A few days before the mayoral primary, a waiter friend told me he was voting for Stanford Glazer. “Stan’s been in the restaurant business and knows what it’s like to work hard and get his hands dirty,” he said. The same day, a bartender I know told me he could never vote for Glazer. “Stan destroyed the greatest restaurant in…
Before the original Houlihan’s — the thirty-year-old Houlihan’s Old Place — closed the doors on its Country Club Plaza location last November, Gail Lozoff, the restaurant chain’s chief concept officer, arranged for “protesters” in headbands and peace symbols to picket in front of the building with signs. It was a publicity stunt; the faux hippies were not actually protesting anything…
Tractor Don likes things that endure, things that adapt and survive the decades. Particularly, he likes the antique pedal tractors he collects and restores; they’re made of sturdy aluminum, as opposed to the rust-prone steel used on earlier models. “The only way you can destroy these tractors is by backing over them with a truck,” says Tractor Don, the Merriam…
Thursday, March 6, 2003 Her first book, The Boyfriend Test, explained to women what they should look for in a man. In her latest quiz-happy installment, The Girlfriend Test, Wendy Walsh tells women what behaviors they should curb to attract “commitment-minded men.” (A tendency to menstruate is one of them: “Are you aware of how your menstrual cycle can…
Regina Compernolle was working toward her master’s degree in psychology when she called it quits. She was still interested in psychology, but something was missing. “It didn’t deal with the spiritual level at all,” she explains. On her own, Compernolle started studying more experimental schools of thought — Jungian psychology and astrology. Now she’s combining the two with an…
This is a story with a happy ending, because, so far, nothing bad has happened to indicate otherwise. There are no ratings to sweat over, no network executives to fight with, no cancellations to suffer through. The rough territories lie ahead, over the horizon of 8:30 p.m. this Sunday, when a new show debuts on Fox that features no blockhead…
Monkey see, monkey do — and then some — is the leitmotif of Theatre for Young America’s Curious George, Douglas Marr’s adaptation of the H.A. and Margaret Rey books. Under Missy Koonce’s playful direction, a comically gifted cast brings a purposeful cartoon sensibility to the picturesque yet flat children’s stories. Ry Kincaid is the titular simian, and costumer Valerie…
Writing for the musical Anything Goes, Cole Porter penned the line Well, if baby, I’m the bottom, you’re the top. How could he have known it would wind up in the public domain — and become the perfect opening song for a canoodling pair of gay detectives? Late Night Theatre lifts it and several more songs from the 1930s…
Twelve years ago, with George Bush père in the White House and a U.S.-led war winding down in Iraq, the Bristol, England, collective Massive Attack released Blue Lines, its debut album and the acknowledged prototype for what would become trip-hop. Soon after, the group bowdlerized its own name, briefly jettisoning “Attack” in an odd sort of peace protest. Now, with…
Rock bands shouldn’t cover Nirvana. Recontextualizing such deeply personalized lyrics — lines stained with blood and stomach-churned bile — destroys the soul of the song, and no chord adjustment or tonal alteration, no matter how creative, can resuscitate it. Instrumental jazz trios, though, can feel free to give it a go. Bad Plus’ “Smells Like Teen Spirit” pounds out…
The last time Chan Marshall, the singer and songwriter who records under the name Cat Power, appeared in the area, the ratio of songs started to songs finished was about 2-to-1. That’s better than average for her. Known for her onstage demeanor (a spellbinding collision of lacerating shyness and tantrum-ready frustration) as much as for her hypnotic albums, Marshall seems…
What’s in a name? For the traditional Irish folk group Dervish, quite a bit. The root of the band’s chosen moniker is a Persian word that once denoted religious orders of poverty-avowed monks known for their enthusiastic displays of prayer and worship. It’s also a name that easily finds a home in Celtic traditions. Given the mystical spirit of the…
With the mainstream’s full-nelson embrace of pop-punk set to go the way of the economy any day, Tsunami Bomb might be the genre’s last band left alive. The Northern California quartet certainly has all the right moves: fun-loving spirit, an affinity for the road and songs as catchy as the common cold. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the…
After five years, the Arrivals’ sensitive blue-collar rebels still haven’t tired of hammering three chords into the ground. Still, the Chicago-based group’s fanbase doesn’t vary in size, because as jaded elders lose interest, na&ium1;ve progeny appear. On the band’s latest effort, Exsensator Orange, it betters its draw by adding a jolt of hard-rock dynamism and angsty melodies that should drive…
Though he leaves the words to an ever-changing cast of underground lyricists, DJ Vadim played a part in one of recent history’s most memorable musical statements. On “Your Revolution,” a single from his 1999 disc U.S.S.R.: Life From the Other Side, spoken-word artist Sarah Jones delivers a scathing critique of sexist hip-hop, with lines such as Your revolution will…
Japan’s DJ Krush, whose debut disc, 1994’s Strictly Turntablized, ranks with DJ Shadow’s Entroducing as one of abstract instrumental hip-hop’s initial masterstrokes, excels at mixing rock and reggae riffs with robotic rhythms. His discs serve as high-profile open-mic forums, showcasing members of the Roots and MC Inden, who raps in his native Japanese. Only the lyricists’ disembodied voices will appear…
Too often, contemporary blues artists resort to sterile character studies, singing about the trials and tribulations of stock fictional characters instead of mining their own emotions. By contrast, Mem Shannon, one of the genre’s last angry men, remains refreshingly candid about his own concerns. When this former taxi driver sings I’m sick of these S.O.B.s driving their SUVs, it’s…
Forget Maggots, Deadheads and the Kiss Army — Juggalos are music’s most devoted fans. Sporting Shakes-the-Clown face paint and postmodern hairdos, the devotees of Insane Clown Posse certainly know how to make an impression on concert night. You’ve gotta admire an audience that rocks with serial-killing, Faygo-drenching, breast-flashing abandon, yet adheres to a strict code of brotherhood and good…
A flash of green, a splash of a favorite libation and the inviting strains of an Irish jig can tide the winter-weary masses over until spring starts. To bridge the gap before St. Patrick’s Day, the Chicago-based Irish folk trio Bohola has arrived to put partiers in the proper spirit for spirits. With Jimmy Keane on accordion, Sean Cleland on…
It’s tempting to poke fun at Milemarker’s inability to keep itself intact for more than one recording and touring cycle. The band has featured more short-term members than a midget porn flick and endured more lineup changes than Saturday Night Live — its arena reunion tour would have more folks onstage than in the audience. But Milemarker’s continual evolution has…
Touted by the UK press as the newest, nextest, nowest big thing to come out of Detroit Rock City since Jack and Meg White, Electric Six will either own up to its hype or die by the buzz saw. E6 (like so many other faux-fresh outfits out of Motown) has been around for several years, but it’s just now breaking…
At the height of its fame in the late ’50s and early ’60s, the Dave Brubeck Quartet was hailed by fans and panned by pundits, an age-old story of popularity breeding critical contempt. Time typically erases such ironies, and often, as in Brubeck’s case, the full force of influence becomes even more celebrated as the years pass. Back then,…
Reconstituted after cofounder John Davis dropped out of the old Folk Implosion in 2001, the New Folk Implosion includes cofounder Lou Barlow, his former Sebadoh bandmate Russell Pollard and Pollard’s bandmate in Alaska!, Imaad Wasif. That’s confusing, but it was much more so before, which is why Barlow decided to simplify matters. With only one plate spinning, he’ll no…
For several years, Eleni Mandell’s cover of Tammy Wynette’s “Don’t Touch Me” has ended her whirlwind shows on a wary, wistful note. Finally, Mandell commits this tune to record on Country for True Lovers, the pop princess’ pitch-black tribute to twang. Given her knack for writing about ruined relationships, dangerously delusional damsels and violent crimes, Mandell seems suited for a…
