Gapers Block has ceased publication.
Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions. ✶
TODAY
Friday, September 12
Slowdown
BY DAY
Thursday, February 18 2010
Rockabilly: Rebels Without a Blouse @ Mary's Attic
Calling all Big Daddies and fast Kittens: The Ripettes Burlesque is back with a totally neat-o show, Rockabilly: Rebels Without a Blouse, tonight at 7:30pm at Mary's Attic (5400 N. Clark Street, above Hamburger Mary's). The hep show features the beautiful bettys Trixie Darling, Dixie More, Jeez Loueez, and Sushi Martinez and is hosted by Mickey LaRue with (some) help from Horhay Sexteban. Tickets are $15 at the door but if you dust off your best James Dean or Bettie Paige threads, you'll save $3. It's going to be straight-from-the-fridge ice cool, you dig?
Wild Beasts @ Schubas
UK rockers Wild Beasts play at Schubas, 3159 N Southport Ave. Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door. This show is 18+, and starts at 9pm. Check out their music and our preview of the band over in Transmission.
The Providence Effect @ ICE Theaters
The ICE Theaters, 210 W. 87th St., presents "Truth Be Told: A Celebration of Black Heritage," a film series celebrating Black History Month. Rollin Binzer's The Providence Effect, the story of the legacy of Chicago's Providence St. Mel School, screens tonight at 7pm. A discussion follows the film's screening. Tickets are $5. Call 773-892-3204, ext. 2, or venishajohnson@icetheaters.com for more information.
Grand Opening Group Show Opens Today @ The (Con)Temporary Art Space
As part of the Chicago Loop Alliance's Pop-Up Art Loop Gallery Project, The (Con)Temporary Art Space celebrates their grand opening today from 4:30 to 8:30pm with a group show by its founding members. Stop by and find out how you can have a show in their Display Case Gallery or participate in the space, or help them create a collaborative map of the city's "Other Culture." The (Con)Temporary Art Space is located at 208 S. Wabash. Visit their website for more information.
Animal City, Members Only, etc. @ The Empty Bottle
Go the the Empty Bottle tonight for an evening of cheap drinks and great tunes from three times zones, starting with State Champion, followed by a set of newly arranged gems by locals Animal City. The talented Weatherbox from San Diego play after that. Headliners Ed Mar (Co-Prosperity Sphere co-founder) and Kenny Z's karaoke brain child, Members Only, will have you dancing the beer off 'till 2am. The doors open at 8:30pm tonight at The Empty Bottle (1035 N. Western.) Tickets are $8 at the door. 21+.
E.M.P.A.C.T. Fundraiser Party @ The Wicker Well
This month E.M.P.A.C.T. is raising funds for the Chicago Delegation to The U.S. Social Forum in Detroit so folks who can't otherwise afford it can make it to this historic gathering of 15,000+ activists, artists & cultural workers. The process is bringing together Chicagoans across the city & across sectors so folks can get down with building a city that works for everyone. Live Brasilian music will be provided by Planeta Azul Samba Band, an artistically rich group of Brazilian musicians complimented by the "Passistas" Samba dancers. And Ang G, Brotha Onaci, David Marques & Scrabblor of the People's DJs' Collective will keep the dance floor hot! There will be art, vendors and drink specials too. $5 donation. 21+. This event will run from 9:45pm to 2am tonight at The Wicker Well (1637 W. North Ave.).
Get Up With The Get Downs @ Cobra Lounge
This is the last show of their Cobra Residency, and afterward they're taking time off to work on new stuff for the James Brown birthday party in a few months. Elev8or opens for them at 9:30pm and then it's a night of jumpin', screamin', and dancin'. Good times to be had. The Cobra Lounge is located at 235 N. Ashland. 21+.
Soul Summit Dance Party @ The Double Door
Local DJ's spin explosive, raw R&B, Soul and Funk at the Double Door Tonight. The party starts at 10pm... there are bands playing before it starts, so tell the doorman you're there for the dance party to get in free. The Double Door is located at 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave. 21+.
Exploring Byzantine Cartography
The Chicago Map Society's monthly meeting features Alex Papadopoulos, Professor of Geography at DePaul University, who will lecture on Byzantine cartography. The discussion kicks off at 5:30pm and takes place in the Towner Fellows' Lounge at the Newberry Library (60 W. Walton). Free for members, $5 for non-members. For more information call (312) 255-3689.
Wildbirds & Peacedrums @ Metro
Sweden's Wildbirds and Peacedrums performs at Metro (3730 N. Clark) tonight, with Brooklyn's St. Vincent headlining. Doors open at 8pm. The show starts at 9pm and is 18 and over. Tickets are $16 in advance, $18 day of show.
punkplay @ Steppenwolf
A preview of
Gregory Moss's punkplay, about "two sort of marginal adolescent boys growing up in the suburbs who latch on to punk rock and use it to find an identity outside of the mainstream," is a Pavement Group production, going up as part of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's new Visiting Company Initiative, Garage Rep. Read the Gaper's Block interview with Moss here. The show starts at 8 pm in the Merle Reskin Garage Theatre, 1624 N. Halsted. Tickets are $20 and available here or by calling 312-335-1650. Student tickets are $12.
Breakfast Club: The Musical
Jason Chin's adaptation of The Breakfast Club brings John Hugh's classic hit to the stage in the Breakfast Club: The Totally 80s Musical! The teen angst and vulnerability is palpable as "the brain, an athlete, a basket-case, a princess and a criminal" sit in detention in Shermer High School and share their most intimate feelings in the form popular 80's songs that match the plot perfectly. Now showing at iO (3541 N. Clark St) thru March 25th. Tickets are $12.
Lunatica's Last Run
This is your last chance to catch Lunaticas, the smash hit play about women's everyday insanity. The play is back with insane stories to tell and a lot more musical numbers. The show is currently at the Chicago Dramatists Theater (1105 W Chicago Ave) until February 21st. Show is $15-$25, 18+. Visit the website for times and ticket information.
People Under The Stairs, Rapper Big Pooh, Earatik Statik @ Subterranean
People Under The Stairs' golden era styles and Big Pooh's Carolina flow converge tonight at Subterranean (2011 W North Ave). Backed by Chicago's own super dope Earatik Statik, the night of unadulterated underground kicks off at 10pm (doors at 9pm) and costs just $13. 17+
