Introducing a newcomer to chicagomag.com: Chicago Guide: The Plan for Today—or, as the case may be, Tonight, Tomorrow, or This Weekend—an infrequent, not-at-all scheduled newsflash we’ll post whenever we’ve got an unmissable event worth sharing. These might be late-breakers that didn’t make the cutoff for our weekly Chicago Guide newsletter—which, if you’re not getting, you’re missing out; sign up here—or it might be something that ran in the Guide but is so stellar we have to play Mom and nag you about it one more time. It’s not a blog. It’s more like a blurb. Let’s call it a blerg—in a good way.

First up: For those of you not beholden to a time clock, do the rest of us a favor and catch a show we’ll be daydreaming about: a just-announced free in-store gig by the legendary half-Chicago/half-UK punk band the Mekons. Jon Langford, Sally Timms, and Co. will play Raffe’s Record Riot (4350 N. Cicero Ave.; 773-725-1327) and sign vinyl today, Thursday, at 3:45 p.m. For those of us not able to gallivant about the city at will, there’s also an 8 p.m. concert at Schubas for $20.