The Rev. Al Green put on a combination of revival meeting (”God is better than Campbell’s Soup–he’s mmm, good!”), stand-up act (to the woman who nibbled his ear during one of the evening’s many audience hug-fests: “You’re not Tyson, are you?”) and soul revue (his medley of classics touching on the work of such late-greats as Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, David Ruffin and Sam Cooke underscored the fact that Green is pretty much without peer these days) for a diverse and very appreciative crowd Saturday night at The Venue at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana.

Green, voice and range well intact, was in full showman mode with a smile and upbeat attitude that proved instantly infectious. Although he’s turned out some wonderful material in recent years, he did not perform anything from his latest album, 2008’s Billboard Top Ten hit Lay It Down. He was onstage to deliver the classics, which most in the audience were clamoring to hear. In fact, Green joked repeatedly early in the show about a woman who was on him to “Take me to the river, Al! Take me to the river!” As he handed out roses, he assured her, “We’ll get there.” Green and his tight eight-piece band, along with his three daughters singing back-up, did indeed deliver on “Take Me to the River,” as well as on “Let’s Stay Together,” “Love and Happiness” and a host of other hits.

The moment the Rev. took the stage in dark shades and a dapper charcoal suit with red vest and handkerchief (the sunglasses later came off, as did the suit jacket, briefly), and kicked off the show with “L-O-V-E (Love),” it was clear we were in for a delightful evening. Much like Tony Bennett, who’ll be playing The Venue August 6, Green is a naturally funny, friendly, extraordinarily talented singer who continues to thrive long after most of his contemporaries have faded away. Would I love to see him perform a sweaty club date sometime when he didn’t worry so much about the entertainer role? Sure. But the mirth and warm interaction seem to be a genuine part of the package, and he took several opportunities to demonstrate just how amazing his pipes still are.  It’s a joyful thing to behold. If you love soul music, don’t pass up your next chance to see Al Green bring it.

If Hollywood ever gets around to needing another catwoman for the Batman franchise, I’m nominating Alison Mosshart for the role. The Kills singer has emerged as one of the most engaging frontwomen in rock music right now with slinky, feline moves and occasional rock n’ roll back bends as her forté—all would be for naught except that Mosshart belts as well as she poses and even her howls and screams are exquisitely delivered—beautifully tortured. When she wasn’t crawling onto the bassbins, throwing the microphone cable around, stomping and slapping a tambourine, or strumming her Bo Diddley-style white guitar, Mosshart was still the focus of vast amounts of our attention last night at the Congress. More than once, her microphone stand became ensnarled in her pulled mic cable and followed her spinning and bouncing before falling somewhere, seemingly under some kind of spell—not unlike the audience.

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Some of the little known artworks in the Polish Museum’s “Hidden Treasures” (Polish Museum of America, 984 N Milwaukee Ave; 773-384-3352, polishmuseumofamerica.org; 11am–4pm, $7) remind us of more famous drawings and prints by the German Expressionists. Now the rarely seen Polish works get their time under gallery lights—the museum has gone through its storeroom and culled illustrations, graphic designs and prints made during the war era and beyond.

Al Green

MUSIC - Al Green
It took the other Reverend Al two decades to get back out on the secular-music circuit, but his recent performances are proof that he’s been itching to do it for ages. The Venue at Horseshoe Casino, 7:30pm. $45–$85.

GAY & LESBIAN - Samwell
Internet sensations are a dime a dozen these days, but rarely does one get tens of millions of hits for a single entry. Such has been the case for Chicago-based Samwell, who will swing by Mary’s Attic to perform his hit “What What (In the Butt)” and hang with the fans. Mary’s Attic, 5400 N Clark St (773-784-6969). El: Red to Berwyn. Bus: 22, 92. 9pm. Free.

Jason Middlebrook: LESS.

ART & DESIGN - “Jason Middlebrook: LESS.”
This is your last chance to see Middlebrook’s installation—a meditation on our relationship to nature made out of salvaged scraps of wood from Chicago alleys and basements.  moniquemeloche, 2154 W Division St. 11am–6pm. FREE.

COMEDY - The Late Night Live Show
If it’s midnight and you’re searching for laughs, be sure to hit up this late, late show that caters to the nocturnal comedy lover in us all. de Maat Theater, 1616 N Wells St (312-337-3992). El: Brown, Purple (rush hrs) to Sedgwick. Bus: 11, 22, 36, 72, 156. 12am. Free.

DANCE - “Explorations”
A farewell for Chicago dance artist Elisa Foshay, this mixed bill of improvisatory work by Wannapa Pimtong Eubanks, Free Feet Movement Project, JUICE and POSTERCHILD is informed by movement practices from Butoh to yoga. Space is limited; be prepared to sit on the floor. TEMPLE Gallery (1749 S Halsted St 1F, posterchildart.com). 8pm, $5 suggested donation.

Photos: Chandler West

Want to know how much Chicagoans have been craving street food downtown? Scroll through these photos from day one, hour one of Matt Maroni’s food truck, Gaztro-wagon, which made its debut in Millennium Park during lunch hour today. According to Maroni’s twitter account, the truck sold out of sandwiches (such as wild boar or chicken thighs wrapped in naan) in an hour and a half. Look for Gaztro-wagon tonight in Lakeview (a block west of the Diversey El stop) or wherever you see a line stretching to infinity.

Fisting: A Period Piece is vintage Annoyance. The show, which opened last night and is directed and co-directed by Second City alumni Andy St. Clair and Amanda Blake Davis respectively, is a gleefully crass and innuendo-laden farce. I laughed my ass off. Set in a small town in Ireland in the late 19th century, the wafer-thin plot centers around the relationship between Little Dicky Diddler (Tim Paul) and Jizabel Sarker (Nicky Margolis), two star-crossed lovers from rival families whose affection for one another appears doomed. Fisting here is a euphemism for fighting, and Dicky will have to give Jizabel’s father, Cark Sarker, a good, hard fisting if he’s to win her hand.

Are you sensing the double entendres? Fisting is packed with them. Cark Sarker (or cock sucker if you deliver it with a thick, Irish accent), for example, works at the local fudge packing plant with the help of his aids. Get it? He’s a fudge packer with AIDS (I warned it was crass). Meanwhile, Little Dick’s mom, Ma Diddler (Kate Duffy), is known throughout the village for her wonderful bread that’s infused with dill. “Your dill dough smells delicious,” says one character.

Fisting is rapid-fire sexual innuendo (most of it a nod to gay male culture) and it works in part because we wait to see what words or phrases they’ll twist around next and also because the cast delivers the lines with equal parts conviction and wink. After daughter Jizabel (or Jizz) performs mouth-to-mouth on her dad, he awakens with the line, “Did my own daughter blow me? Is this jizz I taste on my lips?” You get the idea. Two hours of this I probably couldn’t take, but clocking it at a mere 45 minutes and taking some nice satirical swipes at Catholicism along the way, Fisting is easy to recommend. I give it two fists up, way up!

Tonight, bluesy, riffadelic, stygian supergroup the Dead Weather takes to the stage at the Congress Theater for what will surely be an enthralling head-tossing, back-bending rockin’ show. In honor of the occasion, we’re posting some highlights from an interview we did with the band when it played a semi-secret free Microsoft Kin gig at an old carriage warehouse on May 22. The Kin has since been killed but the band and our handheld video footage live on. Interview by John Dugan and Gabe McDonough.

Every summer work day should end in a rooftop party, don’t you think?  Avid TOC readers crowded the deck Tuesday of one of downtown’s newest rooftops—Epic Sky—sipping on cocktails and wine courtesy of Don Q and Tapena and jammin’ to the beats of DJ Intel.

Stay tuned for details on future TOC rooftop parties and find out more info on our upcoming boat party Aug 12.

After being inundated with countless stories on Rod Blagojevich’s trial the past few months (the Chicago Tribune has been relentless with its trial coverage. Do we really need to know about Blago’s life-size Elvis doll?), one would think Chicagoans have had enough. For The Second City, however, the laughter returns.

Capitalizing on the success of their original smash run of Rod Blagojevich Superstar! (a comedy show recapping the rise and fall of our fallen governor) and Blago’s surprising absence from the stand at his trial, The Second City will reprise the production at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights beginning Friday, August 6, with an intriguing addition. After cast members have taken their bows, Blagojevich (played by the capable Joey Bland) will take the stand and answer questions from the prosecution (AKA the audience). Although it’s not the actual G-Rod, audience members will at least feel slightly gratified berating Bland (whose hairdo is eerily similar to the politician’s) with their comments and questions about the “alleged” fleecing of Illinois.

Tickets for Rod Blagojevich Superstar! are available by phone at 847-577-2121 or online at metropolisarts.com. Show times are Thursdays and Saturdays 7:30pm, Fridays 8:00pm.  $28.50-$33.50.

Beloved local post-rock warhorse Tortoise helped break in Pritzker Pavilion back in 2004, reprised by a rainy noontime set two summers back. So for last night’s return the band decided to step it up a notch, and boy did they deliver. Kicking off this year’s edition of the city’s Made in Chicago jazz series, the Department of Cultural Affairs commissioned the group to compose an original suite and in turn the quintet doubled in size, bringing on five of Chicago’s finest improvisers to help fill out its sound. It was a monster undertaking and, as always, we were on hand to capture the magic.

Photos: Tracy Graham