OK!

I'm sure the gentlemen consisting of present and former FMs over at Illuminated Brew Works would be joyful in helping you book a show or event at their establishment.

The Burlington/MPshows: Brian is great, always communicates with us. If something makes sense to him he will book the show. Pretty reliable in getting a week day show with some lead time. I also think The Burlington sounds pretty good. He seems to like you having a bill if you want Fri or Sat.

I am shocked to hear this. In my experience with Brian for about 20 years, he kinda sucks. One time, he asked me to give him part of my payment back. I don't remember the reason, maybe he was too high and miscounted. Granted, I have played some good shows with him, but my overall experience was not positive. People can change, so I'm just curious if Brian's actually changed over the years.

rsmurphy wrote: Tue Aug 06, 2024 10:38 am OK!

I'm sure the gentlemen consisting of present and former FMs over at Illuminated Brew Works would be joyful in helping you book a show or event at their establishment.

I know that the members of Nice would love to play at Illuminated.

cakes wrote: Tue Aug 06, 2024 1:03 pm I know that the members of Nice would love to play at Illuminated.

FM PEPPER! is the one to talk to there, though I haven't seen him post one of those shows in a minute. I love the place overall, and it's as close to a 'PRF Club' as we're gonna get. There are some limitations though. As it's on the NW tip of the city, pretty much only your friends will come and you're unlikely to reach new listeners, if that's something you care about. Also the place is really only set up to do quiet-to-medium loud stuff, with a small PA and not much sound muffling. In short: a fun time for people like us at this stage in life, less ideal for actively gigging bands.

I agree about mpshows but didn't want to further derail the thread with quibbles from 15 years ago. Also dude deserves credit for sticking with it for so long, in a city with increasingly limited options.

At this point, IBW is pretty much the only place in town I'd ever care to play unless something else really cool pops up. I don't care how much work the Burlington has put into their sound system and the room, the place sucks and I hate it. They treat bands and customers like shit. I've skipped out on countless shows there because I know I'll just have a bad time. My husband had to send me to the bar to get his drinks because the douchebag bartender was blatantly ignoring him. Love the Hideout, historically, but they seem to only book terrible music. I can't guarantee more than 10 people will show up, so Sleeping Village is out. I really hate how indiscriminate bands often are about the venues they're asking their friends to come out to and spend the evening/their money. It's been 2 years since I've played a show but I feel like before I quit I was putting a little more thought into making normal shows feel like more of an event. I wish more bands felt the same. Ask yourself: would YOU attend the show you're booking if you weren't in the band?

Also: IBW is continuing to upgrade their PA over time. And they're working on figuring things out with the neighbors so noise isn't an issue. I saw a loud as fuck band there recently. So loud, in fact, that I left. My advice is: put together an interesting event. Maybe not just music! Know an artist looking to show/sell a bunch of new work? Comedy? Game night interspersed with a band or two? Put the work in and and give us a reason to want to attend and stay the whole time.

akosinski wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2024 8:43 pm One time Mayor For Life was playing at Coles, this had to be at least ten years ago if not more. I was helping Rich push his ampeg through the crowd of handlebar mustache jean jacket hipsters and they were laughing and tried fucking with the amp. I don’t know if they are aware of how close they came to death that day.

Anyways, yeah fuck that place.

Haha. Sorry to post again about Cole's but yeah that was like 15 years ago I think, with our original drummer Uli, and I had forgotten about that specific detail (and honestly I forget that Cole's even exists still...does it?) but it was a pain in the ass venue for sure.

I do recall that night being a banner "some random completely fucked up guy dancing right in front of me like a maniac and being super stoked" show, and me basically deciding to play the entire show at that guy and pretend nobody else was there, which I kinda cherish whenever it happens, so I choose to remember that part of it.

ONWARD: Let's make more PRF shows at Color Club happen you guys. I gotta get off my ass and talk to the people there and figure out how I can set up a bunch of cool shows there with all your bands full of friends I wanna hang out with and then walk half a block home afterward.

tbone wrote: ONWARD: Let's make more PRF shows at Color Club happen you guys. I gotta get off my ass and talk to the people there and figure out how I can set up a bunch of cool shows there with all your bands full of friends I wanna hang out with and then walk half a block home afterward

I'm pretty sure this makes you responsible for hosting the after party as well.

tbone wrote:I do recall that night being a banner "some random completely fucked up guy dancing right in front of me like a maniac and being super stoked" show, and me basically deciding to play the entire show at that guy and pretend nobody else was there, which I kinda cherish whenever it happens, so I choose to remember that part of it.

Was he a teeny-tiny older black guy? I was there a few months ago and there was a small black gentleman dancing around and I'm now wondering if it was the same dude. It would be pretty funny if it was.

^that might have been Charles Joseph Smith. Local legend. He’s a musician and general stoked guy at weirder shows about town.

A few thoughts on Chicago venues, including some spots I didn’t see mentioned yet.

Cole’s - The dynamic between the front/back has improved here now that there’s a big curtain separating the two spaces, which helps keep noise bleed down. They also charge a cover for shows now, which has moderated the behavior of attendees in my experience.

Schubas - Awesome sounding smaller room. Booked by the same team as Lincoln Hall. Worth trying to put together a special show where you know you can draw - a release show maybe?

GMan - Cool room for smaller shows. Nothing too loud here otherwise you’ll be asked to turn down. Same owners as Metro.

Fallen Log - Great spot that’s cultivating the younger indie scene. They were perfect hosts for the BBQ this year. It’s worth noting that Garth made it sound really good with supplemental equipment. Good location and open minded staff and programming.

Great thread, OP! Forgot to mention that.