Lincoln Hall

Lincoln Hall is a 507-capacity concert room in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, with a main floor and balcony inside a building that began life as the Fullerton Theatre in 1912. The room’s distinguishing feature is its wraparound balcony: it keeps a compact, audience-close feel while giving many viewers an elevated line to the stage. The venue opened as Lincoln Hall in 2009 and sits across from the Biograph Theatre, tying a contemporary show night to a block with deep cinema history.

A cinema’s second act

The building opened as the Fullerton Theatre, a nickelodeon, in 1912. Its later uses included a garage and machine shop, the Crest Theatre and the 3 Penny Cinema, whose programming included foreign, classic and independent films. Chicago closed the 3 Penny in June 2006 over unpaid amusement taxes, ending its run as a movie house. Mike and Chris Schuba, already the operators of nearby Schubas Tavern, converted the space into Lincoln Hall; the concert venue reopened on October 16, 2009. Their aim, Chris Schuba said during construction, centered on a human-scale room where music led the experience. A second change arrived in April 2015, when the Schubas brothers sold Lincoln Hall and Schubas to Audioleaf, a partnership involving Audiotree and Greenleaf Companies. Mike Schuba stayed on as chief operating officer, while the clubs retained their names and booking staff.

The room now

Lincoln Hall’s calendar leans toward indie, folk, pop, alternative rock and electronic bills, with room for R&B, country-adjacent artists, comedy and special events. Artists seeking a date use the venue’s music-submission form, a straightforward route into its booking operation. For concertgoers, the key practical feature is the split-level layout: the balcony wraps around the music room, creating elevated sightlines, while the main entrance, ramp to the music-room floor and balcony elevator support accessible movement through the venue. The room also has a reputation for carefully equipped live sound, including gear donated by Wilco.