Friday 12
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
“Why does Weimar seem so familiar?” is the theme of Nights of Smoke and Noise: Weimar Cabaret Revisited, a series of three programs at Club Lower Links starting tonight. In post-World War I Berlin, Max Reinhardt’s Schall und Rauch (“Noise and Smoke”) cabaret was a stage and meeting place for the likes of Bertolt Brecht, George Grosz, and Karl Valentin; the program tonight features a number of artists and performers–the inimitable Matthew Owens among them–drawing what they hope will be uncomfortable parallels between then and now. Tonight’s show is curated and emceed by Lawrence Steger; Andy Soma oversees the show next Saturday, July 19, and Suzie Silver and Iris Moore are in charge on the 26th. Show time is 8:30, tix are $7 Lower Links is at 954 W. Newport. Call 248-5238.
Saturday 13
Husker Du came pouring out of Minneapolis like molten lava in the mid-80s; they were a searing power trio whose instrumentation always seemed to have the consistency of concrete even as their lyrics got subtler and subtler. Now that songwriters Bob Mould and Grant Hart have separated for good, Hart has a new aggregation he calls Nova Mob, a staggery and cacophonous rock ‘n’ roll ensemble that can play everything from ghostly instrumentals to the obsessive, self-flagellating confessionals that are Hart’s best songs. God’s Favorite Band opens. They play tonight at Lounge Ax, 2438 N. Lincoln, after 10. Tickets are $6, $7 at the door; call 525-6620.
Wednesday 17
