Chicago Best Weekend Bets

Suicide Squad comes out this weekend. Will Smith suicide squads in it so he’s our guide for this edition of Best Weekend Bets.

Also, tell all your friends to subscribe to the Chicago mailing list. We give away stuff.

We write stuff. Here’s some of that stuff from the last week that may be applicable to your preferences!

• Chris Garcia is our Funny Human of the Week.
• This is what we learned by attending the RNC and DNC.
• Flossing is pointless.

Yes. It is.

• Millennium Park’s Summer Music Series continues with another really good double bill, featuring Sinkane and Mark de Clive-Lowe.
• Local rock groups Vamos and Lil Tits help celebrate the first anniversary of the newly renovated Crown Liquors!
• Berlin Nightclub hosts another edition of their beloved Bowie Ball, a celebration of the Starman’s music and fashion.
• It’s a night of Chicago rock at the Hideout, with sets from Yeesh, Fake Limbs, and Rad Payoff! Good stuff, here.
• Acclaimed British neo soul singer Corrine Bailey Rae is at the Metro.
• The Logan Theatre’s doing a late night screening of The Karate Kid, yo. Go do that!
• Eclectic electronic music DJs Many Places, Problem People, DJ Young Health, and Neill Holley take over two levels of the Virgin Hotel downtown.
• Night Names, the Logan Arcade’s monthly queer dance party is back with a guest DJ set from $TAYGOLD.
• Elizabeth Cook and Derek Hoke play Lincoln Hall!
• Nonzoo, Hit School, Bully In The Hallway, and Black Hole Youth are all at Beat Kitchen for a noisy punk show.
• Singer-songwriter Cale Tyson headlines the Empty Bottle with support from Quinn Tsan and Kevin Andrew Prchal.

• Long running weird pop craftsfolk Deerhoof are at Lincoln Hall tonight! Blank Spell and The Blisters open.
• Oh wow Chicago Hot Dog Fest. Three days of music, beer, and, of course, a collection of some of the city’s finest purveyors of franks. Tonight’s musical guests include the American English Beatles Tribute, Run Forrest Run, and The Polkaholics®.
• Colvin & Earle is a duo act made up of Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle. They’re playing Thalia Hall and you should go if you wanna.
• VHS invites standup comics to riff on found footage, MST3K-style. It’s a good show and you should check it out at @North!
• Music Box has a pair of midnight movies that you should probably consider checking out. Magic Mike XXL and Baseketball!
• Start your weekend off nicely with a porchfront concert at the Hideout from bluegrass group Big Sadie at Picnincs on the Porch!
• Then head inside the Hideout and catch a set from Bailiff! Will there be special guests? PERHASPS!!!!!!!!!!!
• Live talk show with an eye towards local politics Good Evening returns to the Frontier in Edgewater tonight! Quality stuff.
• Ghostface Killa and Raekwon coheadline the Metro! Hell yeah.
• Liza Anne, Less Is More, and Corey Kilgannon are at Schubas.
• Subterranean hosts the original Beyonce VS. Rihanna tribute dance party. Accept no imitations!!!!!!!
• New Madrid, The Tomblands and Luke Henry & Rabbitfoot bring their disparate sounds together for a concert at the Empty Bottle.

• Do some daytime stuff:
• More Chicago Hot Dog Fest! Festivities kick off around noon and go on all day long, closing the night out with a headlining set from JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound.
• Comedy open mic/afternoon brunch party the Late Late Breakfast is BACK at the Hideout.
• Head to the Music Box early for a pre-noon showing of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the legendary Marilyn Monroe picture!
• Hala Kahiki Tiki Bar & Lounge in River Grove hosts a vendor market called Lowbrow Aloha, celebrating that precious space where trash culture and tiki stuff overlaps!
• Two words: wine crawl! Get fancy!
• Deschutes Brewery takes over part of Milwaukee Ave with over 50 taps of rare and exclusive brews, plus food and music from local restaurants and bands. It’s Street Pub!

• Then, night stuff:
• Celebrate MCA Day, in memory of Adam Yauch from the Beastie Boys with a nightlong tribute to the man and his group! She’s Crafty, Akasha, Black Bear/Brown Bear, and many, many more help make this an unforgettable night.
• Recent Sub Pop signee Kyle Craft headlines the Hideout with special guest Dan Rico.
• The reformed grunge rockers L7 play the Metro with special guests Radkey.
• High quality variety show No Boys Allowed returns to Flat Iron Comedy with a great, eclectic lineup!
• Roxy Music man Bryan Ferry headlines Ravinia and Laura Pergolizzi opens.
• Very funny comedy show The Goldfish Project offers up swaths of data from comedian Shawn Bowers’ experiment posing as a woman on various dating websites. Catch an encore performance for one night only tonight at the Trap Door Theatre.
• Paper Mice, The Conformists, Melkbelly, and Imelda Marcos are all at Beat Kitchen. Strong collection of bands here.
• Super 8 Lives! hands over a roll of Super 8 film to 10 different Chicago-area filmmakers to be screened for the first time tonight! Very cool.
• Strung Like A Horse and Tyler Childers are at Schubas.
• Goldhouse and Comasoft play Subterranean with guest openers Masses.
• Jaime Rojo, Strange Lovelies, and Jungle Green play the Empty Bottle!
• Culty songwriter Ray LaMontagne brings his Ouroboros Tour to the FirstMerit Band Pavilion at Northerly Island!

• Day three of Hot Dog fest, baby! Hell yeah!
• Generation-spanning country/folk/rock supergroup case / lang / veirs plays The Chicago Theatre tonight! It’s Neko Case, K.D. Lang and Laura Veirs! Damn!
• Oh goodness yes Dolly Parton is at Ravinia you best believe it. She’s the greatest and you gotta go see her.
• One man band outsidery weirdo Bob Log III returns to Schubas for another singular concert experience. Horse Massage and The Kevin Dowling Fitness Hour open.
• High quality comedy debate show Arguments and Grievances is back with another strong as hell lineup, featuring comics debating the relative merits of topics such as Leonardo DaVinci vs. Leonardo Dicaprio and voting vs. not voting.
• Empty Bottle hosts another round of their afternoon Cajun Dance Parties, this one features performances from Jesse Lege and Edward Poullard!
• And then stick around the Bottle after that for a show featuring The Donkeys, Animal City, and the frustratingly non-mamamlian named Thompson Springs.
• Lincoln Hall hosts a dance party called Concert For Kelsey, a benefit to fund a memorial scholarship named after Kelsey Fourdyce, a University of Illinois graduate taken far before her time. Expect music from Grood, featuring members of Cornmeal, Indigo Sun, Melk, and more.
• The Kominas, Tensions, The Breathing Light, and Warmth play Subterranean’s downstairs space this evening.
• The Chicago Reader’s Made In Chicago Market celebrates local craftspeople and artisans, bringing vendors from all over the city together for one special day at the Local 130 Plumbers Union Hall in the West Loop!
• The Harmed Brothers, Bubbles Brown, and Soda Gardocki play the Hideout.
• American Idol/MTV/Broadway/YouTube guy Todrick Hall brings his unique take on the Wizard of Oz to Thalia Hall for one night only! That night is tonight, too! Lucky you!
• The Laugh Factory’s got a roast of Guy Fieri, who will be taken down by such food titans as Gordon Ramsay, Paula Deen, Julia Child, and Rachel Ray! Note: these are all people in character and none of these superstars will actually be at the Laugh Factory this evening.