Chicago scene guide
Chicago scene guide — find your venue by sound. House lands at The Summer of George. The venues, promoters and artists shaping Chicago’s electronic scene.
Find your venue
- House — if you like Afrojack: The Summer of George, TBA - LOCATION EMAILED TO TICKETHOLDERS, smartbar
- Techno — if you like Eric Prydz: TBA - LOCATION EMAILED TO TICKETHOLDERS, smartbar, Radius
- Tech House — if you like Dom Dolla: Navy Pier, Spybar, Radius
- Bass — if you like San Holo: Epiphany Center for the Arts, Spybar, Radius
- Deep House — if you like Dam Swindle: smartbar, Radius, Spybar
- Dubstep — if you like Machinedrum: Radius, Ramova Theatre, Concord Music Hall
- Progressive House — if you like Eric Prydz: Navy Pier, Radius, House Of Blues Chicago
Busiest venues
- Radius
- The Summer of George
- TBA - LOCATION EMAILED TO TICKETHOLDERS
- smartbar
- Navy Pier
- Spybar
- Podlasie Club
- Outset
How big is Chicago’s electronic scene?
Over the last 12 months soundcheck tracked 2,579 club nights across 368 venues in Chicago, featuring 1,827 artists. Every listing carries the line-up, times and venue — see what’s on in Chicago tonight.
Which Chicago venues have the most club nights?
Counted over the trailing 12 months of listings:
| Venue | Nights (12 mo) |
|---|---|
| Podlasie Club | 205 |
| smartbar | 186 |
| Spybar | 140 |
| Smoke & Mirrors | 115 |
| Radius | 104 |
| Prysm Nightclub | 99 |
| The California Clipper | 89 |
| Arbella | 82 |
| Concord Music Hall | 57 |
| Outset | 54 |
What time do Chicago club nights actually start and end?
From the 2,579 listings publishing door times: the median Chicago night opens at 21:00 — 58% open before 22:00, 42% between 22:00 and midnight, and 1% after midnight. Of the 472 listings publishing a close time, the median close is 02:00, 31% run past 04:00 and 6% go to 06:00 or later.
How much does a club night in Chicago cost?
Across the 433 listings publishing prices (17% of all nights): the median advance ticket is 5, with half of all nights between $0 and $20. 33% of listed nights are free.
When does Chicago go out?
Saturday is the biggest night (38% of all listings); Friday and Saturday together carry 69% of the week. The busiest month of the year is September.
What does Chicago sound like?
By share of genre tags across the year’s line-ups: House 36% · Techno 21% · Deep House 11% · Tech House 10% · Acid 7% · Ambient 6%. Genre-by-genre venue picks are in the routes above.
All figures derived from soundcheck’s listings database over the trailing 365 days; updated with each rebuild.