Your Chicago Curated Weekend: 11/15 – 11/18

As per usual, the holidays have started to pour in and take over the city. Whether it's the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival or the huge amount of markets ready to supply you with gifts for friends and family, Chicago is in the midst of winter holidays. So why not make the best of it and indulge in all the music, movies, museums and fun this season has to offer. Go out even if it is blisteringly cold in these snow showers, enjoy this amazing city we reside in! Let's get on with your curated weekend! THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15th 2018 Button-O-Matic Artist Series: Paws and Pin-Backs, 3407 W Armitage Ave, 5:00pm - 8:00pm, All Ages WHAT: Puppies and Buttons! What’s not to love? SO WHAT: This is your chance to support a great no-kill, all breed dog rescue! Paws and Pin-Backs, Busy Beaver’s 2018 Button-O-Matic Artist Series will benefit Chicago’s One Tail at a Time. Learn more about adoption with OTAT’s Adoption Station), enjoy refreshments from Off Color Brewing, and collect all the pet-tastic buttons in this series, which features purrfect pins from 10 talented artists that you’ll go mutts over! NOW WHAT: It’s free! Go RSVP at their event page to let the know your going! Adler After Dark: Chicago 2033 @ The Adler Planetarium. 1300 S Lake Shore Dr, 6:00pm - 10:00pm, 21+ WHAT: Travel between 1933 to 2033 from the comfort of your local planetarium! SO WHAT: This edition of Adler After Dark will transport you across time to experience the past and what could come of the future! There will be plenty of fun events and activations throughout! Travel back to 1933 with Chicago 00, an immersive VR project (produced in collaboration with the Chicago History Museum and filmmaker Geoffrey Alan Rhodes), explore select objects and prints from the Fair and a special pop-up program with One Book, One Chicago and the Chicago Public Library, discover technologies of the near-future (from  Array of Things, Plant Chicago, The James Dyson Foundation, and more), and commemorate your experience with a postcard or poem from Poems While You Wait! NOW WHAT: Tickets are $20 for general admission and $15 for members. Make it a night to remember! BYOB Drink N' Draw @ Rotofugi Designer Toy Store & Gallery, 2780 N Lincoln Ave, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, 21+ WHAT: BYOB drawing in a toy store/gallery SO WHAT: Blake Jones will be hosting a fun evening of drawing, sketching and doodling! You can participate in the creative outlet while enjoying your favorite adult beverages, BYOB. No matter what skill level you reside at, all are welcome! NOW WHAT: Grab your favorite drink of choice and enjoy it responsibly while partaking in some creativity! FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16th - 18th Chicago Art Book Fair 2018 @ Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, 12 S Michigan Ave, 5:00pm - 9:00pm, All Ages WHAT: A chance to support writers and artists SO WHAT: The Chicago Art Book Fair is a showcase for emerging directions and diverse legacies within small press arts publishing. The fair features an international group of 125 arts publishers, small presses, book artists, comics artists, zinemakers and printmakers, with satellite programming and after parties. NOW WHAT:  It is free and open to the public. FRIDAY & SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16th & 17th Little Shop of Horrors With Live Shadowcast @ Music Box Theatre, 3733 N Southport Ave, 11:59pm, All Ages WHAT: A little change of pace from the usual Midnight Madness SO WHAT: Midnight Madness is typically the time where you get your The Rocky Horror Picture Show fix, but this time around is a special one-weekend-only treat: the 1986 classic rock musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors. Watch as Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, Levi Stubbs, and a slew of cameo try survive against Audrey II as a live Shadowcast brings the action to life! Join in on this ultimate cinematic audience participation event by singing along, cracking wise, and not feeding the plants. NO FEEDING THE PLANTS! NOW WHAT: Tickets are $9 for this great night! Enjoy the Music Box’s lounge, full bar, and concessions before the show! Preshow begins at midnight followed by a loud, raucous time. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16th Silent Art Auction @ Lo Rez Brewing, 2101 S Carpenter St., 6:00pm -10:00pm, 21+ WHAT: For fans of beer, art, and supporting Chicago’s creative community SO WHAT: Lake Shore Dive and Lo Rez Brewing are teaming up to host a Silent Art Auction to benefit local nonprofit The LYTE Collective, an organization aiming to provide homeless and impoverished youth with safe spaces, support, and critical resources. Fifteen local artists will design a unique tote bag that the public can bid on at the event, with all proceeds will be donated to The Lyte Collecitve NOW WHAT: Entry is free! Stop on by and help support this great cause! MSI After Hours: Naughty or Nice @ Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 S Lake Shore Dr., 7:00pm - 10:00pm, 21+ WHAT: Celebrate the most wonderful time of the year at MSI, 21-and-up style. SO WHAT: The Museum of Science and Industry invites you to experience the beautiful museum after it closes to the public. Kick off your holiday season with year two of Naughty or Nice by exploring MSI’s beloved Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light exhibits, listen to live music from DJ Rae Chardonnay and snap naughty—or nice—selfies with Santa Claus and Krampus! NOW WHAT: Tickets are $30 for this holiday event! Death From Above & Les Butcherettes @ Metro, 3730 N Clark St, 8:30pm, All Ages WHAT: You know that feeling when your ears are ringing for days because you went to an insanely loud concert and it was totally worth it? Yup, this is one of those. SO WHAT: Death From Above have a pretty great recipe for their insanely fun shows: take a little bit of dancey vibes, a heaping dose of punk, and slather it with some heavy, and I do mean heavy, rock vibes and you got yourself one of the loudest, near deafening shows you'll ever be glad you went to. Seriously, I last saw them in 2014 and I think I still have some ringing. And if that isn't enough, they will be joined by Mexico's Les Butcherettes! NOW WHAT: Tickets are only $25 for this excellent show. Swamp Dogg @ The Promontory, 5311 S Lake Park Ave, 7:00pm, All Ages WHAT: An amazing soul singer you need to see SO WHAT: Swamp Dogg, the master of soulful southern R&B, is on tour and coming to Chicago! He's been making amazing albums with bizarre titles and wild cover art, full of subversive lyrics and funky instruentals for years and this is a rare opportunity to see him live! He is touring in support of his latest release, Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune on Joyful Noise Records, an album that takes his style into new territory produced by Polica's Ryan Olsen with auto-tune reworked by Justin Vernon. Honestly, this is a can't miss show. NOW WHAT: Tickets are $20 for this incredible night. Don't hesitate! SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17th Mousetrap One Year Anniversary & Tiki Party @ Off Color Brewing – Mousetrap, 460 N Kingsbury St, 11:00am - Midnight, 21+ WHAT: A one year celebration! SO WHAT: How does Off Color Brewing celebrate one year of their taproom the Mousetrap being open?! By tapping every single beer they've brewed at the Mousetrap this yea! From Eeek! to the yet to be released Cygnet, they’ll leave no Mousetrap beer untapped. They'll even be doing a draft-only sneak preview of three yet to be released foedre beers that day. And there will also be tiki drinks. Because it ain’t a tiki party without any tiki drinks. NOW WHAT: Entry is free! Go celebrate! Butcher Billy's Freakiest Show! @ All Star Press, 2775 N Milwaukee Ave., 6:00pm - 10:00pm, All Ages WHAT: Some much needed punch to the gut of pop art SO WHAT: Butcher Billy is graphic designer with more than a decade working in the advertising industry. He also happens to be an artist, despite never thinking of himself as such. His style combines pop culture icons like Chance the Rapper, Michael Jordan, Johnny Cash, Notorious B.I.G. and many more with comic book explosiveness, street art bravado, and a knack for engaging designs that will have you mesmerized by how damn cool they are. He may not feel comfortable with the label of an artists, but his work says otherwise NOW WHAT: Butcher Billy's Freakiest SHOW! is free to attend and marvel at, so get to it! The Sea and Cake / Michael Vallera / Gia Margaret @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N Western Ave, 7:00pm, 21+ WHAT: A legendary Chicago band playing a legendary Chicago venue SO WHAT: With 25 years under their belts and 10 albums, The Sea and Cake deserve their revered spot on Chicago's musical history. Any Day, their 11th album, is the band's first written and recorded as the three-piece of Sam Prekop, John McEntire, and Archer Prewitt, following the departure of founding member and bassist Eric Claridge. Singles "These Falling Arms" and "Any Day" already show that the band is adding another excellent album to their impressive discography. Check out Jessica Roger's review of the album and one of their previous shows at Empty Bottle! They will be joined by prolific artist and collaborator Michael Vallera and the beautifully eclectic sounds of Gia Margaret. NOW WHAT: Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 day of show. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18th The Funky Brunch w/ Autograf @ Headquarters Beercade, 213 W Institute Pl, Noon ,21+ WHAT: It's the return of The Funky Brunch with hometown act Autograf! SO WHAT: The Funky Brunch, presented by Paradigm and Headquarters, is on a mission to make America funky again and for their return they've enlisted the help of some great DJs! Autograf will be on hand to create some great dance music vibes that are poised to be the perfect way to spend your Sunday! GoodSex, Alissa.jo, and Align will also be spinning throughout the day! NOW WHAT: Tickets are available for $15 and are rising! Get in on this day of brunch and dancing as quick as you can! Bookstravaganza – An Indie Book Fair @ The Reveler, 3403 N Damen Ave., 3:00pm -7:00pm, 21+ WHAT: An opportunity to support local publishers! SO WHAT: Join several wonderful Chicago presses for an afternoon of indie lit. Buy great books for the discerning readers on your holiday shopping list–and stay at the Reveler for the star-studded Sunday Salon Chicago reading series right afterwards! Participating presses include Rose Metal Press, Allium Press, Featherproof, 7Vientos, Tortoise Books, and MAKE Literary Productions! NOW WHAT: It’s free! Just bring some money to get yourself and friends some excellent books!