- Issue of
- Jan 4-10, 2018
- Vol. 47, No. 13
Cover Story: Stories from Chicago’s favorite rock ’n’ roll clusterfuck. Ian’s Party is a music festival, yes, but it’s run mostly by volunteers—which helps it feel like a community, not a branding exercise. Culture: Amazon won’t save the Thompson Center, but Nathan Eddy might . The Berlin-based documentary filmmaker hopes to rescue a building in danger of destruction. LGBTQ: Pioneering gay bathhouse Man's Country closed after 44 years. Here's what happened on its last crazy night.
News & Politics
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- On Politics
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Property tax madness!
Homeowners’ rush to avoid losing money on the new Republican tax law is just the latest sign that the system for funding public education remains broken.
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- Chicagoans
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The peculiar difficulty of being an AirBnb host on Chicago’s south side
“People are afraid of the south side. It’s ridiculous. I educate my guests,” Afri Atiba says.
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- Savage Love
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Can a heavy flirtation with an ex be justified?
Dan counsels a married letter writer. Plus: a suspicious mind and a top to be run from
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- Savage Love
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Savage Love quickies to bid farewell to 2017
Tidying things up at the end of year, Dan issues two DTMFAs, explains why a man might not want to French-kiss the mouth that just blew him, and more
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- Transportation
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Despite a few bumps in the road, Chicago’s year in transportation didn’t suck
The Trump administration still threatens sustainable infrastructure, but 2017 brought improvements to Chicago’s streets, transit hubs, and bikeways.
Music
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- Gossip Wolf
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Luke Trimble of Uh Bones celebrates his debut single leading Charlie Reed
Plus: Cinema 53 hosts a free screening of Beyoncé’s Lemonade with Julie Dash and Jamila Woods, and online music magazine Anchr throws itself a birthday party at Schubas.
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- Music Feature
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Stories from Chicago’s favorite rock ’n’ roll clusterfuck
Ian’s Party is a music festival, yes, but it’s run mostly by volunteers—which helps it feel like a community, not a branding exercise.
Arts & Culture
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- Feature
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Last night at Man’s Country
The pioneering gay bathhouse’s 13-hour final hurrah
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- On Culture
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Amazon won’t save the Thompson Center, but Nathan Eddy might
The Berlin-based documentary filmmaker hopes to rescue a building in danger of destruction.
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- Small Screen
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Chicago-made webseries to watch in 2018
Three local boundary-breaking productions destined for bigger screens
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- Theater Review
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Aziza Barnes's BLKS needs to take itself more srsly
Steppenwolf's Girls-like latest scores laughs but pulls its own punches.
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- Art Review
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At Intuit, only a glimpse of the immersive art environment Pasaquan
“Outsider” artist Eddie Owens Martin’s seven-acre utopia in Georgia must be seen to be solved.
Movies
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- Movie Review
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Tonya Harding was a victim too
And you get her side of the story in I, Tonya.
Food & Drink
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- Restaurant Review
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Lonesome Rose joins Logan Square’s crowded modern Mexican field
But its food inspired by the “borderlands” is no ordinary Tex-Mex—or, really, Tex-Mex at all.
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- Restaurant Review
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Wow, man, that Beatnik has seen some places . . .
But now the Ukrainian Village clubstaurant would do well to settle down.
Reader
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- Digital Editions
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Print Issue of January 4, 2018
Volume 47, Number 13
Blogs
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- Bleader
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Adventurous jazz guitarist Brandon Seabrook embraces his metal roots
On strong recordings by Needle Driver and Die Trommel Fatale, Brandon Seabrook brings jacked-up power to his improvisational ethos.
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- Bleader
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Books we can't wait to read in 2018
Bill Clinton has written a thriller about a missing president! And nearly 100 other ways to escape the oncoming shit show.
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- Bleader
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Veteran Kenyan-Congolese band Orchestre les Mangelepa enter their fifth decade
With the new album Last Band Standing, Orchestre les Mangelepa position themselves for long-overdue global acclaim.
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- Bleader
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Cook County sues pharmaceutical companies over opioid crisis, and other Chicago news
Also, the mother of police shooting victim Quintonio LeGrier is waiting for answers.
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- Bleader
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The best things to do in Chicago on New Year's Eve
Hip-hop artist Noname, the Annoyance Theatre's Steamworks: The Musical, and more recommended events for New Year's Eve in Chicago
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- Bleader
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Peter Margasak’s 40 favorite albums of 2017, numbers 40 through 31
Veteran Reader critic Peter Margasak counts down his 40 favorite records of the year—this installment includes music by Arto Lindsay, Aldous Harding, and Joshua Abrams.
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- Bleader
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This was what it was like to live in Chicago in 2017
How can the police have any authority when they've squandered the public trust?
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- Bleader
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Judge blocks last-minute conservative attempt to prevent new Illinois abortion law from taking effect Monday, and other Chicago news
Also, Alderman Howard Brookins Jr. is running for a Cook County judgeship.
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- Bleader
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Watch pastry chef Kymberli DeLost create a Korean-Italian dessert using fermented bean paste
Challenged to make a dish with doenjang, DeLost combines her knowledge of Korean cooking and Italian desserts.
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- Bleader
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Norwegian reedist André Roligheten stepped up big in 2017
A veteran of the pensive duo Albatrosh, André Roligheten has never been more prolific or profound than he was in 2017.
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- Bleader
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Peter Margasak’s 40 favorite albums of 2017, numbers 30 through 21
Veteran Reader critic Peter Margasak counts down his 40 favorite records of the year—this installment includes music by Björk, Jaimie Branch, and Jürg Frey.
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- Bleader
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Report: George Papadopoulos told Australian diplomat that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton, and other Chicago news
Also, the cold caused a glass panel to crack in the new Apple flagship store.
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- Bleader
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Modern Chinese history gets the ‘China’s Spielberg’ treatment in Youth
Feng Xiaogang's saga of a military dance troupe is now playing at the AMC River East.
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- Bleader
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Homicides and shootings decreased overall in 2017 but not in every neighborhood, and other Chicago news
Also, a divorce between Jesse Jackson Jr. and Sandi Jackson appears inevitable, says Jackson Jr.
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- Bleader
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There’s a barn in the theater on the gig poster of the week
This week's featured gig poster was designed by local artist Ethan D'Ercole.
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- Bleader
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Underappreciated guitarist Johnny B. Moore links Delta blues with the electric postwar Chicago sound
Johnny B. Moore launched his career as a full-time bluesman in 1975 with the great Koko Taylor, and he's still kicking today.
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- Bleader
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Peter Margasak’s 40 favorite albums of 2017, numbers 20 through 11
Veteran Reader critic Peter Margasak counts down his 40 favorite records of the year—this installment includes music by Oumou Sangaré, Kendrick Lamar, and Saicobab.
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- Bleader
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Peter Margasak’s 40 favorite albums of 2017, numbers 10 through 1
Veteran Reader critic Peter Margasak counts down his 40 favorite records of the year—and the final installment includes music by Ikue Mori, JD Allen, and Richard Dawson.
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- Bleader
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Chris Kennedy: Rahm Emanuel wants to push ‘people of color’ out of Chicago, and other news
Also, Chicago’s private-sector job market is booming.
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- Bleader
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The lawless Chicago portrayed in the new Death Wish trailer is the stuff of Trumpian fantasy
The new trailer for the Death Wish remake portrays a Chicago that looks like Donald Trump's dream come true.
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- Bleader
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Bruce Rauner: Congressional GOP tax plan ‘punishing’ for Illinois, and other Chicago news
Also, more than 600 complaints have come in about landlords breaking the city's heat ordinance.