Club Reports: Excalibur, Sound-Bar, Spybar, Enclave (Chicago)

Taking care of business in Chicago on a Friday in January so why not check out a few clubs too.  After all, House music was more-or-less invented in the Windy City.  First stop Excalibur, a club that caters to tourists since they offer a free admission coupon in the This Week In Chicago tourist mag.  The place is located in what appears to be a former church, very-much like The Castle in Tampa!

This was my first stop and it was early so no dancers to the downstairs DJ playing mostly early 90's hits.  Does anyone remember Lisa Lisa? But there had to be more to this huge building so I was sent upstairs.

Another huge room upstairs designed a lot like Icon in Orlando.  The DJ up here was playing an awesome progressive House mix that kept going and going.

There were actually some people up here dancing and I'm sure it would get crowded later on. Excalibur is located on West Ontario Street at Dearborn Street.

A few blocks west along Ontario Street is Sound-Bar.  There are actually dozens of night clubs in this area of Chicago called River North, just above the Chicago Loop.

There are several venues within Sound-bar; downstairs in the basement this DJ was playing mostly Hip Hop mixed with Top 40.

In a small room on the main level a different DJ was playing Chill and House and the main room was to be all House music but had not opened yet.

Directly across the street is Spybar, a place I visited last year during a Chicago trip.  Unlike Eye Spy in Orlando which at least uses its "spy" theme, Spybar does not; it's just a name.

The early DJ's playing more House/Progressive House before 16-Bit Lolitas were to come on.

Some of the early dancers in this narrow basement club. An annoyance in Chicago and other northern clubs is the mandatory coat-check policy at most clubs; $3 here, $4 there. Adds up if you're club-hopping.

Last stop of the night was Enclave, another large venue built into a former warehouse and entry is via the loading dock.  Yes, that's snow falling.

DJ Roger Sanchez (USA) was the guest DJ last night putting out an awesome mix of....House, of course!

Everyone was really getting into the music!

Unlike the other venues, Enclave was packed!

While it was crowded though, people weren't very vocal.  I mean, there wasn't a lot of cheering when a really good song would get played.

There is definitely no longer a shortage of Electronic Dance Music in Chicago with multiple clubs playing House and competing for concerts by the bigger-name DJ's.

 Good to see Roger Sanchez.  House has come home!