Fresh Start to Your Week: 5/4 – 5/6

There's no use in sitting around and moping after hours because it's the start of the working week. Get out there and discover all the fun events happening in the city this week including concerts, movies, variety shows, readings, and so much more! Let's give your week a fresh start! ALL FRESH START, JUNE 4th - 6th Stanley Kubrick: The Filmworker Series @ Music Box Theatre, 1807 S Allport St, Various times WHAT: Only the films of  one the greatest filmmaker screening in 35mm. No big deal (IT'S A BIG DEAL) SO WHAT: Three of Stanley Kubrick's masterpieces will be screening at the Music Box this week to give you a look at just how much of a genius Kubrick was. Don't miss out on seeing The Shining, Barry Lyndon, and Eyes Wide Shut in 35mm this week! NOW WHAT: Tickets are $11 for each screening! you can see the showtimes over at the Music Box Theatre website. MONDAY, JUNE 4th Thurgood @ Court Theatre, 5535 S Ellis Ave, 7:30pm -10:00pm WHAT: Thurgood by George Stevens Jr. is a one-man tribute to Justice Thurgood Marshall’s pioneering legal career. He worked on many landmark civil rights cases, like Brown v. Board of Education, and  was the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court. SO WHAT: Thurgood will feature A.C. Smith, a favorite for Court Theatre audiences for his roles in productions like Fences and Waiting for Godot. Court artistic director Charles Newell directs this special staged reading. Marshall served on the court briefly with Justice Antonin Scalia, who is the subject of Court’s current production, The Originalist. See our review. NOW WHAT: The event is free for subscribers; $10 general admission.
Blood Cafe: Inland Empire @ Atomix Coffee Shop, 1957 W Chicago Ave., 8:00pm, All Ages (not really recommended you bring kids though) WHAT: Blood Cafe is a fun series where Atomix Coffee Shop  screens off the wall and weird horror/sci-fi/action/cult/experimental films for you to enjoy. SO WHAT: If there are to things that go together it’s certainly coffee and David Lynch. Join Atomic for a screening of David Lynch’s 3 hour harrowing experience known as Inland Empire. NOW WHAT: It’s free! Also, just a friendly reminder, Inland Empire is 3 hours long and kinda messed up (it’s Lynch for goodness sake!). Do not bring your kids unless you’re in to that. The Chicago Moth GrandSLAM XVIII: Road Less Travelled @ Athenaeum Main Stage, 2936 N. Southport Ave., 8:00pm, All Ages NOW WHAT: It’s free! Also, just a friendly reminder, Inland Empire is 3 hours long and kinda messed up (it’s Lynch for goodness sake!). Do not bring your kids unless you’re in to that. WHAT: The Moth presents the GrandSLAM, a battle of wits and words – fierce, hilarious, heartbreaking, and all points between. SO WHAT: The Chicago Moth GrandSLAM XVIII has storytellers use their words as their weapons as they compete to determine The Moth’s Chicago GrandSLAM Story Champion in Chicago. NOW WHAT: Tickets are $27!
Touched By Ghoul / Wailin Storms / Lilac / Montrose Man @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N Western Ave., 8:30pm, 21+ WHAT: I can already feel my face melting off… SO WHAT: Music is fun, especially when it’s as unrelenting as these fantastic bands. Stop by the Bottle for an incredibly loud evening featuring the metal of Lilac, the fun post punk of Montrose Man, Wailing Storms southern gothic rock (with a little bit of doom sprinkled in), and the scuzzy rock of the incredibly dark and addicting Touched by Ghoul. NOW WHAT: It’s free! Bring ear plugs. Or don’t, I’m not your ears.
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5th& 6th Beginning|Middle|End @ The Hideout, 1354 W Wabansia Ave., 8:30pm - 11:30pm, 21+ WHAT: Beginning|Middle|End is a narrative variety show combining comedy, documentary, film, singing and dancing! Basically it’s a live children’s book about cannibalism. SO WHAT: B|M|E is the brainchild of comedy writer Megan Henricks and documentarian Steven Jackson (Love + Radio), two people who love narrative structure but are deathly afraid of commitment. Together they conceived the ghastly, but engaging, night of stories in a myriad of mediums, organized tidily into beginnings, middles, and ends. Check out the lineup of storytellers at their event page! NOW WHAT: Apparently Ticketfly blew up, so tickets will only be available at the door. Get yourself to the hideout and enjoy the show! TUESDAY, JUNE 5th Tuesday Funk #117 @ Hopleaf, 5148 N Clark St., 7:00pm, 21+ WHAT: An eclectic monthly reading series that celebrates good writing and good beer. SO WHAT: Andrew Huff and Eden Robins co-host Tuesday Funk, an eclectic monthly reading series where a group of writers read their works while the audience takes in a drink or two. Housed in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf, Tuesday Funk constantly delivers wonderful writers sharing their best work. Readers will include Mark Rader, Sara Ross Witt, Joshua Landsman, Tracy Harford-Porter, and Elizabeth Gomez. NOW WHAT: Doors open at 7:00pm and the show starts at 7:30 sharp. So get there early to grab a seat, but not overly early. Admission is always free and the event is 21 and older 100% Off Bands: The Band Royale, Avantist & Tideshift @ Schubas, 3159 N Southport Ave, 8:00pm 21+ WHAT: A lineup so good you’d pay to see them. Except you don’t have to, but honestly support these folks and buy merch and stuff SO WHAT: Do you need more rock in your life? If so head to Schubas and check out these fun Chicago based bands including The Band Royale and their psych and spaced out sounds, the ludicrously intense aural machinations of Avantist, and the self described shoegaze metal of Tideshift. NOW WHAT: IT’S FREE! WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6th 100% Off Bands: Impulsive Hearts, Wyys, Fauvely @ Schubas, 3159 N Southport Ave, 9:00pm, 21+ WHAT: Another completely free how you need to go to SO WHAT: How can you resist a fre show with the great of a lineup? You have Impulsive Hearts dishing out their sun soaked and surf rock shoegaze for you to sway along to all night, the new wave-y sounds of Wyys, and the dreamy and psych folk of Fauvely! NOW WHAT: It’s free, so just get there, grab a few drink specials, and enjoy the local tunes.
Julian Ramirez