Blue Chicago

Blue Chicago in Chicago is a roughly 160-capacity River North blues club, founded in 1985 and built around a long tavern room whose end-stage places singers within arm’s reach of the floor. Its distinguishing feature is a women-led performance tradition: published accounts describe women vocalists as the primary performers, with call-and-response a regular part of the show. The bar has also presented Koko Taylor, Bonnie Lee, Magic Slim and Eddie Clearwater.

The one-room survivor

Blue Chicago began when Italian-born restaurateur and bartender Gino Battaglia opened the Clark Street bar in 1985; he and his wife, Bernadette, later became longtime business partners. The launch joined Battaglia’s early devotion to blues with his work in renovation and preservation, as he told DNAinfo in 2014. Its later history includes a compact but telling contraction: in November 2009, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Blue Chicago branch at 736 N. Clark would close on January 2, 2010, while the 536 N. Clark original would stay open. That decision concentrated the name, the nightly crowd, and the club’s stage tradition in the present room.

Close quarters, late sets

Programming focuses on Chicago electric blues, drawing from a recurring house roster that includes Laretha Weathersby, Shirley Johnson, Demetria Taylor, John Primer, Mike Wheeler and Sheryl Youngblood. Bills commonly pair a band with a featured singer. The physical proposition remains simple: a stage at one end, stools along the bar, a few wall tables, and open floor space for dancing. First sets begin at 9 p.m.; the club runs Wednesday through Sunday, keeping the music late into the night.