Rink at Wrigley

Printers Ball Embrace the art of the letterpress with the Windy City’s love letter to print culture. When: Saturday Where: Hubbard Street Lofts Cost: Free Tip: In the event of sudden writerly inspiration, pop over to the Aberdeen Tap and scribble out your latest character breakthrough over a pint from its generous beer list. Rumors of print’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, and the bookmakers, artists, and publishers behind the annual Printers Ball are here to prove it. This year’s theme is Trip & Return, a movement-oriented prompt that examines print’s role in everything from traditional books to the worlds of culinary, musical, and visual arts. Learn the ins and outs of bookbinding with an interactive workshop, explore the evolution of the bookmobile with Read/Write Library’s BiblioTreka Mobile Library, or watch artists from the Spudnik Press Cooperative screenprint your commemorative tote bags while you wait. If all that book love becomes too much to handle, grab restorative snacks from Ice-Cubed ice cream and 5411 Empanadas, or simply cool out and listen to free jazz performances curated by Elastic Arts Foundation. Fiesta del Sol The Pilsen street fair celebrates its 41st anniversary as the largest Latino cultural celebration in the Midwest. When: Friday–Sunday Where: 1400 W. Cermak Rd. Cost: Free Tip: For those who can’t resist a ride or seven on the Tilt-A-Whirl, Fiesta del Sol offers a mega pass ($60) good for unlimited carnival rides. Founded in 1972 as a simple block party in celebration of the Benito Juarez Leadership Academy, Fiesta del Sol has grown into a nationally renowned festival known for its dedication to social and cultural progress. Billed as the largest Latino festival in the Midwest, the four-day celebration highlights the unique intersections of Pilsen’s melting pot with installations such as a neighborhood art pavilion, live music and DJ sets, and food vendors grilling up everything from gorditas to plantains. Amid all the fun, the festival never strays far from its advocacy roots. When they’re not busy visiting the carnival or chatting with Señorita Fiesta del Sol, festivals-goers can take advantage of civic-minded services ranging from a college fair to booths dedicated to housing resources and immigrant rights. ˈsten(t)-səl When you give a street artist a stencil, he’s going to make a work of art. Probably with spray paint. When: Through Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Where: Vertical Gallery Cost: Free Tip: Act fast—ˈsten(t)-səl closes its three-week run this Saturday. Setting up shop in Ukranian Village just this year, Vertical Gallery has already landed one of the summer’s must-see group shows. As its handily phonetic name might suggest, ˈsten(t)-səl shines a light on stencils, bringing the street-art staple into a gallery setting for a show that blurs the already-out-of-focus line separating graffiti from fine-art painting. In addition to bringing in heavy hitters from across the United States (New York’s legendary John Fekner) and Europe (Germany’s massively popular XOOOOX), the show also recognizes Chicago’s contributions to the international scene. Visitors can scope out the latest work by locals including Epyon5 and Left Handed Wave, whose ubiquitous bananamen helped earn him the Best Street Artist nod in the Chicago Reader’s 2013 Best of Chicago reader’s poll. The Wright 3 Mystery Tour Unlock Frank Lloyd Wright’s deepest secrets during an investigative trip to Hyde Park’s Robie House. When: Saturdays, 1:30 p.m. Where: The Robie House Cost: $12 for kids; $15 for adults Tip: After getting to the bottom of the Robie House’s secrets, head around the corner to Powell’s Books to pick up another armload of page-turners. You’re never too young to start sleuthing. That’s the message of The Wright 3 Mystery Tour, which invites kids and adults alike to explore the hidden world of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House. Upon arriving at the prairie-style masterpiece on the campus of the University of Chicago, groups join up with a grizzled junior interpreter (actually one of the house’s specially trained fifth to tenth graders) for an afternoon of architectural detective work inspired by Blue Balliett’s novel The Wright 3. Along the way, participants catch up-close glimpses of the home’s most iconic features, from its low horizontal lines to its breathtaking panes of art glass. Studio Ghibli Returns From a mammoth cat bus to an environmentalist princess, meet the characters of Hayao Miyazaki’s early masterpieces. When: Friday and Sunday Where: Gene Siskel Film Center  Cost: $4–$11; consult the theater’s pricing information Tip: This weekend’s showings feature the latest English dubs of each movie; catch them in their original Japanese (with subtitles) during the festival’s final showings next week. As the head of Studio Ghibli and one of Japan’s foremost animators, Hayao Miyazaki helped put Japanese animation on the international and critical map with classic films including Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. This weekend, the Gene Siskel Film Center finishes up Studio Ghibli Returns—its month-long celebration of Miyazaki’s modern-day fables—with two of his most iconic early works. My Neighbor Totoro (Friday at 6:15 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.) tells the story of Mei and Satsuki, two young sisters whose unlikely friendship with a set of grinning, cuddly forest spirits helps them navigate the uncertainties of their mother’s strange illness. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Sunday at 4:45 p.m.) trades in Totoro’s pastoral magical realism for full-blown fantasy adventure. In a world ravaged by toxic war, only Nausicaä, princess of the tiny Valley of the Wind, has the will to overcome mankind’s machinations and nature’s deformed terrors to restore balance to a planet in need.

Aside from owning the best band name in a crowded indie-pop marketplace, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have a knowledge of '90s music that would shame most of their peers. The band’s self-titled debut baffled even a fair number of critics, who had to frantically Wikipedia groups like The Field Mice and Black Tambourine to make sense of what they were hearing. It’s not that The Pains play challenging music. Their wistful, guitar-driven twee pop has always been easy on the ears, even when they cranked up the distortion to Billy Corgan-esque levels on 2011’s Belong. It’s just that the band sounds like they’re out of place in the current era of pop music. With new album Days of Abandon dropping on Tuesday, May 13, we look back at some of the groups we’re, let’s say, 90% sure influenced the band: 1990: Ride – “Kaleidoscope” Ride subscribed to the My Bloody Valentine school of “That sounds good, now let’s add 87 layers of distortion.” The Pains aren’t quite so maximalist in their approach, but they do evince the same tendency to gaze at their shoes every so often. 1991: The Field Mice – “This Love Is Not Wrong” We can’t be certain, but we’d bet our Walkmans that “This Love Is Not Wrong” influenced a Pains of Being Pure at Heart song that bears an uncannily similar title. 1992: Another Sunny Day – “Anorak City” One of indie pop’s forgotten bands, Another Sunny Day enjoyed a brief, uh, moment in the sun following the release of tongue-in-cheek single “You Should All Be Murdered.” But the best song on their lovely 1992 album London Weekend is opener “Anorak City,” a response to music critics who derided indie pop as just a bunch of skinny guys singing out their feelings in form-fitting parkas. 1993: Slowdive – “Alison” Slowdive is basically My Bloody Valentine stripped of everything that resembles punk. That sounds like an insult, but it’s not. It’s also a pretty damn good description of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. That sounds like we’re giving ourselves a compliment, but we’re not. 1994: The Jesus and Mary Chain – “Sometimes Always” Sure, The Pains owe a few of their fuzzier moments to The Jesus and Mary Chain’s landmark 1985 album, Psychocandy. But their sound more closely resembles the latter days of JMC, when the band dropped the curtain of fuzz to reveal the sparkling melodies found on “Sometimes Always.” 1995: The Smashing Pumpkins – “1979” The first 10 seconds of the Pains’ second album, Belong, wallop the listener with a two-by-four of sludgy distortion. It was their way of saying, “Look! We aren’t always pretty!” Somewhere—and despite all his rage—a man named Billy Corgan smiled. 1996: Belle and Sebastian – “Get Me Away from Here, I’m Dying” What else is there to say about Belle and Sebastian? They birthed a few classic albums, a few thousand precious copycats, and a few million fake Scottish accents. Unlike the more egregious offenders, The Pains take only the best of what B & S has to offer: charming lyrics, catchy hooks, and a rather, um, sensuous love of literature (see below). 1997: Beatnik Filmstars – “Look Up and Be Amazed” Beatnik Filmstars were once members of the same Slumberland Records roster that The Pains of Being Pure at Heart now call home. But their similarities extend beyond the label—listen to “Look Up and Be Amazed” and tell us you don’t detect the seeds for a certain indie-pop band from Brooklyn. 1998: Manic Street Preachers – “If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next” The Manics were never quite as big in America as they were in England. They still seem to have wormed their way into Kip Berman’s ears, so jolly good job, lads. 1999: The Magnetic Fields – “The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side” As a final treat, we’re going to ruin this song for you forever. Listen to that squishy plunger sound in the background. Squish, squish. It never stops. Let this be a lesson to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: never use a drum track that sounds like a toilet being unclogged. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart play at the Empty Bottle (1035 N. Western Ave.) on Monday, April 28, at 8:30 p.m. Fear of Men and Ablebody open. To purchase tickets, click here. Or check out Groupon’s deals for other concerts in Chicago.

Hey. What are you doing tonight? Marathon-watching The Ghost Whisperer? Keeping an eye on that cornered possum in the living room? No, you’re not. Because you live in Chicago, a city with enough live concerts and things to do in Chicago to make seven days seem like too short of a week. So put Netflix on pause and let your cat deal with the possum tonight. Here’s our definitive guide to upcoming shows and the venues where you’ll find them: Beat Kitchen: Rock, Samba, and Burgers, Oh My! Discover new music, devour a half-pound burger, or do both at once. All things are possible at Roscoe Village’s local rock club. Bottom Lounge: Chicago’s Loudest Auto Garage When Bottom Lounge fled Lakeview for the Near West Side, it took its all-ages shows with it—then added a killer beer list and plenty of pinball. Double Door: The Heart of Wicker Park is Still Beating When you’re hunched beneath the Blue Line tracks where Milwaukee Avenue meets North and Damen, 2014 can still look an awful lot like 1994. The Empty Bottle: Music-Friendly Dancing, Wallet-Friendly Booze “Music Friendly Dancing,” reads the black awning on Western Avenue. For 20 years and counting, the Empty Bottle has been living up to that promise with dance parties and cheap drafts. The Hideout: A Well-Known Secret A refuge for old-timers and cool kids in the shadow of the Kennedy Expressway, the Hideout lives up to its name. Lincoln Hall: The Bigger, Louder Sibling to Schubas The Schuba brothers’ second venue hits all the right notes: the intimacy of their first stage, the sound of a small arena, and a dash of Chicago history. The Metro: Staying Relevant in an Ever-Evolving City While critics pen obituaries for other longtime clubs, the Metro stays young with a mix of historic moments and forward-looking concerts. Reggies: Two Stages, One Diverse Party On the easternmost edge of Chinatown, Reggies attracts music fans of every stripe with punk, heavy metal, and hip-hop concerts. The Riviera Theatre: Uptown’s Grizzled Gem The 90-year-old venue may not look as pretty as it used to, but looks don’t matter when the music’s this good. Schubas Tavern: A Former Tied House Turns to Music A Schlitz globe is etched into the western façade of Schubas, a Chicago music venue that owes its existence to the beer that made Milwaukee famous.