Great and FREE Live Music @ IBW Lodge #1

Good day, Savages.

For some god-forsaken reason I've had this terrible song jackhammering in my head recently and I can't make it stop: "I WANNA KNOW WHAT LOVE IS! I WANT YOU TO SHOW MEEEEEEE!"

The truth is, though, I don't want to know. I already know what Love is: Love is the Law.

But, you know, it's also the law in Louisiana  to hang a copy of the 10 Commandments in every classroom in Public Schools. So, take that with a big old rock of salt.

I wonder which Commandment they're really trying to promote with this new Hee-Haw legislation? #1 "Thou Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me?" Boy, that's kind of a weird and paranoid law, especially for a religion that self-identifies as monotheistic, no? If there's only one god shouldn't that take the need for old numero uno off the table?

Or maybe #4, "yada yada keep the Sabbath holy"? That must be why nobody works or handles money on Saturday in New Orleans, right?

Nah, it's #10, I'm sure. "Thou Shalt Not Covet." You know, like don't covet all the Love those wily Egyptians have for Horus or Set or Osiris. And certainly don't feel threatened by Hoti or that lovable little Buddha, right? Just be at home in your own Mountain Godness and fly it high and tight. "Like we do heah in our Public Schools down in Metairie, boya."

There's good and strong reasons why True Detective season 1 was set in Louisiana, my friends.

But, hey, the complete evaporation of intelligence, critical thinking and the core principles of democracy and the foundations of this grand experiment in Enlightenment values that is the American project isn't our beat here at Illuminated Brew Works and not why you signed up for this erudite and handsome newsletter.

No, no, we come here to paint the walls in the remains of our hearts! Hearts so inflated with Joy and Pleasure and Humor and, dare I say it, LOVE, that our hearts just straight swelled like a poison toad and popped grape flavored, candy-colored goo all over the insides of our Barbie cars, smothering us in great beer, big old belly laughs and, by criminy, GREAT FUCKING MUSIC.

Like TONIGHT! We have the ELEVENTH installment of our modular synth night here at IBW Lodge #1!!! The downright wonderful folks at DayGlow are bringing you another FREE night of the best beeps and bloops here in this fine city of ours. I mean sure, IBW Lodge #1 is like an 8 hour drive from downtown Chicago, but isn't it worth it to be able to spend the evening drinking THE GOOD LORD'S FAVORITE BEER and listening to adult's try and wrangle the grand demons of modular synthesizers into coherent, angelic sounds? And, in case you didn't notice, VIDEO WASTE is back with more of their truly inspired visual installations. I mean seriously, folks, these nights are phenomenal and the artists DayGlow brings out for these deserve your minds and ears. Get out here and enjoy your life before it's all over. Which, by my estimations, won't be too damn long from now, by the way.

And then, spend your Sunday Morning Coming Down at the Lodge in the afternoon. On Sunday. (I got there, kind of). With the WILDWOOD FLOWERS!

I love these ladies!! I really do! Last time they played the Lodge was one of my favorite Sundays we've hosted here. My memory is for the birds these days, but I think I actually might have cried coming home from their last show because it was just such a lovely and perfect display of exactly the kind of thing that we built IBW Lodge #1 for... super talented, super funny, super wonderful people sharing their gifts with drunken letches. I love it when a plan comes together!

THE WILDWOOD FLOWERS play a mix of gospel, roots and traditionals from the American song book and they do it better than you or I do almost anything. What do you get when you mix a banjo, a guitar, a fiddle and three soul-cracking voices? A weepy-faced me and THE WILDWOOD FLOWERS. Don't be an asshole, just come to the show. It's FREE but you can still pay for the beer.

And then - OH MOMMA! - next Sunday, June 30th we have got this month's installment of our THEMED TEAM TRIVIA at 3pm. 

That's right, next Sunday June 30th, we're playing MEL BROOKS TRIVIA! Mike has cooked up a really good game for this one including clips from some of AMERICAN MASTER Mel Brooks finest films. If you have a half a brain cell in your head then you love Mel Brooks. And, with a half a brain cell, you've just found yourself in the elite class of above average intelligence for this tawdry and hot world we live in. So, come show off that brain cell of yours and have some fun while you do it. We start promptly at 3pm.

Oh, hey, did you see this?

You can see all of our events on our event calendar at https://www.ibw-chicago.com/events

You can see what's currently on tap at IBW LODGE #1 at https://www.ibw-chicago.com/whats-on-tap

Author Erik Davis in Rare Live Event @ IBW This Sunday!

Humanoids!

I'm beyond thrilled for the event we have this Sunday. Author Erik Davis (TechGnosis, High Weirdness, Visionary State, Burning Shore) will be doing a very rare midwestern appearance at the Lodge for a live reading and discussion about his new book BLOTTER: The Untold Story of an Acid Medium on Sunday April 28th at 4pm. 

Erik is a leading scholar of science fiction author Philip K. Dick (Total Recall, Minority Report, Blade Runner, VALIS) as well as the counter culture of the late 20th Century. He's one of those rare brains that can take any subject and fold it open into pleasures and complexities unseen by most. He's also - in our bent-backwards and turgid times - an unsuspecting voice of sanity and humor amongst the miasmas of slimelords and soul-derelicts who overpopulate our fair eras. He's a mensch!

We're going to have a ton of surprises for attendees to this very rare and special event not the least of which is first access to purchase our Willett barrel aged Barley Wine that we've made for the occasion. Each bottle is hand numbered and the label is printed on blotter paper (undipped, thank you!). I do believe this is an industry first for this hand-labeled pain-in-the-neck and the effect is quite nice!

Seats are extremely limited for this event and will sell out. I would secure your spot sooner rather than later. To register, go here. To make it as clear as possible: this is a private event so you need to have registered prior to showing up on Sunday. When you get your ticket there is also an option to pre-order Erik's book  BLOTTER: The Untold Story of an Acid Medium so you can have him sign it when he's here. It's very likely that Bucket O Blood will have no extra books on hand so, if you want one, make sure to pre-order.

We'll have Mimi's Kimbap k-rolls on hand for food, Hair & Make-Up will be laying down some psychedelic soundscapes and Aeriz will be on hand with promotional materials. 

Because the Lodge will be closed to the public from 4pm until about 7pm for the event, we are going to open at 11am on Sunday so you can get your day drinking done early.

It's going to be a wonderful afternoon shared amongst good people. This probably isn't for everybody, but, if you think it might be for you, I'd make sure not to miss it.

And, to get the engine pre-heated a bit, we've got YOU ENJOY MY BAND, a Phish tribute band, playing on Saturday starting around 10pm. These guys are great. I really don't have much love in my heart for Phish, but the last time these guys played, I was blown away. So, if you like Phish, you'll love these cats, but if you just like good driving rock jams, you'll probably dig them, too.

We've got a really special weekend set up for you good people, I hope you take advantage of it while it's here!

Godspeed!


Stay strong!
Never forget!
See you this weekend!

You can see all of our events on our event calendar athttps://www.ibw-chicago.com/events

You can see what's currently on tap at IBW LODGE #1 at https://www.ibw-chicago.com/whats-on-tap

Comedy, Music, Lobster Rolls & Tarot @ IBW Lodge #1!

Greetings, strange humans.

 Thanks to everyone who came out and rode the proverbial Lightning this past Sunday for St. Patrick's Day. If good old St. Pat really drove all the Pagans out of Ireland (pro-tip: He didn't) than they must have all come to Chicago. How else do you describe a seething mass of green-clad freaks drinking and singing karaoke and carrying on with Joy and fire in their hearts? The Green Man smiled an extra-wide and toothy grin on Sunday for sure. We can't wait to do it again next year.

 And speaking of big, toothy-grins, it would seem that Ministry's Al Jourgensen does not have one of those. But he does have something almost as good, an IBW winter beanie, which he was wearing a couple weeks ago while signing autographs at a VIP session after a show in Canada.
 

And, while I might prescribe a few different life-style choices than what old Wacky Al has engaged in over the years, his fashion sense has always been on point. Or, at least, it is in this photo. 

Why don't you follow Uncle Al's lead and get a fly little beanie of the IBW sort for yourself RIGHT NOW?

You can hop on over to our piece of human garbage website and buy one for yourself. 

This Saturday, the Happy Lobster Food Truck is back for its first visit of the 2024 calendar. Service starts at 5pm and they'll be around until about 8pm or whenever they sell out (they will sell out). Don't miss it. Grab yourself a hot n' buttered Lobster Roll and belly up to the bar in the Lodge. Turn off your mind, relax and float down a stream of butter and cholesterol for some tried and true amber waves of pleasure.

 Sunday, March 24th, Cherry & Jerry are back with another FREE LIVE show here at the Lodge. Playing ragtime, early blues and prohibition era tunes, this piano & percussion duo packed the house and slayed the day last year with their lively show and are threatening the same results for this time around.

And, if great music isn't enough for you, then how about some fresh and delicious Falafel & Hummus to help shovel it all down? 3D Falafel will be at the Lodge on Sunday from 4pm until they run out serving up their incredible Falafel.

This Monday we have a private event that you are invited to. We've teamed up with our friends at Aeriz again and this time to support the Design Museum of Chicago to bring you PATTERNS: A Comedy Showcase featuring Rebecca O'Neal, Ian Abramson and Gena Gephart. The Design Museum's mission statement, in part, reads: "Like art, science, and the humanities, design surrounds us. It impacts our worlds deeply, affecting everything from our quality of life to our interactions with our neighbors. Bringing design to a relatable, human level allows us all to better understand the power of design and to utilize that power to fundamentally improve the human condition." 

 So, come on out to IBW Lodge #1 to enjoy some of the top Alt comedians working in Chicago right now and support a great local organization. You can get your tickets here. I honestly don't know if they will be allowing ticket purchase at the door, so I would just grab your tix now to be safe.

This coming Wednesday, March 27th, is the final installment for this month's MURDER BINGO sponsored by the incredible Aeriz Cannabis. Not only will AERIZ folks be on site to help you celebrate and to announce the Grand Prize winner of a tote bag full of Aeriz goodies we know you'll love, but we've also got THE DEMON CLEANER back to do no reservation Tarot Readings prior to the show. Tarot readings will start at 6pm!

"Cabin in the Woods" is this final feature in case you can't read. A wonderful and weird way to end this fantastic month of March's Murder Bingo. And, for the curious and contagious, I'm very excited to announce that Chicago'sTerrorVision Records and Videosis our sponsor for the month of April. Expect a line up of movies from TerrorVision's portfolio and gifts and prizes from their incredible store.

Alright, that's all I've got. But, man, it's a lot, right?