Around 3:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve we sat down with Abigail Grohmann to talk about her favorite venue in Chicago.
Q: What's your favorite place in Chicago to listen to live music in?
A: My favorite place to listen to live music in Chicago is Metro / Smartbar.
Q: Tell me about Metro / Smartbar?
A: The Metro is a music venue in Wrigleyville housed in an old historic landmark building. It has this incredible old facade and is owned by Joe Shanahan. Underneath Metro, there’s a nightclub called Smartbar which is where the house and techno community in Chicago pretty much lives.
“A few more clubs exist downtown that also offer spaces for the house and techno community, but this is basically where the genre has continued to blossom since Warehouse closed down. Frankie Knuckles was one of the original Smartbar resident DJ’s and he pioneered the house music genre, that history is still very present in the walls of this space.”
“This place is very historic and really special to me and the house music community. It’s basically where I spend all of my time on the weekends.”
Q: Why Metro / Smartbar and not elsewhere?
A: As a house and techno DJ, this club is built for the music I play. House and techno is still a pretty underground genre, what many don’t know is that house music originated in Chicago and techno originates in Detroit. So it’s very important to keep the local house music scene in Chicago vibrant.
“Smartbar is a very safe space for all people to come. On the walls, there are signs that say no racism, no sexism, no homophobia, no transphobia, no xenophobia and no harassment of any kind. As a young woman, I can even come here by myself on the weekends and know I’m going to feel safe.”
Q: Who’s been one of your favorite artist to see perform here?
A: Michael Mayer, DJ Tennis, Danny Daze and Lone were some of the most exciting sets I’ve seen at Smartbar in 2019. It’s also always exciting to see some of the Smartbar resident DJ’s that have blown up in the industry like The Black Madonna and Derrick Carter come back and play. They really are some of the most technically proficient DJ’s in the world and bring the most fun and energy to the dance floor.
“Like no other place in Chicago, Smartbar / Metro feels like home. No other music venue feels familial in the same way. The people that come here regularly know the staff. It's a very special place and I haven’t really experienced that level of intimacy with a venue anywhere else.”
“Metro / Smartbar have a focus on being comfortable and welcoming for people from all walks of life to come here and have an amazing experience with music.”
Abigail Grohmann is a Chicago native who currently works in advertising. She’s a creative at heart, model and aspires to be a full-time DJ. She is a creative strategist and resident DJ of Manifest which was established in 2016. As a collective, they come up with visual art installations for nightclubs, parties and experiential activations. The intention behind the installations is to imagine the futuristic, the utopian and the avant-garde, creating immersive moments of transcendence for patrons.