Looking for an alternative nightclub in chicago
November 18, 2009 4:22 PM   Subscribe

Going to chicago this weekend and would like something other than the standard club. Where should I go?

My wife is headed to Chicago with some friends and wants to go dancing Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night. She's looking for a place that plays more indie/alternative/80's dance music and not the standard clubbing stuff. I have heard that there isn't much, but NEONightclub.
posted by bwilms to Society & Culture (12 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Happy Village in Humboldt Park used to let people play a stack of burned CDs that patrons contributed. You might check that out.

Same neighborhood, Club Foot is sorta punky sorta indie rock. But these aren't "dance clubs" per se. They are places where dancing would be tolerated.
posted by kensington314 at 4:27 PM on November 18, 2009


I would also be remiss if I did not mention Carol's, which is on the southeast corner of Clark and Leland. A country bar that closes at 5:00 AM. The band on Friday through Sunday is called Diamondback, and they are great. And there is dancing. And they take requests.

It isn't what she asked for, but maybe she would like it even better? Several of the best nights out I've spent in Chicago were in that bar.

Also there is 24 hour mexican food next door.
posted by kensington314 at 4:34 PM on November 18, 2009


Would highly recommend the Neo. Use to live two blocks away across from the zoo a couple years back and went their every time the doors open. Great music, good people.

Yelp reviews
posted by bleucube at 4:50 PM on November 18, 2009


Neo is especially recommended if your wife likes Depeche Mode and leather boots.
posted by kensington314 at 5:00 PM on November 18, 2009


Polyfuse is the guest DJ at Dark Sounds this Friday. I haven't been to the Lucky Number Loft but I've seen Polyfuse and he's excellent; super danceable industrial beats. It's pretty mind blowing to see a tall skinny kid with emo bangs and a laptop shuffle to the stage and proceed to destroy the fucking dancefloor like it's no bigs. Highly recommended.

I have weird taste in music so I recommend playing her some of the copious free music on his site and making sure this is her jive.
posted by Juliet Banana at 5:19 PM on November 18, 2009


downstairs at debonair can be good. or darkroom.
posted by anthropomorphic at 5:46 PM on November 18, 2009


Danny's in Bucktown?
posted by jeanmari at 5:48 PM on November 18, 2009


i also 2nd danny's. i apparently only frequent clubs whose names begin with "d"

debonair is more indie/electro house-y downstairs. it is more of a club, especially upstairs which can be like mainstream shitty clubby. the music at danny's is much more diverse, very hipster. i met jeff parker from tortoise the last time i was there!
posted by anthropomorphic at 6:33 PM on November 18, 2009


While many of he places mentioned here are cool, I'd say that only a handful of them actually qualify as clubs in the proper sense. Of the above mentioned, Neo and Debonair are your best bets for clubs that are similar to larger venues like Crobar, Soundbar, Excalibur, etc... but play better music. One of my personal favorites is Sonotheque, but you might check their website, as their schedule is not always dance oriented. I've seen Danny's mentioned here a lot, but I have to say I would never consider going there for dancing. Danny's is a great bar, but it's super small and often quite crowded.
posted by ISeemToBeAVerb at 8:12 PM on November 18, 2009


Guess I have to take back that Sonotheque recommendation, they just closed this past weekend.
posted by ISeemToBeAVerb at 8:17 PM on November 18, 2009


FYI. neo is pretty much mid-90s to current poppy industrial/goth on the weekends with occasional bursts of noise electro and the inevitable 80s-90s retro sets.
posted by patricking at 11:19 PM on November 18, 2009


Response by poster: They went to the hideout and really enjoyed the party and scene. They have different DJs every saturday so the playlist will be different. They played some Cut Copy and Jay-Z remix.
posted by bwilms at 3:02 PM on November 24, 2009


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