Evanston S.P.A.C.E. (or Evanston SPACE) is a small

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...

and venue for music performance and live recording, and a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

production facility, as well as serves similarly for the visual arts and literary events located at 1245 Chicago Avenue in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, adjacent to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, in close proximity to the CTA Purple Line

mass transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

elevated train station Dempster, just south of Dempster Avenue. It opened in spring 2008, along with Union Pizzeria, an affiliated restaurant in the same building. It is a notable small concert space in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area, that seats about 250 people at candle-lit small round tables and as standing spectators. The SPACE has over the years played host to the most renowned

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

artists in the Western World; for example, only in 2014-2015 winter timeframe to

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered the ...

, Leo Kottke,

Justin Townes Earle Justin Townes Earle (January 4, 1982August 20, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. After his debut, EP ''Yuma'' (2007), he released eight full-length albums. He was recognized with an Americana Music Award for Emerging Artist ...

and Robyn Hitchcock, among many tens of events. S.P.A.C.E. is an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for the Society for the Preservation of Art and Culture in Evanston. As of 2024, Bruce Finkelman and Craig Golden, through their firm 16” on Center, own, co-own, operate, and/or co-operate several music venues, including

The Empty Bottle The Empty Bottle is a bar and music venue located at 1035 N. Western Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Located on the west side of Chicago's Ukrainian Village neighborhood, the venue primarily hosts local, regional, and touring alternative music act ...

, The Promontory, Evanston S.P.A.C.E., Sonotheque (which closed in 2009),

Thalia Hall The Thalia Hall ( ro, Sala Thalia) is a theatre and concert hall situated in Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical r ...

, and The Salt Shed, all in and near Chicago. Finkeleman and Golde are similarly affiliated with several other restaurants and bars, both at those music venues and free-standing, including Bite Cafe, Dusek's, and

Longman & Eagle Longman & Eagle is an American restaurant located in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. It was founded in 2010. Restaurant History The restaurant was founded in 2010 by Pete Toalson and Bruce Finkelman, who had previously founded the music ...

The Venue

The listening room fits about 250 guests and shows often offer a mix of reserved tables, general admission seating and standing room tickets. Shows are open to all ages and the bar sells alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to patrons whose hands are stamped with water-soluble black stamp.

Live music

SPACE hosts local and national touring acts spanning rock, blues, jazz, folk, singer-songwriters, country and R&B. Past years' artists include

Brandi Carlile Brandi Marie Carlile ( ; born June 1, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and producer whose music spans many genres, including folk rock, alternative country, Americana, and classic rock. , Carlile has released seven studio albums. She has ...

, Aaron Neville,

Graham Parker Graham Thomas Parker (born 18 November 1950) is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the British band Graham Parker & the Rumour. Life and career Early career (1960s–1976) Parker was born in Hackney, East L ...

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,George Winston, Alabama Shakes,

Marshall Crenshaw Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway," a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl," and "Whenever You're on My Mind." He i ...

, David Lindley, The Weepies,

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career ...

, Herb Alpert and Lani Hall, Five For Fighting,

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

Terrence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from t ...

Zoë Keating Zoë Clare Keating (born February 2, 1972) is a Canadian-American cellist and composer once based in San Francisco, California, now based in Vermont. Music career Keating performed from 2002 to 2006 as second chair cellist in the cello rock band ...

The English Beat ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, The Lone Bellow,

Martin Sexton Martin Sexton Born March 2, 1966 is an American singer-songwriter and music producer. Early life Born in 1966, Sexton grew up in Syracuse, New York, the tenth of twelve children in a working class Irish-American family. He acquired his first ...

, Lucinda Williams and

The Lumineers The Lumineers are an American alternative folk band based in Denver, Colorado. The founding members are Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion, piano). Schultz and Fraites began writing and performing toge ...

Music production

The space is regularly used for live broadcasts emitted on the local

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

affiliate station

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and lis ...

FM 91.5 Chicago Public Radio. There is also a regular podcast series made available through

Apple, Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

Awards/Recognition

2013 WXRT Listener Poll "Best Venue" (4th place)Nechvatal, Zack (January 9, 2014)
"2013 Listener Poll Results"
, WXRT. Retrieved June 14, 2014.

References

External links

Evanston SPACE Web Page

Metromix Profile of SPACE
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Evanston, Illinois Music venues in Illinois Tourist attractions in Evanston, Illinois 2008 establishments in Illinois Event venues established in 2008