When you walk beneath the reared-up fiberglass horse that’s attached to Alcala’s glitzy sign, it takes no more than a couple seconds for the smell of leather to slap you across the face. The feeble glass doors fronting the 42-year-old western-wear palace just don’t stand a chance against the cumulative scent of thousands upon thousands of boots—ranging from alligator to snakeskin to motorcycle. Levi’s and Wranglers are meticulously folded and packed in rows of cubbies as far as the eye can see, available in every size and style imaginable....

Sooo, it’s been a long, hard week, and you want to go out and be treated like a dead movie star. The chef initially was Ross Mendoza, who came from Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant group, most recently at the late Pump Room, the storied boite in the former Ambassador East—a place that in its prime was somewhere that movie stars and aging idols actually would hang out. Maybe Mendoza picked up some of that long-gone mojo....

In December newish rap podcast Chicago Sleepers posted an interview with local rappers Melo Makes Music and Ju where the MCs talked about bridging hip-hop with alternative rock. Ju said combining rap and rock comes naturally: “It’s not a thought anymore, I just kinda make that shit—honestly not even thinking about it.” His public output is limited—he’s dropped a handful of solo tracks since his duo Moon & Ju called it quits in 2014—but his work shows a reverence for the kind of crossover rock that peaked roughly 15 years ago, far enough in the past for musicians now in their late teens to consider it classic....

Footwork collective the Era bring their adrenalized dance moves to the big screen this weekend at the Era Footwork Film Festival 2015. Among the screenings at the one-night event are an RP Boo music video that uses footage from the Bud Billiken Parade, the world premiere of a Vice short film on the Era, and a excerpt from an in-­progress feature-length documentary called Enter the Circle. The films start rolling at 8 PM on Friday, October 9, at Mana Contemporary....

As always, I’ll be rooting for the Saint Louis Cardinals in their coming series with the Cubs. But this time around I have a queasy feeling. Unlike other Cubs teams that found themselves in the playoffs, this 2015 team isn’t there by accident. The Cardinals won most of their 100 games early in the year; the Cubs won most of their 97—now 98—in the second half. They might be the best team in the majors....

In April, as part of the Frequency Series I book at Constellation, I had the pleasure of presenting the Chicago debut of Nordic Affect, a remarkable quartet from Iceland who perform contemporary music on Baroque instruments—though admittedly you’re only likely to notice anything unusual about the instrumentation when Gudrun Óskarsdóttir plays harpsichord. Nordic Affect’s repertoire consists of all-new work written for the ensemble by other Icelandic composers, many of them women (like all four members of the group)....

Brian Jackson/Sun-Times Media Mayor Rahm Emanuel swears the Lucas Museum won’t cost taxpayers a cent. We might want to ask a few questions anyway. Soon after George Lucas gave Mayor Emanuel the thumbs-up, the mayor’s press office issued one of its classic good-news press releases. And Jorge Ramirez, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said: “This is a major win for Chicago and our workers.” Actually, the mayor has released almost no details about this project....

Nos pensées accompagnent nos amis parisiens / Our thought are with our French friends. — Alliance Française (@AllianceChicago) November 13, 2015 Je suis Charlie Hebdo to America’s first allies. — Mark Kirk (@SenatorKirk) November 13, 2015 Can’t keep looking at Twitter, feeling sick over this #PrayForParis — Paul Biasco (@Paul_Biasco) November 13, 2015 Emanuel: We stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with Paris after ‘despicable’ attacks https://t.co/agPmpX4lrI pic.twitter.com/z42FXQdfIp — Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) November 14, 2015

ARTIST: Scott R. Miller SHOW: Valkyrie, Thunder Driver, Bionic Cavemen, and Ladies of Leisure at LiveWire Lounge on Sun 7/19 MORE INFO: scottrmiller.tumblr.com

Editor’s note: Michael Patrick Thornton has been replaced for the final two weeks of the run by fellow Gift ensemble member Gabriel Franken. So it’s interesting to see how Pakistani-American actor Kareem Bandealy handles the title role in Gift Theatre’s gutsy new modern-dress Othello, directed by Jonathan Berry. Yet as Iago’s insinuations take hold, Bandealy’s increasingly disoriented Moor reverts to behaviors that seem to well up from some suppressed part of him....

Angaleena Presley is probably the least-known member of brash all-star country trio the Pistol Annies, where she’s flanked by Miranda Lambert and Ashley Monroe, but judging from the release of her second solo album, Wrangled (Mining Light Music/Thirty Tigers), she might ultimately emerge as the most talented. She wrote or cowrote every tune, and follows the same no-bullshit template as her more famous cohorts. On “Groundswell” Presley rejects the suffocating rules of Nashville and laments the sheer grind (“It’s a rainy night in Georgia / And I’m praying that the T-shirts and records will sell”), while on the title track she refuses patriarchal prescriptions over an irresistible country-soul melody (“The girls down at church can go to hell / Ironing shirts and keeping babies quiet / Ain’t no life, it’s a live-in jail”)....

2381 N. Milwaukee 773-819-9200 galerief.com Runner-Up Gallery Provocateur

When you’re looking to get weird late at night, Exit is usually a pretty safe bet. But all bets are off when Blacklight Blackout splatters the club’s second floor—basically a chain-linked dancing cage—with free UV-reactive body paint. Resident DJs and rotating guests culled from the underground soundtrack a nightmarish postapocalyptic party scene featuring radioactive freaks clutching neon glow sticks and ubiquitous PBR tallboys, and plenty of exposed painted skin to keep your eyes entertained....

Logan Square Farmers Market 2755 N. Milwaukee Runner-Up Green City Market

Several years ago, Peter Nickeas had to make a big career decision: landscaping or journalism? He chose the latter, to the detriment of many lawns in suburban Addison, where Nickeas ran Green Pete’s Lawn Care, and to the general betterment of Chicago crime reporting. As one of the Tribune‘s overnight “violence and mayhem” newshounds, the 28-year-old works 10 PM till 8 AM four nights a week. During at least one of those grueling graveyard shifts—which demand a little writing and lots of driving to crime scenes—he’ll daydream about the safe, pastoral monotony of mowing grass....

Erica Fletcher Oneida This is the week leading into Lollapalooza, so preparty shows are popping up like crazy. On Wed 7/30, there’s Courtney Barnett at Schubas, Twin Shadow at Metro, and Interpol at House of Blues. If Lolla bands aren’t your thing, there are bunch of other great shows to catch during the first half of the week. Long-running New York experimental act Oneida comes to Empty Bottle on Wednesday....

The Bloody Mary is a near-perfect cocktail, a zesty cure-all that works well at any hour of the day and in any mood or setting; it lubricates, it refreshes, it replenishes. A great Bloody Mary generally requires no fucking around with, but I’ve stumbled upon one modification that, while quite audacious, results in a drink with the potential to surpass the classic’s greatness: Flo’s chile verde Bloody Mary. This Noble Square restaurant replaces the usual tomato juice with green chiles and a touch of raw jalapeño to deliver a take on the Bloody that’s not only visually exciting but crisper and more mellow than the standard....

Bridget Everett is often described as an alt-cabaret singer—and she’s often described as a hot mess. “Alt-cabaret” is almost certainly neutral, but “hot mess” doesn’t seem nice. However, Everett actually is a hot mess when she performs. Her stage presence is erotic and chaotic, her big blond body wrapped in something low-cut and sheer. She’ll spit a drink at an audience, rub her tits in someone’s face, and/or pour wax on her chest, all while singing feel-good numbers like “Pound It or Pass” or “Just the Tip” with a strong and sexy voice....