Tag Archives: chicago

6 Fun Things to Do in Chicago

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Chicago, also known as the Windy City, has been listed as an alpha global city for its economy, high standard of education, and tourism. 

It is one of the top-visited cities in the USA as it has some of the most stunning attractions 

and several famous landmarks. It is also famous for its delicious food, varying further than the Chicago dog and deep-dish pizza. 

If you are new to Chicago, AmericanOtels.com can assist you with finding the best deals for your stay, one with cab facilities and close to where you want to explore!

While there are many exciting things to see, here are the 6 fun things you can do in Chicago.

  1. Visit the Museums, a few honorable mentions are:
  • The Field Museum: It is home to anthropological and biological collections. This enormous natural history museum covers 480,000 square feet. The main attractions include the ancient Egyptian artifacts and the “Evolving Planet” exhibit.
  • Art Institute of Chicago: Thousands of sculptures, paintings, drawings, and photos are displayed throughout its vast halls and galleries. If it’s your first time, be sure to visit the Modern Wing for contemporary art collections. Other notable mentions are the works of Van Gogh and Andy Warhol and the Thorne Miniatures Rooms in the basement. 
  • Chicago History Museum: Formerly known as the Chicago Historical Society, this museum has a range, it exhibits historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln down to the city’s delicacies like the Chicago-style hot dog! It houses several artifacts, photographs, and publications, documenting the city’s rich history.
  1. Don’t miss out on the street food
  • Deep dish Pizza and Hotdogs: The iconic deep-dish pizzas and hot dogs are commonly associated with Chicago, and rightfully so! They can be found anywhere in the city. The pizza is cheesy and comes with a variety of toppings and the Chicago dogs are seasoned with sweet and spicy sauces, spices, and herbs. They are commonly found in tourist spots such as malls, bars, hotels, and parks.
  • Italian Sandwiches: They are a very integral part of the street food in Chicago as they were created here. It is a must-try! 
  • Food trucks: The best way to truly enjoy the street food in Chicago are the food trucks. You can choose from a wide variety of food options: tacos, empanadas, grilled cheese sandwiches, ice-creams, and burgers. Cuisines from different cultures are available too such as Cajun food,  Korean delicacies, Indian delicacies, etc. 
  1. Ice Skating

If you’re in Chicago for the winter, you have to add ice skating to the bucket list. If it’s your first time and you’re not so sure if you’ll be able to, you’re in luck! Skating rinks in Chicago take into consideration both first-timers and pros alike. 

They have beautiful views of the skyline while nearby, serving hot drinks and snacks. Hyde Park for example has a massive rink that is an affordable option. 

  1. Music and Nightlife

There are so many options to choose from as Chicago has a plethora of bars and nightclubs.  There’s the Underground; the city’s most affluent dance club, Flash Dance Club; inspired by Andy Warhol’s Factory, The Second City Theatre Chicago described as surreal, musical, and entertaining all at once, The Whistler is a cocktail lounge bar that has an art gallery, in-house record label and is a live music venue weekly jazz series, DJs, LGBTQ dance parties, and so much more! 

  1. Learn of the City’s Gangster Era

Delve into Chicago’s gangster tour, visit historic crime scenes, and learn of infamous criminals like John Dillinger and Al Capone. Combine it with a ghost tour to get an added bone-chilling experience!

  1. Helicopter and Architecture Tour

The Windy City by day can be seen in its picturesque glory but by night, the skyline is absolutely magical when seen from a bird’s eye view. The pilot provides fascinating insights into the culture and history of the city.

Coming down to the waters of the Chicago River, there’s no better vantage point to admire the architecture, which is historic and unique. You’ll pass the Willis Tower, the old Post Office Building, the East Bank Club, and plenty more.

So, there you have it. Not everything in this beautiful city can be witnessed in one visit, use this as a guide to see as much as you can! 

Collaborative post.

Rival Empire “Self-Titled” | Music News

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Band/Artist: Rival Empire
Location: Chicago, IL
Styles: Alternative Pop/Rock, Synth-Pop, Electronic Dance-Rock, New Wave
Similar to/RIYL: Duran Duran, Cut Copy, The Killers, Friendly Fires
CD: (Self-Titled): Rival Empire
Members/Instruments: Steve Rivera – (Riv): All Electronic Instruments: Drums, Bass, Guitar,
Piano, Synths, MIDI, and Vocals.
Matt Koliopoulos – (MFK): Lead Vocals.
Tim Franz – (Frantana): Rhythm & Lead Guitar.

Production: Steve Rivera: Producer, Recording & Mixing Engineer
Primary Recording & Mixing took place in: Home Studio, as well as, “The
Bunker” on Paulina / 35th Street Studios in Chicago, IL.
Final Stem Mix/Mastering Completed By: Crazy Daisy Productions in
Beaverton, Oregon.

Bio: The Rival Empire is an idea, born out of randomness and captured in the moment. The Album came from the most simple of beginnings. Two old college buddies, lets call them Matt & Steve, were hanging out one summer night when Matt said, “Hey, let write some songs.” Steve’s response, “For sure.” A few months down the road our two old friends met a new gentlemen along the way, lets call him Tim, and said “Hey Tim, we’re writing some tunes”. Tim’s response, “I’m in.” And so there were three, and so they wrote…

After writing their first three songs they realized that each of the songs were very different from one another, radically different in fact. They had started off by writing a dance song, a reggae song, and electronic rock song. At this point they probably should have questioned what in the hell it was that they were trying to accomplish. But that question never arose, and an idea did instead. That idea was the Rival Empire.

The Rival Empire was from then on not meant to be about writing a single genre album with a common style. However, the album was not necessarily meant to be about genre chaos either. They simply wanted it to be free from the more familiar structures of the “mainstream” album. Once you give the album a good listen you will clearly see that they still wanted to capture the essence of several popular genres, with the “Theme” serving as the main commonality and unifying factor. The principal theme here is an introspective and often satirical look into oneself, society, and pop/mainstream culture. Interestingly enough, throughout the writing
process, sometimes the best way to convey that theme was through the combination of genres within a single song, ie. Casino. Also, taking it a step further they also found that integrating key portions of popular songs into there own work added the artistic and satirical punctuation necessary to deliver their intended message, i.e. Reagan’s Rancho Del Cielo, Cameo Crush, Casino.

(Rival Empire would like to take a moment here in advance to respectfully thank: Phil Collins, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, Ronald Reagan, Christie Brinkley and their corresponding Publishers/Rights Owners, for their understanding of Rival Empire’s artistic use of repurposed lyrics and minor compositional melodies from: One More Night, Little Lies, Billie Jean, Ronald Reagan’s excerpts, and Ms. Brinkley’s namesake, respectively. All of the above uses were designed carefully to
fall under the fair use protection of section 107 of the Copyright Act. The uses of these works are clearly transformative and parodic, intended to serve as comment and social criticism. The key factor here being social criticism and commentary, as there is no intention of malice toward the above-mentioned persons.)

Beyond taking the above-mentioned artistic liberties, our friends at the Rival Empire, simply wanted to write songs that they enjoyed and that hopefully provide some meaning to you as the listener. This is a crucial element, because the Rival Empire isn’t only about the creation of what might seem to be at times, outlandish music. It’s also about we as people and viewing ourselves from a different perspective. Creative expression, social criticism, plain old fun, and free thinking is part of the essence of who we are as people. So if we all for a moment can step out of our collective structures and into the randomness, we can rise as a Rival Empire.

Maps & Atlases – Beware and Be Grateful | Music Review

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I must confess that before being given this to review, I didn’t know of Maps & Atlases. Having listened to their new album “Beware and Be Grateful” I’m still not sure I know them. Getting to grips with them is a tough grind but wonderful, nonetheless.

The band formed in 2004 at art school in Chicago and in that time they’ve grooved their way from being a pure math rock/post rock band to making beautiful pop music but based on the old math-rock principles of signature time changes. We’ll call it Math-pop.

The record begins with “Old And Gray”, a six minute affair that doesn’t exactly blow the doors off of the house that is “Beware and Be Grateful”, but tiptoes gently in and makes a nice cup of tea. It’s clever. It knows it doesn’t need to be route one. It will sit waiting for you in the living room, until you come to and will assassinate you there and then. It’s pop Jim, but not as we know it!

“Fever” moves towards more straightforward pop music and “Winter” is very much in the same vein. Both songs have a million things going on behind the music in the way of vocals and music. It’s all incredibly well arranged – a beautiful layering of the music and backed up by soft electronic beats. On “Remote and Dark Years” Dave Davison’s lush baritone vocal has more than a tilt towards Paul Simon and the song has a lot in common with his African moments.

Throughout the record you can hear morsels of the influences behind the record – all sorts. From Vampire Weekend to Paul Simon to Secret Machines to Joeyfat but built around those math-rock principles. It’s a stunning mix but it’s a mix that needs to be played in the order it was made – no skipping, no shuffle etc. I don’t they Maps & Atlases have quite realised that the internet has rendered the album superfluous but their ignorance is our gain – a finer collection of songs you’ll struggle to find all year.

 

“Beware and Be Grateful” is released 17th April 2012. They tour the UK from 16th – 20th April.

 

Christie Brinkley sizzles in Chicago

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Christie Brinkley sizzles as she makes her debut as Roxie Hart in musical ‘Chicago’ at London’s Cambridge Theatre. The four-times married beauty has always vowed never to wed again, but we bet she certainly won’t be short of admirers!