The room where Chicago goes to hear a band right before everyone else does: a 507-capacity hall with sightlines and sound that musicians praise from the stage, unprompted. Lincoln Hall, at 2424 North Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park, opened in October 2009 and immediately became the city's benchmark mid-size independent venue. The address has show business in its bones: the building opened in 1912 as the Fullerton Theatre, a nickelodeon-era cinema, and spent later decades as the 3 Penny Cinema - directly across the street from the Biograph Theater, where John Dillinger watched his last movie in 1934. When the 3 Penny closed, the owners of Schubas Tavern - brothers Chris and Mike Schuba - rebuilt it as a music room. The design choices explain the reputation: a wraparound mezzanine balcony, a thrust-free open floor, pristine sound tuning and a separated front bar and restaurant that keep chatter out of the hall. Audiofile and industry lists routinely rank it among America's best small venues, and the Schuba brothers' operation - now under the Audiotree umbrella - pairs it with Schubas as Chicago indie's farm system. The booking history is a who's-who of caught-them-early: Frank Ocean, Lorde, Alabama Shakes, Chance the Rapper, Mac Miller and Japandroids all played the room on their ascents, and established acts - Spoon, Wilco side projects, Robyn - use it for underplays that sell out in minutes. Album-release residencies and Tomorrow Never Knows festival dates stud the winter calendar. The neighbourhood does its part: DePaul's campus keeps the crowd young, the Lincoln-Fullerton-Halsted junction is dense with pre-show options, and the venue's kitchen and front bar handle the rest - the room's all-ages-to-21-plus split varying by show, with the balcony often reserved for drinkers. Practical notes: the Fullerton Red-Brown-Purple line station is a ten-minute walk and street parking is Lincoln Park roulette; the mezzanine rail is the connoisseur's spot - arrive at doors to claim it - and anything hyped at Lincoln Hall sells out, so on-sale discipline matters more here than almost anywhere in Chicago.

Type: Theater / Concert Hall

Address: 2424 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, 60614

Website: https://lh-st.com

Cover Charge: 1

Capacity: 507

Opening Date: 16/10/2009

Serves Food