Bright Lights, Big City

By Jason Wilfong

I MOVED TO CHICAGO LAST SUMMER, and it has been rough-going since I arrived. I wrapped up a divorce, and I have been laid off twice. But there are things and people in my life that I am thankful for: In no particular order, these are:

1. My divorce. People get married hoping to find “the one” and to live happily ever after, but the sad truth is that there are couples who just don’t belong together.

Read the full story here.

Jason Wilfong of Chicago, believes he has unrecognized genius. He also loves sports, comic books and good music. You can reach him via email.

MUSIC

Radiohead Reigns Supreme At Chicago’s Lollapalooza

By Anna Apocalypse

THERE WAS LOTS OF HYPE TO LURE ME TO LOLLAPALOOZA THIS YEAR.

Was Barack Obama really going
to introduce Wilco? (No.) Would Rage Against The Machine incite a riot in the sweltering Grant Park? (Almost.) But only one band inspired me to fork over my money to Perry Farrell and his corporate sponsors: Radiohead.

The British art-rockers — a decade past their commercial prime — was the main draw on the first day of Lollapalooza, capturing Friday night’s headline spot.

Of course, there were other acts playing that day as well. I had planned on arriving around 5 p.m. to catch some of Cat Power‘s set, but a slow ride on Chicago’s Blue Line and only one entrance into the festival stole that chance. Once in, I opted to catch Grizzly Bear, which proved good judgment. In addition to crowd favorites like “On A Neck, On A Spit,” and “Knife,” the band cranked out four new songs (including “Two Weeks,” performed on David Letterman a few weeks ago) that sounded fantastic. I can’t wait for their new record, which is going to blow minds.

I followed up Grizzly Bear with Bloc Party, in part to secure my spot when Radiohead emerged afterward. Clad in an ObamaT, bright red shorts, and vintage Nikes, frontman Kele Okereke stirred up the massive crowd with standbys like “This Modern Love,” “Like Eating Glass,” and “Positive Tension,” as well as newer songs from 2007’s A Weekend In The City, including “Song For Clay (Disappear Here)” and “The Prayer.” They were good, but it was clear that everyone was biding time for Radiohead.

Then, at precisely 8 p.m., the two jumbotrons mounted on each side of the stage flickered with rainbow-colored lights, blips and bleeps echoed out of the speakers, and five rockers dubbed Radiohead dashed onstage to thunderous applause.

Opening with “15 Step,” the first track from 2007’s pay-what-you-want album, In Rainbows, Thom Yorke‘s stunning falsetto cut through the evening’s steamy air. Next, the familiar distorted intro to “Airbag” rang through the park, followed by “There There,” and a handful of tracks from In Rainbows. The playlist ranged their entire discography, save for Pablo Honey, that is. Perhaps the best moment of their entire set came during “Everything In Its Right Place,” when fireworks erupted from nearby Soldier Field that synced up perfectly with the guitar distortion in “Fake Plastic Trees.” It was, no joke, a great climax to a satisfying romp.

Lollapalooza wrapped up Sunday night in Chicago. You can check out more coverage of the festival here.

Anna Apocalypse, who blogs at Pop Apocalypse, will comment periodically at CrabbyGolightly on music.

MUSIC

Stuck a Fork In It And It Ain’t Done: Public Enemy Still Cooking With “Magnum Opus” It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back

By Elizabeth C.

ALL THE COOL KIDDIES AND WANNABES OF CHICAGO ARE HANGING OUT THIS WEEKEND AT THE PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL, A THREE-DAY ALTERNATIVE MUSIC EXTRAVAGANZA AT THE CITY’S UNION PARK.

By sheer good fortune, Crabby found herself hanging on opening night, where she expected to cut out early after she cruised the crowd, drank a root beer and perused the goodies at the craft tables.

But then Public Enemy took the stage, and Crabby pinched her way to the middle of the crowd where she could partake in the 20th anniversary celebration of PE’s widely acclaimed album It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back, regularly ranked among the best albums ever recorded. That spot was evident on Friday night as the product seemed fresh picked from the hood, no expiration date evident. Twenty years late, Crabby’s gonna have to buy the CD.

Chuck D and Flava Flav, wearing his trademark oversized wall clock (which Crabby swears she saw last week at Target) promised to rock until organizers pulled the plug, performing 45 minutes past the closing time and ignoring ‘flashes’ tipping them that it was time to end the show.

Yet the group’s clearly provocative lyrics — along with some political verbal bombs thrown in for good measure — (“Fuck George Bush!” was a recurring theme; and maybe I’m imaging things, but I could swear there was some allusion to Obama as the “coming Messiah.” ) seemed to have lost the power that they surely had two decades ago. In the interim, Public Enemy’s become a well-packaged product that’s easily sellable to the largely white appreciative crowd populating Pitchfork. I guess that means we’ve come a long way, huh?

Pitchfork continues threw Sunday night with performances by Animal Collective, The Hold Steady, Dinosaur Jr., Spoon, and Cut Copy among others. Tixs are sold out but of course there are those to be had through scalpers. You can catch some of the performances through the festival’s live feed here.

POP CANDY

Poetry In Motion: 826Chicago Holds A ‘Prom’

AT LAST! CRABBY HAS IDENTIFIED ONE SUBSET OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE TRUE "CHANGE" AGENTS IN THE WORLD: the hipgeek volunteers of 826Chicago, an afterschool writing and tutoring group formed by that real life wonder boy Dave Eggers. Once he got rich off his cry-in-your-milk novel, "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” the genius then took some of his gold and gave it away! (FYI, Crabby sobbed while reading that book.)

The result is seven drop-in tutor centers dotting the U.S. that bring joy to both those who give and take inside their doors. The Chicago center is, ho hum, tucked behind the The Boring Store, (big yawn!) in the city’s ultrahip and urbanest neighborhood, Wicker Park. Last month, the center held a "prom" to raise money for the nonprofit tutoring center. Check out Sarah J’s photos on Flickr. Then sob with joy upon realizing you have found your true peer group. Once that’s out of your system, sign up to volunteer!