Precautions intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in the widespread cancellation of concerts and the temporary closure of the great majority of Chicago’s music venues. Many people working in live music—artists, road crews, promoters, venue staff—are losing most or all of their income during this crisis.
Because every concert the Reader intended to cover this week has been called off, we’ve converted our show previews to record reviews where possible. We hope this will drive sales of music or other merch and help artists compensate for lost gig income. We’ve included links on each review page where you can make such purchases.
Several local venues have already launched fundraising campaigns to help their employees stay afloat while operations are suspended, among them the Hideout, the Empty Bottle (and Bite Cafe), Metro (along with Smart Bar and Gman), the Hungry Brain, Reggies’, Sleeping Village, the Whistler, Cole’s, SPACE in Evanston, Cafe Mustache, and Tonic Room. Please consider donating, especially if your job still exists. And please e-mail music@chicagoreader.com to let us know about campaigns not on the list below.
Venue names, alphabetized below, link to the relevant fundraising pages.
Beat Kitchen (to supplement the linked fundraiser, all proceeds from food delivery and takeout go to staff of Beat Kitchen and Subterranean)
City Winery (all locations, not just Chicago)
Constellation No fundraiser at this time, but patrons who bought tickets for canceled shows can donate their refunds to the staff.
Davenport’s Piano Bar & Cabaret
Elastic Arts has its usual donation page, as well as a GoFundMe whose proceeds will be split 50/50 with affected artists and performers
Empty Bottle (and Bite Cafe)
FitzGerald’s (merch booth)
Four Entertainment Group (includes the Owl and AliveOne)
Lincoln Hall and Schubas (parent company Audiotree is donating and matching its Bandcamp proceeds through March 31)
Metro (and Smart Bar and Gman Tavern)
Reggies’ Rock Club (and Music Joint)
Riviera Theatre (fundraiser closed)
SPACE in Evanston (fundraiser closed)
Subterranean (second fundraiser launched May 21)
Thalia Hall (plus Dusek’s and Punch House)
Uncommon Ground Edgewater
Uncommon Ground Lakeview
Vic Theatre (fundraiser closed)
Wire (fundraiser closed) v