the WHISTLER

With performances by: Tila Von Twirl, Double DJ, Lez BoBo the Clown, Thunder Davis, Mattrick Swayze and special guest star Cameron Esposito. Hosted by Jyldo. Followed by Fabulous Ladies of Fitness DJ set/dance partay.

This hour of performance power showcases artists who will make your head swim and your heart pound—their wild range of comedy, dance, burlesque, cheerleading, & drag will bend your brain and blow your mind, giving new meaning to the phrase “peak performance.” After the Cardio Cabaret warmup, we’ll go high-impact and begin to really feel the burn as the Fabulous Ladies spin their singular blend of 70s lite rock, 80s and 90s hiphop/R&B jamz, and the best pop hits of the last decade. You want to dance? Well, grooves cost. And right here with FLOF is where you start paying: in SWEAT.

Cameron Esposito is a nationally and internationally touring standup comic, a producer of the Lincoln Lodge (Chicago’s premier alternative comedy showcase) and the ringmaster for touring Chicago-based circus company El Circo Cheapo Cabaret. Cameron has appeared at Just For Laughs Chicago, the Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival, and has been featured on WGN radio, afterellen.com, and the Logo television network.

Friday night dance party throw-down featuring a rotating cast of DJs from the greatest radio station in Chicago, CHIRP (Chicago Independent Radio Project). Expect to hear a mix of everything from Soul to Hip Hop to Indie Rock bangers to Pop classics and beyond. It’s that Wooo Woooooooo!!! And we’re bringing it every time.

Featuring: Kathryn Regina, Stephanie Friedman, Matt Whispers, Maggie Ritchie

The Orange Alert Reading Series is a extension of the arts and culture website What to Wear During an Orange Alert. The series began at the Whistler in November 2008 and has featured some of the top poets and fiction writers from Chicago and around the Midwest. Hosted by Jason Behrends; 3rd Sunday of every month, 6-8pm.

Male is an open-ended ensemble that includes a revolving cast of some of Chicago’s most creative musicians. The core group consists of Jonathan Krohn, Benjamin Mjolsness, and Todd Mattei (Joan of Arc, Litesalive), but is often expanded by members of the local jazz/improv scene. This show will feature Krohn, Mjolsness, and Mattei, and will also include strong contributions from Frank Rosaly. Male’s new record, ‘German for Shark,’ will come out this May.

Apiary is a Chicago-based quartet comprising some of the city’s most versatile and prolific musicians: David Daniell (guitar), Steven Hess (drums), Joseph Clayton Mills (electronics), and Jason Stein (bass clarinet). Mills and Hess are also members of the trio Haptic, and Hess also performs with On, Pan American, and Ural Umbo, among many other projects. Daniell is one half of the duo David Daniell and Douglas McCombs and plays with San Agustin and Rhys Chatham. Stein is one of the most in-demand members of Chicago’s creative music community, leading the group Locksmith Isidore and performing with countless others. Together, Apiary seamlessly incorporates influences that range from jazz to minimalism to noise into a whole that is dense and hypnotic.

A gifted young jazz singer whose classically trained voice evokes the tradition of great singers of the 1950’s, such as June Christy and Peggy Lee, with a bit of Southern grit thrown in the mix. Francesca Esmé really shows her strength with pop music in a jazz idiom, with her own spins on the work of Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, and the great Motown classics.

Soul and funk music is rooted in Chicago. The music and all its forms, from the R&B-tinged early 1960s through the stepper-friendly early-1980s, is central to the city’s music history. The artists were here, the business certainly was here, and the records are still here, meant to be played and shared on nights like these.

The Whistler’s monthly soul party is curated by Jay Wells and features new performers for each installment, with a rotating cast of fans, collectors, amateurs and professionals, all friends via DJing funk and soul records. The Whistler Soul & Funk Party — 4th Friday of every month.

Every month, the staff of Reckless Records come out to share their favorite LPs and 45s

The Weepin’ Willows tip their cap to Patsy Cline and Moss Garvey is the new folk project from Tim Kelley of Puerto Muerto.