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“These kids saw me with a camera and they wanted their picture taken,” Majewski says. “That kid on the right was really into it. I had some photo pouches on my belt and two cameras, and they thought I worked for a newspaper. I’ve shown this picture to other artists in the neighborhood and someone said, ‘In 20 years they’re going to be shooting fireworks together and be just as chummy together as they are now.’”

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“The fireworks can be really loud under the tracks. There’ll be an echo and you’ll feel the thud in your chest.

It’ll set off some car alarms, but really nothing major has happened—which is surprising.

A porch caught on fire one year, but that’s it. You’d expect there to be more accidents. When I go to the roof of my building the next day, it’s covered in spent bottle rockets.”

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“This is from my first trip to Pilsen. An aerial shell had just exploded and people were looking up when another exploded on the street.”

JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 13

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“This is a typical scene,” Majewski says. “Friends and family gather on the sidewalk.

There will usually be a few family members doing the fireworks in the street. This family recognized me from the year before and handed me tilapia, tortillas, and a beer right off the bat. They were shooting off fireworks and I thought, I want to shoot [photos]!

But they were being so hospitable, so I ate quickly, watching out for the bones in the fish.”

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“Those teenage girls were just south of 19th Street and they’d just lit up the sparklers when the girl on the left noticed me.”

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“The popular thing is to light the fuse of a bottle rocket and let it take off from your hand. I’m a wide-angle lens junkie—bottle rockets go off so fast, it’s the best way to catch them.”

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“One of the things you’ll see are these long strands of firecrackers. The fuses are all strung together. It sounds like a machine gun with this really loud finale. The guy standing there with the American flag is getting pelted by burnt pieces and is covered in ash. I’m sure his ears were ringing more than mine.”

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“This is Raul near the corner of 17th and Wood,” Majewski says. “I’ve gotten to know his family pretty well. They do a good show.

They go down to Indiana to stock up. I’ve seen the back of the minivan piled high.

Raul has since moved to the burbs, but his mother owns a building nearby and he comes back for the Fourth every year. It’s a tradition. If you’re Hispanic and you grew up in Pilsen, coming back for the Fourth of July is really special.”

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“All the kids want to learn how to shoot fireworks off with their hands like the older generation,” Majewski says.

“When the rocket goes off, it happens so quickly—it’s impossible not to blink.”

16 CHICAGO READER - JUNE 29, 2017

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“These kids are from a family I’ve photographed over the years. They live in Wisconsin but visit family in Pilsen every year. The brothers are attempting to light a fuse by blowing on the ember at the end of a stick instead of using a lighter.

It’s easier for kids this way. The older generation teaches the kids to be safe about the fireworks; if you’re really little, you only get to play with sparklers. When I see this family, they always ask me if I’m hungry and hand me a taco and a beer.”

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es the lowbrow as well as the dark corners of the Internet, frequently taking screenshots or making notes in his phone of phrases that stick out to him. Beth Marrier, his partner of five and a half years, says he loves to read the comments section of articles. “He reads the trash that everyone says to avoid,” she says. “When it’s dark out, he’ll start reading just the scum of the Internet.”

Leggett has a knack for bringing to light that specific kind of murkiness, the things people say when they think no one’s listening. He was recently the subject of a solo exhibition, “Their Funeral, Our Dance Floor,” at Shane Campbell’s downtown gallery; a follow-up show, “David Leggett: Drawings,” is currently on display until July 15 at the same location.

“He has his finger on all sorts of problematic relationships, without passing easy, direct judgment on anything,” says Eric Ruschman, Shane Campbell’s director. “He uses humor to draw you in, so you’re laughing, and then you’re sort of implicated.”

VISUAL ART

David Leggett has the last laugh

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Inside the rising local artist’s darkly humorous world

By KERRY CARDOZA

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circumcised penis with breasts and wings perches on a pencil above the words “2017 the year you decided to become a political artist.” Made to resemble an eagle, with skin the color of raw chicken, this strange, amusing creation figures in the square-foot drawing titled Reporting Live From the Trenches, by the artist David Leggett. The piece sums up Leggett’s output and attitude: keenly aware of the world and quick with a punch line. And his work is finally

ò FELTON KIZER

finding a wider audience—people hungry for a smart, fresh take on our trying times.

“I wouldn’t outright call myself a political artist, but there are some very political things that go on in my work,” Leggett says.

“It’s just the climate—people are responding to that more now. I’ve seen other artists after Trump won, saying, ‘We need to get back to work.’ I’m like, ‘What were you doing before?’ ” He laughs. “Whatever you make, it’s still your duty to be involved in some sort of way.”

Leggett, 36, is a striking presence. He’s sixfoot-four and solidly built, with an easygoing and affable demeanor. The sense of humor that comes across in his work is palpable in interactions with him—it’s not a put-on. The same is true of his pop culture references: he repeatedly uses the likeness of characters like black Bart Simpson or Fat Albert because they’re part of his personal history; he grew up with them. Leggett mines everything for inspiration, from art history books to racist Americana to social media. He readily embrac-

eggett is from Springfield, Massachusetts, and attended Sacred Heart, a private Catholic school, but says he “lived in a really bad neighborhood.” That socioeconomic disparity left a deep impression. As a kid, the sunny side of life, such as Disney movies and Sesame Street, felt “kind of forced,” he says. “I had that contrast of this wholesome world that doesn’t exist anywhere where I live.”

His neighborhood, though much changed today, was affected by the crack epidemic of the 1980s and ’90s. Leggett remembers daily violence and drug dealing. His parents countered that by sending him to a comic book illustration class at the Art Institute of Boston; his high school, Springfield Central High, also had a decent arts curriculum. Leggett knows he’s lucky. “There’s so many people who I grew up with, or played Little League with, went to Sunday school with, who are dead or in jail,” he says.

After high school, Leggett pursued his early interest in art and earned his BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. In college, he discovered and was inspired by the work of the Imagists and Kerry James Marshall.

“The Internet was much different from what it is today,” Leggett says. The library had just one book on Jim Nutt, and a dated one at that.

As an illustration major, Leggett found the surrealist, subversive work of the Imagists appealing. “It was stuff that I really related to because it was pop art, but clearly they J

JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 17

ARTS & CULTURE

David Leggett continued from 18

were into popular culture,” Leggett says. “It wasn’t a cold read like Warhol. I was like, ‘I really want to go out here [to Chicago] and meet them.’” It was easier than he thought—shortly after graduating, in the summer of 2003, he moved to Chicago. “LA or New York artists, there’s no chance you’re going to meet them,” he says. “I think Ed Paschke still had his telephone number in the phone book.”

Leggett began taking classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and eventually enrolled in a master’s program there in painting and drawing. At the time, he was mostly drawing; for years he was skeptical of painting, never feeling successful when working on canvas. “Every time I tried to paint it just seemed like . . . failure,” he says. He finished the program in 2007, and about a year after that his practice started to change. He was invited to participate in a group show at the Hyde Park Art Center, “Disinhibition: Black Art and Blue Humor,” and impulsively decided to make paintings for it. The positive response to these pieces encouraged him to concentrate more seriously on the medium.

These days some of Leggett’s most poignant works are paintings. In “Their Funeral, Our Dance Floor” the vast main gallery was filled with them, mostly done on squares or circles, some as wide as seven feet. In Get in the House Once the Streetlights Come On, one of the pieces on display, three disembodied faces take up most of the orange and green canvas. A white man who distinctly resembles Darren Wilson, the cop who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, floats on the right side; next to him is a black man’s face made of felt; and above them both is a cartoonish black man whose mouth is open, as if in shock. Felt letters spell out good cop bad cop at the top in red, green, and black, the colors of the panAfrican flag.

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his past January, Leggett quit a part-time gig teaching classes for the Art Institute online and began working as an artist full-

18 CHICAGO READER - JUNE 29, 2017

time. His success has helped his parents, whom he describes as very religious, understand his decision to be an artist. “The fact that I went off to college, I got a master’s degree, that alone is impressive to them,” he says. Leggett still seems impressed by this, calling the work “a luxury.” “I almost want to click my heels together,” he says. “It’s very exciting. I don’t think it will ever not be exciting to do this stuff.”

Marrier says that although Leggett’s only recently been able to work on his art full-time, it’s been a priority for him as long as she’s known him. “Art is like taking your vitamins or brushing your teeth,” she says of his practice. “It happens every single day in some capacity.” In fact, it was this devotion to his craft that initially sparked her interest.

The couple met online, and though they were both eager to meet in person for the first time, he scheduled the date a few weeks away, she says, because he’d already planned to be in the studio. “David won’t compromise his art practice for anyone,” Marrier says. “That was really attractive.”

Always pushing himself to try new things, Leggett’s practice has expanded to include more craft materials, and he sometimes works with ceramics. In “Black Drawls,” a solo exhibition that opened in November at Gallery 400, he and gallery director Lorelei Stewart decided to include an assortment of materials that inspired him, including cultural ephemera and works by other artists, like Kara Walker and Jim Nutt. An original 90s-era black Bart Simpson T-shirt, purchased from eBay, hung on one wall. Also included were selections from Leggett’s personal collection of pop culture memorabilia, like a McDonald’s Hamburglar figurine, and racist Americana, such as a set of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Moses salt-and-pepper shakers. He frequently scours flea markets and thrift stores for such items.

Leggett’s interested in their lineage. “Things never really go away,” he says. “They’ll just get cleaned up and made more polished.”

On a recent trip to Pasadena’s Rose Bowl Flea Market, he picked up a COLORED ONLY

David Leggett, Reporting Live From the Trenches, 2017 ò EVAN JENKINS/SHANE CAMPBELL GALLERY

placard and a few other artifacts for his collection. “When you go to flea markets, there’s going to be the racist booth full of stuff,” he says, laughing. At one booth, he saw something he’d never before encountered at a flea market: shackles. “With the Americana stuff, you can see how, through history, it’s been changed,” he continues. “But you see something that was bondage and torture . . . ” He trails off. By and large, white people in America get to choose whether or not they want to confront our country’s racist past and present. Black people don’t get such a choice. “For me, I don’t want to forget that this happened,” he says of his Americana collection. By expertly weaving this history into his work, he makes sure his viewers won’t forget it either.

“Niggas get shot everyday, B.” Leggett wrote these words with spray paint and an oil bar, in alternating colors of the rainbow, on a shiny gold canvas. Circular smudges at the bottom of the painting resemble sloppily covered-up graffiti. The words in the piece and the title, You’ll Be Alright (Elementary), echo each other, like two friends undercutting news of yet another shooting. The bright colors of the letters, the cheap gold finish, and the simple presentation could all be thought of as contradictory to the content, but for Leggett everything is calculated.

“If you’re going to make something that’s politically charged or has maybe a deeper message—having color, having humor, also craft materials, having these things is like sugar helping the medicine go down,” he says.

“It makes people come closer. And sometimes people are laughing at something they probably shouldn’t have laughed at because it’s almost like camouflage.”

The importance of humor is apparent in Leggett’s work and life. He often tries to find the joke in any given situation. He told me that criticisms barely register for him. “Keep it moving,” he tells himself. Leggett frequently cites his appreciation of classic stand-up comedians like Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, whom he’ll often listen to in the studio.

Pryor notably never shied away from politics, or the horrors of his own life, including being sexually molested as a child and becoming addicted to crack cocaine. Nothing was off-limits; and yet he always had his audience laughing. “That’s what I basically hope I can do with my work,” Leggett says. “I’m not sure if I always accomplish that, but I hope.” v R “DAVID LEGGETT: DRAWINGS” Through 7/15: Tue-Sat 11 AM-6 PM, Shane Campbell Gallery, 2021 S. Wabash, 312-226-2223, shanecampbellgallery.com. F

v @booksnotboys

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Derrick Adams, collage from the Orbiting Us series, 2017 ò COURTESY THE ARTIST AND RHONA HOFFMAN GALLERY

VISUAL ART

Black, radical, imagination

By DANIELLE A. SCRUGGS

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he first thing you notice in “Future People,” Derrick Adams’s solo show at the Stony Island Arts Bank, is a wide, two-tier gray platform that sits in the middle of the gallery; it looks like a stage. On top of it are four black bucket seats (outfitted with seat belts) and a table covered by a polished silver globe, turntables, a mixer, and a MacBook. The setup strongly resembles the bridge of the starship Enterprise—that is, if Captains Kirk or Picard were also DJs. The platform gives you a view of the other components of the exhibit: a collection of ten collages, plus a looping video projection of animated objects that appear to be floating through an expansive, endless galaxy. The video also features scrolling text of quotations from black visionaries such as Desmond Tutu and Mae Jemison.

The images, music, and text that appear throughout “Future People” come from the archival holdings at the Arts Bank, which include the Johnson Publishing Archive, the Lantern Slide Collection at the University of Chicago (art and architectural history from the Paleo-

lithic to the modern era), the Edward J. and Ana J. Williams Collection (racist objects that the Williamses bought to take off the market), and Frankie Knuckles’s record collection.

The collages, titled Orbiting Us #1-#10, hang on either side of the first floor of the Arts Bank. Each piece is framed by handmade silver cardboard frames, which resemble the view you might see when peering through the window of a spaceship. Cutouts are carefully placed on a starry background: grayscale barbershop portraits, paper plates spray-painted silver, the nine planets in the Milky Way (and the sun), African sculptures and talismans, and everyday objects such as an electric saw, a View-Master, a plastic trash can, and a portable blow-dryer. Some items are harder to discern than others, but the overall effect is of black people as satellites floating through the cosmos, transmitting information about the past, present, and future of black culture simultaneously.

It turns out those everyday objects in each collage were largely invented by one man: Charles Harrison, a Chicago resident who was

the first black executive at Sears, Roebuck and Company and designed more than 700 consumer goods. At a recent artist talk at the Arts Bank sponsored by Voices in Contemporary Art, a New York-based nonprofit arts organization, Adams emphasized the importance of “disenfranchised people [knowing] that their people invented functional objects that we use every day.”

As a result, Adams isn’t interested in depicting black oppression and struggle. Rather, he uses artifacts that highlight how black people have maintained the power to invent and innovate even under extraordinarily difficult and painful circumstances, ones they continue to face in the present day. “Imagination,” Adams declared, “is radical.”

There’s also a performance aspect to “Future People.” Anyone who visits the gallery is invited to stand on the platform or sit in the captain’s chairs to watch the video projection, which loops hypnotically on the large back wall of the Arts Bank. The platform, historically meant to exalt only a select few, becomes a democratic space where people from all walks of life are elevated; it also encourages people to interact with their surroundings rather than engaging only with what’s hanging on the wall. In his talk and elsewhere, Adams mentioned that the work of conceptual artist Bruce Nauman—who bounces between the mediums of neon, photography, sculpture, video, and performance—has heavily influenced his artistic practice.

In combining various stimuli within one space, Adams has created an immersive and unique experience. The lights are dim, everything is black, white, grayscale, and silver, house music plays softly in the background, and when I was there groups of preteens, teens, and older women with lovely silver hair took turns sitting in one of the four seats, staring at Adams’s vision of space and the future. When I left the Arts Bank, I was slightly startled to open the door and see cars speeding down the street, the evening sky streaked with shades of indigo and yellow. I halfway expected to view an entire galaxy spread out before me instead. “Future People” reminded me how important it is to imagine new worlds, even while I’m still right here on earth, on a humble stretch of Stony Island Avenue, making my way home. v R “DERRICK ADAMS: FUTURE PEOPLE” Through 9/18: Fri-Sun noon-10 PM, Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island, 312-857-5561, rebuild-foundation.org. F

v @dascruggs

ARTS & CULTURE THEATER

Johnny got his gun

By ALBERT WILLIAMS

C

hicago Folks Operetta has carved a niche over the past decade by specializing in long-forgotten hits from the “Silver Age” of European operetta in Vienna and Berlin in the 1910s and ’20s— schmaltzy, tuneful romantic comedies that evoke nostalgia for a simpler age before the First World War shattered the established order of European imperial politics and culture. But now—marking the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into World War I—CFO has taken a bold gamble on the long-overdue Chicago premiere of Kurt Weill and Paul Green’s 1936 operetta Johnny Johnson.

Though not a success in its time, Johnny Johnson is a work of landmark historical significance. And despite some flaws, this production packs a real emotional impact with its quirky yet lyrical music, expressionistic visual design, and timeless theme of a common man caught up in the madness of war.

Set between 1917 and 1936, Johnny Johnson is the saga of a small-town American everyman. (The hero’s name was chosen because “Johnny Johnson” was the most common name on the rolls of American casualties in World War I.) Johnny is a simple, eager-to-please young fellow who makes his living as a sculptor of tombstones—the first of many ironic touches in Green’s script, which owes a clear debt to the didactic “epic theater” of Weill’s sometime collaborator, Bertolt Brecht. A passionate pacifist, Johnny joins the army at the urging of his jingoistic fiancee, Minny Belle, to fight in what President Woodrow Wilson has dubbed the “war to end all war.”

Once on the Western Front, Johnny—his naivete shattered by the reality of war—becomes convinced that war could be ended if only the peace negotiations were left up to the soldiers themselves, rather than to political, military, religious, and cor- J

JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 19

ARTS & CULTURE

Teaira Burge and Gabriel di Gennaro ò AARON SYLER

continued from 19

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porate leaders. His efforts to prove his point are illustrated in a series of vignettes that are alternately satiric and sad, sentimental and sardonic.

Johnny Johnson was the first show Weill, a Jewish refugee from Hitler’s Germany, wrote for the American stage after he came to the U.S. in 1935. He and his wife and muse, singer-actor Lotte Lenya, were quickly drawn into the sphere of New York’s progressive Group Theater. The Group recruited Weill and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright-poet Paul Green to write an antiwar comedy in the style of a songand-sketch revue, a popular form on the Depression-era New York stage. Directed by Lee Strasberg, with musical direction by Lehman Engel, Johnny Johnson was a 1936 Broadway flop, due in large part to the clashing artistic visions of Weill, Green, and Strasberg. Weill went on to have more success with the musicals Knickerbocker Holiday, Lady in the Dark, One Touch of Venus, Street Scene, and Lost in the Stars; after his death in 1950, an off-Broadway revival of his 1928 The Threepenny Opera became his biggest and most enduring hit.

Meanwhile, Green revised Johnny Johnson for a 1937 Los Angeles production by the Federal Theatre Project, restoring material that Strasberg had cut. This version is “most faithful to Green and Weill’s original intentions,” according to a program note by Weill expert Timothy Carter, whose 2012 edition of the work for the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music is the one used here.

Weill’s remarkable music is the work of

a classically trained composer dedicated to bridging then-established barriers between elite “art” and populist “entertainment.” The songs are melodic and appealing, yet punctuated with unexpected chromatic twists—at once lyrical and abrasive, sentimental and seductive, charming and ironic. There are waltzes, fox-trots, and tangos, operetta chorales and patriotic marches, even a cowboy ballad. The show’s loveliest number—a gently jaunty anthem titled simply “Johnny’s Song”—sounds like a combination of a Weimar-era cabaret selection and a Woody Guthrie folk song.

Gabriel di Gennaro brings honesty and off-kilter grace to the role of Johnny; soprano Kaitlin Galetti delivers Minny’s operetta aria “Oh Heart of Love” beautifully; Maxwell Seifert’s clarion tenor is well suited to the roles of two of Johnny’s tormentors, the narcissistic Captain Valentine and an insane psychiatrist who treats Johnny for “peace monomania.”

Director George Cederquist’s uneven staging is sometimes stodgy, especially during the long instrumental interludes that accompany scene changes; but conductor Anthony Barrese’s musical leadership of the 12-piece chamber orchestra certainly makes the music worth the time given it. And the expressionistic visual design by Eric Luchen (set) and Erik Barry (light), clearly inspired by the work of Weimar-era German cartoonist Georg Grosz, evokes an aptly dreamlike atmosphere. v R JOHNNY JOHNSON Through 7/9: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2 PM, Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, 773327-5252, chicagofolksoperetta.org, $40, $35 seniors, $30 students.

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EARLY WARNINGS

chicagoreader.com/early 22 CHICAGO READER - JUNE 29, 2017

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ò TIM HARRIS

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Consummate sideman James Elkington takes the reins—but loosely These days the former Zincs leader plays with Joan Shelley, Tweedy, Brokeback, Eleventh Dream Day, and more—and the new Wintres Woma, his first album under his own name, won’t change that.

By PETER MARGASAK

hicago guitarist James Elkington has played in so many bands and collaborated with so many musicians that it can be difficult to keep track of everything.

He remains best known for leading a sophisticated pop band called the Zincs, which split up not long after releasing its third album, Black Pompadour, in 2007. In 2004 he and singer Janet Bean (Freakwater, Eleventh Dream Day) launched a duo called the Horse’s Ha, which put out its second and final record, Waterdrawn, in 2013. But the huge majority of Elkington’s output has come in support roles: whether as a session player or as a bandmate, for most of the past decade he’s been a ubiquitous albeit largely unheralded presence in some of the richest and most exciting music to come from Chicago (and from many points beyond).

Today Elkington, 46, is a fulltime member of Brokeback and Eleventh Dream Day, and he tours with Tweedy and a band led by folk-rock singer-songwriter Steve Gunn. He’s also become a regular studio partner of Louisville folksinger Joan Shelley, appearing on her two most recent albums.

You might not imagine he’d have any time at all to come up with his own material, but this week he releases his first record under his own name: Wintres Woma, on North Carolina label Paradise of Bachelors. (The title is Old English for “the sound of winter.”) This is an even more unlikely development when you consider that the breakup of the Zincs and later the Horse’s Ha were part of a conscious withdrawal from songwriting and bandleading on Elkington’s part.

“Towards the end of the Zincs, I think I’d gotten a little tangled up, expectations-wise,” he says. “When you have your own band and you write the material for it and it becomes a full-time preoccupation—I had some sort of nebulous idea of a career in music, and I think when there wasn’t really a huge audience

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for that band, I started to resent the amount of work that I was putting into it. It felt like a job, and I was my own not-very-good boss.”

Elkington began to shift his focus in the late 2000s, and eventually he was pouring almost all his energy into supporting other people’s musical projects. The watershed event, he says, happened in 2009, when Mekons front man Jon Langford invited Elkington to join his side project Skull Orchard onstage. In the Zincs, Elkington had foregrounded his refined singing and songwriting, but Langford brought out the lead guitarist in him—he ended up joining the band for the 2010 album Old Devils.

“He had some sort of lateafternoon gig at the Hideout, and he asked if I would come play two or three songs,” Elkington says. “So we ran these two or three songs, and it was great—but then he proceeded to play about 15 more songs, and I had to watch his hands and play along with him. It turns out that Jon was in the middle of writing the album, and I ended up becoming the lead guitar player—I had never been a lead guitar player in anyone’s band, but it was working. We would be playing, and he would point at me and shout ‘Go!’—and I would go. I credit him hugely with that approach: not to be too worried about the result, just going for it in the moment. It’s something that is not inherent in my character. I’m a thinker and a planner, and playing with J

JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 23

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MUSIC continued from 23 Jon cured me of that because there wasn’t a lot of it.”

The Skull Orchard gig also gave other musicians a better chance to notice what a superb player Elkington was. The floodgates opened, and soon he was up to his neck in collaborations—he began playing with Brokeback, Gunn, Shelley, countrypop singer Kelly Hogan, British folk-rock legend Michael Chapman, former Stereolab vocalist Laetitia Sadier, psych-folk eccentric Wooden Wand, and singer-songwriters Daughn Gibson and Tara Jane O’Neil, among others. He’s been part of the touring lineup of Tweedy for four years now, and when Jeff Tweedy produced Richard Thompson’s 2015 album, Still, he brought Elkington into the studio to play all over it.

“Part of me has always wanted to be a collaborator as opposed to the main force in a group, and I’d lost sight of this,” Elkington says. “I was kind of unhappy but I didn’t really know why.”

In 2001, when the Zincs released their first album, I interviewed Elkington, and he told me that when he’d first settled in Chicago he’d wanted “to get together with a really good songwriter.” He started his own band almost as a last resort: “I ended up doing the Zincs because I just wanted to get on with my life and I couldn’t hang around anymore, but it meant having to do certain things that I was not really planning on doing, like singing.”

Elkington plays mostly electric guitar, but over the years he’s grown more versatile, adding banjo, Dobro, keyboards, and pedal and lap steel to his professional arsenal; he started in Brokeback as a drummer before switching to guitar. He can mesh with hybrids of pop, folk, and rock across a wide spectrum, including the sophisticated, futuristic art-pop of Sadier’s 2012 album, Silencio, and the raucous, post-Crazy Horse rock of Eleventh Dream Day. With so many paths open to him, Elkington arrived at the primarily acoustic sound of Wintres Woma

through a long series of encounters and influences. Throughout the history of the Zincs as a live band, he’d played occasional acoustic duo shows with bassist Nick Macri—and a friend of Macri’s inspired Elkington to revisit the music of singular British folk guitarist Bert Jansch.

He’d heard it many years earlier, before moving to Chicago from the UK in 2000 (he’d started visiting in 1998 for a girlfriend who already lived here), but it hadn’t made an impression back then.

Elkington deepened his interest in acoustic folk while playing in the Horse’s Ha, which drew on traditions from both sides of the Atlantic.

And around 2003 his wife, Jessica Linker (who owns the PR firm Pitch Perfect), introduced him to guitarist Nathan Salsburg, an old friend of hers from Louisville, Kentucky, who now plays with Joan Shelley and curates the Alan Lomax Archive. He and Elkington eventually made two albums of acoustic duets, released in 2011 and 2015.

Elkington says that working with Salsburg forced him to level up his guitar skills. His friend demurs: “Jim’s a virtuoso—a word that gets thrown around so much, but that applies more to him than anyone else I know, and more than anyone I’ve ever played with,” Salsburg says.

“It’s not just that he’s so good, but that his goodness is applied with so much versatility, creativity, modesty, and levity.”

Elkington didn’t set out to make a solo record, but while he was on the road with Tweedy in 2014, he found himself with more spare time then he’d expected. Inspired by Salsburg, who experiments frequently with different guitar tunings, he began “as a sort of fun little noodle” to play around with DADGAD, a tuning associated with Celtic music and popularized by British guitar polymath Davey Graham in the 60s. (“DADGAD” spells out the notes to which each string is tuned, from bottom to top. Standard tuning is EADGBE.) “I’d never had any luck with alter-

The cover of Wintres Woma

“Jim’s a virtuoso.

It’s not just that he’s so good, but that his goodness is applied with so much versatility, creativity, modesty, and levity.”

—Guitarist Nathan Salsburg, who’s made two duo records with James Elkington

native tunings,” Elkington says. “I always felt like it was a big shifting of the goal posts that I didn’t want to get into. But in previous years I’d been playing more Dobro, lap steel, and a little bit of pedal steel— string instruments that weren’t in standard tuning—and they weren’t messing me up. I was beginning to understand that playing in a new tuning is sort of like learning a new language: it doesn’t mean you forget the old language or the one you use most often. So I started messing around with it. It had nothing to do with playing in other people’s bands—it was almost a vacation from my regular musical life. It was just for me, and it wasn’t going to be usable for anything because it was in this tuning.”

As Elkington continued to play in DADGAD, he began developing compositional fragments, which eventually became actual songs.

At that point it’d been three or four years since he’d finished working on the material for the final Horse’s Ha record. “I think I was deluding myself that I wasn’t going to do anything with them, but I didn’t feel like

I was,” he says. “And then I wrote some words, just to see if I could still do it. The idea that there wouldn’t be an audience for it allowed me to write these songs that were more purely just interesting to me, and I didn’t second-guess myself. I know that people say that a lot—‘I just do this for myself, and if other people like it . . . ’—but I think this is the first time since the Zincs that I wrote stuff for my own entertainment.”

In 2015 Elkington began sharing his home recordings with close friends and associates, and late in the year Salsburg pushed him to send the music to Paradise of Bachelors, which had already released their second duo album, Ambsace, and a Steve Gunn record on which Elkington appeared. “I sent it to them and they seemed interested, but not so interested that they wanted to put it out,” Elkington says. “I was on the fence anyway, so I was fine with that, which led to another few months of nothing happening with it. I had written about 12 songs, and I sort of put it aside.”

Paradise of Bachelors co-owner Christopher Smith thinks a miscommunication led to the delay. He and his label partner, Brendan Greaves, weren’t sure if Elkington intended the tapes as demos or as a finished product. They loved the songs and the playing, but they felt the production was a little rough and the singing a bit tentative—“meandering and just kind of poking around,” as Smith puts it. (Elkington had recorded everything in his Andersonville attic without any outside help.) The label also wasn’t able to take on new projects at the time.

Smith and Greaves kept listening, though, and the songs stayed with them. Eventually Gunn, who’s old friends with the Paradise of Bachelors guys and knows Elkington too, asked the label why nothing had happened with the record i n gs. Once t hey ex- J

JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 25

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D E A D & C O M PA N Y A F T E R S H O W

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plained themselves, Gunn prodded Elkington to restart the process.

Paradise of Bachelors was willing to release an album—the label just wanted him to rerecord the songs in a better studio.

“I was in Australia at the time, and Steve e-mailed me with that info,” Elkington says. “I was having a coffee with [Tweedy bassist] Darin Gray, and I read it out to him.

And he said, ‘So you’re telling me you have an option to make your own record of your own songs, and all you have to do is go home and start working on it? Only an idiot would not do that.’”

In August 2016, Elkington entered Wilco’s studio, the Loft, with studio manager Mark Greenberg, who’s also one of his bandmates in Eleventh Dream Day. They have a long history together: Greenberg helped record two Zincs albums as well as the first Horse’s Ha album, and Elkington says he owes his gig in Tweedy to Greenberg too. They tracked the dozen songs in five days.

Elkington sang and played guitar, banjo, and Dobro, and a handful of musicians added overdubs: bassist Macri, percussionist Tim Daisy, cellist Tomeka Reid, and violinist Macie Stewart.

“Jim showed up ready to go on this record,” Greenberg says.

“There was no learning on the job with these songs. They found their form before he entered the studio.

Jim wasn’t as interested in seeing what came together, but instead being very thoughtful about how he wanted to arrange and capture each song. It was also seemingly his first record that wasn’t a musical collaboration with anyone else. He was able to concentrate fully on his own vision of what these would become. As an engineer, my job was to get good sounds quickly, then stay out of his way.”

The music on Wintres Woma reflects Elkington’s interest in folk traditions from his native Britain as well as his adopted country, assembled with poplike concision and

graced with the same sophisticated melodic sensibility that made the Zincs stand out from their indierock kin. The lyrics tend toward the metaphoric, but Elkington says they’re the first he’s written that take his own life and experiences into account.

His life outside music is also why he’s decided to cut back on touring.

His son, Owen, is three years old, and he’s no longer comfortable being away from him for long stretches. “It’s getting to the point where he’s noticing when I’m not around,” Elkington says. “When I am here, I’m around 100 percent, and he sees me all the time. But during a tour of the west coast last year with Steve, I couldn’t bear the idea of not seeing him for a whole month.”

Apart from a a week and a half with Gunn this summer—playing in his band and opening with a set from Wintres Woma—he hasn’t booked any out-of-town shows for the rest of the year. He performs Thursday night at Constellation with Macri and Stewart (the latter on just a few songs), sharing the bill with Stewart’s group Ohmme.

Elkington remains reluctant to get drawn back into the rat race of repetitive album cycles, but he hasn’t been able to keep a lid on his desire to write songs. “It did prompt an itch, and I have scratched it to the point where I’ve had to step back a little,” he says. “I think the reason I try to play in a lot of bands is because I don’t think it’s good for me to be just doing one thing. I feel a little cloistered if I do that. It’s become more of a conscious decision to spend my free time writing songs, which is something I wasn’t doing before, so I’m in a period where I’m trying to stop myself—because I’ve always programmed myself to think, ‘What’s the next record going to be?’

That shouldn’t be part of it for me. I got to this point where I had written some new songs, and now I think I’m going to put them aside and let them stew for a while.” v

v @pmarg

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MUSIC IN ROTATION

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

JUST ADDED • ON SALE NOW!

Prince Rama ò COURTESY THE ARTIST

The cover of Gina X Performance’s Nice Mover

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9/8 Avishai Cohen Quartet at Constellation 9/15 Bideew Bou Bess 9/20 Tift Merritt 10/1 Garifuna Collective 10/4 Moses Sumney 11/12 Tom Rush VISIT OLDTOWNSCHOOL.ORG TO BUY TICKETS!

THURSDAY, JUNE 29 7PM

Inside/Out with Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre In Szold Hall

FRIDAY, JUNE 30 6PM

Soundtrack of the City: Chicago Jazz

Reginald Robinson & Dee Alexander Quartet Ellis Park Arts & Recreation Center 3520 S. Cottage Grove Ave.

The Grateful Dead in 1970 ò CHRIS WALTER

THURSDAY, JULY 13 8PM

LUCA CIMARUSTI

Reader music listings coordinator

RYAN WIZNIAK

Drummer of Meat Wave

MEG MACDUFF Guitarist-vocalist in

Long Strange Trip With a running time just shy of four hours, this brand-new, comprehensive Grateful Dead documentary certainly is a long, strange trip. It leaves few stones unturned, covering highlights and dark lows from the band’s 30-year career through recently unearthed live films and behind-thescenes footage. You also get a pretty good idea of exactly how much the members of the Dead loved taking LSD. Long Strange Trip would probably be a really great starting point for new Dead fans ready to take the plunge—and it might even win over naysayers who could benefit from a change of heart.

Uranium Club, All of Them Naturals I imagine that Uranium Club is an incredible band to see live. Their restless energy and hyperprecise musicianship pair wonderfully with their gleefully cynical sense of humor. They definitely scratch that Devo/Paper Mice/ Ex Models itch. I love it.

Prince Rama, Xtreme Now I first saw this sister duo at the Hideout in 2014—they’re like a sci-fi psychedelic synth-pop Madonna, ethereal and extremely danceable. Taraka and Nimai Larson have it all figured out: performances, stage costumes, dance routines. Their shows sound exactly like their albums, so I highly recommend checking them out. Xtreme Now, released in 2016, is a go-to when I want to get pumped. Prince Rama released an energy drink to complement the album, but it was $20, so fuck that shit.

Ben Koller’s YouTube channel Best known as the next-level drummer for technical hardcore legends Converge and heavy-metal weirdos Mutoid Man, Ben Koller occasionally straps a GoPro camera to his chest before a show and uploads the footage to the Internet. Koller is an unstoppable force, and his percussion acrobatics are even more astonishing when you can watch them from the driver’s seat.

Early-80s King Crimson Most Fripp fans prefer the edgy, whimsical, early-to-mid-70s incarnation of groundbreaking and mindnumbing prog pioneers King Crimson, but lately the early-80s version of the group, fronted by Zappa and Bowie alum Adrian Belew, has really been speaking to me. Its funky, complex songs, chock-full of hilariously dated sounds (Simmons pads and Chapman sticks, oh my!), indulge in a bit of lighthearted postpunk fun that the band had never tasted before . . . and hasn’t since.

Decibelles, Tight I haven’t been able to stop listening to this album since Meat Wave played a show with Decibelles in Paris in May. Within its first two tracks, Tight goes from in-your-face, sarcastic postpunk to a whimsical, aggressive pop song about a little girl who thinks she’s a fish—this trio covers a lot of ground. The vocals are a cut above too; it’s rare to find three-part harmonies from bands playing music in this realm.

Gina X Performance, Nice Mover Wow! This originally came out in 1978? #mindblown. Well, I guess hearing it late is better than never.

Someone should write a book listing all the reasons this isn’t one of the most famous albums of the past 50 years and publish it as a true crime novel. Bad jokes aside, Gina X Performance’s deranged synth-pop/new-wave masterpiece is one of the most refreshing records I’ve heard in ages, and I’d like to take up space in this fine publication to formally apologize to my coworkers, who’ll be hearing this every night they work with me for the foreseeable future.

Bleach Party and Montrose Man

Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial I was hooked from the guitar intro of this album’s first track, which sounds like an homage to Guided by Voices. I learned about Car Seat Headrest in a party conversation about the worst band names we’d ever heard, but I finally caved and listened—the music feels like a mix of Cake (might be the horns), Beck, and Weezer. Will Toledo went from bedroom recording to playing with a band in a studio— and made one of the best records of 2016.

Heavy Hand, Prerapture Era These bobcats from Milwaukee are solid as fuck—one of the nicest bands I’ve shared the stage/floor with.

You can tell their new album, Prerapture Era, was cut at Electrical Audio: Chris Roberts’s drums sound huge, Isa Carini’s bass lines are colorful and tight, and Anthony Weber’s voice has never sounded better. Heavy Hand throw an annual benefit show called Bitterfest in Racine, Wisconsin, where this year they raised roughly $3,000 for the Women’s Resource Center, which helps domestic-abuse victims.

An Intimate Evening with Eva Ayllón WEDNESDAY, JULY 19 7:30PM

Billy Bragg - Roots, Radicals & Rockers How Skiffle Changed the World Book discussion, signing and Q&A

ACROSS THE STREET IN SZOLD HALL

4545 N LINCOLN AVENUE, CHICAGO IL

6/30

Global Dance Party: Chicago Samba

JULY 7•8•9

4 STAGES & OVER 70 BANDS, INCLUDING:

NIKKI LANE MEAT PUPPETS LUCERO JOAN SORIANO THE ACCIDENTALS

EXPLOSIÓN NEGRA • PARKER MILLSAP OH PEP! • SKYWAY MAN SCOTT LUCAS & THE MARRIED MEN

AND MANY MORE!

SQUAREROOTS.ORG JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 27

MUSIC

Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard.

PICK OF THE WEEK

Chicago’s Ratboys reveal the natural connection between emo and country

ò JOHNNY FABRIZIO

RATBOYS, MOTHER EVERGREEN, SPECIAL DEATH, SINCERE ENGINEER

Fri 6/30, 8:30 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $12, $10 in advance. 18+

THURSDAY29

Chris Stapleton Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers headline. 7 PM, Wrigley Field, 1060 W. Addison, sold out. b

Plenty of flourishing Nashville songwriters have failed to translate the success they’ve had penning hits for artists into onstage popularity in their own right, but Chris Stapleton has delivered gold—actually, double platinum. After topping the charts with songs for the likes of Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley, and Dierks Bentley, he joined their ranks with his 2015 debut album, Traveller (Mercury), a convincing collision of outlaw-country verities and raspy soul modes. His follow-up, From a Room: Volume 1 (Mercury)—a second volume is due later this year—has not only proven he’s no fluke, debuting at number one on the Billboard country charts and number two on its Top 200, but fits his talents much better, its new batch of songs masterfully coproduced by Dave Cobb. The lean arrangements accent Stapleton’s scuffed wail, a deeply soulful instrument that’s more Memphis than Nashville. It also comes as no surprise that veteran Mike Henderson, who brought a blues streak to

28 CHICAGO READER - JUNE 29, 2017

his own records back in the mid-90s, cowrote four of the album’s nine songs—it’s as if he’s helping this young buck fulfill a prophecy he couldn’t. Still, Stapleton’s his own man, whether essaying an inability to live down his past on the woozy steel-guitar-drenched waltz “Up to No Good Livin’” or asking his fleeting lover not to beat around the bush if she’s through with him on the stomping “Second to Know One.” On “I Was Wrong” he invokes the spirit of Albert King through both his probing lead guitar and prowling, slinky groove. —PETER MARGASAK

FRIDAY30 Ratboys See Pick of the Week (above). Mother Evergreen, Special Death, and Sincere Engineer open. 8:30 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $12, $10 in advance. 18+ Clark Sommers’s Lens See also Saturday.

9 PM, Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway, $15.

There’s a reason dark, woody-toned bassist Clark Sommers is a ubiquitous presence on the Chica-

IN APRIL I was caught off guard when the New York Times previewed a Pinegrove show by saying, “On paper, this six-piece New Jersey band shouldn’t work, but its blend of country and emo somehow does.” That straw man is predicated on the idea that two genres built on guitars and deep subversive histories have nothing in common, but a brisk sweep of emo’s recent past easily brings up great examples of the two sounds meeting— hear the slide guitar ringing out on Small Brown Bike’s “A Lesson to Remember,” or maybe listen to Lucero’s entire discography.

The best examples make the combination feel wholly natural— which has long been the MO for Chicago’s Ratboys, who tonight celebrate the release of their second album, GN (Topshelf). The band’s guiding forces, guitarist-singer Julia Steiner and guitarist David Sagan, treat genre as nothing more than a force to be bent at the behest of the mood and story, as when the looping emo chords and delicate slide guitar on “Elvis Is in the Freezer” help Steiner fill in the gaps in a multidimensional tale about her dead cat. —LEOR GALIL

go jazz scene—not only does he have impeccable timing and bulldozer force but he’s incredibly versatile. That last quality is a true hallmark of great Chicago musicians of the past, who often had to adapt to all manner of gigs to earn a living, whether playing in pickup bands for a touring R&B singer or playing polkas at a Polish function. Within the jazz microcosm he’s remarkable, bringing a bruising but ebullient rush to his trio Bash with saxophonist Geof Bradfield and drummer Dana Hall, or quicksilver agility in support of sophisticated singer Kurt Elling. He shows off his more mainstream side with his new all-star band Lens, where he in typical fashion downplays his own virtuosity in favor of his ability to anchor an album with muscular, full-blooded lines—he takes only one solo on the band’s brandnew debut album, By a Thread (due from Ears & Eyes on July 21). The recording features some of his steadiest cohorts, including Bradfield, trombonist Joel Adams, and former Chicago guitarist Jeff Parker (whose mainstream chops here remind listeners just how deeply he’s rooted in jazz tradition), and Sommers also enlists some heavy hitters from New York in drummer Kendrick Scott and keyboardist Gary Versace. The tunes, all written by the bassist, glisten with a liquid finish, as Versace’s graceful work on both Hammond B-3 and

Clark Sommers ò CHRISTINE JEFFERS

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Recommended and notable shows and critics’ insights for the week of June 29 b ALL AGES F Fender-Rhodes helps toe the line between sleek soul jazz and a fusion sound not far from late Steely Dan, albeit one that privileges no-holds-barred improvisation over cold perfection. For this weekend’s concerts Sommers, Parker, Bradfield, and Adams will be joined by some terrific subs, including drummer Hall and organist Stu Mindeman.

—PETER MARGASAK

Tonstartssbandht Cafe Racer and M. Sage open. 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $12, $10 in advance.

While splitting genre hairs can be a fun exercise in futility, the prolific duo of brothers Andy and Edwin White don’t give you much time to make up your mind. Because “psych” can often act as a sort of catchall, they’ve long been stashed under that umbrella, but the three winding tracks of Tonstartssbandht’s new Sorcerer (Mexican Summer) melt from Krautrock to heady almost-jazz to postrock to driving experimental art-rock and back before there’s time enough to find the groove. The whirling, ethereal vocals—which occasionally go deadpan, as if rattling off the label ingredients of a billowing potion—flow in and flow out like a tide lapping at a beach. And when the instrumentation coalesces to the point where it begins to tumble apart (like during the second half of the 13-minute “Opening”),

Tonstartssbandht even show their growing prowess at building destruction. —KEVIN WARWICK

MUSIC Ye Olde ò PETER GANNUSHKIN

Ye Olde, Acoustic Unity 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $10. 18+ Trombonist Jacob Garchik has long been one of the more fascinating figures on New York’s improvised music scene, a terrific musician with a fertile imagination and unbridled curiosity. He’s become a trusted collaborator of the Kronos Quartet, creating dazzling arrangements of music from all around the world for the string quartet. For his 2012 recording The Heavens: The Atheist Gospel Trombone Album he contributed up to a dozen parts through overdubbing, creating a kind of one-man Brass Fantasy larded with rich counterpoint. He brings his most audacious project to Chicago this weekend. Inspired by the gothic ornamentation on old row houses now clad in aluminum siding, Ye Olde imagines Flatbush a millennium ago; Garchik conjured the idea to create pieces for a guitar-heavy combo that collide madrigals, medieval fanfares, prog rock, and sanguine improvisation alternately hilarious, solemn, and soulful—sometimes all at once. He’s the main frontline voice, but his coterie of guitarists—Mary Halvorson, Jonathan Goldberger, and Brandon Seabrook (tonight replaced by Ava Mendoza)—break out J

It is a family festival of music, food, arts crafts, carnival rides and more, visit: www.internationalfestivaloflife.com

JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 29

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of the nifty riff-based architecture to let it rip all over the place, with drummer Vinnie Sperrazza providing serious propulsion through shifting time signatures. It’s as fun and silly as it is substantive.

Norwegian drummer Gard Nilssen has powered a ridiculous number of groups in recent years, from the punishing post-Supersilent trio Puma to the metallic free-jazz trio Bushman’s Revenge to the excellent freebop quartet Cortex. He’s emerged as one of the country’s best percussionists and most trustworthy names, and this weekend he introduces his own combo, Acoustic Unity—a hard-hitting freebop trio that pivots between the spirituality of Albert Ayler, the jagged swing of Archie Shepp, and the contemporary fury of Scandinavian quintet Atomic. Featuring saxophonist André Roligheten (Albatrosh) and bassist Petter Eldh, the trio’s muscular debut, 2015’s Firehouse (Clean Feed), is fueled by drumming that recalls the ceaseless energy of NRG Ensemble’s Steve Hunt. The group’s forthcoming Live in Europe—which, full disclosure, I wrote liner notes for—includes contributions from three top-notch saxophonists in Fredrik Ljungkvist, Kristoffer Alberts, and Jørgen Mathisen from three different concerts taped last year, and while the firepower is enhanced, there’s more patience and soul in the limber yet highly attuned performances.

For Acoustic Unity’s U.S. debut the excellent Ole Morten Vågan subs for Eldh. —PETER MARGASAK

SATURDAY1

Bill Frisell ò PAUL MOORE

Chosen Few Picnic & Music Festival See also Sunday. Chosen Few DJs with Steve Silk Hurley, DJ Spinna, Mike Risk, Steve Maxwell, Brian Furious Frazier, Greg Gray, Cece Peniston, and Dajae perform. 8 AM, Jackson Park, 63rd and Hayes, $30-$160. b Is experiencing music outdoors worthwhile if you can’t share it with those you love? Not to those guiding the Chosen Few Picnic, which began the way many great summertime activities should start—with a family barbecue. The original five members of south-side DJ collective the Chosen Few, who helped build the foundation for house music as teenagers in the late 70s, weren’t all living in Chicago by the late 80s, but they were in town together for certain holidays. Every Fourth of July, Tony and Andre Hatchett would attend an informal family-reunion barbecue behind the Museum of Science and Industry, and in the summer of 1990 the brothers brought their fellow Chosen Few DJs into the mix to spin at the festivities. What started as a fun way to reunite the team and blissfully melt a holiday away grew into the largest single-day house-music festival in the world (according to the organizers), and one that keeps the love intact. It’s filled with families circled around tents and grills in

Fri d ay Monday AMERICAN MUSIC FESTIVAL 60+ Bands on 3 stages June 30 Jul y 3 Festival Tents - Cajun/American BBQ FitzGerald’s 36th Annual

“One of the finest festivals of American roots music in the country.” -- popmatters.com FRI, JUNE 30 SUN, JULY 2 MON, JULY 3 SAT, JULY 1

Sarah Shook & The Disarmers Ike Reilly - Sarah Borges w/Eric Ambel Southern Culture On The Skids Shiny Ribs - Jon Dee Graham - Funkadesi Shemekia Copeland - Shiny Ribs The Zimmermen - Expo ‘76 Tributosaurus Becomes The Monkees Marshall Crenshaw w/Los Stratijackets Robbie Fulks & Redd Volkaert Reverend Peyton’ s Big Damn Band Terrance Simien - Los Straitjackets - Liz Vice Waco Brothers - David Luning Kevin Gordon Ryan Joseph Anderson Kevin Gordon - The Tillers - The Pines Western Centuries - Terry Hanck Wesley Bright & The Honeytones Semi Twang - Charlie Parr - Salty Dogs British Buddy Big Band - Switchback Jenny Bienemann - Charlie Parr Kim Kaler - Gerald Dowd - Belvederes Jack Klatt - Ron Lazzeretti - Liv Mueller Northsiders Barbershop Quartet Babe-Alon 5 - Blue Eyed Bettys Girls Of The Golden West - Brad Newski The Shams Band - DOORS AT 4:30 Wild Earp - DOORS AT 1pm Curtis McMurtry - DOORS AT 1pm

Dave Alvin - Marcia Ball - CJ Chenier Eric Lindell - Miles Nielsen Ray Bonneville - Red Elvises The Blisters -The Common Heart Lonesome Still - Cannonball Bunkertown -Wes John Chicosz DOORS AT 4pm

Complete Information & Schedule At

www.fitzgeraldsnightclub.com 30 CHICAGO READER - JUNE 29, 2017

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MUSIC

Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard.

between shifts of getting down to house cuts.

The Chosen Few eventually grew their fest into a two-day bash that continues this year with all seven DJs spinning alongside bona fide house legends: Saturday features southeast-side star Steve “Silk” Hurley, while Sunday has Ron Trent, who recently released Prescription: Word, Sound & Power (Rush Hour), a six-LP box set celebrating his catalog. If these names are foreign and house music is unfamiliar at best, the Chosen Few Picnic is a great way to dip your toes into a Chicago cultural legacy. Getting people moving is the easily achieved goal, and in my brief experience with the festival it often felt as though the music emanated not from speakers but from each DJ’s dance-loving heart. —LEOR GALIL

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Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan 8 PM, SPACE, 1245 Chicago, Evanston, $25-$55. b Despite forging one of the most recognizable sounds on electric guitar over the last three decades, Bill Frisell has emphasized an ensemble-oriented approach for much of his career, one where his improvisations tend to shoot out of airy but rich arrangements like ethereal, meticulously pruned tendrils of melody and clouds of ambience. He’s functioned more as a jazz guitarist in certain contexts, like his recent work with Charles Lloyd or his long partnership with drummer Paul Motian and saxophonist Joe Lovano, and it’s that sound he conjures on Small Town (ECM), his stunning new album with bassist Thomas Morgan. The record was cut live at New York’s Village Vanguard—where the aforementioned trio with Motian and Lovano recorded some of its greatest work—and it opens with a gorgeously meditative, delicate reading of Motian’s “It Should Have Happened a Long Time Ago,” a seamless dance between guitarist and bassist where a preternatural connection is evident in every spontaneous phrase and atmospheric accent. With no instrumentalist present other than Morgan, we get to bask in Frisell’s warmly enveloping tone, which turns tuneful phrases into billowing harmonies and vice versa—the line between texture and melody is repeatedly and gloriously blurred. The set list nicely reflects Frisell’s varied interests, whether it’s the title track’s paean to wide-open ruralism, a tender reading of the Carter Family standard “Wildwood Flower,” or a midtempo assault on the Lee Konitz classic “Subconscious Lee”—a tune pulled out spontaneously when the duo realized the altosax great was in the audience. The connection between these musicians is so sublime it’s as if they’re creating a sculpture right before our ears. I’m looking forward to getting lost within it.

—PETER MARGASAK

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers Part of FitzGerald’s American Music Festival.

9:30 PM (set time), FitzGerald’s, 6615 W. Roosevelt, Berwyn, $40, $35 before 2 PM, $120 four-day pass, $5 for children 12 and under, all-ages till 10 PM.

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anthems, spirituals, hymns, international, and acappella. Saturday rehearsals, 9:30 am to 11:30 am, Chicago (SE Side) – close to the University of Chicago. Text/Call NOW – slots are Chosen Few DJs ò PAUL MOORE

FESTIVALS

filling quickly. ClaimYour Star Power!

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Before the Taste load up on roots, house, and reggae FitzGerald’s American Music Festival Folk, country, bluegrass, and rock are featured at this eclectic institution. Shemekia Copeland, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers (left), Southern Culture on the Skids, Marcia Ball, the Deslondes (see page 32), and more perform. 6/30-7/3, FitzGerald’s, 6615 W. Roosevelt, Berwyn, fitzgeraldsnightclub.com, $40, $35 before 2 PM, $120 four-day pass, $5 children 12 and under, all-ages till 10 PM. Windy City Ribfest Smoked meat and cover bands hit Uptown for another rib-based street fest. The music lineup also features new-wave band Berlin and local soul singer JC Brooks. 6/30-7/2, Lawrence and Broadway, exploreuptown.org, $5 suggested donation. b Chosen Few Picnic & Music Festival The family barbecue that turned into the self-proclaimed biggest house-music festival in the world returns with two days of bona fide dance-music legends spinning. See page 31 for more. 7/1-7/2, Jackson Park, 6300 S. Lake Shore, chosenfewdjs.com, $30-$160. b

International Festival of Life This destination for reggae, soul, R&B, and Caribbean music celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Highlights include Lyfe Jennings, Al Hudson & One Way, Capleton & the Prophecy Band, and Elephant Man. 7/1-7/4, Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph, internationalfestivaloflife.com, $25 per day, $100 four-day pass. b Live on Lincoln Polica, Chicago Batman, and Motet are a few of the acts playing this pop and rock festival in west Lakeview. 7/1-7/2, Lincoln and Belmont, starevents.com/event/live-on-lincoln, $10 suggested donation. b Taste of Chicago This annual celebration of food and music hosts five themed days ranging from rock to hip-hop to Latin music on one stage, while bigname touring acts like the O’Jays, Passion Pit, Cafe Tacuba, and Ben Harper play the Petrillo Music Shell. 7/5-7/9, Grant Park, Columbus and Jackson, cityofchicago.org, free except for Petrillo shows ($19-$50). b

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

JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 31

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Deslondes ò COURTESY THE ARTIST

SUNDAY2 Chosen Few Picnic & Music Festival See Saturday. Chosen Few DJs with Ron Trent, Sadar Bahar, Gene Farris, Craig Loftis, Hula Mahone, Dee Jay Alicia, Big Al Hern, Mike Boogie, and Donna McGhee perform. 8 AM, Jackson Park, 63rd and Hayes, $30-$160. b Deslondes Part of FitzGerald’s American Music Festival. 5:45 PM (set time), FitzGerald’s, 6615 W. Roosevelt, Berwyn, $40, $35 before 2 PM, $120 four-day pass, $5 for children 12 and under, all-ages till 10 PM. On their terrific second album, Hurry Home (New West), New Orleans quintet Deslondes settle into a sweet spot at the nexus of various threads of southern sounds, building on the low-key charms of their eponymous 2015 debut. That means honky-tonk, R&B, rockabilly, swamp pop, and other rootsy variations commingle in a deliciously humid atmosphere crafted with producer Andrija Tokic, suggesting the Band if they had decamped to a Crescent City shotgun house rather than Big Pink. Since dropping the debut, singer-guitarist Sam Doores and singer-bassist Dan Cutler have quit their jobs in the touring lineup of Hurray for the Riff Raff to focus on Deslondes exclusively, and the writing—which all five members contribute to—is sharper than ever, as evidenced by the ramshackle amble of the rheumy opener, “Muddy Waters,” or the dusky garagepop of “(This Ain’t a) Sad Song.” At their best the group deliver tunes with subtle tweaks, like the lyrical one on “She Better Be Lonely,” when the narrator considers the love he left behind to tour—he follows the wish “I hope she’s happy” with the barb “But she better be lonely”—or the musical one on “Every Well,” where a skating-rink organ hijacks the Tex-Mex stomper. Deslondes embody the ethos of this local festival as well as any single band can.

—PETER MARGASAK

MONDAY3 False Thou headline; Cloud Rat, False, Moloch, and TALsounds open. 5 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, $15. b False are the only black-metal band who’ve ever made me cry. Last September at Scorched Tundra, the cathartic gusts of “Saturnalia” (from False’s untitled 2015 album) blew open a window in the attic, so to speak, and suddenly my eyes filled up. At the end of July, Wisconsin label Gilead Media drops the first new music in what feels like ages from this Minneapolis six-piece: the two-song seven-inch EP Hunger. The seven-inch format required a radical change from False, whose previous releases have averaged more than 12 minutes per song. “Anhedonia” and “Hunger” both last between four and five minutes, but it feels like they pack in just as many episodes and metabolic shifts as the band’s long, snaking compositions. An overwhelming number of things seem to happen at once, in part because the mix doesn’t foreground any one element—buzzing, prickling guitars braid together with

wizard-movie synth, and their gracefully surging melodic motion creates an unstable tension with the spattering barrage of the drums and the lunging, anguished vocals. I love the ragged punk frenzy of False’s black metal, because it makes them sound like they’re trying really hard, playing at their limits if not beyond them. Many forms of metal privilege a virtuosic command that prevents the music from feeling like a sincere struggle to express something difficult or painful. But False don’t keep their songs on a leash—they hang on to them for dear life.

—PHILIP MONTORO

Mountain Goats Advance Base opens. 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $31.

What distinguishes the goths that Mountain Goats leader John Darnielle sings about on the band’s new album Goths (Merge) is neither fashion nor sound, but a desire to find community while separating oneself from society. Darnielle’s been writing about people who fumble the fundamentals of dealing with life ever since the early 90s, when he recorded meticulously structured vignettes on a boombox.

And if the about-to-be-drilled protagonist of “Billy the Kid’s Dream of the Magic Shoes”—a track from the Chile de Árbol seven-inch that Chicago-based Ajax Records released in 1992—has no more clue about how to avoid his fate than the velvet-clad drunk driver on the new album’s “Stench of the Unburied,” then it would seem Darnielle is still every bit as compassionate towards his fatally human characters. One thing that has changed is the music, which is now as immaculately crafted as the lyrics have always been. Despite the subject matter, the music on Goths doesn’t sound very goth; the intricate woodwind arrangements and plush electric keyboards can sound a lot like Steely Dan. In concert Darnielle and his three-piece backing combo are quite adept at bringing songs from the Mountain Goats’ discography together to make sense alongside one another, and there’s a good chance that they will bust out a few extra oldies. This show is part of the Empty Bottle’s ongoing celebration of its 25th year and actually marks 23 years and eight days since the band made its Chicago debut in the very same room. —BILL MEYER v

JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 33

FOOD & DRINK

THE SPICE ROOM | $$$ R 2906 W. Armitage 773-360-8689 thespiceroomchicago.com

RESTAURANT REVIEW

The Indian food every neighborhood deserves

Logan Square’s pan-subcontinental storefront the Spice Room excels with the familiar.

By MIKE SULA

D

Clockwise from top: okra masala, mango lassi, chicken chettinad, gobi Manchurian, and bhuna jinga ò KRISTAN LIEB

34 CHICAGO READER - JUNE 29, 2017

id you know that you can patent a recipe in India? Me neither. But if you invent something delicious— say, unicorn tikka masala—and you don’t want anyone biting your style, you can lock that goodness down. And yet apparently there are chefs who wouldn’t dream of doing that, who believe their inspirations are gifts to humanity. That’s how, according to legend, a guy named A.M. Buhari gave his Chicken 65 to the world. Buhari, who owned a hotel in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, which over the course of a half century or so blossomed into a small restaurant chain and banquet business, so believed in the genius of his fried chicken that he refused to patent it so that its brilliance might shine from sea to sea. He did, however, give it its name—“65”—for the year of its debut. That’s one story, anyway, as told on the restaurant’s own website, which reproduces a Wikipedia entry to establish its credibility.

While Chicken 65 isn’t quite a household standard like, say, tandoori chicken, lamb vindaloo, or saag paneer, it has made it all the way from Chennai to Logan Square, specifically onto the menu at the Spice Room, a newish storefront Indian restaurant that fills a huge hole in the neighborhood’s culinary firmament. Here Chicken 65 is an appetizer on a menu of mostly familiar dishes from the pan-Indian canon. Light-years removed from

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FOOD & DRINK

The mango lassi, served in milk-bottle-shaped glass, is thicker and fruitier than you might’ve encountered elsewhere. ò KRISTAN LIEB

the southern-style crunch of the version at Edgewater’s Mango Pickle, it features boneless chunks of bird steeped in a bath of potent compounds: ginger, garlic, chiles, turmeric, black peppercorns, fennel, cinnamon, and cumin. The pleasure of this Chicken 65 isn’t its texture; it’s the complexity of spicing that impacts your cerebral cortex like a meteor shower.

The Spice Room comes from veterans of Taylor Street’s Taj Mahal and Humboldt Park’s wonderful Rangoli, two restaurants that avoided the Indo-Pak scrum of Devon to find fans in far-flung neighborhoods. In concept and appearance, situated in the space evacuated by an unloved English pub, the Spice Room, with its bright, spare room with blond wood tables and purple-and-yellow J

JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 35

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36 CHICAGO READER - JUNE 29, 2017

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

Gobi Manchurian, breaded deep-fried cauliflower tossed in hot sauce, soy, capsicum, and scallions ò KRISTAN LIEB

continued from 35 banquettes, feels like it could be on Devon.

The food is of a different order.

The Chinese-Indian mashup gobi Manchurian—breaded deep-fried cauliflower tossed in hot sauce, soy, capsicum, and scallions—is a sweet, crunchy crack that ought to be sold in movie theaters. Fresh emerald-green saag paneer is loaded with creamy lumps of cheese. Tender morsels of lamb braised low and slow lurk in a bagara curry rich with coconut and peanut.

Proteins seem to be of a relatively high quality at the Spice Room. In the haryali chicken even the bird’s breast presents as silky and tender amid the intense flavors of green chile and cilantro. In the bhuni jinga, a garlicky dry-shrimp curry, sweet, fat crustaceans together act like a subcontinental shrimp de jonghe. Okra masala takes a similarly curious turn as a dry preparation, sweet with natural caramelization, in contrast to its soupy tomato-and-chickpea cousin.

Meanwhile okra battered in chickpea flour

and fried hard has all the elements of counterpoint to the aforementioned cauliflower theater snack.

The usual lineup of flatbreads are on hand to serve as delivery vehicles (the light lambstuffed keema naan is notable), and the similarly standard variety of pulavs and biryanis will overfulfill your daily rice requirement.

About the only place the Spice Room goes off book is with its dainty lassis served in milkbottle-shaped glass. The mango is thicker and fruitier than you might’ve encountered elsewhere.

The Spice Room’s most redeeming quality is the consistent freshness and vibrancy of familiar dishes. Unlike Mango Pickle, there’s no reinvention or fusion happening here.

This is the same Indian menu you’ve seen hundreds of times. And yet its execution is at a level that would indeed stand out on Devon.

Every neighborhood deserves an Indian restaurant like this. v

v @MikeSula

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PARK & FIELD

3509 W. Fullerton 773-360-7373 parkandfieldchicago.com

FOOD & DRINK Park & Field’s 6,000-square-foot patio boasts bocce ball, an outdoor camper bar, and a fire pit. ò JULIA THIEL

BARS

Park it on the patio at Park & Field

By JULIA THIEL

A

patio in summer is a beautiful thing. Chicagoans are so desperate to be outside on the few days a year when the weather is perfect that we’ll wedge ourselves into the chairs that certain restaurants cram between the sidewalk and the street—and consider ourselves lucky to have the privilege. Then there are the real patios, set back from the street, with enough room to move around. Logan Square already has its fair share of good ones, but at 6,000 square feet, the patio at Park & Field—a “vintage sports club” that opened last winter on Fullerton between Kimball and Central Park—is one of the biggest in the city. It boasts 200 seats, two bocce courts, a large fire

pit surrounded by Adirondack chairs, a camper that serves as a bar on the weekends, and it plays host to occasional movie screenings.

Indoors, the place looks like a strange mash-up of a vintage gymnasium, a fancy hotel lobby, and a sports bar: chandeliers and leather couches, televisions, old tennis rackets, even a pommel horse. The mostly midwestern beer list is extensive, and there are also a dozen wines by the glass and nearly as many cocktails. The patio drinks menu is abbreviated, cutting the number of offerings in each category approximately in half (oddly, no prices are listed, but most cocktails are around $10 and glasses of wine are $8). Crucially, though, another category is introduced: the

frozen slushy drink. There are frozen versions of rosé, a Moscow Mule, and a “spicy” paloma.

The last sounded interesting but tasted like a generic margarita, without a hint of grapefruit and barely any spice. Worse, it was frozen so hard and the straw so narrow that drinking it was a struggle. The Moscow Mule was of a better consistency but similarly bland—sweet, with no evidence of the bite of ginger beer.

Two other drinks veered in completely opposite directions. A too-sweet watermelon margarita tasted more like a Jolly Rancher than fresh fruit. The Grass on the Field (gin, elderflower liqueur, lemongrass syrup, and lime juice) was herbal and savory, by far the most interesting of the bunch. (Perhaps I expected too much from a menu where one of the four cocktails is a vodka and Red Bull with sangria.)

The food we ordered was similarly hit-ormiss. I’ve always thought that there’s no such thing as bad mac ’n’ cheese, but what we tried came close. Gummy and undersalted, with no evidence of the advertised poblano and chipotle peppers, the dish tasted like it came from a box. The bruschetta sampler turned out to be DIY: several generous slices of garlicky toasted ciabatta with tiny cups of fresh mozzarella, halved cherry tomatoes, and roasted mushrooms—not nearly enough for all the toast.

For $10, you’re mostly getting bread.

Surprisingly for a menu that’s mostly upscale bar food, the baby beet salad turned out to be the dish I’m most likely to order again.

Pistachios, house-made ricotta, and orange segments provided welcome contrasts of flavor and texture, and there was just enough lemon-poppy-seed dressing to add a citrusy note without overpowering the other ingredients. Braised chicken thighs were pretty good too, with crisp skin and moist meat—but like so much else on the menu, they were underseasoned.

Overall, the food at Park & Field isn’t particularly good. Neither are the cocktails.

And yet . . . I’ll be back. One reason is the excellent service: our waitress was friendly and efficient, our food and drinks arrived quickly, and one minor mix-up over a drink order was immediately corrected. But mostly, the patio is just that nice. v

v @juliathiel JUNE 29, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 37

JOBS SALES & MARKETING Telephone Sales Experienced/aggressive telephone closers needed now to sell ad space for Chicago’s oldest and largest newspaper rep firm.

Immediate openings in Loop office. Salary + commission.

312-368-4884.

TELE-FUNDRAISING SUMMER CASH! American Veterans helping Veterans.

Felons need not apply per Illinois Attorney General regulations.

Start ASAP, Call 312-256-5035

General The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago, located in a large metropolitan area, is seeking a full-time IT Technical Associate (Jr. . NET Developer) to implement and develop web applications, and design, plan, and coordinate work teams to complete the design of various web-based application systems and the support of existing systems. Utilize knowledge of ASP.NET 4.0, C# and database programming with Oracle or SQL Server for the development, installation, technical support, training and maintenance of web-applications.

Review, analyze and modify programming systems including coding, testing debugging, troubleshooting and installation to support the webbased systems. Manage the day-today operational requirements of the OVCR Information Systems and write installation and operating procedure manuals. Conduct interactive training sessions for new and current users and identify additional training needs through the audit of data entry personnel and other users. Requirement is a Bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field of study. For fullest consideration, please submit a CV, cover letter, and 3 references to the attention of the Search Coordinator via email at dkrstic@uic.edu, or via mail at University of Illinois at Chicago, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 1737 W Polk Street, Chicago, IL 60612. The University of Illinois is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer. Minorities, women, veterans and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. The University of Illinois may conduct background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer. Background checks will be performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

CIT Bank, N.A. Senior Market Analyst, Strategic Marketing Chicago, IL Responsibilities: Provide market information, analysis and reporting to support CIT’s Rail strategy development. Develop renewal risk assessment models that correlate railcar activity with the propensity of the customers to renew contracts. Develop asset evaluation models for North American and European rail portfolios. Develop models to highlight market risk probabilities to help in determine railcar lease pricing strategies.

Requirements: Master’s degree in Finance, Economics or related field and 2 yrs. exp. in job offered

or 2 yrs. exp. financial modeling.

Exp. must include 2 yrs. of following: research and analysis of customer, competitor and stakeholder strategies and trends; develop portfolio pricing scenario models to highlight market risk probabilities; conduct quantitative analysis to form evidence based conclusions and recommendations; produce reports and presentations for internal and external purposes; distil data into important relevance and identify story behind data; build and maintain sophisticated financial models; develop and maintain stress testing models for portfolio of transportation operating lease assets; develop supply and demand models for transportation assets for creation of fleet management strategies.

Exp. may be gained concurrently.

Employer performs pre-hire background check (with fingerprinting), credit check and drug testing. Send resume and cover letter to: CIT Group Attn: HR Dept., 201 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202, or via email to: r ecruitingtalent@cit.com CIT Bank N.A. V.P. Sales, Rail Chicago, Illinois Position may work remotely Responsibilities: Originate new operating lease transactions, maximize revenue through the renewal of operating leases, maintain customer relations, and generate financial opportunities within the freight rail business. Act as the primary relationship manager for existing CIT Rail customer base within the territory to originate incremental rail operating lease volume and liaison with CIT Rail Customer Service, Mechanical, and Financial Operations groups on all customer needs.

Work with CIT Structured Finance Group to generate nonoperating lease financing opportunities. Generate new CIT Rail customers. Travel to client sites domestic and international (Mexico) up to 50%. Position may work remotely.

Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance or related field and 5 years exp. in job offered or 5 years railcar leasing. Exp. must include 5 years each of following in rail industry: equipment inventory and offerings, financial modeling, credit and risk parameters, lease documentation and negotiable terms, and customer relationship management. Exp. may be gained concurrently. Travel to client sites domestic and international (Mexico) up to 50%. Position may work remotely. Employer performs pre-hire background check (with fingerprinting), credit check and drug testing. Send resume and cover letter to: Talent Acquisition, CIT Group, 201 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202 or via email to recruitin gtalent@cit.com.

ENGINEER: LANDAUER, INC (Glenwood, IL) seeks Electrical Engineer w/Bachelor’s in Electrical or Electronic Engineering + 5 yrs of electrical or electronic engineering experience. Will also accept MA +3 yrs experience in the same fields. Must have experience with: 1) Analog and digital circuit design and analysis, including circuit simulation and debug, wireless communication protocols (Bluetooth, Wifi)and use of tools such as OrCAD PSpice; 2) Electronic test equipment such as oscilloscopes, signal generators and signal analyzers; 3) PCB design tools such as OrCAD, Allegro, Altium or Mentor Graphics PADS; 4) Writing embedded systems

firmware in C/C++; 5) Creating and documenting technical specifications for components as well as designing test cases and performing functional testing of electronic systems; 6) Verification and validation testing as well as environmental testing of embedded electronic systems.Submit resume with listing of technical skills to hr@landauer.com. Reference the job title in the subject line. No calls.

SOFTWARE EGENCIA LLC HAS openings for SOFTWARE ENGINEERS (Job ID#: 728.2177) in Chicago, IL: Design, implement, and debug software for computers including algorithms and data structures. To apply, send resume to: Egencia Recruiting, 333 108th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA 98004. Must reference Job ID#.

ENGINEERING EXPEDIA, INC. has openings for ENGINEERING MANAGERS

SMARTLOGIX INC., SEEKS Pro-

grammers/Analysts, S/W Engineers.

Primary worksite is Northbrook,IL but relocation is possible.

Contact: hrd@smartlogix.us

REAL ESTATE

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CHICAGO, 8927 S. DAUPHIN, UNIT 2S, 1BR, $650/MO + SECURITY, HEAT INCLUDED. CALL VINCENT SMITH, 773620-2843 SECTION 8 WELCOME Newly Decorated 74th/East End. 1BR. $625.

4 BR Sect. 8 Welc. Westside Loc, Must qualify. 773-287-4500 www.wjmngmt.com

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NICE ROOM w/stove, fridge & bath Near Aldi, Walgreens, Beach, Red Line & Buses. Elevator & Laundry. $130/wk & up. 773-275-4442

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Hardwood floors. Cats OK. Heat included. Laundry in building. $925/ month. Available 8/1. 773-761-4318.

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

CHICAGO - LG 2BD nr 82nd &

CHICAGO - $299 Move In Special! 110th & Michigan, 1BR & 2BR Apts, $575-$720/mo. Avail now Secure building. 1-800-770-0989

CHICAGO W. SIDE 3859 W Maypole Rehabbed studios, $425/ mo, Utilities not included. 773-6170329, 773-533-2900 6930 S. SOUTH SHORE DRIVE Studios & 1BR, INCL. Heat, Elec, Cking gas & PARKING, $585-$925, Country Club Apts 773-752-2200

1 BR $700-$799

modern oak floors, appliances, Security system, on site maint. clean & quiet, Nr. transp. From $445. 773582-1985 (espanol)

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

773-637-5957

LARGE SUNNY ROOM w/fridge & microwave. Near Oak Park, Green Line & Buses. 24 hr Desk, Parking Lot $101/week & Up. (773)378-8888

Newly updated, clean furnished rooms in Joliet, near buses & Metra, elevator. Utilities included, $91/wk. $395/mo. 815-722-1212

MIDWAY AREA/63RD KEDZIE Deluxe Studio 1 & 2 BRs. All

SUMMER SPECIAL $500 Toward Rent Beautiful Studios 1, 2, 3 &

STUDIO OTHER

RIVERDALE New decor, 1 & 2BR, appls, new crpt, heated, A/C, lndry, prkng, no pets, nr Metra. Sec 8 ok $675-$800. 630-480-0638

$575 w/Free Parking,Appl, AC,Free heat. Near trans. laundry rm. Elec.not incl. Kalabich Mgmt (708) 424-4216

STUDIO $500-$599 Chicago, Beverly/Cal Park/Blue Island Studio $575 & up, 1BR $665 & up, 2BR $885 & up. Heat, Appls, Balcony, Carpet, Laundry, Prkg.

708-388-0170

the lake. 1335 W Estes. Hardwood floors. Cats OK. Heat included. Laundry in building. $875/month. Available 8/1. 773-761-4318.

SPRING SPECIAL: STUDIOS starting at $499 incls utilities.

1BR $550, 2BR $599, 3BR $699. With approved credit. No Security Deposit for Sec 8 Tenants. South Shore & Southside.

Call 312-446-3333

77th/Drexel. 2BR. $700.

773-874-9637 or 773-493-5359

Chicago Marriott Marquis 2121 South Prairie Avenue, Chicago, IL 60616

38 CHICAGO READER | JUNE 29, 2017

STUDIO AVAILABLE July 1 in a well maintained building (Uptown). Studio apartment located at 4728 N Magnolia, Chicago. Decorated, new appliances, large bathroom, hardwood floors, ceiling fan & A/C window unit, heat included, laundry room, private parking, close to transportation, credit check $40.00, $675. Call after 3pm Bill 773-456-1820

RENTALS

Here’s to your Journey! Chicago Marriott Marquis is one of Marriott International’s 30 renowned hotel brands. As the world’s leading Hospitality Company, we offer unmatched opportunities for associates to grow and succeed. We believe a great career is a journey of discovery and exploration.

HERE’S TO YOUR JOURNEY!

1 BR UNDER $700

7022 S. SHORE DRIVE Impecca-

Quantitative Researcher to develop trading strategies. General Welfare Group, Oak Brook, IL. Send resume to: Linda Oliva, 611 Enterprise Drive Oak Brook, IL 60523

LARGE ONE BEDROOM near

side. Newly rehab, 1 BR, large LR, new kit, carpeted. $600. no sec, heat included. 708-921-9506

û NO SEC DEP û 1431 W. 78th St. 1BR. $500/mo.

6829 S. Perry. Studio/1BR. $465$520. HEAT INCL 773-955-5106

ENGINEERING MGR, DEVOPS

bagging machine Apply in person Tues.-Sat., 9 A.M.-11 A.M. Bring state of IL ID & Social Security Card, Nuts On Clark, 3830 N Clark St.

CHICAGO NEAR 80TH & Ingle-

Ashland Hotel nice clean rms.

24 hr desk/maid/TV/laundry/air.

Low rates daily/weekly/monthly.

South Side. Call 773-376-5200

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

MECHANICALLY INCLINED PERSON Needed for operating

MOST BEAUTIFUL APARTMENTS! 6748 Crandon, 2BR, $875. 7727 Colfax, 1 & 2BR, $625-$875. 6220 Eberhart, 2 & 3BR, $850-$1150.

773-947-8572 or 312-613-4424

CHATHAM - 7105 S. Champlain, 1BR. $640/mo. Sec 8 OK. Heat & appl. Call Office: 773-9665275 or Steve: 773-936-4749

(Job ID#: 728.2159) in Chicago, IL: Manage the Travel Content Systems that power Expedia brands. To apply, send resume to: Expedia Recruiting, 333 108th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA 98004. Must reference Job ID#.

– Lead design and delivery of nextgen software. PhD in CS or related, exp. with relevant software. Res. To Raise Marketplace Inc., 11 E. Madison, 4th Fl. Chicago, IL 60602

Large Studio $860 1 Bedroom $1095 newly decorated appliances, heated free credit check no application fee 1-773-667-6477 or 1-312-802-7301

CHICAGO - HYDE PARK 5401 S. Ellis.

Studio. $470/mo. û CALL 773-955-5106 û

FREE HEAT! NO SEC Dep. No Move-in Fee! 1, 2, 3 & 4 BRs, laundry rm.

Sec 8 OK. Tiffany 773.285.3310 www.livenovo.com

MARQUETTE PARK: 6315-19 S . California, 1 Bedrooms from $675, 2 Bedrooms from $825. Heat included. Call 312.208.1771 LOVELY 4 BR house, newly decorated, $1075/mo + security.

Call 773-703-8400

EXCHANGE EAST APTS 1 Brdm

ALSIP: BEAUTIFUL LARGE 2BR, 1BA $850/mo. 2nd flr,

62nd & Maplewood, 1 BR, newly remod, lrg LR, DR, kitc., utils not incl, Sec 8 ok. No sec dep, $725. $400 move in fee.

773-406-0604 SOUTHSIDE 6642 S. Evans 1 & 2 Bedroom apartments. $700$$800/month plus security.

SS appl. Tenant pays util.

773-858-3163

8322 S INGLESIDE & 8001 S Colfax, 1BR $650, newly remodel, hrdwd flrs, cable. Sec 8 welcome (Laundry Ingleside only) 708-3081509 or 773-493-3500 AUSTIN AREA 1-2 BR apts, $800-$1050, heat & appliances incl .Section 8 OK, close to transportation 708-267-2875 CHICAGO - 82ND/JEFFERY: 1 BR Garden Apt, applicances incl, heat & cent air incl, mature adult preferred. $775/mo 312-805-6534 77TH/LANGLEY

4RM,

1BR

APT, 1st flr, newly remod, heat & hot water, ceiling fans, & appls incl. $725 /mo + 1 mo sec. 708-641-1227

1448 w 92nd #3 $750, large 1BR, 1BA, living room, eat in kitchen, hdwd floors, Heat & water inc, no sec dep. Call Pam 312-208-1771.

1 BR $900-$1099 Ravenswood DLX 3/rm studio: new kit, SS appl, granite, French windows, oak flrs, close to Brown L; $1050/heated 773-743-4141 w ww.urbanequities.com

1 BR $800-$899

Benefits may include: medical, dental, vision, 401(k) profit sharing, paid time off, tuition reimbursement, career advancement, hotel room discounts and more.

So, we ask, where will your journey take you?

COZY 1 BEDROOM co-op in Hyde Park area ready to rent. Safe and secure. Laundry on the grounds. Parking lot in the rear and free parking on the street. Just a few blocks from the lakefront. Credit check, background check & rental history may be needed.

First month rent free.

ful Studios, 1,2,3 & 4 BR’s, Sec 8 ok. $500 gift certificate for Sec 8 tenants. 773-287-9999/312-446-3333

CHICAGO 55TH & Halsted, male pref. Room for rent, share furnished apt, free utils, $ 440/mo.

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

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

CHICAGO - BEVERLY, 1BR Apts. Carpet, A/C, laundry, near transportation, $770-$790/mo.

Call 773-233-4939

1 BR $1100 AND OVER

NO SECURITY DEPOSIT NO MOVE IN FEE 1, 2, 3 BEDROOM APTS (773) 874-1122

EAST EDGEWATER LANDMARK 2BR Plus new kit, oak flrs, sunrm, near Red Line/lake, lndry $1 650/heated 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

ACACIA SRO HOTEL Men Preferred! Rooms for Rent. Weekly & Monthly Rates. 312-421-4597

EDGEWATER GLEN 1000SF 1BR: new kit, SS appls, quartz ctrs, built-ins, oak flrs, lndry, $1250/ heated 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

1 BR OTHER APTS. FOR RENT PARK MGMT & INV. LTD. IT’S MOVING TIME!!!

OUR UNITS INCLUDE HEAT, HW & CG PLENTY OF PARKING 1BDR FROM $775.00 2BDR FROM $925.00 3 BDR/2 FULL BATH FROM $1200 **1-(773)-476-6000***

AUBURN GRESHAM; 80TH & Paulina, 2 bed - $795, Heat included, FREE MONTH! Call 312-208-1771

CHICAGO SOUTH SIDE Beauti-

No security. 773-651-8824.

Appliances, laundry, parking & storage.

Call 708-268-3762

For recorded updates, you may contact the Marriott Marquis Chicago Job Hotline at 312-791-6332

7'++"/; 5)!-+)'8/)'& "= ') -,:'& /../+!:)"!$ -*.&/$-+ 1/**";-3 !/ %"+")# ' 3"<-+=- 9/+(0/+1- ')3 =:=!'")")# ') ")1&:="<- 1:&!:+-4 7'++"/; 5)!-+)'8/)'& 3/-= )/!

3"=1+"*")'!- /) !%- 2'="= /0 3"='2"&"!$6 <-!-+') =!'!:= /+ ')$ /!%-+ 2'="= .+/!-1!-3 :)3-+ 0-3-+'&6 =!'!- /+ &/1'& &'9=4

Ingleside. Living room,lrg dining rm, laundry avail, tenant heated. $825, No security required. 708-921-9506

CHICAGO - CLEAN, NEWLY remod, 1BR, 2nd floor Apt, oak flooring. Ready Now! 722 E. 89th St. FREE HEAT. 708-951-2889

APTS. FOR RENT PARK MGMT & INV. LTD. SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!

MOST UNITS INCLUDE..

HEAT & HOT WTR STUDIOS FROM $475.00 1BDR FROM $550.00 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 ∫

CALUMET CITY 158TH & PAXTON SANDRIDGE APTS 1 & 2 BEDROOM UNITS MODELS OPEN M-F, 9AM-5:30PM *** 708-841-5450 ***

2 BR UNDER $900 NEAR MIDWAY AIRPORT 2BR $875+ SEC DEP. Sect 8 ok, newly decor, carpeted, refrigerator, FREE Heat, laundry room, cable ready, free credit check, no application fee.

1-773-550-9426 or 1-312-802-7301

BETWEEN KIMBALL AND Pulaski. Lovely, extra large, 4.5 rooms.

First floor, hwfl. New kitchen, bath.

Clean. Bright. 2 blocks Brown Line. $800 includes heat. 773-710-3634.

SECTION 8 WELCOME 54 W. 109TH St. 2BR, 2nd flr, new remod, ceiling fans, appls, ner Elementary School. $775/mo + 1 mo sec. 708-641-1227 Call 12p-7p

7701 S. South Shore Dr. 2 BDs with 1.5 Baths, Large Combo Living-Dining Rm, FREE Heat & cking gas. Prkng extra. $785-$850, Kalabich Mgmt (708)424-4216

119TH CALUMET - 2BR 1st Floor,

Kitch, LivRM, Bath, Heat Incl, Laundry basement, Sec. Dep.+1st mnth, $775.00 - 630-886-6432

CHICAGO, 8000 S. Hermitage, 2BR, $675/mo + security. Tenant pays own heat. Call James Dennis, 312-683-6837

CHICAGO 7600 S Essex 2BR $599, 3BR $699, 4BR $799 w/apprvd credit, no sec dep. Sect 8 Ok! 773287-9999 /312-446-3333 CICERO - 2 BEDROOM, $850$875/mo. Newly remodeled, laundry, free cooking gas and heat.

708-990-1911 or 630-673-6157

l

l

SOUTH SHORE: 76TH & KENWOOD, 2 BED, 1 BATH, $850.

HEAT INCLUDED. CALL 847.630.

6030 CHICAGO 92nd and Marquette, 2BR, 3rd floor, quiet bldg, carpet, heat included, $725, Nice!

1 mo rent, 1 mo sec. 773-505-1853 LOOKING FOR A nice 2BR apt?

Loc near 82nd and Paulina, carpet, nicely decorated, heat included, no pets. $730/mo, 773-783-7098

2 BR $1100-$1299

2 BR $1500 AND OVER

LYNWOOD, 2BR, 1BA, c-fans, heat, appls, A/C, pkng, cer flrs, new crpt, balc. $1200. Credit check, sec dep, no pets. 773-721-6086

2 BR $1300-$1499 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

8222 S. MARSHFIELD 3BR, 2nd

Spac good trans, laundry on site, security camera. 312-341-1950

Fl. Showing Sat only 11AM–2PM $925. + Sec, Tens. Pay utils, Phone calls not necessary 773-426-0280

AUBURN GRESHAM, 1401-11 West 80th, 2beds from $775, Free heat – no deposit. Call 312.208.1771

1054 W. HOLLYWOOD Avenue Stickney Schoolhouse Apt 3E Rent: $1900 1600 sq ft - HUGE 2 bed/1 bath, 2 wood burning fireplaces, 4 skylights, washer/dryer in unit, AC/Furnace, 1 block from L, 2 blocks from beach Christie 312.509.2333

2 BR $900-$1099 FREE HEAT 8200 S. DREXEL XL 2BR $995/mo.Heat & appls incl.

Living & dining room, newly remodeled. No Sec Dep. Section 8 OK. 312-915-0100.

2 BR OTHER 2 BR APT

9424 S LAFLIN #2s, 5rm 2BR, 1BA, $1080, central air and heat, Dishwasher, hdwd floors, no sec dep.

Call Pam 312-208-1771.

7904 S WABASH: Unit 3A - 1

COMPLETELY RENOVATED 2

Milwaukee/ Ashland/ Division. Large 4.5 rooms. Hwfl. Newly decorated.

Clean. 2 blocks Blue Line. One block Kennedy. Near shopping, pool. $1200. 773-710-3634.

Bdrm, 1 Bath Apartment. Charming apartment in a multi-unit building in West Rogers Park on a tree line street and a block to Warren Park.

The apartment has hardwood floors throughout, 3 spacious closets in the 2 bedrooms and living room, plus coat and linen closets. Kitchen has plenty of storage space with 2 year old refrigerator and stove. Cats and small dogs are OK.

ELMHURST: Dlx 1BR, new appl, new carpet, AC, balc. overlook pool, $925/mo. incl heat, prkg, OS Laundry. 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

WEST RIDGE 2BR: new kit, SS appls, granite ctrs, FDR, lndry, new windows, near Metra $1295-$1350 heated 773-743-4141 urbanequitie s.com

2 BR $1100-$1299 BUCKTOWN/ WICKER PARK.

located at Clark & Diversey across from the Century Mall. 1st floor apt has been completely updated and a garage space is also available.

GREAT LOCATION 3 blocks from the lake, 1 block from Trader Joes, and excellent transportation in a half blocks walk to the Broadway and Clark St. busses. 6-flat bldg. is neat and clean. Apt is immediately available. Call Mike 312-3391400

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

MARQUETTE PARK 3BR, formal dining room, stove, fridge, laundry facilities. $900 + sec. Must See! 773-881-8836

Evans, 2BR apt, Living rm, sun porch, 1BA., w/ appliances. Heat included.

Section 8 welcome. 773-206-4737

NEWLY REHABBED 1BR Apt. $750. 3 & 5BR single family homes w / 2BA. $1300-$1800. Sect 8 Welc.

847-962-0408

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.

6315 S. Whipple . newly renov.

2BR, all large rms, LR & DR, storage area, carpeted, heat inc l.

Call James at 708-743-8204

3 BR OR MORE UNDER $1200 CHICAGO, 6915 S ARTESIAN, 2nd flr, beautiful 3 lrg bedroom, incl heat, stove, + fridge, wall-to-wall crpt, hdwd flrs, laundry room, newly renovated, no security dep $1050. Section 8 ok. 773-983-6671

NR CERMAK/PULASKI, u p dated 3BR, hdwd flrs, lrg kit & BA, laundry hookup, 2nd flr, tenant pays utils, nr pink line $950 + dep. 773-2450422

BOWMANVILLE 3+RM 1BR, recent Renov., new kitc., new appls /carpet, W/D, gar. avail, $850/mo + elec.

773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

Large, clean, quiet rooms avail, 112th/State, $475 & $550/mo + $50 move-in fee. Cable/wi-fi/laundry.

Smokers Ok. 773-454-2893

CHICAGO S: Newly renovated, Large 3-5BR. In unit laundry, hardwood flrs, very clean, No Deposit!

Available Now! 708-655-1397

CHICAGO 67TH AND Emerald furn. rooms, 45 + pref, share kitchen and bath, util. included, cable ready.

From $350. 773-358-2570

CHICAGO HOUSES FOR rent.

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

312-446-3333 or 708-752-3812

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

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

GENERAL

remodeled 111th St., East of King Dr. $450-$550. Close to shopping & 1/4 block to metra. 773-468-1432

PULLMAN AREA, Newly

ROGERS PARK OPEN HOUSE Fri 6/30 & Sat 7/1, 11AM-3PM 6633 N. Sheridan Rd Free Credit Application Renovated Studio $900 & up; Renovated 1 Bdrm $1,100 & up (including heat and water) 1 block from Loyola & 1 block from Beach.

Call 847-833-4848

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

SOUTHSIDE, 2 UNIT, 3BR, 1BA, lower, near Train, quiet block.

Section 8 OK. $600/mo. Tenant pays utilities. 973-588-3262

BRONZEVILLE DLX 1/BR: new kit, private deck & yard, SS appls, FDR, oak flrs, new windows, $1075 /heated 773-743-4141 urbanequitie s.com

CHICAGO SOUTH - YOU’VE tried the rest, we are the best.

Apartments & Homes for rent, city & suburb. No credit checks.

773-221-7490, 773-221-7493

90TH/LAFLIN 3BR heated, decorated. $1075; 84TH PL in Chatham. 5.5 rooms, 2BR, $975. heated, decorated. 312-946-0130

WRIGLEYVILLE LANDMARK 3 B R Plus: new kit/appls, vint. built-ins, oak flrs, sunrm, lndry, $21 00/mo heated 773-743-4141 urba nequities.com

CHICAGO - SOUTH SIDE. 54th & May, 3BR, stove, fridge & heat incl, sec 8 welcome. Tess 773-925-1188

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

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

708-288-4510 4200 BLOCK OF W. Grenshaw, 2nd floor 3BR Apt, newly decorated, heat & ceiling fans incl., $975/ mo + 1 mo sec. Call 773-785-5174 CHATHAM-3BR 1.5BA, stove/ heat incl, laundry in bsmt, 7900 block of Langley, Sec 8 Ok. $1000/ mo. Mr. Johnson, 630-424-1403 SOUTHEAST LOC 3RD flr apt, 3BR, 1BA, hdwd flrs, heat included, quiet building, street parking. $925/ mo + 1 mo sec dep. 312-550-2647

70th/Normal, 3BR. $825.

847-977-3552

Newly Renovated 3 BR house & 2 BR apt 66th & Hoyne, & 69th & Maplewood $875 & $650 a month excl utilities. 773-905-4567 Chicago Westside: newly decorated, 3 1/2 BR, 1st flr, hdwd flrs, whirlpool tub, heat/hot water incl. $975/mo + security. 773-265-9415

77TH ABERDEEN LRG 3bd 1bth

CHICAGO, 6100 S.

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

CALUMET PARK 12946 S Carpenter, 3BR, 1.5 BA, fireplace & basement, 1 car garage, Sec 8 Welc 773-995-9370 or 773-718-1142

EVANSTON 1BR, GREAT kit, new appls, FDR, vint. built-ins, oak flrs, near Red Line, lndry $1095/ heated 773-743-4141 urbanequities .com

SOUTHSIDE 68th/Hermitage, 3BR. $850.

ENGLEWOOD 2-4BR unit apts in 2 unit gated bldgs, hdwd flrs, pets OK, no sec dep, W/D & appls incl, tenant pays own utils 773-715-1591

Never miss a show again.

BELMONT CRAIGIN: BEAUT. 2-flat 1200sf 2BR new kit/appl, oak flrs, lndy, stor/prkg, $1200/ mo + util 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com HUMBOLDT PK 2BR: Sunny corner unit, New eat-in kitc., new appl, new carpet, Lndry, $925/mo + util., 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

73RD/INDIANA, 88th/Dauphin & 74th/King Dr. 2BRs. $800- $1000.

bedroom, $745.00, Free heat, GRANITE COUNTER TOPS, Call 312-2081771

AUGUSTA/CICERO, u p d a t e d 3BR, hdwd floors, large kitchen, 2nd floor, tenant pays utils, $950 + dep. No pets.

Call 773-245-0422

apt 900mo + 1 mo sec. Tenant pays utilities. Sec 8 ok. 773-619-8757

3 BR OR MORE $1200-$1499 BLUE ISLAND 3BR, 1.5BA, 2nd flr duplex, appls, heat incl, tenant pays light and gas, off street parking avail, no pets. $1250/mo. Call Toni 708-715-0721

4341 S GREENWOOD 1s 6rm 4BR, 1BA, $1350. Heat and water included, no security deposit. Call Pam 312- 208-1771

HARRISON/CICERO U p d a te d 5BR, upper duplex, 2 Kitchens, 2BA, W/D, no pets, tenant pays utils. $1550+dep.

773-245-0422 JACKSON/CICERO 5BR, u p dated kit, 2BA, hdwd flrs, cer tile, W/D hkup, nr blue line, tenant pays utils.No Pets $1650+dep.773-245-0422 ALB Pk DLX 3BR + den, new kit, SS appl, granite, oak flrs, on-site lndy, $1375/+ util. 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

3 BR OR MORE $1800-$2499

FOR SALE NEAR 4800 S. Lake Shore Dr. Lrg 3BR end unit Condo w/spac closets, on the 22nd flr, 2 Full BA, MB, spectacular views of Lake Michigan, 2 indoor garage spaces, full amenity building. $289,900. Call Sid. Maner Realty . 773-783-6474 10454

CALHOUN

(NEAR

Torrence) 2 apt. bldg. 6&6, 3BR ea., bsmt, 50’ lot, gar, $89,500. $3000 down. $0 down Vets. Call Ed 773646-2642

2 Flat Building for sale 11729 S Princeton $85,000 or most serious offer 773-480-6414

3 BR OR MORE

non-residential

SECTION 8 WELCOME Chicago, 11526 S Harvard 5BR/2BA, $1600.

255 W. 111th Pl., 6BR/3BA $1700.

Call 773-793-8339, ask for Joe. 106TH & LANGLEY, 5BR, 2BA, foreclosed home, $800/mo.

Money from bank possible if lease is broken.

847-5332496, Steve.

3BR APARTMENT FOR RENT. Newly Renovated. Located at 5600 S. May. For more information please call 773-294-5885 or 773870-2014 WASHINGTON PARK, NEWLY remod 3BR duplex, LR, DR & den. Hdwd flrs, appls incl., ample prkg, Near trans & schools. 773241-0619

ADULT SERVICES

GOODS

SELF-STORAGE

Furniture, sporting goods, electronics, kids toys, tools, outdoor accessories, towels, sheets, bedding, kitchenware, lawn and garden equipment Barrington Harbor estates in Lake Barrington - Enter onto Harbor Rd.,approx. 1 mile North of Rt. 22 off of Kelsey Road. Maps of participating households at entrance to subdivision.

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

CHICAGO 6040 N. Kostner Ave. Sat 7/1, 9-5 & Sun 7/2, 8-4. Outdoor table & chairs, 4 piece BR set, sm furn, clothing & shoes, games & toys, bikes, household items & more!

AKC

GERMAN

SHEPHERD

Puppies - 1st shots, wormed, sire & maternal grand sire OFA cert. tips/ elbows. $650. 260-593-0160 x 3

ENGLISH BULLDOG PUPPIES , GCHB CH Sired Show Dog, Excellent Pedigree/show potential, 618-335-2586 for pics & info

BUYING OLD WHISKEY/ BOURBON/RYE! Looking for full/ sealed vintage bottles and decanters.

PAYING TOP DOLLAR!! 773-263-5320

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

W RG PARK: 2BR, New Constr., grand kit, new appl, oak flrs, lndry, storage, prkg. $1300/+ util 773743-4141 urbanequities.com

OTHER

MARKETPLACE

COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE -

SERVICES ESTATE SALE: 1902 E Kensington Rd. Arlington Heights, il.

Thurs 9-5 (#s at 8:30); Fri 9-5; Sat 9-2. Auction of Estate Balance Sat. 3pm - Antiques, Stamps, Coins, China & Glass, Furniture, Books & Much More. Very Full House.

Midwest Estate Liquidators 309645-4220

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JUNE 29, 2017 | CHICAGO READER 39

THE LATEST ON YOUR FAVORITE

STRAIGHT DOPE

FOOD & DRINK

By Cecil Adams

CHICAGOREADER.COM

terrorists commit their acts is because the West interfered in their countries. Some examples of this interference I can think of: (1) our support of Israel; (2) the 1991 Gulf war; (3) our interference in the Somali civil war in 1992-’93. If Islamic terrorism is mainly a reaction to imperialistic Western intervention in the Muslim world, was it due to ongoing issues as of 2001, or was Osama bin Laden just trying to settle old scores?

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chicagoreader.com/early 40 CHICAGO READER - JUNE 29, 2017

q : One argument I hear about why Islamist

A : No offense, Flik, but maybe you’re asking

the wrong question. Is it not so much as what we did to tick off the Islamists but why things suddenly got so much worse?

Answer: It’s the fault of those damn old Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union. If their workers’ paradise hadn’t collapsed ignominiously in the late 1980s, we wouldn’t be in this pickle now.

You’re thinking: Cecil, the geezer, can’t get his head out of the cold-war rut.

Not at all. It’s easy to show that the fall of the USSR led directly to the rise of modern Islamist terrorism.

Don’t misunderstand. The Islamic world has its share of legitimate (or anyway comprehensible) beefs with the West. There’s no question that in the decades following World War I the victorious allies sliced up what remained of the Ottoman Empire and environs to suit themselves.

Western interests car ved out what became the state of Israel. They finagled one-sided oil deals. They (OK, we) toppled democratically elected leaders in favor of more cooperative types.

So yeah, long before 9/11, lots of people in the Middle East were peeved enough at us to go in for the occasional act of terrorism. But it was, how shall I put this, rational terrorism.

Sure, you had Palestinians massacring Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics and Iranian Islamists taking Americans hostage in 1979. But if you weren’t Israeli, or an American abroad, you could tell yourself: sad, but at least they won’t be coming for me.

For this we can thank the Soviets and evangelical Marxism. Islamic fundamentalism had been a force in the Middle East for a long time. Wahhabism, for example, dates from the 18th century, and the Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928. But prior to the USSR’s collapse it was held in check by Soviet-backed Arab nationalists in Egypt, Qaddaffi factions in Libya, and Syrian and Baathists in Iraq.

Often nominally socialist, Arab nationalists relied on the Soviets for arms and other aid.

SLUG SIGNORINO

RESTAURANTS AND BARS

True, they did this partly on the idea that my enemy’s enemy is my friend. But socialist solidarity wasn’t complete BS. Both the Arab nationalists and the Soviets were secular modernizers ostensibly dedicated to lifting up the masses. Both for a time enjoyed popular support. And both often brutally suppressed Islamists—not an approach that builds longterm goodwill, I acknowledge. But for a while it worked.

Did we lucky Westerners appreciate it?

On the contrary, we did our best to undermine the forces of stability. In the 1980s, the U.S. supported the mujahideen insurgency in Afghanistan against the Soviet-backed regime. The mujahideen were ardent Islamists, as were many of their backers from elsewhere in the Muslim world. Elements of the latter coalesced into al-Qaeda, founded in 1988.

The next year the Berlin Wall came down, symbolically ending the cold war, a giddy moment for the West. In hindsight we should have thought: now we’re in for it. With the Soviets out of the picture, the Islamists devoted their full attention to us. But then what did we do? We overthrew the Baathist (read: secular) government of Iraq, ripping off yet another piece of the Islamist containment structure. But nothing like some old-fashioned Western meddling to make a bad situation worse.

Don’t get me started on the Arab Spring.

Not saying we could have done things much differently, although our dithering in Syria didn’t help. The old-school Arab-nationalist regimes having been swept aside or crippled, the field was left to ISIS, with its implacable hostility to all things Western, seemingly a magnet for every malcontent in the Islamic world.

Ah, for the good old days of the cold war!

Sure, we faced the constant threat of nuclear holocaust. Today you’ve got some random terrorist horror every month. You don’t know what you got till it’s gone. 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

Uncle Dan, live, back in Chicago!

Micropenises and other pressing issues from a Lovecast at the Music Box I HAD A GREAT TIME at the live taping of the Savage Lovecast at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre June 15. I tackled as many audience questions as I could over two hours— with the welcome and hilarious assistance of local comedian Kristen Toomey. Here are some we didn’t get to before they gave us the hook . . .

Q: If your partner’s

social media makes you uncomfortable—whether it’s the overly friendly comments they get on their photos or vice versa (their overly friendly comments on other people’s photos)— do you have the right to say something?

don’t. He isn’t the jealous type; I am. We compromised, and I agreed to a threesome.

I want to meet him in the middle, but I really hate the idea of even a threesome and can’t stop stressing about it. What should I do?

read the late, great Dr. Jack Morin’s Anal Pleasure and Health: A Guide for Men, Women, and Couples—which can be read before, during, and after meals and/or bowel movements.

A: You should end this

Why are the people so fucking creepy? How can you find kinky folks who aren’t superpervy?

relationship yourself, or you can let an ill-advised, sure-tobe-disastrous threesome end it for you.

Q: Any dating advice for people who are gay and disabled?

A: Move on all fronts: Go

say something—the First Amendment applies to relationships too—but you have two additional rights and one responsibility: the right to refrain from reading the comments, the right to unfollow your partner’s social-media accounts, and the responsibility to get over your jealousy.

places and do things—as much as your disability and budget allow—join gay dating sites, be open about your disability, be open to dating other disabled people.

And take the advice of an amputee I interviewed for a column a long, long time ago: “So long as they don’t see me as a fetish object, I’m willing to date people who may be attracted to me initially because of my disability, not despite it.”

Q: A couple invited me to

Q: My boyfriend keeps

A: You have the right to

go on a trip as their third and to have threesomes. I am friends with the guy, and there is chemistry. But I have not met the girl. I’m worried that there may not be chemistry with her. Is there anything I can do to build chemistry or at least get us all comfortable enough to jump into it?

A: Get this woman’s phone

number, exchange a few photos and flirty texts, and relax. Remember: You’re the very special guest star here— it’s their job to seduce you, not the other way around.

Q: My partner really wants

an open relationship; I really

Q: I went to a big kink event.

the kinky folks who aren’t superjudgy.

Q: Why do all of my gay

friends make passes at my boyfriends at some point? It’s not just harmless flirtation, either.

A: Your boyfriends are

irresistible, and your gay friends are irredeemable.

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b ALL AGES F Whethan 11/11, 6 PM, Concord Music Hall, on sale Thu 6/29, 10 AM b Widowspeak 9/13, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM Witch Taint 9/30, 7 PM, Hideout Wray 8/18, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen

UPDATED Tower of Power 8/11-13, 8 PM, City Winery, 8/11 and 8/12 sold out, 8/13 added, on sale Thu 6/29, noon b

UPCOMING

Touche Amore ò CHRISTIAN CORDON BOUGAINVILLEA

NEW AJJ 9/11, 8 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Allday 8/7, 8:30 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Amir Obe 8/18, 8 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 18+ Beta Play 7/15, 7 PM, Beat Kitchen b Boris, Helms Alee 10/23, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM, 17+ Tyondai Braxton 7/15, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Caamp 10/11, 8 PM, Beat Kitchen, on sale Fri 6/30, 11 AM, 17+ Cattle Decapitation 10/27, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, on sale Fri 6/30, 9 AM, 17+ Avishai Cohen Quartet 9/8, 8 and 9:30 PM, Constellation, on sale Fri 6/30, 8 AM, 18+ Cosmo’s Midnight 8/25, 8 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Cupcakke 8/12, 10 PM, Metro Current Swell 8/25, 10 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM, 18+ Devil Wears Prada 11/4, 5:30 PM, Bottom Lounge, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM b 88 Fingers Louie, Lillingtons 8/26, 7:30 PM, Metro, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM b EMA 11/18, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM Liam Gallagher 11/21, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, on sale Thu 6/29, 10 AM, 18+ Gorgon City 10/27, 8 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ Haim 9/15, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM b David Ryan Harris 9/26, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Helena Hauff 7/29, 10 PM, Smart Bar, on sale Fri 6/30, noon Hauschka 10/28, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Howard Hewett 9/4, 7 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 6/29, noon b

Marian Hill 9/7, 7:30 PM, the Vic, on sale Thu 6/29, 10 AM b Heather Lynne Horton 8/9, 8 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM Hundred Suns 8/18, 7 PM, Township b Joseph 9/22, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM b Paul Kelly 10/10, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM b Krewella 11/10, 7 PM, Aragon Ballroom, on sale Thu 6/29, 10 AM b La Arrolladora Banda Limon 11/22, 8 PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM b Legendary Shack Shakers 9/23, 9 PM, Subterranean Like Moths to Flames 8/6, 6 PM, Wire, Berwyn b Lost Balloons 8/25, 9 PM, Quenchers Saloon MadeinTYO 9/28, 6 PM, Concord Music Hall, on sale Thu 6/29, 10 AM b Lillie Mae 8/27, 8 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM, 18+ Make Them Suffer 8/2, 7 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Justin Martin 8/4, 10 PM, Smart Bar Maysa 8/26, 7 and 10 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 6/29, noon b Jake Miller 9/13, 7 PM, Bottom Lounge, on sale Fri 6/30, noon b Moon Taxi, Too Many Zooz 10/13, 8 PM, Concord Music Hall, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM, 17+ Mutemath 10/31, 7 PM, House of Blues, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM b Randy Newman 10/18-19, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 6/29, noon b Nobunny 7/24, 9 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Gary Numan, Me Not You 11/29, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM, 17+

42 CHICAGO READER - JUNE 29, 2017

Matt Pond PA 10/1, 8 PM, Schubas Quicksand 9/27, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM, 17+ Rainer Maria 9/14, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM Haley Reinhart 11/5, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM, 18+ Tom Rush 11/12, 7 PM, Szold Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 6/30, 8 AM b Scorched Tundra VIII with Atomic Bitchwax, Acid King, Oxbow, Minsk, Behold! The Monolith, and more 9/1-3, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Security Project 11/21, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Shakira 1/23, 7:30 PM, United Center, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM Sonder 9/20, 9 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Strand of Oaks 9/14, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Moses Sumney 10/4, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 6/30, 8 AM b Keith Sweat, Will Downing 12/9, 8 PM, the Venue at Horseshoe Casino, Hammond, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM Thievery Corporation 10/6, 8:30 PM, Aragon Ballroom, on sale Thu 6/29, 10 AM, 17+ Together Pangea 10/6, 7 PM, Bottom Lounge b Touche Amore 10/7, 8 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Turnover, Elvis Depressedly, Emma Ruth Rundle 11/10, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Wand, Darto 9/30, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM, 18+ Weedeater, Telekinetic Yeti 9/7, 8:15 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Matt Wertz 10/20, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 6/30, 10 AM b

WOLF BY KEITH HERZIK

EARLY WARNINGS

CHICAGO SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN THE WEEKS TO COME

Actress, Elysia Crampton 8/24, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Against Me!, Bleached 9/30, 6 PM, Concord Music Hall b All Tomorrow’s Impeachments with Shellac, Tar, Dianogah, Lardo, and more 7/21-22, 7:30 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Bad Suns 10/20, 7:30 PM, Metro b Belle & Sebastian, Julien Baker 8/16, 7:30 PM, Chicago Theatre Black Heart Procession 11/10, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Broken Social Scene, Frightened Rabbit 9/29, 8 PM, Aragon Ballroom, 18+ Cap’n Jazz, Hop Along 7/29, 7 PM, House of Vans, 18+ F Cloud Nothings 8/3, 10 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 18+ Descendents 10/7, 7:30 PM, Riviera Theatre b Doom 8/19, 8 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 18+ D.R.I. 10/15, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ El Famous 7/29, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, 17+ Elder, King Buffalo 10/17, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Ex-Cult 8/14, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Father John Misty, Weyes Blood 9/20, 8 PM, Auditorium Theatre Fleet Foxes 10/3-4, 7:30 PM, Chicago Theatre Ben Folds 10/28, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ Geographer 9/9, 9 PM, Schubas Rhiannon Giddens 9/22, 8 PM, the Vic Haken 9/23, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Halsey, Partynextdoor, Charli XCX 11/19, 7 PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont Imagine Dragons, Grouplove 10/18, 7:30 PM, United Center Jeff the Brotherhood 7/29, 10 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Mason Jennings 8/12, 7:30 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Stephen Kellogg, Emily Hearn 10/6, 6:45 PM, SPACE, Evanston b

Never miss a show again.

Sign up for the newsletter at chicagoreader. com/early

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard 9/24-25, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall King’s X 7/6, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ SG Lewis 10/1, 8 PM, Subterranean, 18+ Live, Shelters 8/4, 11 PM, Park West, 18+ Male Gaze 8/27, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Thurston Moore Group 7/13, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Stevie Nicks 9/9-10, 7:30 PM, Ravinia Festival, Highland Park b Omni 7/29, 9 PM, Hideout Palehound, Rips 7/7, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Graham Parker Duo 7/12, 8 PM, City Winery b Pinback 10/11-12, 9 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Queen & Adam Lambert 7/13, 8 PM, United Center Radio Moscow 7/6, 8 PM, Reggie’s Music Joint Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, Bouncing Souls 8/8, 6:30 PM, Huntington Bank Pavilion Royal Headache 7/9, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Sacred Reich 9/20, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Kevin Saunderson 7/14, 10 PM, Smart Bar Slowdive 11/5, 8 PM, the Vic, 18+ Tegan & Sara, Frenship 8/3, 11 PM, Park West, 18+ Temples, Declan McKenna 8/2, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Torres 10/5, 8 PM, Subterranean UFO, Saxon 10/8, 6:30 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ Ultimate Painting 7/25, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Foy Vance 10/9, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Venom Inc., Goatwhore 9/8, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Wage War 8/12, 5:30 PM, Beat Kitchen b Waka Flocka Flame 7/15, 7 PM, Metro b War on Drugs 10/19, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ Young the Giant 9/9, 7 PM, Huntington Bank Pavilion Dweezil Zappa 7/7, 8 PM, City Winery Zedd 10/12, 8 PM, Aragon Ballroom, 17+ Hand Zimmer 8/4, 8 PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont Zola Jesus 10/8, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Jeremy Zucker 8/13, 7 PM, Schubas v

GOSSIP WOLF A furry ear to the ground of the local music scene WHEN JERRY’S SANDWICHES closed its Wicker Park location last summer, the weekly theme party Original Rap Karaoke also lost its home. Its organizers, Psalm One and Ground Lift Media, briefly moved to Cafe Mustache and then held a fourth-anniversary party at Tonic Room in November, but after that they seemed done for good. Fortunately that diagnosis was premature: ORK returns for a oneoff at Township on Saturday, July 1, and with any luck Chicago rap fans will have many more chances to embarrass themselves on the mike. This wolf can’t wait to scat through Snow’s “Informer,” no matter what the theme is! The free event celebrates rap’s most famous comebacks, naturally, and it features a toast to Psalm One’s birthday at midnight.

On Friday, June 30, local DIY spot the Mousetrap hosts a benefit for Planned Parenthood and the Greater Chicago Food Depository, featuring five hours of heavy-as-hell bands. This wolf is stoked for Ozzuario, whose industrial black metal sounds like Ministry fronted by Mortuus from Marduk. Also tops are bludgeoning noise rockers Lowhangers, who the Reader’s Kevin Warwick says “leave little to interpretation and little room to avoid what you’ve got coming.” For details, e-mail distortdiscos@gmail.com.

Missed the big Pride parties last week?

It’s always a good time to spread love for the LGBT community, and on Thursday, June 29, Chicago nightlife collective Stardust presents a late Pride celebration at Berlin called LaCroix Boi: The Party. It takes its name from the latest viral single by playfully raunchy LA-based bear rapper Big Dipper, who returns to his hometown to headline. He’s joined by collagepop artist Fee Lion, who’s bringing dancers Benji and DarkDynazty. Teen Witch Fan Club and [X]P spin all night, and a tag team of local personalities hosts, including Store Brand Soda founder Lorena Cupcake and promotions wizard Scott Cramer. —J.R. NELSON AND LEOR GALIL Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail gossipwolf@chicagoreader.com.

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