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Regardless, when the DOJ does eventually release its report, it could find that there were no “patterns or practices” of civil rights abuses within CPD, thus clearing the department. Or, as it has in 27 other jurisdictions—including Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Baltimore—it could find that CPD has indeed been systematically violating citizens’ civil rights through the use of excessive force, discriminatory policing, unlawful search and seizure, or other practices....

Jeff Elstone Nika Roza Danilova, aka Zola Jesus I was pretty surprised the first couple of times I listened to Taiga (Mute), the latest album from Wisconsin native Nika Roza Danilova (aka Zola Jesus). Her voice remains as dramatic and forceful as ever, with a strong thread of viscous darkness, but her songs trade in her old goth introversion for something bright, larger-than-life, and, at times, seriously hooky. Some of the songs shoot for wide-angle pop, propelled by big electronic-dance-music beats and the singer’s even bigger, brassier voice, replete with bittersweet, soaring harmony overdubs and phrasing that clearly borrows some of its swoops and curlicues from modern R&B....

Willy Wonka inspired generations of kids to dream of owning a chocolate factory when they grew up—but Sara Miller and Mary and Michael Ervin have achieved it in real life. Ethereal Confections isn’t a factory on the scale of Wonka’s, and there’s no chocolate river. But they do make their own chocolate from cocoa beans, which they turn into truffles, peanut butter cups, and bars in flavors like pistachio-cranberry or strawberry with rose petal and pink peppercorn....

Chicago Craft Beer Week is a bit of a misnomer. Its hundreds of events don’t fit into just seven days. There are beer dinners and specials, tap takeovers, and collaborative releases at bars and restaurants around Chicago (and extending into the suburbs, which boast plenty of breweries these days). Things kick off tomorrow with Beer Under Glass and conclude a week from Saturday with the Welles Park Craft Beer Fest....

After a mixed reception for their 2008 instrumental album The Effects of 333, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club seemed to be on a stabler course with the addition of Leah Shapiro, who took over the drum throne from Nick Jago. Unfortunately, it’s been a truly rough decade for raucous San Francisco rock band. In 2010, bassist Robert Levon Been lost his father, Michael, who was also the band’s sound engineer, to a heart attack during a festival in Europe....

When it comes to infamous female serial killers, Aileen Wuornos has nothing on the 16th century’s Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian countess who allegedly drank—and even bathed in—the blood of virgins in order to stay youthful in those pre-Goop days. In Bloody Bathory, playwright Millie Rose (who also plays the countess) follows the lead of Sleep No More and many other immersive “choose your own adventure” shows by setting the action in several rooms of an Edgewater church....

Since the last embers of 2015 died away, I have spent the past few days peering into the future of the nation’s bookshelves. Alas, I cannot see very much beyond June, and the status of The Winds of Winter, the latest in George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series (aka Game of Thrones) remains murky. But if you think you missed some of the finer plot points of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, boy do I have some good news for you: there are nearly 300 novelizations, encyclopedias, and visual dictionaries to help you out, not to mention an art-therapy coloring book (due 2/25, Egmont) and a new memoir by Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist, 4/26, Blue Rider)!...

One of the saddest things about the pending Chicago Teachers Union strike is how the CTU has to try to force Mayor Lori Lightfoot to hire more social workers, librarians, and nurses—and lower class sizes. Before I get to the details, a few words about the 2012 strike. Contrary to what you may have seen or heard, corporate, civic, and editorial Chicago were against that one too, often employing the same language to make their case....

Chile has long had a robust garage and psych scene, and one of the season’s most understatedly fun rock albums comes from Santiago. The four veteran musicians of the Versions joined forces in 2004, and their charming third album, the new Calling Lucifer, blends 70s rock and garage with a touch of glammy sleaze that feels more like a wink and a grin than it does an actual endorsement of debauchery (think Flamin’ Groovies vs....

Singer-songwriters Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have been playing folk-rock guitar and singing harmonies together since the early 80s, when they were high school students in Decatur, Georgia. In 1985, they began performing as the Indigo Girls, and their earnest lyrics and dual guitars earned them a loyal and dedicated fan base that grew exponentially after the 1988 release of their self-titled second album (which was also their major-label debut). An Indigo Girls concert can feel like a fun night at summer camp: nearly everyone sings along....

The Chicago schoolkids who make up Mariachi Herencia de Mexico had a hell of a summer in 2017. The band, whose members range in age from 11 to 18, had formed in March 2016, and last May they released their first record, Nuestra Herencia. It debuted at number two on iTunes’ U.S. Latino Albums chart, and in July the group appeared with crossover Mexican-American singer Lila Downs at Ravinia. In August they performed at the prestigious Joe’s Pub in New York, then flew to Guadalajara, Mexico, to play a major mariachi festival....

Al Podgorski Wait, so, how many students have gone missing from CPS, Barbara Byrd-Bennett? Over the last few days, I’ve been watching Mayor Rahm work his magic in the mayoral debates, where he answers questions however he wants, regardless of what he’s been asked. “I cut a deal with Alderman Burke in which I let him keep his police bodyguars and his finance committee chairmanship and pretty much anything else he wants, including, apparently, around-the-clock snow removal service....

UPDATE Sunday, March 15: this event has been canceled. Refunds available at point of purchase. Dan Clancy’s four-person play about two couples living a middling life in a middle-class suburb, Middletown, is the kind of middlebrow play you go to when you don’t want your emotions stirred up or your assumptions about life challenged, and you don’t want to work very hard to figure out what it all means. It is 90 minutes worth of Kodak moments from the lives of Clancy’s characters—from first dates, first meetings, and first days of school, through sudden departures, final partings, last moments—all presented in series of reminiscences that skim along the surface of life, inspiring sweet smiles, lighthearted chuckles, and occasional glances at the watch to see how soon this all ends....

Seeking: marriage-minded man Occupation: CEO of TransTech Social Enterprises What do you do when you’re not working? Her friend says: “Angelica is stunningly gorgeous (a former model), recently launched her own business, and was MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry’s first ‘Foot Soldier of the Week’ for 2015.” Writing and playing music. Smoker? No. Pets? Dog lover! I’m coparenting a dog with current roommate. Dietary restrictions? None—I eat everything. Children? No, but open to them....

Late last month, Chicago rapper and teaching artist Matt Muse launched the second annual Love & Nappyness Hair Care Drive. Muse and his volunteer team are collecting hair- and skin-care products for Chicagoans in need—shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, aftershave, soap, deodorant, individually packaged razors, and the like. Last year, the drive distributed more than 500 items, and Muse hopes to double that this year. The six drop-off locations include both Trap House Chicago stores and the Silver Room, and you can donate money via Cash App ($MattMuse12), Venmo (@MattMuse12), or PayPal (MattMuseMGMT@gmail....

Director J.J. Abrams leans in hard on our nostalgia for the previous Star Wars trilogies with the ninth entry in the saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. If a creature was cute, they make an appearance. If a Jedi Master was wise, their voice will most assuredly emanate from the Dolby Atmos speaker above you. The Rise of Skywalker is certainly fun and moves at an especially zippy pace in its first half....

On December 1, 2015, school superintendent Diane Cepela called her son Matt at Central DuPage Hospital in west-suburban Winfield, where the 24-year-old was undergoing treatment for crippling clinical depression. She’d found a long-term residential home near Los Angeles that she thought he’d like, one offering nontraditional therapy options like acupuncture and surfing. When Matt didn’t return her messages, Diane felt a pang of motherly instinct: something was wrong. Diane characterizes Matt, who lived with his family in Shorewood, just west of Joliet, as a highly intelligent young man with a “gentle heart” who was passionate about computer programming, music, the Blackhawks, and politics (particularly Bernie Sanders)....

TOP Miller and Karczewski are designing sets and lights (respectively) for Mercury Theater Chicago’s Spamalot, one of at least four fall shows with design crews that are exclusively femme, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming. (Miller just earned a Jeff nomination for her set for First Folio Theatre’s production of All Childish Things, while Karczewski is nominated for her lighting design for A Chorus Line with Porchlight Music Theatre.) After 25 years in the business, Weber has thoughts....

The covers of Main 13, the official magazine of the Chicago Police Department published between 1921 and 1923, seem to allude, at first glance, to simpler times for Chicago cops. The glossy magazine ran winsome illustrations of a traffic cop escorting smiling, well-dressed children across the street, a patrolman supervising a game of marbles, and a mounted officer delivering a hot meal to a widow on Christmas. Only the cover of the November 1922 issue depicting a copper shooting into dark alley hints at the dangers police faced nearly 100 years ago....

Marionette-like figures in colorful, exaggerated costumes dance on and off the stage, opening little doors to reveal light boxes with wreaths, dolls, and other tokens of Christmastime before Mary Zimmerman’s transcendent adaptation of this Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale even begins. It’s a signal that there’s something special behind closed doors and, indeed, this production is a delight from start to finish, all the more amazing for the fact that nary a word is uttered....