Spring Awakening 2013, Saturday: People in the crowd
Spring Awakening Festival, June 15: Dance music fans descend on Soldier Field for DJs and EDMs biggest acts.
Have you been riding the Red Line in the last two days and been wondering, "Why are there so many kids in here wearing neon tank-tops and Japanese kitten hats?" Well, duh, it is Spring Awakening weekend. The second day of the massive EDM festival kept the party going in Soldier Field. Check out pictures of people at Spring Awakening on Saturday. And catch up with images of club kids and ravers from Friday.
Just for Laughs 2013: Maria Bamford review
Maria Bamford
"I'm deeply uncomfortable with children, so that's why I send my niece and nephew a box of wigs." Maria Bamford's confessional and often bizarre comedy sends up anxiety and bipolar disorder in a new and refreshing way. Read my review of her packed Park West show.
Just for Laughs 2013: Bob Newhart review
Bob Newhart
Bob Newhart, pride of St. Ignatius College Prep, took to the Chicago Theatre's stage Saturday night for a Just for Laughs appearance that was perhaps more reminiscence than performance. But the Chicago native's as charming as ever at age 83. Which classic bit from his 1960 Grammy-winning debut, The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart, made an appearance? Read the full review.
5 things to do today: Sunday, June 16
The Puerto Rican Parade on Division Street
AROUND TOWN
Fiesta Puertorriquenas One of the Midwest's largest Puerto Rican communities, Humboldt Park celebrates its heritage with four days of Caribbean-infused cuisine (jibarito, anyone?), Latin music and carnival rides. On Saturday at noon, out come the meticulously decorated floats and lowrider car clubs as the Puerto Rican Day Parade marches down Division Street under the giant metal Puerto Rican flag. Division St and California Ave. Noon–10pm.
BOOKS
Puddin'head Press Bloomsday Celebration Bloomsday is an annual celebration of the life and work of Irish writer James Joyce, in which fans around the world reenact the events of his famous—and famously impenetrable—novel, Ulysses (which is also a way of bragging that they've read it. Hats off to you, people.) Chicago's Puddin'head Press hosts a Bloomsday reading featuring local actors, writers and scholars. Want to relive the Dublin adventures of Leopold Bloom? If your answer is, "Yes I said yes I will yes" (the right answer), make your way to the Galway Arms. Galway Arms. 7pm. $5 suggested donation.
Just for Laughs 2013: Kumail Nanjiani interview
Kumail Nanjiani
It has been a while since Kumail Nanjiani lived in Chicago, but he maintains close ties to our fair city. In fact, the Pakistani-born funnyman says most of the comedian he hangs out with in L.A. are Chicago transplants. (YOU'RE WELCOME FOR ALL THE TALENT, LOS ANGELES.) I spoke with Nanjiani during Just for Laughs about his jam-packed sched, including podcasts, an upcoming Comedy Central special and Portlandia. Read the interview here.
Just for Laughs 2013: Knuckleheads review
Knuckleheads: Tim Robinson, Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong.
We had high hopes for Knuckleheads—a.k.a. Aidy Bryant, Tim Robinson and Cecily Strong, the newest cast members of Saturday Night Live—performing during Just for Laughs at the Second City's UP Comedy Club. But we didn't expect to be this entertained. Read our review here.
Just for Laughs 2013: Seth Meyers, Hannibal Buress and Al Madrigal review
Seth Meyers at the Chicago Theatre on June 14 for Just for Laughs.
It's already hard to not want to be friends with the witty yet smart Saturday Night Live head writer Seth Meyers when watching Weekend Update, but when he gave off a relaxed vibe that felt like he was hanging out with his friends, and not performing in front of a huge crowd at the Chicago Theatre, I was hooked. Meyers was joined by Al Madrigal and Hannibal Buress as part of Just for Laughs on Friday night. Read the full review here.
Spring Awakening 2013, Friday: Recap and review
After last month’s Electric Daisy Carnival wrapped its inaugural year, spry bassheads and dubsteppers alike are piling into the city this weekend to see this newly expanded EDM fest as the season of wub continues.
Friday kicked off the Spring Awakening Festival, making for an enjoyably breezy night where it would otherwise be doused in sweat and sunburn. Early in the evening, West Coasters PANTyRAiD performed one of the best sets of the night, spinning an array of hip-hop–inspired tracks as a dozen giant inflatable dice bounced atop the audience. Dirty South was surprisingly the most glistening and sparkly of the DJs, as he combined synthesizers with Auto-Tuned orchestral strings and piano, creating the kind of songs you picture yourself running in slow motion to (see: his emotional performance of his Temper Trap remix “Sweet Disposition”).
“Da Drive Tent” welcomed University of Illinois identical twins and potential Leonardo DiCaprio stunt doubles Milk N Cookies, whose audience-enthusing performance brought everyone together, nodding along simultaneously to their intricate remix of Adele's “Someone Like You.”
To complete the night, the eminent dubstep trio Nero jumped on and around the main stage and DJ booth as the colossal bright red strobe lights illuminated the thousands of attendees before 1990s international superstar Moby performed his familiar hits while the audience popped the distributed beach balls.
Just for Laughs 2013: Dylan Moran review
Dylan Moran
There's a casual brilliance to Moran's act that leaves you feeling like you've wandered into a bar and lucked out into choosing a stool next to the wittiest guy. At times his jokes come off as the meanderings of a drunk man who's forgotten what he was trying to say, but there's an clear rhythm to his word choice that has been expertly honed. Last night at Park West, the Irish comic touched on topics like his erotic novel and Chicago's penchant for unhealthy food, but hardly laid a finger on his wine. Read the review.
5 things to do today: Saturday, June 15
Bassnectar
ART & DESIGN
CAKE: Chicago Alternative Comics Expo CAKE rules. The dessert, yes, but also the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo, which debuted last year and provided a welcome, well, alternative to the more sprawling, commercial and superhero-strewn C2E2. The weekend-long fest, held this year at the Center on Halsted, celebrates independent comics of all varieties with workshops, exhibitions, panel discussions and a comics fair featuring artists, small presses and publishers from Chicago and beyond. The real icing on the CAKE is a stellar lineup of special guests, including Chris Ware, Kim Deitch, Deb Sokolow, Jason Shiga, Phoebe Gloeckner, Michael DeForge, Oily Comics and Collective Stench. For a complete schedule, visit cakechicago.com/2013-expo. Center on Halsted. 11am–6pm.
CLUBS
Spring Awakening 2013: Bassnectar, Calvin Harris, Moby and more Did you have a blast last August at Lollapalooza? Well, lucky you, you can relive it all again with the second installment of the Spring Awakening Festival. There's plenty of déjà vu to go around: Bassnectar, Calvin Harris, Porter Robinson, Zedd and Zed's Dead (yes, they're different) all got fists pumping on Perry's Stage in 2012. The Soldier Field venue is apt—this fete aims for aggressive body contact. Soldier Field. Noon. 3-day pass $250, 3-day VIP $300; advance 3-day pass $170, advance 3-day VIP $220; single day TBA.
