The Vic Theatre is a

music venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Ty ...

located in

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

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Vic Theatre can easily accommodate 1,400 people or with a seated capacity of 1,000.

History

Vic Theatre, designed by architect

John Eberson John Adolph Emil Eberson (January 2, 1875 – March 5, 1954) was an Austrian-American architect best known for the development and promotion of movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre style. He designed over 500 theatres in his lifetime, ea ...

, opened in 1912 as the Victoria Theatre. It took three years to build the luxurious five-story

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

house. The theatre was owned and built by Robert E. Ricksen and Frank Gazzolo. Ricksen and Gazzolo operated the Crown and Imperial theaters as well. Costing $300,000 to construct it was equipped with every luxury. (Source: September 14, 1912 Billboard publication) In 1983 The Vic was purchased by Walt Klein who spent several million restoring it. Opening with the 20th Anniversary of Second City and recorded for broadcast by HBO The Vic was originally programmed by Lou Valpano and Celebration Flipside. Within a year programming was handled by Dave Frey, who brought in Holiday Star Theater as a partner. Later on Walt sold The Vic to Jam Productions.

Some notable performances

The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vi ...

at the Vic on February 7, 1986. * The Replacements at the Vic on April 11, 1986. *

Trouble Funk Trouble Funk is an American R&B and funk band from Washington, D.C. The group helped to popularize funk and the subgenre go-go in the Washington metropolitan area. Among the band's well-known songs are the go-go anthem "Hey, Fellas". They re ...

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

'' at the Vic in January 4, 1987. *In November 1988, Michael Butler produced the musical ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

'' at the Vic Theater to celebrate the shows' 20th anniversary. The production ran until February 1989.Horn, pp. 118–20 *

Wilco Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently d ...

recorded '' Kicking Television: Live in Chicago'' at the Vic in May 2005. *

Ween Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band a ...

recorded '' Live In Chicago'', a DVD and CD of their three night run at the Vic in 2003. *

Gymboree Gymboree Group, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Children's Place. History Gymboree was founded by Joan Barnes in 1976. Retail stores In 1986, the company opened a chain of clothing stores named Gymboree. Gymboree stores offered coordi ...

taped their home video

Parachute Express Parachute Express was an American band of three California-based entertainers who performed, wrote, and produced music for children. Members were Stephen Michael Schwartz, Janice Hubbard, and Donny Becker. Parachute Express gained national prominen ...

Live in Concert at the Vic in 1989. *

Bill Hicks William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material—encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy—wa ...

recorded an HBO special, One Night Stand, at the Vic in 1991. *

Jim Gaffigan James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...

's '' Beyond the Pale'' CD, DVD and TV special were recorded at the Vic in 2006. *

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...

played their first reunion show at the Vic on August 5, 2010. * Hannibal Buress Recorded his second Comedy Central special at the Vic in January 2014. * Papa Roach recorded ''

Live & Murderous In Chicago ''Papa Roach: Live & Murderous in Chicago'' is the first DVD by Californian rock band Papa Roach. It was released in the United States on November 22, 2005 and features the band performing live at The Vic Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. Extras i ...

'', a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

of their live performance at the Vic. *

Cage the Elephant Cage the Elephant is an American rock band formed in 2006 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. They moved to England, U.K. and settled in London in 2008, shortly before their self-titled first album was released. The band currently consists of Matt S ...

recorded a live album, Cage the Elephant Live at the Vic in Chicago in 2012. *

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

played in a line-up featuring among others guitarist

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

and three previous line-ups' drummers performing simultaneously, for 4 consecutive nights in autumn 2014, one of only nine city stops for this incarnation of the band. *

Pete Correale Peter M. Correale (born April 20, 1970 in Oakdale, New York) is an American actor, stand up comedian, and writer. He currently co-hosts ''The Pete and Sebastian Show'' podcast with fellow comedian Sebastian Maniscalco that airs weekly on iHear ...

's stand-up special "Let Me Tell Ya" for Showtime was recorded at the Vic in May 2015. *

Iliza Shlesinger Iliza Vie Shlesinger (; born ) is an American comedian, actress, television host, executive producer, and screenwriter. She was the 2008 winner of NBC's ''Last Comic Standing'' and went on to host the syndicated dating show ''Excused'' and the ...

's stand-up

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

special ''Confirmed Kills'' was recorded at the Vic on April 23, 2016. *

Pete Holmes Peter Benedict Holmes (born March 30, 1979) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and podcaster. Musings on spirituality and religion are frequent themes in his works. Holmes gained recognition in the early 2010s as a stand-up comic, ...

’s stand-up HBO Special “Faces and Sounds” was recorded at the Vic in 2016. *

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by ...

played here on May 18, 2017, on The Great Circle World Tour, their first tour since 2002. *

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

played here on August 22, 2018, for her "Sweetener Sessions" mini tour to celebrate her new album "Sweetener". *

Mini Ladd Craig Joseph Thompson (born 7 January 1995), known by the online community as Mini Ladd, is an Emirati-born British entertainer, comedian, vlogger, gamer and YouTuber. As of August 2019, he has accumulated over 10 million followers across all ...

played here on September 8, 2019, for his Demonitezed tour feat. BigJigglyPanda. *

Sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armor that covers the foot. History Fourteenth and fifteenth century sabatons typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following fashionable shoe shapes ...

played here on October 26, 2019, for their Great Tour, opened by fellow

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

band

HammerFall HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex- Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. History Early days (1993–1996) HammerFall was formed when rhythm guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremo ...

References

External links

* Vic Theatre, The {{music-venue-stub