Rule number one: no creepy-looking dudes. Number two: no fat chicks. Otherwise, anything goes at Wicker Park’s Jerkstore, HQ for Johnny Love’s frivolous, slightly depraved parties.
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While walking to Daddy’s Goodnight Blowjob last Saturday night (girls were required to wear pigtails, guys had to have mustaches, everyone in pajamas) my two girlfriends and I passed a woman with spiky black hair at the corner of Damen and Division. She looked us up and down and scoffed, “What, are you guys going to that supercool DJ party or something?” There seems to be a general disdain around town for the elitist tone of Love’s parties, which are RSVP only–though not exactly exclusive, seeing as how anyone who finds out about one via Love’s mailing list, his announcements on Friendster, or word of mouth can RSVP by e-mail and get on the guest list. But plenty of people not only go, they go and take their clothes off. And moreover, Love runs one of the last live/work/party spaces still standing proud in the city.
Texas Ballroom and Hey Cadets!, which share a building in Bridgeport, are having bigger problems. One night in August a bunch of police officers and fire department officials came by at 8:30, long before any guests had shown up for that night’s party. “There were more officers than people,” says Texas Ballroom resident Jesse Batesole. The officials gave him a ticket for throwing a public event without a Public Place of Amusement license, which is required for venues providing any kind of public entertainment, including theater, live music, dancing, rodeos, two or more pool tables, or three or more arcade games. City inspectors showed up the next day and wrote up a list of violations, which they sent to the building’s owner, Dan Jekic.
According to the city’s Web site, a PPA license costs only $385 for a space with a capacity of 350 people, but bringing a building up to code to pass the required electrical, plumbing, ventilation, and structural inspections often costs more money than landlords and the people who run spaces like this can afford. And even if some benefactor dropped a load of cash in someone’s lap, actually getting the process started is a bitch, though the city is trying to make it easier, according to Rosa Escareno, a spokesperson for the Department of Business Affairs. Before her department was created late last year, a business owner would have to run from office to office–revenue, health, zoning, liquor, etc–to get everything required to open to the public. The DBA is supposed to be a one-stop shop for all that. “We are going to have a business consultant, which will now be able to not only provide licensing and help the person through the process,” Escareno says, “but also assist with troubleshooting. So this becomes a single point of contact.” Great idea, but Escareno admits things are less than organized at the moment. “We’re still being formed,” she says. “We’re a little bit in limbo. That’s why some functions are still kind of loose.”
