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.
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Tuesday, March 19
Pumping Station: One, the Chicago hackerspace, presents a pirate-themed costume party tonight at its HQ (3354 N. Elston). The fun begins tonight at 9pm. Full information available at the Pumping Station: One Website.
Chicago-based sound artist/dancer/designer/visual artist Camilla Ha presents "The Cosmic Mind of Black Leather," a multimedia event featuring avant garde music, interactive installations, wall paintings, and video projection. Ha, a prominent artist in Chicago for over 10 years, has created this event as a farewell before relocating to New York. She will perform in collaboration with Jason Soliday, and the evening's events will also include readings by Gregory Jacobsen and Gabriel Wallace, a performance by Instinct Control, and dancing with DJs Alex Valentine and Rand Sevilla. The event begins at 8 p.m. at Reversible Eye Gallery, 1103 N. California. The non-performance elements of the piece will be on display through September 30. Admission is free. More information at Transmission.
Arguably the last true survivors of the Madchester scene, The Charlatans UK (drop the UK if you're outside the U.S.) are still making beautiful music together after more than 20 years in the industry. The band is currently touring in support of their eleventh studio album, "Who We Touch" which is set for U.S. release on September 14. Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 9pm. Tickets are $20. For more information call (773) 489-3160 or visit Double Door. 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave. [UPDATE: This show has been postponed due to illness. Details in Transmission.]
The Gene Siskel Film Center is presenting a retrospective of the work of French director Henri-Georges Clouzot, and today screens his most famous film, Diabolique from 1955, with Simone Signoret and Vera Clouzot. The film screens this afternoon at 3pm, and again on the evening of Monday, September 20 at 6pm. Full information on the retrospective at the Film Center Website. Film Center: 164 N. State. (312) 846-2600.
Women & Children First's (5233 N. Clark St.) monthly Sappho's Salon: A Provocative Night of Lesbian Diversions takes place tonight. Your $7-10 (sliding scale fee), will get you wine, food, and the spoken work of Nikki Patin, the comedy and overall punk-rockishness of Sissy Van Dyke, and Sappho's house DJ SpinNikki's tracks. The "diversions" start at 7:30!
Tonight's benefit [PDF] for the Friends of Chicago Animal Care and Control at the Atlantic Pub (5062 N. Lincoln Avenue). Live music and a silent auction starts at 7pm. Minimum suggested donation of $15.00.
Cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show returns to the Music Box Theatre for a midnight screening. Come do the Time Warp again with fans of the film while watching the campy musical on the big screen. Screening starts at midnight at the Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport). Tickets are $9.75.
Bloodshot artist (and former Chicago resident) Justin Townes Earle celebrates the release of his latest alt-country album Harlem River Blues tonight at Lincoln Hall. Expect hip swaying and some great tattoo action. Jessica Lea Mayfield opens. Music starts at 10pm. Tickets are $13 (adv) $15 (door). Lincoln Hall is located at 2424 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-525-2501. [More in Transmission.]
HoZac Records presents
White Mystery
Super Wild Horses
Wet Hair
Outer Minds
The show starts at 10pm and tickets are $8.
The Trypps film series features seven films by Ben Russell at MCA, 220 E. Chicago Ave. The films featured in the series are entitled Black and White Trypps Number One, Black and White Trypps Number Two, Black and White Trypps Number Three, Black and White Trypps Number Four, Trypps #5 (Dubai), Trypps#6 (Malobi) and Trypps#7 (Badlands). These series can be best described as a psychedelic ethnography, an aim to combine self knowledge with a traveling dialect. For more information, please click here.
Portland zinester Alex Wrekk is the author of the popular Stolen Sharpie Revolution, a guide how to get started with zines, as well as her long-running zine, Brainscan. She is joined on tour by five zinesters from the UK. Tonight, they will share accounts of UK zine culture, London Zine Symposium, and more at Quimby's Bookstore, 854 West North Avenue, beginning at 7pm. For more information, visit this event page.
Celebrate the northern Italian region of Lombardy at this showcase of art and design, food and agriculture, business and tourism at Navy Pier this weekend. General admission tickets for the Italian Expo are $15 each. The Expo runs from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm today and from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm tomorrow.
Gordon McAlpin signs copies of Multiplex: Enjoy Your Show, the first collection of his webcomic, today at Third Coast Comics, 6234 N. Broadway, from 4pm to 7pm. He'll also be a special guest at Chicago Comic Book Meetup, which starts at 7pm in the comic shop.