Blues Rock and Chamber Music for a Foggy Night

Your daily guide to what's popping in Chicago

By Raj Singh · Published October 20, 2026.

Chicago is wrapped in fog this week, a cool and gray stretch with highs in the low 60s today and tomorrow, climbing toward 68 and overcast by midweek, with barely a hint of rain. It's indoor-season weather, and tonight's lineup leans right into it: a blues-rock blowout, a pay-what-you-wish chamber concert, a live-lit season opener, and Second City's latest revue. Tomorrow brings a free park studio session and a dollar-math happy hour, and we've flagged one Halloween tradition worth planning around.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20

The Black Keys: PEACHES 'N KREAM @ The Salt Shed

The Akron blues-rock duo roll into the Salt Shed tonight on the Peaches 'N Kream Tour, behind Peaches!, their fourteenth studio album and sixth since 2019. Dan Auerbach has called it the band's 'most natural record' since their 2002 debut, The Big Come Up: recorded with the musicians playing together in one room with few overdubs, and the first they've mixed entirely themselves since 2006's Magic Potion. Expect the fuzzy guitars, bluesy swagger and big hooks the Keys built their name on.

The set is at 7PM, and tickets run $128 to $418+, so this is the splurge of the night. The Salt Shed is in West Town.

CSO Chamber Music: Trillium Ensemble @ Orchestra Hall

If the Black Keys are tonight's splurge, this is its bargain: the Trillium Ensemble plays an intimate chamber program at Orchestra Hall on a pay-what-you-wish basis starting at $15. Haydn's elegant Piano Trio opens the evening, Schubert's luminous Notturno follows as a serene meditation, and the program closes with Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio, an emotional tour de force. It runs 6:30 to 8:30PM at Symphony Center in the Loop.

Write Club: The Rising Cost of Ghastly @ GMan Tavern

Write Club Chicago launches its 17th season of live lit tonight at GMan Tavern with its infamous 'bout' format: three rounds of writer-performers face off with original seven-minute essays on opposing topics, and the audience picks the winners after each round. Winners take home prize money and the cheekily named Loving Cup. Doors are at 7PM and the show at 7:30PM; suggested donation is $25.

Pandemonium, Please Hold @ The Second City

The Second City's 114th Mainstage Revue, Pandemonium, Please Hold, is a loud, fast night of sketch comedy, unpredictable improv and live music from the six-person cast, with 'absolutely zero chill,' as the billing promises. It runs 8 to 9:30PM at the Old Town mainstage, and recurs Tuesday through Thursday.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21

Anchor Open Studio Hours at Ellis Park

Part of the Night Out in the Parks series, this free monthly open studio invites neighbors to sit with Anchor Curatorial Resident Brother El and record oral histories of Ellis Park and the surrounding community. His practice, as he puts it, 'begins with listening to the rhythms already moving through a place and the people who give it meaning.' Drop in Wednesday from 1 to 3PM at Ellis (Samuel) Park; all ages, no charge.

4x4x4 Happy Hours @ Charlie's Chicago

The name does the math: four days a week, from 4PM, every drink is $4 (U-Call-It cocktails, pint beers, bottles and cans), with no cover. The Lakeview East Chamber's 4x4x4 happy hour lands Wednesday from 4 to 8PM at Charlie's Chicago in Lakeview. A cheap, low-stakes way to start a weeknight.

ON THE HORIZON

Rocky Horror Picture Show: Halloween Edition @ Music Box Theatre

Plan ahead for Halloween week: the Music Box Theatre brings back its beloved annual Rocky Horror tradition with five screenings between Wednesday, October 28 and Sunday, November 1, each paired with a shadowcast performing in front of the screen. It's a wonderfully weird ritual that's known to sell out, so grab the $17 tickets early. Showtimes are 9PM or 11:59PM depending on the night, at the Music Box Theatre in Wrigleyville; take the Brown Line to Southport.