Don’t-miss picks for 07.29.09 through 08.04.09: The Loop gets its long-awaited sexual Awakening … Lakeview drowns its sorrows at the thought of a beer-free Wrigley … The hands-down-best singer in Chicago belts in back-to-back gigs … SNL’s “Pat” returns—now 100-percent woman … A local lit darling lays out the carpet squares … and more
A trio of rereleases prompt musicians to pay quiet homage to an ex-Wilco member, Jay Bennett
Put the “free” back in “free time” with these don’t-miss picks for the week of 07.22.09 through 07.28.09: harrowing derring-do in the heart of downtown … family road trips, now with more lasers … a small-town fest with a taste for kitsch—and pierogis
The reigning “prince” of crime fiction returns
A guide to the burgeoning West Side
Four musical insiders handicap the summer music calendar
Some of our favorite looks from the three-day music fest
. . . without getting a sneaker in your pasta salad
Five picks for the Pitchfork Music Festival (July 17-19, Union Park, pitchforkmusicfestival.com) from Mark Richardson, managing editor of Pitchfork.com
In July, two concerts for a Chicago music enthusiast’s memory book
