Uhhh . . . how is it October already? I swear it was just July. Starting the month with 80-degree days has me thinking, “Wow, what can’t this month do.”
Viva Acid
10/5-10/9, workshops and events at Q Studios, 2328 N. Milwaukee, third floor. Performances include in-store DJ sets by Geto Mark and D. Strange at Gramaphone Records, 2843 N. Clark (Sat 10/7, 3 PM); Eris Drew, Ciel, and Sevron at Smart Bar, 3730 N. Clark (Sat 10/7, 11 PM); and Glenn Underground, John Simmons, Adorio, Mystic Bill, Gettoblaster, and Bai-ee at Cerise at Virgin Hotels Chicago, 203 N. Wabash (Sun 10/8, 3:30 PM). Full details and ticket links at vivaacid.com
Well, if you’re looking to make it a Boptober, might I suggest checking out Viva Acid, which runs October 5-9. Now in its third year, the festival provides workshops, panel discussions, and listening events that celebrate the culture, craft, and history of acid house.
Viva Acid is spread across several local shops and venues, including Gramaphone Records, Smart Bar, and Q Studios, and most of the activities are free. In addition to some killer listening opportunities, like a night with rave legends Woody McBride, Mike Dearborn, and Hyperactive, standout learning opportunities include a history of urban development and acid house, and discussions of the idea of “safer spaces” and cultivating them and dance music in a post-pandemic world. Oh, and there’s an exhibition of old house flyers, too!
Snõõper
Citric Dummies, Cruelster, and Consensus Madness open. Sun 10/8, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $15, 21+, tickets at ticketweb.com
Looking to make it a Rocktober? Our music section has no shortage of suggestions, but personally, I’m looking forward to seeing Tennessee-based party-punk weirdos Snõõper at Empty Bottle on Sunday, October 8.
Snõõper are known for lo-fi aesthetics and playful stage shows featuring things like animation, puppetry, and oversized paper-mache props. It’s made them stalwarts of the fabled “egg punk” aesthetic—a term coined by terminally online idiots like myself to chart newer bands who continue an artier, offbeat tradition associated with bands like the Flying Lizards and Devo.
In many ways, Snõõper are to Nashville what the band Clickbait is to Chicago. Opening for them is a delicious who’s who of exuberant midwestern punks: Citric Dummies, Cruelster, and Consensus Madness.
Garfield Park Neighborhood Market
Sat 10/14 and Sat 10/28, 10 AM-2 PM, The Hatchery’s Plaza, 135 N. Kedzie, free to attend, all-ages. The market hosts a Community Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness Month on 10/14 from 9:30 AM-noon; go to Garfield Park Community Council’s Instagram for more information and registration links.
Want a Frocktober? Pick up new threads and more at the Garfield Park Neighborhood Market on Saturday, October 14, as well as Saturday, October 28. Both days, the market is hosted outside in the Hatchery’s plaza (135 N. Kedzie) and features a host of local vendors.
While most of it centers on food like fresh meat and produce from local farmers, every market day offers surprising delights from Chicago-based makers including altered, upcycled clothing that will leave you feeling fancy fresh. If you’re just grocery shopping, note that LINK cards are accepted, and the market offers up to $25 in LINK matching—for every LINK dollar you spend up to $25, you will receive LINK Match vouchers to spend on fruits and vegetables. These are the last two markets of the season so don’t sleep on this!
Elsewhere Bazaar
Sun 10/15, 11 AM-8 PM, Whim, 1225 W. Belmont, $13, $7 in advance, 21+, tickets at Eventbrite.
Trying to make it a Schlocktober? There’s no shortage of campy Halloween festivities, but right now my sights are set on the Elsewhere Bazaar, a self-described “psychic faire and mystical market” at Whim on October 15. Come for palm readings, tarot decks, and spooky, spunky wares; stay for a witchy cocktail menu and a talk from occult magician (and the event’s organizer) J.A. Doyle as well as some live entertainment in one of the most photogenic places in the city right now to catch neon-painted murals illuminated by black light. Cauldrons start brewing at 11 AM and bubble all day.
Take One
Sun 10/15 and Sun 11/5, 9:30 PM, Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport, $14, 18+
What about a Cocktober? That same night, Take One is showing at Music Box at 9:30 PM. Take One is a gay docu-porn made by director Wakefield Poole of Boys in the Sand fame. Poole’s background as a choreographer afforded him an artful eye that helped legitimize erotic movies as a serious point of artful consideration. While Poole died in relative obscurity, his creative pursuits coupled with his connection to the post-Stonewall gay underground in New York helped the mainstream arrival of 70s porno chic, as well as establishing adult entertainment as an aboveground revenue stream. In this film, different men confess their fantasies, then live them out in various beautiful, surreal, complex ways. If you miss this screening, don’t worry—there’s another chance to catch the flick on Sunday, November 5.
