Photos courtesy of Lyric Opera

What does a trip to Lyric Opera and dancing to Poolside at Primary Nightclub until 2 a.m. have in common? They’re both awesome. Last Friday my friend Erinn and I hit up the Lyric Opera’s performance of Hansel & Gretel. The opera was a blast, if only for the sheer genius of watching adults dress up like children. Soaring arias in German are performed inside of a Pink Floyd’s The Wall meets Bahaus set. I said this last time I wrote about the opera – you’ll never hear people sing this well without microphones. Anywhere. Opera singers are the best in the world, and Chicagoans are so lucky to have such a highly prized cultural institution that supports singers of this caliber. Trust me when I tell you to go see it – you’ve never seen anything this weirdly brilliant.

Rock ‘n’ Roll McDonalds

One of the great mysteries of the universe. Why does fast food taste so good after fancy events?

After laughing uncontrollably with Erinn over ketchup-smothered french fries (that’s usually how we roll), I headed off to Primary Nightclub to meet up with my pal Frazier from Soundfuse Online Magazine to catch Poolside perform. I try to avoid being near the Viagra Triangle after 8 p.m. as a rule of thumb. Sorry Rush/Division crowd, it’s just not my scene. Maybe there are places around there cooler than Mother’s Too or Detention, but I have yet to see them. I loved to go to Sonotheque, but it closed shortly after I moved to Chicago. When I go out at night I go to shows. I don’t drink alcohol, so standing around a crowded bar listening to the Top 40 hits while sipping tonic water is an exquisitely painful form of Chinese Water Torture. I only go out for live electronica or a well-recommended DJ, so that tends to restrict me to places that are more venue than bar like Smartbar, Congress, and Metro etc.

Ooooooohhhhh… rainbows!

Poolside came on after a few great opening DJs (including REDUX). Filip and Jeffrey slid right into the gooey, relaxing ‘daytime disco’ for which they’ve developed a cult following – including me. I love listening to Poolside while street-style hunting and traveling around the city. Typically I love any dream-like music on the spectrum from nightmare (Hybrid) to ambient fantasy (Sigur Ros). I danced for over three hours in heels, so that alone should tell you how magnetic Poolside is. I’m not a music critic, but I know what I like. Hours breezed past as I lost myself in the sounds. The crowd oscillated around me, and I could tell from the energy that everyone was transported to a different state by the music.

Aside from the mildly unflattering angle, I do love this photo of my Zara smoke-print dress.

Photo via Soundfuse

When I left around 2 a.m., I walked past several bars overflowing with Jersey Shore wannabes, blaring non-ironically bad music like Darude. There’s a new gem on Division Street, and they have no idea what they’re missing, I thought to myself as I watched cops break up a drunken brawl spilling out of a nondescript bar. All the better for people like me who truly appreciate electronica and want to celebrate the Chicago roots of House music.

Division Street, I was wrong about you..

*Special thanks to Lyric Opera and React Presents