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 in early February 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
• June 24, 1981 - The Fix, Subverts, Red Squad
• September 18, 1981 - The Dead Kennedys
• October 1, 1981 - Husker Du, Six Feet Under
• January 23, 1982 - Toxic Reasons

External Links

• O'Banion's reunion home page
• O'Banion's in Memoriam by Sean Parnell
• MXV reviews 2005 O'Banion's reunion