December “File”
FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK . . .
The Chicago Park District salutes Jerseys you! As long as you are making them a bunch of dough. The Chicago Sun-Times reported last month city officials have decided not to hit Chicagoans with a park district property tax increase in 2006, partly because they plan to raise extra money via the power of rock ‘n’ roll. Parks Superintendent Timothy Mitchell told the Sun-Times this year’s Lollapalooza made a cool $400,000 for the district while the Rolling Stones concert at Soldier Field brought in $1 million. He also said that officials are in talks to host Lollapalooza again next year and other groups have inquired about playing Soldier Field since the successful Stones show. Northerly Island’s first season also went well and Mitchell predicts they will increase the amount of shows at the venue 30 percent next summer.
PARACHUTE PANTS NOT INCLUDED
“U Can’t Touch This”? Really? I can own that shit, man. A decade after filing for bankruptcy, MC Hammer has decided to cheap mlb jerseys sell the music publishing and copyrights to his whole catalog, MTV.com reports. The right money (upper seven figures was the estimate given to wholesale nfl jerseys MTV by the court-appointed administrator for Hammer’s five publishing companies) will get you percentages of classics like “2 Legit 2 Quit,” “Pray,” and “Addams Groove.” The auction closes in early 2006. IE‘s offer is on the table: $20 for the rights to “Pumps And A Bump.”
CHECKMATE
When the Bronzeville blues club Checkerboard Lounge was shut down by the city in 2003 because of code violations, many saw it as a potentially fatal blow to live blues on the Southside. ? But to the delight of blues lovers across the city, the fabled club is back, albeit with a neighborhood change and slightly different format. The Checkerboard Lounge For Blues & Jazz celebrated its new digs in Hyde Park (the space, 5201 S. Harper Court, is owned by the University Of Chicago) with a cheap jerseys four-day grand opening last month, headlined by Vance Kelly.
The new version of the club seats 145 people and offers live music nightly, with Thursday and Sunday evenings dedicated to jazz. According to information on the official Hyde Park Web site, Mick Jagger (The jerseys Rolling Stones were one of a number of notable acts to play jam sessions at the club when it was co-owned by Buddy Guy during the late ’70s and early ’80s) might make an appearance in January.
— Trevor Fisher
