Slumgullion

The four-day summer music festival Out Of Space kicked off last night at Canal Shores Golf Course in Evanston. Tonight’s performers are Lord Huron with Allie Crowe Buckley and Kara Jackson; tomorrow brings Regina Spektor to the main stage, along with Allison Russell and Elizabeth Moen. Andrew Bird, along with Uwade and Nora O’Connor will wrap up the festival on Sunday, July 30. The event is the work of the City of Evanston, radio station WXRT, the SPACE music venue, and Canal Shores Golf Course. Check the official website for tickets; some shows are already sold out.

Mick Jagger’s birthday was a few days ago, and I wonder if anyone gave him a copy of Elizabeth Winder’s new book Parachute Women as a gift. It honors the women, especially Marianne Faithfull, Marsha Hunt, Bianca Jagger, and Anita Pallenberg that Winder feels had a major and positive influence on the The Rolling Stones. It was released on July 11.

The Los Angeles-based band The Regrettes will be the main act tomorrow night at Wicker Park Fest on Chicago’s north side. Boise, Idaho-based indie rock band Built To Spill was the headline act tonight. The fest is on Milwaukee Avenue from Damen to Paulina. Several other acts are scheduled July 30, and there will be an arts area and food vendors.

International Pop Overthrow, the traveling showcase of power pop and indie rock, returns to its birthplace next Friday for a nine-day run at the Redwood Bar in Los Angeles. Each night will offer at least five (more often six) acts. Some of the familiar names performing include The Jeremy Band; Rick Hromadka; Sparkle*Jets UK; and Plasticsoul. Admission for each show is $10. David Bash staged his very first IPO in L.A. 24 years ago, and has since added visits to Chicago, Liverpool, Boston, Copenhagen, and other cities. The lineup changes for each location.

Freda Love Smith, whose rock and roll career kicked off in the mid-1980s as a member of the Boston-based Blake Babies with Juliana Hatfield and John Strohm, has a book launch for her I Quit Everything memoir on September 19 at Books And Beginnings in Evanston. Love Smith was also a member of the Some Girls trio, and in more recent years joined forces with Dag Juhlin and Jacqueline Schimmel for a successful run on the Chicago club scene as Sunshine Boys. She’ll discuss the book, which is subtitled How One Woman’s Addiction to Quitting Helped Her Confront Bad Habits and Embrace Midlife, with Megan Stielstra. On October 22, Freda Love Smith will join former band mate John Strohm at SPACE in Evanston. That event will celebrate I Quit Everything as well as  the release of Strohm’s new solo effort Something To Look Forward To. There will conversation as well as live music that will include Gerald Dowd and Jake Smith.

A new exhibit titled Tom Petty: Among The Wildflowers is now open at the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, FL. It offers a 700 square foot collection of artifacts, including some from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and other exclusive memorabilia. Petty fans across the country can stream the 2021 documentary Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free - The Making of Wildflowers on the Tom Petty YouTube Channel.

Printer’s Row is best known for its annual Lit Fest in September, but this south end area of downtown Chicago has also been staging its impressive Art Fest for five years. It returns on the weekend of August 12 and 13, with 90 juried artists and artisans showcasing their work.

Chicago indie label Pravda Records has a showcase coming up next Friday, August 4, at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn that will feature The Handcuffs, Ivan Julian, and Brian Krumm and His Barfly Friends.

Personality - The Lloyd Price Musical will wrap up its successful run at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building this Sunday. The musical celebrates the amazing career of Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame songwriter The Lloyd Price, who gave us “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” and “Aint It A Shame.”

NEO Reunion 2023 takes place tomorrow night at at 7:30 pm at Metro. DJ sets by Suzanne Shelton, Jeff Moyer, Rob Kokot, Glenn Russell and others will no doubt bring back found memories of the iconic new wave club that reigned on Clark Street for so many years. 

Phil Angotti And Friends will continue their Beatles Brunch series at City Winery Chicago this Sunday at 12:00 pm.

Various acts will be performing tomorrow from 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm in One Village Circle at the Willow Springs Blues Fest. There will be food vendors, and admission to the Fest is free.

Shemekia Copeland has a free performance coming up at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park next Monday July 31, at 6:30 pm. DJ James Porter will do a pre-show.

Los Straitjackets will be the main attraction when the Third Coast Surf Fest is held at Durty Nellie’s in Palatine on August 26. There will also be six local bands, including OUTRONAUT and Roger That.

John Mead’s True Believers will perform a mix of acoustic and electric Neil Young songs tomorrow night at Martyrs’ on Lincoln Avenue. Mead will be joined by fellow Chicago music scene veterans Steve Dawson, Tommi Zender, Alton Smith, John Abbey, and Gregg Ostrom.

The Who have a 50th anniversary edition of their Who’s Next album coming out on September 14 that will include songs from Pete Townshend’s Life House project. As with most anniversary releases from major acts, Who’s Next - Life House will be available in various formats. They range from a 10 CD set that also includes a Blu-ray, posters, a t-shirt and two books for $305.98 to a single CD with a 12-page booklet for $13.98. All the versions are now available for pre-order on the official Who website.

God Is In The TV, the Cardiff, UK record label and culture webzine, has a put together another multi-act tribute album, and it will be available to download next Friday, August 4. Pictures Of You: A Compilation Of Covers Of Songs By The Cure offers 44 tracks for a mere £5.

Tickets are now on sale for the rescheduled performances by X on August 27 and 28 at The Old Town School Of Folk Music. The pioneering L.A. punk band, which still has all four original members, had to cancel an earlier date at the venue.

YippieFest, the Famous In The Future comedy group’s annual three-day celebration of counter-culture entertainment, returns next weekend, August 4 – 6, at PrideArtsChicago. Modeled after the late Mary-Arrchie Theatre’s long-running Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sins festival, YippieFest has done a good job of carrying on that tie-dyed tradition. The people behind it—Frank Carr from the Famous In The Future comedy group, and James Moeller from the whitewolfsonicprincess alt rock band—are Abbie Fest veterans. (Full disclosure: I was a member of Famous In The Future for several years.) Ticket prices $15 for a day pass and $25 for a weekend pass; proceeds will benefit Howard Brown Health, Brave Space Alliance, and Greater Chicago Food Depository. PrideArtChicago is located at 4139 N. Broadway.

Congratulations to Graham Nash on being chosen to receive the John Lennon Real Love Award from the nonprofit organization Theatre Within. According to a recent piece on the Billboard magazine website, the presentation will take place on December 2 at this year’s John Lennon Tribute at Town Hall in New York. This is the 43rd year Theatre Within has staged the tribute, and Yoko Ono has been involved for much of that time. Her cooperation resulted with the Real Love Award being established in 2014. According to the official website, the award acknowledges performers for “for their creative excellence, positive social impact and support of charitable causes.

The State Of Sound exhibit is now open at Navy Pier, This is a pop-up version of the award-winning exhibition that was held at the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield, and celebrates Illinois-based stars such as Muddy Waters; Material Issue; Earth, Wind & Fire; Chicago; Chance the Rapper; Wilco; Shoes; and Cheap Trick. Admission is free, and you’ll find the exhibit at Festival Hall A in the lower level lobby of Navy Pier through Aug. 27.