WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

After two sessions of damning testimony presented by the city which could result in the revocation of his liquor license, embattled Congress Theater owner Erineo “Eddie” Carranza had his turn to defend himself Tuesday in the third proceeding before Deputy Hearings Commissioner Robert Nolan.

Harlan Powell, Carranza’s fourth attorney in the last seven months, called three witnesses to refute the earlier evidence presented by the city.

The first hearing in mid-January included testimony from an undercover police officer with the Chicago vice squad who was investigating complaints that theater security guards seize drugs from concertgoers and resell them.

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Though it isn’t particularly adept at it, at least when it comes to breaking even or turning a profit, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s reconfigured Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events is determined to stay in the concert business, regardless of mounting losses in difficult economic times.

The city this morning announced the remaining headliners for Taste of Chicago this July, with R&B singer Robin Thicke, Led Zeppelin veteran Robert Plant, neo-soul diva Jill Scott, and alternative rockers Neon Trees joining the previously announced “We Are Young” pop band fun.

 “We are thrilled to announce the headlining talent,” Emanuel said in a statement. “The Taste draws hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors to downtown Chicago and we are excited to offer attendees such a variety of recognized, energized, and award-winning quality entertainers while enjoying a taste of Chicago’s culinary scene.”

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Starting at about 7:10 p.m. Watch streaming video from WBEZ’s event at Mayne Stage in Rogers Park on Tuesday evening. Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #WBEZcritics.

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An inspection of the Congress Theater Monday found sufficient progress to remain open at least for the next few weeks.

"The majority of the most serious violations are complied," according to Judy Frydland, the lawyer representing the city.

Those violations include poor wiring, ventilation and obstructed exits, among other things.

Last week Frydland told DNA Info Chicago that the Congress now has fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors, improved wiring, and a functional fire curtain. It's not clear if ventilation issues have been addressed.

"We're going to pursue this case until they're in compliance," Frydland said in court on Tuesday.

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Criticism—which I define as the attempt to intellectually convey your emotional response to a work of art, via context, insights, and the evidence to back those insights up—always has been distinctly different from and vastly superior to mere opinion.

The latter never is lacking: You know what they say about opinions and everyone having one. Such is the human animal that we can assume the first Cro Magnons were grunting pro or con about one another’s cave paintings 43,000 years ago. But in today’s solipsistic Twitterverse, we arguably are drowning in more vacuous, empty-headed opinion than at any point in history, leading some to exclaim (via the Mexican-American actor Alfonso Bedoya in the 1948 film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre): “Critics? We don’t need no stinkin’ critics!”

Or do we?

Well, yes, of course we do, so long as some small minority of us still think of art as so much more than mere entertainment and yet another disposable product to be quickly consumed and consigned to the compost.

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DNAInfo’s Kyla Gardner reports that Cook County Judge James McGing is allowing the troubled Congress Theater to remain open for three shows this weekend despite the city’s long list of “hazardous and dangerous” conditions at the 87-year-old venue, pending another city inspection Monday.

Country singer Easton Corbin is set to perform tonight; the Funky Meters are booked as part of CIMMFest tomorrow, and the reggae act Rebelution is scheduled to appear on Saturday, though McGing ordered that no more tickets be sold for these shows, according to Gardner’s report.

Among the biggest questions looming so far over recent developments: How did city safety departments criticized for ignoring unsafe conditions at the E2 Nightclub that resulted in the deaths of 21 people in 2003 similarly turn a blind eye to hazards at the Congress for so long before last Friday when the motion was filed?

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City attorneys Thursday morning will seek an immediate injunction against the owner of the troubled Congress Theater in Logan Square, prohibiting Erineo “Eddie” Carranza from “renting, using, leasing or occupying” the 87-year-old, 3,500-seat venue, and granting police the power to force him from the premises if he doesn’t willingly vacate immediately.

This extreme move against a major concert venue is without precedent on the city’s music scene. It comes as a result of Carranza’s failure to correct in a timely fashion a long list of violations that the city Buildings, Fire and Health departments say constitutes a “hazardous and dangerous” situation for concertgoers.

The emergency motion, which was filed by Chicago senior counsel Kimberly Roberts on April 12, followed the latest round of city inspections on April 3.

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