In my mind at least, DIY concerts are practically synonymous with art-damaged loft parties and house shows with a half dozen crusty hardcore bands on the bill, but promoters have been working outside the established venue circuit since before the circuit was established. In this week's B Side cover story, Jake Austen profiles Fletcher "Spoon" Weatherspoon, who's been putting on shows since 1951 and is one of the last living pillars of the "social club" scene that once formed a robust alternative entertainment market among black Chicagoans. The punk-born DIY community could stand to pick up some of the social-club scene's panache—the groups putting on the shows had immensely styling names like the Gents Optimistic, the Foxy Mannequins, Les Sophisticates Modernistics, the Monarch-etts, and the Space Queens.

This week's Three Beats profiles Frank Rosaly's new Puerto Rican-influenced, Bad Brains-covering free-jazz outfit Bootstrap, as well as MC Legit's weekly song giveaway and local "power ambient" group Chord's new album Gmaj7. The latest installment of Gossip Wolf makes a guess at the beverage preferences of How to Dress Well front man Tom Krell and keeps us up to date with goings-on in the indie, garage, and experimental electronic scenes. A new Secret History of Chicago Music memorializes Miles Davis guitarist Pete Cosey. And the Soundboard offers a week's worth of live-music picks, including Ceu, Umberto, the Reigning Sound, and Skrillex, who's headlining this weekend's massive EDM blowout Spring Awakening, which gets its own page.