It's hard to write this cheerfully on the morning after a crushing overtime loss for the Blackhawks. But looking ahead, this should be an amazing weekend. CIMMFest is happening for the next four days, giving us a lineup of awesome films and concerts; that's our number one recommendation for the weekend. If, however, you don't feel like spending all of your time at those events, here are some other things going on over the next few days:
THURSDAY, APRIL 14TH
Julien Baker @ Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln Ave., 9:00 PM
WHAT: One of the country’s most promising young singer-songwriters comes through town on her first headlining tour.
SO WHAT: Wanna cry the most rewarding possible tears? This is you kind of show. Julien Baker’s music is heartrending, but in such a way that you feel more alive and wonderful once the wave of emotion has passed. Her debut album,
Sprained Ankle, has received nothing but acclaim from basically every publication attuned to indie music. I’m in a pop culture GroupMe that borderline worships her songwriting prowess. She once bit the head off a grizzly bear and fashioned it into a Viking helmet. That last part is false, but everything else is true. Go to this show, which is somehow not sold out.
NOW WHAT: Tickets are $15 on Lincoln Hall’s website.
FRIDAY, APRIL 15TH
A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: 1956-1986 @ Museum of Contemporary Art, 225 E. Chicago Ave., 7:30 PM
WHAT: Artist Taylor Mac is telling the story of American popular music through a series of concerts that will culminate with a 24-hour performance. Tonight, he’s covering the span of 1956-1986.
SO WHAT: This can’t be too different from
Hamilton or
A History of Dance, right? Maybe like a combination of the two? The time period Mac is covering in this performance certainly has a lot of explosive subject matter, from the Civil Rights Movement to the Stonewall Uprising to the hippie counterculture.
NOW WHAT: Tickets are $30 and are available at the MCA’s website.
SATURDAY, APRIL 16TH
A.O. Scott - "Better Living Through Criticism" with the Tribune's Michael Phillips @ Seminary Co-op Bookstore, 5157 Woodlawn Ave., 2:00 PM
WHAT: The New York Times’s film critic A.O. Scott will talk about his recent book Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth and will converse with the Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips on the role criticism plays in the human experience.
SO WHAT: What started with an angry tweet when Samuel Jackson got upset over Scott’s review of The Avengers ultimately culminated in the discussion of the role of the critic. Scott, launching from his vantage point as the Times’s film critic, raises the questions: what is criticism and what are critics good for?
NOW WHAT: This special lecture, discussion, and conversation will take place at the Seminary Co-op Bookstore this
Saturday, April 16 at 2:00 p.m. You can RSVP to the free event
here.
SUNDAY, APRIL 17TH
Future Thieves @ Subterranean, 2011 W. North Ave., 7:30 PM
WHAT: One of the closing shows of CIMMFest will feature Future Thieves, Lovedrug, Friday Pilots Club, Author, and Homme.
SO WHAT: Future Thieves is a rapidly rising band; their debut album
Horizon Line, released in October, has caught the eye of many critics. Meanwhile, Homme is a
favorite of ours here at 3CR.
NOW WHAT: Tickets are $12.
