Empty Bottle

Ok, that's the best anagram for empty bottle I could come up with. Empty bottle has indie rock, cheap beer, cats and is occasionally free, and that spells RAD.

Be too cool for school if you must, I will be only moderately cool and proclaim from my perch in the home room of Chicago life that although it's true that there's a lot of hipsters here (oh my g-d, hipsters at an indie rock show? NO!), Empty Bottle is the perfect-sized venue for indie shows, the mixing is consistently good, the people who work there are noncommittally surly (my fave), and they host some of the best shows in the city. Murder she wrote.

I really appreciate that they have a spacious front room where you can just chill out and the music isn't as loud. The sound mixing here is usually very good and I don't think I've seen a single show here that I didn't like. Even when it's packed it still feels intimate, which is really nice. They also have free shows where you can see a lot of local bands, and not all of them suck. Plus they have cheap beer.

You got to know what to expect when you go to Empty Bottle, which may depend on the night's performers. Usually, you'll be listening to some querky indie rockers, and chances are if you're going to Empty Bottle you already know the score. But if you don't and want to check out that band that's playing that you heard Wes Anderson talk about in an interview, be prepared for tons of irony including but not limited to: Charles Bronson mustaches, trucker hats, jeans so tight you see scrota, and generally a lot of un-showered hipsters. It's a shame that they actually do have a lot of good bands pass through.