Metro Chicago

Dear Metro/Smart Bar,

 

August 24, 1986…Cabaret Metro. The BoDeans, $3!!! I believe this was their first Chicago show; it was my first Metro show.  I still recall the feeling I got as I walked in, up the stairs, and saw the main concert hall.  I was home!  You will get this - that overwhelming feeling of knowing I had not only discovered something special but that it was already part of me, in my blood - it was nearly instantaneous.  I just knew I fit in here. 

 

 

the Rave-Ups

Nitzer Ebb

Front 242

Fields of the Nephilim

The Call

Love and Rockets

Jane’s Addiction

OMD

Gogol Bordello

Echo and the Bunnymen

Psychedelic Furs

Peter Murphy

The Golden Palamino’s with a not yet widely known Matthew Sweet (who was mesmerizing, by the way)

Luka Bloom

Killing Joke

The Reverend Horton Heat

 

The list goes on.  And on.  You know how long the list is.

 

I have danced the night away here.  I have cried at beautiful music here.  I have heard quiet, ethereal music, new wave synth pop, dark gothic intensity, psycho-billy, singer/songwriters, rock crunchers…..

 

I have found refuge here after losing important people - it’s incredible how healing it is to be at a concert and/or dancing while grieving a loved one. 

 

I’ve been lucky enough to know some of the wonderful people at Metro over the years, particularly Joe Shanahan and Jenny Lizak - and feel privileged to call myself a tiny part of this enormous music scene that has been created over the years.  

 

I still find myself calling it “Cabaret Metro” - old habits and all, but it’s still the coolest name, so I don’t always correct myself. 

 

Mr. Shanahan, Metro, thank you for being the best venue in town, for bringing MUSIC to us, and for providing a haven when I need it most.

 

Long live (Cabaret) Metro!

Tammy Deboer