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773-278-6600MAKE: A Literary Magazine Release Party
Thu., Jan. 24, 7 p.m.Literary Events
To celebrate the release of MAKE's latest issue, which centers on the theme of "architectural" and features new work from Chris Wiewiora and Paul Pedroza, local comedian Adam Burke hosts a Q and A session with the City of Chicago’s Official Cultural Historian, Tim Samuelson. Also slated to appear is poet Ted Mathys and Reader contributor Tovah Burstein.
$8-$10
Meatwave, Bully in the Hallway, Nervous Passenger, James Francis Swanberg
Thu., Jan. 24, 8:30 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Soul Rebels, Second Line Parade, Swamp Heat, B.S. Brass Band
Thu., Jan. 24, 9 p.m.Blues, Gospel, and R&B
Erin McKeown, Jenn Grant
Fri., Jan. 25, 9 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Erin McKeown shows off the malleability of the songs on the new Manifestra (TVP) by including a bonus disc that acknowledges her coffeehouse roots with ten acoustic-guitar versions of the polished full-band tracks on the album proper. McKeown has always seemed to me like a pop polymath trapped in the body of a protest singer, but here she approaches politics with a heavy-handedness she’s previously kept in check. “The Politician” helpfully points out that corruption is bad, and “The Jailer” notes that current border policies are fucked-up. “Baghdad to the Bayou,” which channels the swamp-rock grooves of CCR and ties the war in Iraq to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, was cowritten via text message with Rachel Maddow. I’m down with what McKeown is saying, but I’d personally prefer to find such opining on the op-ed page. Thankfully her delivery—with the exception of the horrible rapping on the title track—redeems these lapses in judgment. Like the proverbial spoonful of sugar, her effortless singing and charming melodies help even bitterest lyric medicine go down. McKeown is joined here by Marc Dalio on drums and Matt Douglas on horns. —Peter Margasak Jenn Grant opens.
$12
Boobs of the Dead: A Walking Dead Burlesque
Through 1/25: Fri 9 PMTheater & Performance
When I told my wife (and yes, I told my wife) that I was going to see a zombie-themed strip show called Boobs of the Dead, she made a face and laid out a picture for me of gray, rotting dugs without so much as a hint of perk. Well, that's not how it turned out. This parody of the Walking Dead franchise features eight remarkably healthy-looking infectees. In fact, as a lab-coated scientist points out, the zombifying process actually makes them sexier, magically clothing them in bustiers and fishnet stockings. Even a bearded old codger gets transformed. Gorilla Tango burlesques are always smart and playful, but this edition shows a developing sophistication. The dancers are more confident, Erica Reid's choreography is more resourceful (starting with an awfully sexy reverse strip and culminating in a full-out production number), and, um, standout performances are getting more common. Paly Flames, in particular, does some honest-to-god show-stealing here. —Tony Adler $35
Greetings from the Holy City
Through 1/25:Galleries
New photographs by Jason Reblando, documenting the contemporary residents who call North Lawndale home.
