Nothing Says ‘Punk’ Like Rancid and Dropkick Murphys
Last week, thousands of punk fans gathered at Northerly Island to see two of the greatest bands to ever grace the genre: Rancid and Dropkick Murphys. Both bands have been […]
Expressionist Machinal Tells Powerful Feminist Story at the Greenhouse Theater Center
The play opens with a symphony of switchboard operators, those 1920s-era office workers who kept people talking by plugging phones into jacks, greeting and connecting the world outside with the […]
Happy Campers: Bit Bash 2017 a Great Gaming Get-Together
[soliloquy id=”16498″] There’s a festival for everything in Chicago, and August boasts some of summer’s biggest. This past weekend alone you could have attended Chicago Hot Dog Fest, the […]
Everyone’s Picasso, Amid Confusion and Disappointment
First, it was quiet. Like a street in the early hours before a parade. A feeling of ceremony hung in the air, underscored by the seats still being set up […]
Poetry Foundation Calls for Signs of Resistance for Fall Exhibit
The Poetry Foundation has issued an open call for posters, signs, banners and other visual materials that were used on the streets of Chicago during recent resistance protests and marches. […]
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical Speaks to New and Old Generations
It’s been almost 50 years since I saw Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical at the old Shubert Theatre in Chicago. But I sat in the Mercury Theater Friday night […]
Film Review: Brillo Box (3¢ Off) Follows a Warhol Classic in the Modern Art Market
Lisanne Skyler weaves memoir with pop art in the quirky, whimsical and affectionate documentary short, Brillo Box (3¢ Off). Skyler’s middle-class parents, Martin and Rita, collected pop art in New […]
Blondie and Garbage Prove They Can Still Rock
After 40 years, Debbie’s still got it. Punk rock veterans Blondie delivered an incredible performance at Ravinia Festival to a massive, diverse crowd. Both Debbie Harry and Chris Stein have […]
Dark Photographs Divulge Racism and Xenophobia in WWII Japanese Internment Camps
Then They Came for Me: Incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII and the Demise of Civil Liberties is a monumental exhibition at the Alphawood Gallery that examines a dark episode […]
Lela & Co. at Steep Theatre: Searing Story of a Woman in a War Zone
Lela & Co. sounds like a chic boutique, a business story. And it is. It’s a horrifying story of a woman alone in a conflict zone. The business theme is […]
Pitchfork Music Festival: Day Three in Review
[soliloquy id=”15634″] All photos by Julian Ramirez By the time NE-HI played their reverb-soaked garage tunes, the sun came out. The last day of Pitchfork began with Kilo Kish smashing […]
Roxane Gay, Camille Paglia and Jessa Crispin at War in My Head
Several weeks ago, I went to hear Roxane Gay read from her latest book Hunger as a part of the Chicago Humanities Festival Now summer programming. The event fell on […]