Hi, so I've been living in chicago for over a year, and I'm from ny, and at home I used to go to DIY loft shows and BYOB events all the time (there's so much in ny that i could go every week), and I haven't been able to find shit in chicago. I've been to lucky gator loft, enemy (heaven), and lumpen, but that's IT. Is there other stuff? Are there any websites that list this sort of thing? Does everything have to be in a fucking bar and be 21+?

The Orphanage is on the south side.
http://onelonetree.org/

http://elasticrevolution.com/

Old Town School of Folk Music (the one on Lincoln Ave, not Armitage, for concerts)

Also: Chicago Cultural Center and MCA. In the summer, the Chicago Park District has a lot of outdoor concerts.

These aren't DIY, but they're bar alternatives. Maybe you could DIY some shows.

i'm actually planning to. But, are there no like underground party directories or diy show directories online for chicago? nonsensenyc was one i was really into back home, is there anything equitable?

I don't know of any online directory but you could check out fuckmountain:

http://www.myspace.com/fuckmountainchicago

It belongs to my friends from Them!Roaringtwenties. I've played there a few times and it's always been very good. They also know some other folks from around town that do DIY shows so they would be good people to ask about it.

I agree. Fuck Mountain is rad

The Reader does cover some of this stuff--I've seen mention of events at the aforementioned Camp Gay and Texas Ballroom there.

The website Chicagopunkpix lists a few of these at times. Punk shows, a lot that occur in the Pilsen neighborhood

We do have an active DIY scene here in Chicago, but online organization is admittedly not the best. Things are changing though and we're making progress, but there is typically somewhere to go every week that is all-ages and/or DIY. Don't be afraid to sign up on CPP, we're a friendly lot and I've met a good collection of folks specifically because of that site, young and old. And feel free to drop a PM if you have any specific questions...

Best sources of info, focused more on the punk/hardcore side of things:

Chicago Punk Pix shows page - Should be noted that I'm a moderator there. We just implemented a calendar function this week (have to be registered to use it) and plan to keep it as up to date as possible. Lots of listings for DIY and all-ages shows.

Chicago Hardcore shows board - definitely a younger crowd here and a lot of under ages.

Southkore Records shows page


Specific DIY venues:

* La Casa Maldita
* People's Projects
* The Butcher Shop
* Lucky Gator Loft
* Ranchos Huevos
* Sludges

Venues that play a good deal of all-ages shows:

* Beat Kitchen
* Champs Rock Room
* Reggies
* Stage 83

I'd say a pretty decent resource for shows/events in Chicago and the surrounding areas(And all over the country, really) is http://www.victimoftime.com/

Run by the people who used to do the Horizontal Action zine here. Pretty all over the place, and there are listings updated weekly it seems.There is a fairly comprehensive guide to all of the local clubs and non-clubs. A good resource, in that department.