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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Thursday, March 28
EXPO Chicago, the International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art, returns to Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave., Sept 18-20. Tonight's Vernissage preview party, presented by the MCA, runs from 6 to 9pm; tickets are $100.
The 33rd annual Reeling Film Festival runs Sept. 17-24 at multiple venues throughout the city. See the schedule for full details. Tonight's opening night reception is at the Music Box Theater, 3733 N. Southport Ave., at 6pm, followed by a screening of Fourth Man Out at 7:30pm. The reception is sold out, but tickets remain for the film; they're $15.
Native Chicagoan Matt Braunger's (NBC's "Up All Night") stand-up comedy show has been moved from The Second City's Up Comedy Club to The Beat Kitchen (2100 W. Belmont Ave) at 8pm. Tickets are $10.
The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave., hosts a release party for The Kickback, celebrating their new album Sorry All Over The Place. They get a little help from friends Abraham Levitan, The Hudson Branch, The Noise FM, Mutts and Archie Powell & the Exports. Doors open at 8pm, and the Kickback take the stage at 9pm. Tickets are $5. 21+
YouTube sensations Epic Rap Battles in History bring their road show to Reggies, 2105 S. State St., tonight, featuring a live band and DJ. There will be improv, epic rap battles and even audience challenges. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, which opens at 8pm. 17+
Tonight at 8:15pm, the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St., screens Dreamcatcher, a documentary about the Chicago nonprofit Dreamcatcher Foundation, which offers assistance to women in the sex-worker industry. Film subjects Brenda Myers-Powell and Homer King will be present for a post-screening discussion along with producer Lisa Stevens, Kaethe Morris Hoffer of Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, and Commander Bill Lean of the Cook County Sheriff Department. Tickets are $11. Read Steve Prokopy's review in A/C.
Instrumental rockers CAVE headline the Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave., tonight, with Paperhead and Matchess opening. Tickets are $5. Doors are at 9pm, 21+.