Right Here, Right Now

On Friday, October 16 it’s the return of the Bear Shower Contest @ Spin.  The contest begins @ midnight with $150 for the winner and $50 for the runner-up.  That same night there are fantastic dancing options: MEN & Gossip After Party w/ JD Samson and DJ Greg Haus @ Berlin; Detroit techno legend DJ Jeff Mills @ Smart Bar; international house music superstar Erick Morillo @ Spy Bar; and rising local star DJ Brett Locascio presenting hi-energy dance beats @ Hydrate… More big names hit the city of Saturday, October 17, including Tracy Young @ Hydrate, Roger Sanchez @ Crobar; and DJs Heather & Miles Maeda @ Smart Bar… Over at Circuit Night Club AMIGO is hosting a Paulino Rubio After-party w/ DJ Ink and a special performance by Eddie Couture while the Wild Pug presents its monthly Make Me An Underwear Model contest, hosted by Miss Foozie with DJ Oskar on the decks… The live production Annee Pocalypse! continues until October 24 @ Hydrate on Fridays & Saturdays with performances starting at 9pm.  This very adult parody of the family-friendly Broadway show Annie is presented by Hubris Productions and is not to be missed, especially given its affordable $10 ticket price.

Not Quite Now, But Soon

On Thursday, October 22, 8pm-10pm, the hippest retailer in lakeview, CRAM, will host its One Autumn Evening fall fashion event - a night filled with fall fashion, music, modeling, raffles, cocktails, & more - at the store (3331 N. Broadway)… The weekend gets off to a fun start with the Boy Shower Contest (21+) @ Spin beginning at Midnight on Friday, October 23.  Late night includes Green Velvet performing live @ Smart Bar and DJ Greg Drescher spinning @ Hydrate.

It’s a really big day and night in the city on Saturday, October 24 and it begins with the Northalsted Horny Devil Pub Crawl.  The event starts at 1pm @ Spin, ends at 8pm, and includes stops at Firefly, Cocktail, Circuit, Halsted’s, Minibar, North End, Lucky Hoseshoe, Roscoe’s, Scarlet, and Hydrate.  Tickets are $10 in advance at any of the participating bars or $15 “at the door.” ... Night time partying on this Saturday features Bonehead III @ Circuit (and this is also the last Nitro party) as well as two Madonna CD Release Parties: on the far north side @ Jackhammer and in Boystown @ Hydrate w/ DJ Johnny Vicious and the one and only Cyon Flare as host… On the mainstream front, Ben Watt (of EBTG fame) brings his deep house DJing magic to Smart Bar; progressive master James Zabiela raises the roof @ Vision; and Mark Knight energizes the Crobar dance floor with his electro-tinged house sound.

In anticipation of the high holy gay day that is Halloween, the 17th Annual Night of a 100 Drag Queens takes place at Sidetrack on Tuesday, October 27 and Wednesday, October 28.  Always a highlight of the Chicago social and entertainment calendar, this year‘s “Alphabet Soup” themed show is not to be missed.  Tickets are available at www.equi.org or from a Sidetrack bartender.

Boystown Central

At Roscoe’s, Frida Lay hosts Drag Race 2009 and the Wheel of Pussy on Tuesdays (special guests Jade on October 20 and Nikole Starr & Aurora Sexton on October 27) while Miss Foozie takes charge of Male Call on Sundays…The video bar Sidetrack packs them in nightly with a popular line-up that includes Showtunes on Mondays, U-Video Request night on Tuesdays, and Comedy on Thursdays. Other Boystown options include Halsted’s Bar & Grill (Team Trivia on Mondays), North End (TPAN’s poz-friendly Pulse on Thursdays), Bobby Loves (karaoke on Fridays), Charlie’s (country line dancing lessons w/ Steana on Fridays), and Cell Block (leather/fetish/bears/jeans).  The Kit Kat Lounge & Supper Club has half-price martinis on Sundays as well as viewing parties for Top Chef and Project Runway on Wednesdays and Thursdays, respectively. Buck’s and Little Jim’s are always friendly while live entertainment shines nightly at both 3160 and Cornelia’s and during Cabaret Tuesdays @ Hydrate w/ Honey West at 9pm.

Under The Disco Ball

When it comes to dancing early in the night, Spin has DJ Chris Eterno & VJ Riley York on Wednesdays for WTF $1 Drink Night and Foxy’s Sundays w/ DJ Heather Doble… Down @ Minibar, Friday nights feature DJ Shawn Edwards lording over the beautiful new bi-level party space while Roscoe’s boom bass dance floor gets worked by DJs Kevy, Ron G, and DigiDave… In Uptown the Wild Pug features DJ Oskar for the Dorian Gray party on Saturdays. 

For after-hours dancing, the always popular Berlin has Cosmix Fridays w/ DJ Greg Haus and  Twisted Saturdays w/ DJs Larissa and Chester while Hydrate presents its Sunday Dance Party w/ DJ Greg Drescher along w/ DJ Laura B on Mondays; DJR spinning on Tuesdays; and DJ Phil DaBeatz on Thursdays. Also in Boystown is Charlie’s which rocks a hi-energy after-hours every night of the week w/ DJ LuLu and others… Jackhammer is the far north side’s late night dance option Wednesdays – Sundays, including its monthly Underwear Party on Saturday, October 17… The Ultimate After Hours @ The Ram (3am-7am) has DJs Ron G (Saturdays), Chris Eterno (Friday, October 16), and Plez (Friday, October 23)… There’s not a lot of dancing @ Closet, but it’s an uber-fun late night hangout for the drinking set.

Toweling Off

Steamworks, the full-service all-male club, has a Lights Out party every Thursday and After-hours on Fridays and Saturdays with DJ Greg Ellsworth (until 4am and 5am, respectively).  The weekly Sunday Spin Cycle takes place 3pm-2am with Chris Eterno (October 18) and Peter Canellis (October 25) handling the early shift until 8pm and DJ Jim B serving beats until 2am.  The monthly Bears, The Baths & Beyond play party is set for 1pm-6pm on Saturday, October 24 w/ DJ Dexter… Up @ Man’s Country, nothing is left to the imagination every Friday and Saturday @ Midnight with a dancer line-up that Lex, AJ & Zeno on Saturday, October 17 and Sean Taylor & Angel on Friday, October 23.

Lucky Horseshoe in Boystown has strippers nightly while over at @mosphere they are strutting all weekend long: Hot Mess Thursdays/Club Manhunt w/ DJ Chris Eterno followed by DJs Eric Hall and Timmy Loop on Fridays and Saturdays, respectively… Jackhammer has the Chicago Beef dancers on Fridays and Saturdays… Out in the suburbs: the Men of Sarabia appear @ Club Krave on Fridays; Chicago Beef visits Hideaway on Thursdays and Saturdays; and Hunters Hunks liven up Hunters on Thursdays w/ DJ Laura B on the decks.

Niche Marketing

The weekly Latino nights @ Circuit include Noche Latina, w/ hostess Veronica Zaid and DJs Ink & Alex Perez on Sundays, and La Noche Loca on Thursdays, featuring Miss Ketty’s Latina Review… Other weekly Latino hangouts include Sundays @ Jackhammer as well as Mondays @ Lucky Horseshoe.

Presenting an urban music vibe, Krush gets busy every Friday night while “Reunion” @ Shadow Bar rocks each Saturday night w/ DJs Stoney, Anton, and Kenae… Club Escape takes care of south siders on a nightly basis while Ms. Ruffy gets everyone’s week off to a good start with $1 drinks @ Republic (1520 N. Fremont) with a weekly Monday night party.   

As for Chicago lesbians, they congregate at Closet when hanging in Boystown and at several places in Andersonville, including T’s, Star Gaze, Joi De Vine and Mary’s Attic… The city’s gay Asian communities are becoming more visible and gather @ Wild Pug’s monthly Gaysia event with DJ Oskar (Thursday, October 29). 

Chicago Housing Projects

The home for house music in Boystown is Cocktail, featuring Foozie Gras on Tuesday, October 27 w/ Miss Foozie (shows @ 11pm, Midnight, & 1am); DJ Timmy Loop; Go-Go Boys; and drink specials. Go-Go Boys are there five nights a week and the DJ line-up includes Michael Serafini (Thursdays), Freddie Bain (Fridays), Diva DJs (Saturdays) and the troika of Chris Eterno, Dealer, and Pete Augusta (Sundays).

Outside of Lakeview, DJ Plez serves up house music during Attic-tion Saturdays @ Mary’s Attic while DJ Dana Powell delivers on Fridays @ Jeffrey’s Pub… Every Monday the Boom Boom Room @ Green Dolphin Street continues its success w/ resident DJs Michael Serafini, Diz, JustJoey & Uncle Milty. Upcoming special guests include Honey Dijon (October 19) and Psycho Circus (October 26).

Beyond Boystown

Up in Andersonville you’ll find the popular neighborhood outpost SoFo, the newly renamed The Call (formerly cattle Call), and the martini bar Marty’s… Mary’s Attic features Rogue DJ for Feel Good Fridays and karaoke on Sundays and Wednesdays… The fetish community finds a home @ Touché with Hardcore Leather Cruisin’ Night on Tuesdays and Handballer Night every Thursday… Further north in Rogers Park is the very friendly The Glenwood. 

The Uptown/Edgewater neighborhood is home to Granville Anvil (with Loyola students added to the mix) ; Big Chicks (with its popular Free BBQ Buffet on Sundays and super fun $1 Burger Mondays) and the sports bar Crew (karaoke on Tuesdays)… Scot’s is a friendly watering hole in Ravenswood while Manhandler sits in the heart of Lincoln Park… Downtown, Second Story Bar is the only gay bar left in the area while Davenport’s piano bar entertains over in Wicker Park. Also in Wicker Park, Plan B hosts the weekly Boys Room on Sundays while the young, fun LGBTIQ crowd will be at the monthly Chances Dances party at Subterranean on Monday, October 18.    

A Gallon or Two Away

Outside the Windy City limits, Hunters Nightclub features DJ Ron G on Friday nights and DJ Lawrence K on Saturdays while Club Krave presents Drop Dead Divas on Saturday, October 24 and DJ Saul on Thursdays (Cher Night on October 15 and ‘90s Music Night on October 22)… Velvet Rope in Oak Park (728 Lake St | 708.358.8840) has karaoke on Fridays and DJs and dancing on Saturdays… In Lake Station, Indiana, Encompass hosts karaoke on Tuesdays and Fridays and the Rush St. Revue Show on Sundays… A little further east in Sawyer, Michigan, Fitzgerald’s (5875 Sawyer Rd; (Exit 12, I-94) | 269.426.3489) hosts the weekly Swank dance party on Saturdays.