Chicago scene guide
Chicago scene guide. House lands at Radius. Venues, promoters and artists in Chicago. Follow artists and venues, and play every artist's sets on soundcheck.
Find your venue
- House · if you like Carl Cox: Radius, smartbar, Navy Pier
- Techno · if you like Eric Prydz: Radius, smartbar, Smoke & Mirrors
- Deep House · if you like Kaskade: smartbar, Le Nocturne, Radius
- Tech House · if you like Dom Dolla: Navy Pier, Radius, TBA - Chicago - West Town
- Bass · if you like Alix Perez: Chop Shop & 1st Ward, Spybar, Bourbon On Division
- Club · if you like DJ_Dave: TBA - Secret Location (Austin), Radius, Concord Music Hall
- Electro · if you like D.O.D.: Radius, The California Clipper, Podlasie Club
Busiest venues
- TBA - Location Distributed Day Of
- Podlasie Club
- Radius
- smartbar
- TBA - Secret Location (Austin)
- TBA - Secret Location
- Outset
- Smoke & Mirrors
How big is Chicago’s electronic scene?
Over the last 12 months soundcheck tracked 2,562 gigs across 363 venues in Chicago, featuring 1,793 artists. Every listing carries the line-up, times and venue. See what’s on in Chicago tonight.
Which Chicago venues have the most gigs?
Counted over the last 12 months:
| Venue | Gigs (12 mo) |
|---|---|
| Podlasie Club | 202 |
| smartbar | 180 |
| Spybar | 138 |
| Radius | 117 |
| Smoke & Mirrors | 116 |
| Prysm Nightclub | 99 |
| The California Clipper | 86 |
| Arbella | 70 |
| Outset | 51 |
| Swig | 51 |
What time do Chicago gigs start and end?
From the 2,562 listings publishing door times: the median Chicago gig opens at 21:00. 57% open before 22:00, 42% between 22:00 and midnight, and 1% after midnight. Of the 877 listings publishing a close time, the median close is 02:00, 36% run past 04:00 and 7% go to 06:00 or later.
How much does a gig in Chicago cost?
Across the 615 listings publishing prices (24% of all gigs): the median advance ticket is 5, with half of all gigs between $0 and $20. 34% of listed gigs are free.
When does Chicago go out?
Saturday is the busiest day for gigs (38% of all listings). Friday and Saturday together carry 70% of the week. The busiest month of the year is November.
What does Chicago sound like?
By share of genre tags across the year’s line-ups: House 37% · Techno 21% · Deep House 11% · Tech House 10% · Acid 7% · Ambient 6%. Genre-by-genre venue picks are in the routes above.
Figures come from soundcheck’s listings for the last 365 days.