The Secret History of Chicago Music used to do a Winter Blues series, but I gave it up in part because I didn’t like confining my subjects to that single genre. Wayne Bennett, for instance, is usually identified as a blues guitarist, but he never wanted to be stuck in that box. Bennett is best […] The post Guitarist Wayne Bennett soared at side stage appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**The House Is Creaking** Sat 1/17 at Lincoln Hall and Sat 1/24 at the Empty Bottle The post This House Is Creaking want you to have as much fun with their indie-rock experiments as they do appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Several States** Sat 1/17 at the Ramova Theatre The post One-day festival Several States spotlights underappreciated emo bands of yore without cheap nostalgia appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Modern Nature** Sat 1/17 at Constellation The post Modern Nature’s Jack Cooper gets back to basics on The Heat Warps appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Replicant** Sat 1/17 at Cobra Lounge The post Chicago trio Replicant start the year focused on a synthwave future appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Femdot.** Fri 1/16 at the Ramova Theatre The post Femdot. embodies Chicago’s monumental influence on hip-hop appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Fillet of Solo** , through 2/1, then open run at Bughouse Theater The post Fillet of Solo moves from annual festival to weekly showcase appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Looking for your next indie cinema fix? Ditch the mainstream and dive into a lineup of cult films with Optical Noise, an upcoming double-feature film series at Facets programmed by Raphael Martinez from CineRomero Productions. Optical Noise intends to “cut through the modern fog of media static” and “reject the mainstream and embrace the noise.” […] The post Reject the mainstream with Optical Noise appeared first on Chicago Reader.

This story was originally published by South Side Weekly. Access the original article here. This reporting was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Women on the Ground: Reporting from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Initiative, in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Tetiana Burianova contributed reporting. In 1968, amid nationwide anti-war and civil rights movements, […] The post Pilsen murals and Ukrainian mosaics teach us about artistic survival appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**A Three Queens Bouquet** , 1/10 and 1/11, City Lit Theater The post The Vivero celebrates new Latiné voices at City Lit appeared first on Chicago Reader.

“Do you want to know how to disappoint your first-generation immigrant parents?” Charles Wong asked the judges. “Quit your stable finance job to enter an industry you have zero experience in.” That was the beginning of the elevator pitch that helped win Wong 20 Gs last summer at a restaurant trade show. Wong’s parents might […] The post Impress your parents when Umamicue headlines a brand-new Monday Night Foodball lineup appeared first on Chicago Reader.

The Moviegoer is the diary of a local film buff, collecting the best of what Chicago’s independent and underground film scene has to offer. Welcome back, moviegoers. I hope your holidays were bright with the glow of cinema. Before getting fully into the swing of things for the new year, I wanted to look back […] The post Kat Sachs’s best in 2025 moviegoing appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**_Improv: The Play_** , through 3/26, iO Theater The post <i>Improv: The Play</i> at iO turns the actor’s nightmare into a dream team appeared first on Chicago Reader.

On Sunday, December 28, Pinwheel Records co-owners Scott Schaaf and Kim Foreit entered their Pilsen record store to find the floor partially flooded. Ever since they opened Pinwheel at 1722 W. 18th Street in 2015, Schaaf and Foreit have had to deal with a small leak that occasionally sprung from the ceiling above the cassette […] The post Pinwheel Records holds a sale to help with its imminent move appeared first on Chicago Reader.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the wildest of them all? After seven years, longtime indie publisher 2dcloud has resurrected its alt-comics anthology Mirror Mirror. Once a thick tome produced annually from 2016–2018, the fourth installment of Mirror Mirror has been reimagined as more of a magazine, not only in its size and length (it’s […] The post <i>Mirror Mirror 4</i> reflects 2dcloud’s rainstorm appeared first on Chicago Reader.

In the project 60 wrd/min art critic, writer Lori Waxman explores how art writing can serve an expanded field of artists—including those incarcerated, trying to gain visas, working to establish themselves professionally, or just wanting feedback for a secret hobby. For this iteration, Waxman reviews a work by Chicago-based artist Ziyi Zhang. Ziyi Zhang Found […] The post Digital footprints appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Macie Stewart** Wed 1/7, 1/14, 1/21, 1/28 at Color Club The post Ever-evolving musician Macie Stewart plays a January residency at Color Club appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Sam Prekop** Tue 1/13 at Empty Bottle The post Sam Prekop ties together ambient pulsations and traditional club rhythms on <i>Open Close</i> appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Joe Glass** Sat 1/10 at Empty Bottle The post Indie rocker Joe Glass celebrates an early candidate for your list of the year’s best Chicago albums appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Swamp Dogg** Fri 1/9 at Metro The post The best American music is seared on Swamp Dogg’s grill appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Lil M.U.** Fri 1/9 at Reggies Rock Club The post Englewood rapper Lil M.U. brings juke to new territories appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Farseer** Fri 1/9 at Reggies Music Joint The post Chicago postmetal band Farseer invent their own world on <i>Portals to Cosmic Womb</i> appeared first on Chicago Reader.

**Josh Berman** Thu 1/22 and 1/29 at Hungry Brain The post Veteran Chicago cornetist Josh Berman surveys his career and his future in a monthlong residency appeared first on Chicago Reader.

The rise of AI porn chat sites in the last several years, especially those designed to simulate romantic or erotic connections, signals more than just a shift in how we relate to technology, it touches on something deeply human: the desire to be seen, heard, and wanted. Whether you’re texting a synthetic girlfriend over lunch […] The post Best NSFW AI Character Chat Sites of 2026 appeared first on Chicago Reader.

“Ears are an erogenous zone,” Chicago-based poet Noa Micaela Fields slyly declared during a performance for the reading series Transvengence at Podlasie Club in early December. A dance track produced by DJs Girly*** and Relaxxx thudded in the background while Fields read and danced. The track sampled a recording of 20th-century poet Louis Zukofsky reading […] The post With <I>E</I>, Noa Micaela Fields playfully disregards convention appeared first on Chicago Reader.