British dance duo Basement Jaxx hasn’t been to Chicago in quite a while—in the meantime a new generation has turned on to house, electro and funky beats. With a live MC, dazzling LED screen projections of everything from test pattern arrows to astronaut monkeys, the duo threw caution to the wind with its party-peak DJ set, reworking, mashing and carving up versions of “Show Me Love,” its own “Raindrops” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The sonics were top-notch—suitable for dancing even at the far back of the Congress.

Photos: Amy Mokris

Spike Jonze might have saved himself a lot of time and millions in studio money if he’d really wanted to know where the wild, wooly wild things are. Last night, they were at the sold-out Black Crowes show at the Riviera. The shaggy-haired troubadours from the Crowes looked like rockin’ Muppets even as tey sounded like the elite force in southern rock music. At stage front, a greying hippy couple held close together like this was something more than just a big night out—more like a pilgrimage.

On record, the Black Crowes have increasingly let their sprawling style explorations in country, blues, folk, even psychedelia, surface as distinct facets of what was originally a strictly southern rock and soul personality—but live the sprawl is of a different type. The soaring and blistering guitar excursions and mod key passages are woven in Crowes tunes giving them the topography of mountains and verdant valleys. Another way of putting it: The Black Crowes are one helluva jam band when they want to be.

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The World of Chocolate is coming. At the fundraiser for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, guests can sample specialty chocolates from 30 of Chicago’s finest chocolatiers, restaurants and caterers. Pastry people (and aspiring pastry-people): Sign up and submit your best original chocolate recipe for the event’s Chocolate Bliss Recipe Challenge (there’s a field to add your recipe on the website). Recipes will be judged by professional chefs and chocolatiers. The winner gets the Amateur Chocolate Recipe Award and is invited to prepare the dish for a group of VIPs at the 2010 event. If cooking is not your thing, all attendees are eligible to win the world’s most expensive truffle: La Madeline Au Truffle. And while the focus is everybody’s favorite indulgence, there will also be hand-crafted gifts from Zimbabwe, an appetizer buffet and cocktails.

Purchase tickets by calling: 312-922-2322, or visiting: aidschicago.org). Hilton Chicago, 720 S Michigan Ave. 6–10pm, $75 in advance, $100 at the door.

Austin City Limits 7-8pm, PBS. Elvis Costello and The Band of Heathens perform.

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MUSIC - The Numero Group’s Eccentric Soul Review
In April, the Numero Group hosted their first Eccentric Soul Revue at Park West. Syl Johnson slayed and Twinight labelmate Renaldo Domino was there, too. But this week’s performance is no mere encore. For starters, Pastor TL Barrett and his Mt. Zion gospel choir will be stuffed in the balcony of Lincoln Hall, offering funky prayers to the heavens. Few concerts are so rare and lovingly curated. Listen to our podcast with Syl, then hear the man live. Lincoln Hall, 9pm, $30, 18 and older.

SHOPPING & STYLE - Beta Boutique sample sale
Lakeviewers are in luck this weekend as Bucktown’s brick-and-mortar Beta Boutique holds court in the old Ciao Bella space for a two-day sample sale. Expect the same goodies you find at the store, such as looks by local designers including dIETERbeNNET and Lara Miller marked anywhere from 40–90% off. Ciao Bella, 3829 N Southport Ave (betaboutique.com). El: Red to Addison. Bus: 9, 22, 152. Sat 7, 11am–6pm; Sun 8, noon–5pm.

FILM - Johnny Guitar
We’ll admit to having a soft spot for weird overblown Westerns from the 1950s (Anthony Mann, Budd Boetticher…love ’em), but trust us; Johnny Guitar is a crazy-great Western, with Joan Crawford as a saloon owner and Sterling Hayden as a guitar-strumming gin-for-hire. Music Box, 3733 N Southport Ave between Grace St and Waveland Ave (773-871-6604). El: Brown to Southport. Bus: 80 Irving Park, 152 Addison. Fri 6 at midnight, Sat 7 at midnight. Sat, Sun at 11:30am. Regular and midnight $9.25, first daily show $8.75.

NIGHTLIFE - The Goodness
Rude 1 hosts this party to push the hip-hop envelope past the drivel that makes up most mainstream rap these days. Monthly he keeps it real with a mix of high-brow beats and the odd bit of turntablism. This month he’s lined up Edan, whose obscure ’60s rock and psychedelia sampling productions have garnered him quite a following. Lava. 9pm, $10.

THEATER - Silent Nightmare—A Christmas Dirge
What, seriously?! Didn’t you just finish cleaning up yakked-up candy corn from last weekend’s Halloween party? Yep, it’s true: The Annoyance has 2009’s first Christmas show out of the gate. At least it has the decency not to be sentimental; this collection of twisted holiday shorts is for the resolutely tarhearted. Annoyance Theatre, 8pm, $15.

Inescapable pop culture phenomenon Twilight and its marketing machine has triggered an onslaught of inspired looks for salivating tweens, teens and maybe even adults. Hot Topic and Nordstrom have both issued collections (see samples from Nordstrom’s above) of shirts, charm necklaces, cardboard figures and lunchboxes emblazoned with Edward and Bella’s faces and phrases like “Bet you can’t read my mind.” Despite my personal Twilight obsession, I can’t get behind anyone (be they 13 or 30) wearing these clothes. I can, however, understand the appeal of some of the actors’ onscreen looks, such as Bella’s cozy parka, Edward and Jasper’s sleek jackets and aspects of Alice’s bohemian, vintage-inspired layers (bell sleeves paired with cropped vests and such). Want to get your own Twilight look, without buying the cash-in collections? Check out G-Star for similar men’s styles, our vintage store round up for Alice’s look, and find the exact replica of Bella’s parka by Jack BB Dakota at fredflare.com.

This may be old news to you, but it bears repeating anyway: A slew of iconic, old-school food joints are back from hiatus this weekend. Here’s a list:

- Delicatessen Meyer, which closed in March 2007, is coming back tomorrow, kind of. Gene’s Sausage Shop has moved into the space, but the essence (and signage) of Meyer will be in full force. 4750 N Lincoln Ave.

- Sun Wah, the much-loved Chinese barbecue joint, has reopened after a brief hiatus. 5039 N Broadway.

- Salam—perhaps the most authentic and delicious Middle Eastern food in the city—will reopen on Saturday in a bigger and ostensibly less-divey space. (And if the Grand Re-Opening deal—a meat combo plate with humus, babaganouj, fries or rice, salad and pita for $6.95—is any indication, the prices are not going up.)

- And Ba Le—well, Ba Le is still around for now, but in two months it will move to a bigger space next door. So when it see that it’s gone, don’t freak out. If it isn’t obvious already, these types of restaurants have a tendency to reappear.

Leave it to MSNBC to get their Twitter feed hacked right before the weekend. You’d think a prominent news organization of that stature might have its guard up against such sophomoric shenanigans, but it just goes to show that no one is safe from web trolls. Errant tweets like “ALL CARTOONS ARE FUCKIN’ DICKS! @DylanMSNBC, @maddow, @MADNews101 are all cartoons!” and “We LOVE Sean Hannity!! Cum all over us Glenn Beck!!”—are two of the less offensive tweets. Thankfully (for their sake, if not our yuks) it seems as though the network’s already caught on to the error. I can sympathize, as my Twitter account was hacked a few weeks back, and in the hour or two before I realized what had happened, my account had DM’d (that’s Direct Message, for you Twitterphobes) at least half of the folks that I follow. Needless to say, if you receive a DM from MSNBC asking you to check out some sweet pix, by all means delete immediately!

Update: TechCrunch reports that the Twitter account in question was fake all along, and the legit newsstream preceding the offensive tweets (obviously not included in the above screengrab) was only a cheap attempt to deceive overzealous media peeps (like your’s truly!). Here is the official link to MSNBC’s news feed.

Saturday 7

More than 2,000 kids are expected to join the one-mile Fall Fun Run in Washington Park (5700 S Russell Dr), where there will also be Nike giveaways and pre-run warm-ups with former Olympians Connie Moore and William Scherr. 10am–noon, FREE.

Old Town School of Folk Music Wiggleworms instructor Lisa Derosia plays a family show at pop-up shop Kooky (3447 N Southport Ave). (Stream some of her awesome grown-up tunes with her country roots band Lush Budgett here). 2pm, FREE.

The Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N State St) brings back last year’s popular program devoted to master Muppeteer Jim Henson with Muppets, Music & Magic: Jim Henson’s Legacy. The month-long program screening movies, commercials and shorts kicks off today with a 90-minute screening of rare clips hosted by Craig Shemin, vice president of the Jim Henson Legacy organization. 8pm, $5-$10.

Sunday 8

The Chicago Humanities Festival is hosting two great family events in conjunction with the grown-up Laughter! fest: Trickster!, spotlighting the mischievous characters in classic folklore, including West Africa’s Anansi the Spider and King Ravana from the Hindu story Ramayana. (Thorne Auditorium, 375 E Chicago Ave) Noon-1pm.  Insect Antics: A Louse-y Sense of Humor explores science and comic aspects of bugs with entomology expert May Berenbaum and writer Amy Leach. Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S State St, 1:30–2:30pm. Each event is $10, $5 in advance at 312-494-9509 or the CHF web site.

“I want my clothes to be your friends,” Diane von Furstenburg told a couple hundred guests at Neiman Marcus last night after models donning looks from her winter and resort collections had finished struts down the catwalk. “I want you to reach into your closet for my clothes when you want to feel good.”  In a charming thank-you-for-coming wrap-up, the woman who made wrap dresses an eternal gotta-have-one item explained that nothing makes her happier than hearing a woman say she was wearing a DVF piece during an important event that marked a new beginning in hlife—like a marriage proposal, or a successful job interview. “And no matter how old or young you are, there are always new beginnings,” she added. The crowd-pleasing collection had a characteristically happy DVF vibe: jumpers, dresses, tunics, pin-up style bathing suits and cardigans came in ethnic prints, polka dots, bright-hued sequins, flowy chiffon and hot pink. And just about every look—minus the giant, over-the-top bow turbans—looked as wearable as DVF’s ubiquitous wrap dress.