O'Banion's

O'Banion's was one of the oldest and longest running of the original punk clubs. Located on Clark St. and Erie, O'Banion's opened its doors in June of 1978. From time of its opening until its closing on February 3rd 1982, the time during O'Banions opertion was often considered to be the zenith of the original Chicago punk movement. After O'Banions closing, the scene transformed to larger venues, more people and less of a close-knit community.

Every year, the members of the original O'Banion's scene have a reunion weekend in honor of their fallen venue. In 2005, the reunion took place at Club Foot and the musical portion was at The Note - acts such as the The Swingers, Tu Tu & The Pirates and Bonemen of Barumba played reunion shows.

General Info



 * Address - 661 N. Clark
 * Phone # - (312) 664-8585
 * Hours - Open from 7am to 4am

History
Despite the swankiness of its current River North location, the area at the time of O'Banion's was something far different. Previous to it's incarnation as Chicago's #1 punk venue, O'Banion's building occupied a wide array of seedy businesses.


 * O'Banion's Flower Shop
 * The McGovern Saloon
 * The Liberty Inn (Chicago's largest strip club in the 1950s)
 * A lesbian bar
 * A "rough" gay bar named PQs

Employees

 * Roseann - Bar
 * Nancy Rapchak - DJ
 * Phil

Notable Shows

 * October 5, 1980 - Strike Under, Six Feet Under
 * February 23, 1981 - Naked Raygun, Silver Abuse
 * June 24, 1981 - The Fix, The Subverts, Red Squad
 * June 29, 1981 - Naked Raygun
 * July 1, 1981 - Strike Under
 * August 3, 1981 - Minor Threat, Youth Brigade, Necros
 * August 5, 1981 - Husker Du
 * September 5, 1981 - Strike Under
 * September 18, 1981 - The Dead Kennedys
 * October 1, 1981 - Husker Du, Six Feet Under
 * October 16-17, 1981 - Strike Under, Trouts, Direct Drive, Tense Experts
 * October 29, 1981 - Direct Drive, T.S.O.L.
 * October 31, 1981 - T.S.O.L., Naked Raygun, The Subverts
 * November 1, 1981 - T.S.O.L., Direct Drive
 * December 12, 1981 - Direct Drive
 * January 8, 1982 - The Subverts, Direct Drive
 * January 22, 1982 - Toxic Reasons, Articles of Faith
 * January 23, 1982 - Toxic Reasons