From its earliest frontier days, Chicago has had some of the best nightlife in the US. "Sweet Home Chicago", birthplace of Muddy Waters' urban blues , as well as R&B's Chess Records, is still going strong, inspiring the energetic dance beat of 1980s house music as well as the groundbreaking jazz of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Nightclubs aplenty are all over town, especially along Halsted Street, Lincoln Avenue and Clark Street on the North Side. Uptown , at the intersection of North Broadway and Lawrence, is a bit down-at-heel, but has half a dozen good venues. The best gay clubs congregate in the Lincoln Park area. Highbrow pursuits are also well provided for: Chicago's classical music, dance and theater are world-class.

For what's-on information, Chicagoans pick up the excellent free newspaper   The Reader (copies comes out Thursday afternoon and are usually all gone by Saturday). The weekly New City and the gay and lesbian Windy City Times are good sources as well. Full listings also appear in the Friday issues of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune , and Chicago magazine has useful arts and restaurant listings. The Gramaphone Ltd record store at 2663 N Clark St (tel 773/472-3683) is the best place for details of one-shot dance nights.

Blues
B.L.U.E.S. 2519 N Halsted St tel 773/528-1012. Opened in the 1970s, it's still going strong, though a little over-touristed. The tiny stage has been graced by all the greats. Blue Chicago 536 N Clark St tel 312/661-0100. The...
read more >>

Jazz
Andy's 11 E Hubbard St tel 312/642-6805. Very popular with the after-work crowd; informal with moderate prices. The Cotton Club 1710 S Michigan Ave tel 312/341-9787. A sophisticated, live-music venue and disco, it attracts a...
read more >>

Rock clubs
Cubby Bear 1059 W Addison St tel 773/327-1662. A sports bar during the day - right next to Wrigley Field - this place transforms itself after dark into one of the city's most boisterous and eclectic live venues, popular with aging dinosaurs more...
read more >>

Folk, country and world music clubs
Baby Doll Polka Club 6102 S Central Ave tel 773/582-9706. For 40 years, this Southwest Side club has been full of locals doing the polka, two-step and the occasional tango. Fitzgerald's 6615 W Roosevelt, Berwyn tel 708/788-2118....
read more >>

Dance
Circus 901 W Weed St tel 312/266-1200. This celebrity hangout features cartoonish, technicolor decor and a live trapeze act. Crobar 1543 N Kingsbury St tel 312/413-7000. The exclusive, hyper-trendy warehouse club near the river...

read more >>

Theater and comedy
While it was once every Chicago actor's and playwright's ambition to end up in New York, many are now quite content to remain here. The city now supports numerous theater companies, many of them - notably Steppenwolf, John Malkovich's former...
read more >>

Classical music, opera and dance
Under Daniel Barenboim, who is committed to including more contemporary music in its repertoire, the profile of the world-renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra - based at the Orchestra Hall, 220 S Michigan Ave (tel 312/435-8122 or 312/435-8172,...
read more >>

Sports
Staunchly blue-collar Chicago must be among the best US cities for watching sports , as Chicagoans are, for better or worse, loyally supportive of their teams. The city's most successful outfit in recent memory was the Michael Jordan-led ...
read more >>

Drinking
If not quite as wild as in the bootlegging days of speakeasies and Prohibition, Chicago remains a consummate boozer's town and is one of the best US cities for bars , catering to just about every group and interest and many open to 3 or 4am,...
read more >>