When Pitchfork curated the Intonation Music Festival in 2005, the concept was relatively novel: a big, multiday outdoor festival dedicated to indie music. But in 2018, outdoor fests of all stripes (a few of them significantly more esoteric than Pitchfork) clog concert calendars all over the country. Some similar events have gone belly-up—this summer’s FYF Fest, for example, was canceled in May—but Pitchfork has continued to evolve and thrive, becoming one of the most respected festivals in the country....

Whitney Johnson has been ubiquitous on Chicago’s underground music scene for more than a decade. The violist, singer, and keyboardist thrives on collaboration, and she’s worked in a long list of rock bands and experimental projects—though in those roles, rather than emphasize her own talents as a musician and arranger, she focuses on filling out the sound of a group. She played in the 1900s, Via Tania, and the Notes & Scratches before starting the atmospheric, psychedelic band Verma in 2009....

Before Trump vs. Hillary, there was Tonya vs. Nancy. He seems to have opted instead for presenting Tonya as (1) a victim of the parasitic, grasping men in her life, and (2) a cautionary figure, illustrating the dangers of fame and fortune in an America where it’s all about cashing in. Through 6/25: Thu-Fri 8 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Sun 2 PM, American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron, 773-409-4125, atcweb....

On November 15, Covenant House Illinois (CHIL) hosted its second annual Sleep Out at St. James Cathedral. Members of the community, celebrities, business leaders, and young professionals came together to raise funds and awareness for Chicago’s homeless, trafficked, and at-risk youth by sleeping outside. “Sleepers” set personal fund-raising goals ranging from $1,500 to $5,000 that were met with the help of friends, family, and colleagues. Additionally, the sleepers shared a meal and participated in activities with CHIL staff, youth, and volunteers....

Street View is a fashion series in which Isa Giallorenzo spotlights some of the coolest styles seen in Chicago. Isa Giallorenzo Blogger Jessie of minipennyblog.com Isa Giallorenzo Blogger Julia Dearing of colormeclassy.com Isa Giallorenzo Debbie Jagel, owner of Ootra Boutique and co-chair of the event Isa Giallorenzo Paula and Angela Morano (aka The Hat Girl), wearing Angela’s millinery Isa Giallorenzo Paula and milliner Angela Morano Isa Giallorenzo Photographer Justin Barbin...

Youtube Bruce isn’t gonna like this tune. If, by chance, the voters of Illinois, in their infinite wisdom, elect Bruce Rauner as our next governor, Matt Farmer’s gonna be in a heap of trouble! OK look, Mr. Rauner, please allow me to make an appeal on Matt’s behalf. But it’s parody. He’s just pretending to be you. There’s that verse that goes . . .

Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place. Older strips are archived here.

On Saturday, July 29, Crescendo Literary presented the second annual Chicago Poetry Block Party at the National Museum of Mexican Art. Founded by prolific Chicago-based poets Eve L. Ewing and Nate Marshall, Crescendo is an arts and educational organization devoted to the principle that artists enrich their communities and vice versa—and the block party doubles as an incubator for writers who want to combine their creative work with community organizing....

Barton Fink Inside Llewyn Davis, the new film from Joel and Ethan Coen, has incited the same arguments that arise whenever a new Coen brothers film is released. Some critics consider the Coen brothers and their films mean spirited and misanthropic because they supposedly mock, punish, and judge their characters and, by proxy, the viewers. I find an inherent contradiction in such an argument—namely, it presupposes that movie characters are real people and are therefore exempt from “unfair” depictions....

Q: I’m a reader in Kansas with two teenage daughters, 16 and 18. My girls recently met a boy where they work and both took an interest in him. The 18-year-old was devastated that he was more interested in her younger sister. I spoke to the 16-year-old about it, which is when I found out this boy is going to be a sophomore in college. The fact that he’s interested in a 16-year-old is a red flag....

“Ruth Gruber: Photojournalist” is a slightly misleading title for an exhibit opening this weekend at the Illinois Holocaust Museum. Gruber, who turned 102 last September, worked for more than half a century as a photographer, and even longer as a writer—but she considered her articles and photos merely tools for a larger project. “Ruth’s photo helped influence people,” says Patti Kenner, a friend of Gruber’s who produced Ahead of Time, a documentary about her life being shown Sunday at the IHM....

The Square Looking for something to do today? Agenda‘s got you covered. For more on these events and others, check out the Reader‘s daily Agenda page.

Shervin Lainez Wye Oak Looking for something to do today? Agenda‘s got you covered. For more on these events and others, check out the Reader‘s daily Agenda page.

RedEye had a difficult birth, its parent company, the Tribune, having decided that the key to successfully launching a tabloid appealing to 18-to-34-year-olds who don’t read newspapers was to sound like an idiot. The next thing I knew, RedEye wasn’t merely rolling in the dust with Red Streak, but mired in a Goliath v. David trademark fight (instigated by Red Streak‘s Mark Konkol) with LA’s Red Eye Press, publisher of The Marijuana Grower’s Guide....

Flanagan’s Wake The Improv Institute’s original 1994 production of Jack Bronis’s interactive, mostly improvised Irish wake ran for more than a decade. Now Chicago Theater Works disinters these stereotype-laden, intermittently amusing 90 or so minutes, and even brings back Bronis to direct. The results are decidedly musty (think drunk Irishmen jokes), and the challenging acoustics and overlapping, brogue-heavy dialogue make comprehension a regular chore. But the seven improvisers graciously accommodate some delightfully dopey audience participation, giving the evening a refreshingly communal feel....

Street View is a fashion series in which Isa Giallorenzo spotlights some of the coolest styles seen in Chicago.

When I was a wee lad in the ninth grade—in 1981, I think—I borrowed a compilation of Merseybeat tracks from my local library in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. If memory serves, that record introduced me to loads of one-hit wonders riding the coattails of the Beatles—Gerry & the Pacemakers, the Searchers, the Swinging Blue Jeans, Manfred Mann—and served as my education on early British rock for many years to come. Sure, I knew the Who, the Kinks, and the Rolling Stones, but I didn’t look much further until years later....

It’s officially film festival season in Chicago. As the Gene Siskel Film Center’s long-running European Union Film Festival wraps up, two similarly enduring fests, the Chicago Underground Film Festival and the Chicago Latino Film Festival, are shifting into gear this week. Though they offer wildly different programming—CLFF favors narrative features, CUFF prides itself on experimental fare—both festivals make it a priority to promote small, independent voices. Closing this year’s CUFF is American Arab, a documentary directed by former Chicagoan and Columbia College alum Usama Alshaibi and produced by Chicago’s venerable Kartemquin Films....

Recently Slow Roll Chicago, a group that promotes biking on the south and west sides, called for more black and brown input on Chicago’s Vision Zero traffic fatality prevention plans. In the wake of this pushback, city officials detailed efforts to collect perspectives on the program from residents of the current Vision Zero focus communities of North Lawndale, Garfield Park, and Austin. The city has hired four community organizers to do outreach and collect data on the west side this year, including tabling at farmers’ markets, health fairs, and block parties....

Michele K. Short Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson: two of the best southern drawls in Hollywood How many more television shows about a couple of detectives working tirelessly to track down a killer—destroying or altogether eschewing healthy interpersonal relationships in the process—is the entertainment world going to produce for us? If the networks know their beeswax, this is specifically not a question we’re asking ourselves, because we’re just ever so happy to continue to ride shotgun with various hardscrabble cop types as murders are committed and solved....