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The Chicago Reader

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Music, Chicagoans of Note Dec 9, 2020
Adam Gogola, front man of Blind Adam & the Federal League

“When you look around your community, it's easy to help the people around you. And once you start doing that, it's easier to understand how we can effect change.”
- By Jamie Ludwig
- Tags: Chicagoans of Note, Adam Gogola, Blind Adam & the Federal League, People’s Pizza Party, Anti-Flag, Article 57, Fireside Bowl, Food Not Bombs, Anti-Racist Action, A-F Records, Joe Tessone, Mystery Street, Night Ministry, Dante’s Tavern, Indie Lab, Brave Space Alliance, George Floyd, Jeff Schaller & the Long Way Home, Mike Popek, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Alex Palermo, Typesetter, Solidarity Slice, CARES Act

City Life, Public Service Announcement Nov 6, 2020
Music makes the people come together

Upcoming events and distractions from our listings coordinator
- By Salem Collo-Julin
- Tags: Public Service Announcement, listings, events, exhibitions, The Art Institute of Chicago, Bandcamp, self-care, Medusa's, 1980s, 1990s, house music, Ministry, Fireside Bowl, Bollweevils, Lincoln Park Zoo, Shedd Aquarium

Music, Music Feature Apr 8, 2020
Video
The saga of Punkin’ Donuts

How a doughnut-shop parking lot became a confluence of Chicago youth subcultures—and what killed it off
- By Leor Galil
- Tags: Music Feature, Punkin’ Donuts, Dunkin’ Donuts, punk, Belmont, Clark, the Alley, Wax Trax! Records, Medusa’s, Mark Thomas, Wild Chicago, Ben Hollis, John Davies, WTTW, Pat Denny, Punk Rock Park, Tuts, Target, Lakeview, BlitzLake Partners, Boystown, Marc Ruvolo, No Empathy, Johann’s Face, Alkaline Trio, Smoking Popes, 161 West, Dave Shelton, Frankie Knuckles, Warehouse, juice bar, Sean Duffy, Last Rites, Exit, Mark Stephens, Bud Sweet, Neo, Front 242, Family Plan, Jonas Lowrance, Fred Ingram, Val Scheinpflug, DJ Psycho-Bitch, Jim Nash, Bernie Hansen, 44th Ward, Aetna park, Gustav Roman, Lost Cause, the Avalon, Berlin, Cubby Bear, Metro, Adrian Padron, Adam Leavitt, Leroy Fields, Scary Larry, Gravetones, Dwayne Thomas, Woodfield Mall, Dr. Martens, Black Rose, Boy of London, New Town, Mike Quigley, Central Lakeview Merchants Association, Taboo Tabou, Architectural Revolution, 99th Floor, Mick Levine, Clark Martell, Chicago Area Skinheads, CASH, Romantic Violence, Maximum RocknRoll, Don De Grazia, American Skin, Scott Gravatt, Whitey Powers, Christian Picciolini, Life After Hate, Brian Czarnik, Oblivion, Bollweevils, Underdog, Harmless Records, Scott Thomson, Duane Powell, Congress Theater, Fireside Bowl, Green Day, Alternative Shopping District, Lincoln Towing, Elia Einhorn, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Tom Tunney, Video

Music, Music Feature Jun 19, 2019
Video
How Homocore Chicago propped open the gate for queer punks

Today’s activist bookers face dramatically different hurdles, but Joanna Brown and Mark Freitas gave them all a running start with this 1990s concert series.
- By Micco Caporale
- Tags: Music Feature, Homocore, Homocore Chicago, Mark Freitas, Joanna Brown, Martin Sorrondeguy, Los Crudos, Limp Wrist, Fed Up Fest, Black and Brown Punk Show Collective, Black, Brown, and Indigenous Crew, Czar Bar, Fifth Column, Le Tigre, Bikini Kill, G.B. Jones, J.D.s, Bruce LaBruce, Preston Bradley Center, Pansy Division, Tribe 8, Lunachicks, God Is My Co-Pilot, Heterocide, Fireside Bowl, Empty Bottle, Autonomous Zone, Chris Kellner, Hook Torture, Defibrillator, Adele Bertei, Contortions, Lesley Woods, Au Pairs, Back Porch Video, Steve LaFreniere, SPEW, Team Dresch, Huggy Bear, Sleater-Kinney, Tobi Vail, Combating Latent Inequality Together Fest, CLIT Fest, Isabella Mancini, E. Ornelas, Sheer Queer, Mighty Hoopla, Whole Festival, Go West Fest, queer, Pride, LGBTQ+, Video

News & Politics, Fall Preview Sep 19, 2018
America, start bowling again

Fall is all about those spares, splits, and strikes.
- By Ryan Smith
- Tags: Fall Preview, bowling, bowling season, Sir Flinders Petrie, Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam, Fireside Bowl, Old Style, beer, balls, pins, sports, fall preview, fall preview 2018

Blogs, Bleader Jun 20, 2018
Video
RIP Chicago techno marvel and international cult figure Dan Jugle

Dan Jugle only ever got famous for Dar Embarks and Juzer, but his influence on Chicago punk, electronic music, and indie rock spans decades. He died this past weekend at age 37.
- By Leor Galil
- Tags: Music, RIP, Dan Jugle, Juzer, Dar Embarks, Ken Zawacki, Mike Broers, Chandeliers, Chris Kalis, Jerome Derradji, Beau Wanzer, Johanns Face, Written in the Sand, Fireside Bowl, Jim Magas, Video

Blogs, Bleader Jun 18, 2018
Video
Remembering soundman and musician Patrick Kenneally, who nurtured scenes in Chicago and Portland

He gave tirelessly of his time, talent, knowledge, and advice, whether running sound at a gig or recording a young band.
- By Leor Galil
- Tags: Music, RIP, Pat Kenneally, Patrick Kenneally, Fireside Bowl, My Lai, the Blackbird, Elliot Dicks, Elliotsound, Lasers and Fast and Shit, Joe Carsello, soundman, sound engineer, live sound, Megin Wardle, Josh Elmore, Prids, David Frederickson, Chantelle Hylton, Ground Score, Video

Blogs, Bleader Mar 25, 2016
Video
No Delusions documents the sprawling history of Chicago hardcore

Director Steven Cergizan has been working on the sprawling, detailed No Delusions since 2010.
- By Leor Galil
- Tags: Film, Music, hardcore, hardcore punk, No Delusions, No Delusions: A Chicago Hardcore Documentary, Steven Cergizan, Beat Kitchen, Tony Brummel, Victory Records, Brian Peterson, Los Crudos, MK Ultra, Charles Bronson, Fall Out Boy, MP Presents, Brian Peterson, Fireside Bowl, Video

Music, Music Feature Mar 24, 2016
Video
Time traveling with Martin Sorrondeguy of Los Crudos

Revisiting the legendary hardcore band’s old haunts two decades later provides a miniature history of gentrification and activism in Chicago.
- By Leor Galil
- Tags: Music Feature, Los Crudos, Limp Wrist, Martin Sorrondeguy, No Delusions, hardcore, Pilsen, Latino, gentrification, Autonomous Zone, A-Zone, Handlebar, Casa Aztlan, Fireside Bowl, Czar Bar, Steven Cergizan, Lengua Armada, Doble LP Discografia, Ruiz Belvis Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Wrigley Side, Mullen’s on Clark, Neurosis, Crass, Nation of Ulysses, Azita Youssefi, Trenchmouth, Scissor Girls, Sludgeworth, Pegboy, Bhopal Stiffs, Screeching Weasel, Sean Duffy, Last Rites, Vaginal Creme Davis, Homocore, Jim Lapinski, Brian Peterson, Tony Doyle, Celia Esdale, Hellkrusher, Chester Grzybek, Tsunami, Superchunk, Seaweed, Simple Machines, No Palace, Mac’s Wood Grilled, Isabel’s Grand Finale, Dummy Room, Joey Vindictive, Vindictives, Tom Magee, Rorschach, Esperanza Community Services, Calles y Suenos, Queers, Born Against, Warzone, Beyond the Screams, A.P.O. Building, Ben Weasel, Casa de la Cultura Carlos Cortez: Mestizarte, Cultura in Pilsen, Christina Obregon, Jose David, Zapatistas, Carlos Arango, Generation Waste, Ozzfish Experience, Video

Blogs, Bleader Jan 8, 2016
Quenchers bookers Phantom Note say good-bye with a three-day festival

The Phantom Note Phinale hits Quenchers this weekend with Rad Payoff, Boss Fight, Dog & Wolf, Blizzard Babies, and lots more.
- By Leor Galil
- Tags: Music, Do This, Phantom Note Phinale, Phantom Note, Quenchers Saloon, Logan Square, music, Sam Edgin, Josh Hastert, Space Blood, Malort, Emporium, the Burlington, MP Presents, House Call Entertainment, Fireside Bowl, Beat Kitchen, Subterranean

Best of Chicago, City Life 2015 Readers' Poll Jun 24, 2015
Best bowling alley
- Tags: City Life 2015 Readers' Poll, Fireside Bowl

Music, Gossip Wolf Mar 18, 2015
The hills are alive with the noise of Ortmann

Plus: Varsity tease their new garage-pop tape, and friends say farewell to beloved sound engineer John Emerson.
- By J.R. Nelson and Leor Galil
- Tags: Gossip Wolf, Andy Ortmann, Nihilist Records, Panicsville, Hannah Elliott, Terrorvision, the Owl, InconsequentialNew Orleans, Thirdsex, Alex Barnett, Seasonal Attrition, Cleveland, Centre, Muyassar Kurdi, Hideout, Empty Bottle, Peter Speer, Jason Soliday, the Green Pasture HappinessVarsity, Varsity, Velocity Girl, Game Theory, Jurassic Pop, John Emerson, Facebook, Fireside Bowl, Elgin's Third Floor, Slapstick, Trenchmouth, Smoking Popes, the Scissor Girls, Cheer-Accident, Dan Maloney, Death Ships, Emerson, Arlington Heights

Film, Artist on Artist Feb 9, 2015
Bill Kuehn of Rainer Maria on the emo revival, his lessons from the Middle East—and the possibility of a new record

The drummer for these freshly reunited emo luminaries talks to keyboardist and singer Kate Grube of Chicago upstarts Kittyhawk.
- Tags: Artist on Artist, Artist on Artist, Rainer Maria, Bill Kuehn, Kate Grube, Kittyhawk, emo, Caithlin De Marrais, Kyle Fischer, Evan Weiss, Fireside Bowl, Strangelight, House on the Rock, Les Bonhommes, Shining Mirrors

Best of Chicago, Sports & Recreation Jun 25, 2014
Readers' Poll
Best bowling alley

Lincoln Square Lanes
- Tags: Sports & Recreation, Best of Chicago 2014, Best bowling alley, Lincoln Square Lanes, Fireside Bowl, Readers' Poll

Blogs, Bleader Jan 27, 2014
Video
12 O'Clock Track: The 90s garage-punk of San Fran's the Rip Offs

"She Said Yeah," from the namesake band of Greg Lowery's Rip Off Records
- By Kevin Warwick
- Tags: 12 O'Clock Track, Music, Rip Offs, 12 O'Clock Track, Rip Off Records, Greg Lowery, Fireside Bowl, Teengenerate, Video

Arts & Culture, Feature Oct 2, 2013
The migration of the hipster

A Chicago history, 1898-present
- By Aimee Levitt
- Tags: Feature, hipsters, Flat Iron Building, Bridgeport, neighborhoods, New York Times, next Seattle, Richard Lloyd, Jeff Huebner, history, Real World, Ed Marszewski, Lumpen Times, Liz Phair, Urge Overkill, Veruca Salt, Smashing Pumpkins, Tom Handley, Joe Judd, Shane Bugbee, Elliot Dicks, gentrification, Clem Jaskot Jr., Phyllis' Musical Inn, bars, Gold Star Bar, Nelson Algren, Wicker Park, HotHouse, Double Door, Pontiac, Subterranean, Flat Iron Building, Myopic Books, Quimby's Bookstore, Autonomous Zone Infoshop, Buys Bee, Earwax Cafe, Urbus Orbis, commercialization, bohemia, brohemia, Sarah Crawford, Fine Arts Building, artists' colonies, coffeehouses, nightclubs, The Little Room, South Loop, artists, tea, Auditorium Hotel, Ralph Clarkson, Henry Blake Fuller, George Ade, Hamlin Garland, Lorado Taft, Jane Addams, Bertha Palmer, Jackson Park, Hyde Park, Midway Studios, Floyd Dell, Evening Post, Evening Post's Friday Literary Review, Paul Durica, Margery Currey, salons, Sherwood Anderson, Edgar Lee Masters, Carl Sandburg, Ben Hecht, Margaret Anderson, The Little Review, Richard Lloyd, Chicago winters, Towertown, Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, River North, Maxwell Bodenheim, them restaurants, Gold Coast House of Correction, Big John's Coal Scuttle, Jake Loeb, Thomas Dyja, Tree Studios, Prohibition, tearooms, Green Mask, Ballyhoo Cafe, drag shows, Dil Pickle Club, Washington Square Park, Newberry Library, Bughouse Square, Jack Jones, Tooker Place, Mae West, Ben Reitman, Chicago Tribune, alcohol, Charles Collins, Mitchell Dawson, Harriet Monroe, Clarence Darrow, Emma Goldman, Theodore Dreiser, Ring Lardner, Edgar Lee Masters, Joseph Weil, Bill Haywood, Jack Johnson, Chicago Literary Times, Michigan Avenue Bridge, douchebags, yuppies, bros, Alfreda Gordon, Chicago Sunday Times, development, beatniks, hippies, New Yorker, Emily Hahn, Slim Brundage, College of Complexes, Piper's Alley, Lincoln Restaurant, Maury's, Cholly Wendorf, Bill Smith, Steve Goodman, John Prine, Bonnie Koloc, Hairy Who, Will Leonard, University of Chicago, Old Town School of Folk Music, Bill Savage, Northwestern University, Frank Ryan, Norman Mailer, Dee Paira, Gavin Morrison, Rainbo Club, Logan Square, Jason Hammel, Logan Beach, Lula Cafe, Amalea Tshilds, Joe Bryl, Longman & Eagle, Reno, Bang Bang Pie, Parsons Chicken & Fish, Cozy Corner, Cole's Bar, Helen's, Two-Way Lounge, Whirlaway Lounge, The Whistler, Scofflaw, Weegee's Lounge, Logan Square Farmers Market, Dill Pickle Co-Op, Cafe Mustache, New Wave Coffee, Abraham Conlon, Adrienne Lo, Matthias Merges, Jared Wentworth, Paul McGee, Maria Jaimes, Fireside Bowl, The Mutiny, John McDermott, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Latinos, buying property, Bridgeport, Pilsen, Jason Vincent, Bruce Finkelman, Thalia Hall, Modern Cooperative, furniture stores, Nightwood, Co-Prosperity Sphere, public transportation, mass transit, Version Fest, Mash-Tun Festival

Music, Music Feature Aug 5, 2013
Midwestern emo catches its second wind

The 90s underground sound shaped by the likes of Cap'n Jazz and Braid is back—and this time it's turning up overseas and on the charts.
- By Leor Galil
- Tags: Music Feature, emo, The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, Billboard charts, Heatseekers chart, vinyl chart, Internet chart, rock chard, Billboard 200, Topshelf, record labels, What.CD, torrents, Chance the Rapper, MTC, mixtapes, Mac Miller, Lollapalooza, DIY spaces, Swerp Mansion, Humboldt Park, J. Matthew Nix, The World Is a Beautiful Place, TWIABP, fourth-wave emo, first-wave emo, Rites of Spring, Embrace, Beefeater, D.C. emo, D.C. hardcore, Cap'n Jazz, Braid, The Promise Ring, Get Up Kids, American Football, Appleseed Cast, Fireside Bowl, third-wave emo, second-wave emo, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Dashboard Confessional, Brand New, Tom Millen, Sony Legacy, midwestern emo, Elon College, Washed Up Emo, blogs, Mineral, Joie de Vivre, Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate), Pianos Become the Teeth, Balance and Composure, Into It. Over It.Tumblr, Bandcamp, Count Your Lucky Stars, No Sleep, Run for Cover, Tiny Engines, Dikembe, Title Fight, Restorations, SideOneDummy, Chuck Ragan, Hot Water Music, Riot Fest, Pet Symmetry, Dowsing, Evan Weiss, Mike Kinsella, Their/They're/There, Bob Nanna, Lifted Bells, box sets, Toe, Seth Decoteau, Kevin Duquette, Pitchfork, Crash of Rhinos, midwest-influenced emo bands, emo revival, Algernon Cadwallader, Snowing, Bonjour Machines, Ilai Ashdot, Have Heart, Gods Reflex, Rockton, The Beat Kitchen, Phil Goudreau, Dischord

Best of Chicago, Music & Nightlife Jun 19, 2013
Critics' Picks
Best Outcall Soundman

Elliot Dicks of Elliotsound
- By Philip Montoro
- Tags: Music & Nightlife, Best of Chicago 2013, Elliotsound, jumping around on stage, rock shows, Elliot Dicks, live sound, Czar Bar, Fireside Bowl, The Empty Bottle, Che Arthur, Steve Moore, Gary Schepers, block parties, festivals, Do-Division, West Fest, Tortoise, The Sea and Cake, Shellac, Steve Albini, Yob, Flat Iron, Dark Lord Day, High on Fire, Critics' Picks

Best of Chicago, Sports & Recreation Jun 19, 2013
Readers' Poll
Best Bowling Alley

Lincoln Square Lanes
- Tags: Sports & Recreation, Best of Chicago 2013, bowling, bowling alleys, Lincoln Square Lanes, Fireside Bowl, Readers' Poll

Music, In Rotation Feb 14, 2013
In Rotation: Audio engineer Tim Iseler on "Darth Vader's Cock and Balls"

Plus: The Reader's Miles Raymer on Townes Van Zandt’s outtakes and audio engineer Jeremy Lemos on the Dirty Projectors at the Sydney Opera House
- By Miles Raymer
- Tags: In Rotation, Miles Raymer, demos, outtakes, Justin Walter, Iron & Wine, Echophon, live sound, Public Info, record labels, electronic music, Austin Cesar, F.C. Judd, Brian Case, Acteurs, Dirty Projectors, Sydney Opera House, Nomo, Make Noise, Fireside Bowl, We Ragazzi, Tony Rolando, trumpet, Electronic Valve Instrument, EVI, synthesizers, Kranky, Levon Helm, books, Time Iseler, Future, mixtapes, Four Tet, Kieran Hebden, DJs, audio engineers, Jeremy Lemos, Townes Van Zandt, 4ms Pedals, Rotating Clock Divider, Shuffling Clock Multiplier

Blogs, Bleader Aug 13, 2012
Shows to see: Robbie Fulks, the Hecks, the Hussy, Claw Toe, and more

Shows to see in the upcoming days include Robbie Fulks, the Hecks, the Hussy, and Claw Toe
- By Kevin Warwick
- Tags: Do This, Music, Robbie Fulks, Hideout, the Hussy, Claw Toe, the Hecks, Soundboard, Depech Mode, rock duo, Liz Carroll, Michael Jackson, Fireside Bowl

Best of Chicago, Sports & Recreation Jun 23, 2011
Best bowling alley

Fireside Bowl voted best bowling alley
- Tags: Sports & Recreation, Best bowling alley, Readers' poll, Fireside Bowl, Diversey Rock and Bowl, Lincoln Square Lanes

Blogs, Bleader Nov 1, 2010
It's Time to Make a Clean Break With Ronny's

Pondering a permanent replacement for one of Chicago's nastiest venues.
- By Brian Costello
- Tags: Crickets, Music, Ronny's, Pancho's, MP Productions, White Mystery, Loose Dudes, Pink Torpedoes, Fireside Bowl, Nelson Algren, Mike Royko

Blogs, Bleader Aug 5, 2010
This Week in the Reader's Music Section

Lollapalooza, punk nostalgia, the funniest political rappers working, and more
- By Miles Raymer
- Tags: Crickets, Music, Chicago, the Reader, Gossip Wolf, Photo Pit, Das Racist, Fireside Bowl, Cephalic Carnage, Phosphorescent, Night Gallery, Lollapalooza

Music, Gossip Wolf Aug 5, 2010
Hardcore Nostalgia

New shows at the Fireside prompt a stream of stories about the good old days. Plus: Russian Circles and the worst kind of metal damage, Kanye as Twitter fodder, and more
- By J.R. Nelson and Miles Raymer
- Tags: Gossip Wolf, Fireside Bowl, Chicago News Cooperative, House Call Entertainment, John Benetti, WBEZ, Elliot Dicks, Russian Circles, Dave Turncrantz, Prolyfic, Lupe Fiasco, Lasers, Kanye West, Aziz Ansari, Paul and Storm, Brian Slodysko, Black Breath, Cacaw, Cave, Blood Mambas, BBU, Bin Laden Blowin' Up

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