chicago music tours

►  $40 / person  •  3 hours  •  21 years or older

►  $35 / person for groups of 4 or more

►  Begins & ends at The Kerryman pub & restaurant

Starting in 1980, Chicago became the home of truly “alternative” rock.

Punk’s Do-It-Yourself ethic inspired fans to launch record stores, record labels, and music clubs that gave birth to internationally acclaimed artists, from industrial and postpunk pioneers Ministry and Big Black to alternative rock icons Smashing Pumpkins and Wilco.

Along the way, Billboard magazine declared Chicago "the new capital of the cutting edge" and Spin magazine dubbed us "The Indie City." This tour takes you through Chicago alternative rock history to tell the stories and view the sites of:

• ► Wax Trax Records, Ministry, and Al Jourgensen's many side projects
   
• ► Smashing Pumpkins, their early history, and Billy Corgan's Wrigleyvile house from 1993-2001
   
• ► Studios where Wilco recorded Summerteeth, Mermaid Avenue (I-III),  Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and A Ghost Is Born
   
• ► Liz Phair, Idful Studio, and the "Guyville" hangouts of Wicker Park
   
• ► Big Black & Steve Albini, Naked Raygun, The Effigies and Chicago's groundbreaking punk scene
   
• ► The music clubs, bars, record labels, and recording studios that are vital to the story
   

This interactive tour stops at sites where alcohol is served and you are encouraged to share your own stories of Chicago rock history. If you prefer, just sit back, enjoy your favorite beverage, and hear how Chicago pioneered and shaped alternative and indie rock.  

Please arrive 15 minutes before tour starts. Bus leaves from and returns to The Kerryman pub & restaurant, 661 N. Clark (1 block north of the Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's and Hard Rock Cafe).