![]() ![]() In any case, we bid the Fireside a fond farewell and hope an up-and-coming venue fills its slot as an all-ages, cheap place for great music. We wish there had at least been a Good Bye Fireside show so we could get insanely sweaty alongside some 14-year-olds sucking down Camel lights just one more time. Yeah, sure, bowling, totally OK or something, but as far as contributing to the overall music culture and environment, knocking down some pins is just not going to cut it. The Fireside was an all-ages venue, so if youre under 21, or especially if youre under 18, this really, really sucks for you. The official announcement was made during a concert Saturday night, after which people kinda went monkeybutt and threw beer everywhere. The announcement came as a surprise to manyeven though patrons knew Fireside was going to stop having shows, few knew it was going to be this soon. The Fireside Bowl housed its last show Saturday night it will now be a bowling-only venue. In the past decade, Fireside Bowl has played host to hundreds of bands.Fireside Bowl, Now Minus the Music By Margaret Lyons in News on 3:20PM “Hopefully someone will turn around and open something better.” A warm and cozy combination of relaxing music (an hour-long medley before it repeats) combined with a fireplace video (H. ![]() “It’s kind of amazing Fireside was open as long as it was,” Johnson said. Other musicians and record label owners agreed and hope that the loss will spark the local music community to create someplace new. Still, Johnson said he knew Fireside wasn’t going to be around for forever. Most of their fans are too young to get into clubs, and they are too. ![]() For example, he’s got one all-girl punk band called The Groodies who are only 18 years old. On most nights the lanes at the Fireside Bowl are silent, but the shabby bowling alley at 2646 W. The closing creates some obstacles for bands on his label and other local punk groups trying to build a following of fans, he said. “I don’t think he knows what he had in the Fireside and what the Fireside meant to people,” Johnson said. Mike Johnson, who runs a local punk record label called Failed Experiment Records, said although he’s disappointed that Fireside is becoming a bowling alley, he doesn’t fault Lapinski for deciding to change. “There were people upset, but I gave it 10 years and it’s time to do something different,” Lapinski said. He knows some people will be disappointed that the Fireside rock shows are gone, but he says the kids who went there will find a new place to hang out. “It won’t be all ages anymore,” Lapinski said. The shows will be different too–older and milder than the punk shows of the past. The major focus will be bowling, he said, and music will be offered only when it doesn’t interfere with that. He plans to continue offering live music, but not as frequently as before. Fireside Bowl has been in his family 40 years. “It’s time for me to do some changes,” said Lapinski, who started letting shows play there 10 years ago because the bowling business was getting slow. He was able to pick up some equipment–automatic scoring machines and ball lifts–when another bowling alley closed down. But once it was clear the expansion wasn’t happening, he moved forward with the rehab, he said. He wasn’t going to invest money in fixing the place up if it was going to be torn down. In fact, the park expansion plan kept owner Jim Lapinski from going back to bowling earlier. Several years ago, the Chicago Park District expressed an interest in using eminent domain to take over the building to expand nearby Haas Park. Fireside began hosting live music again in 2010, but. The change may have been abrupt for some–there were no big announcements about the switch–but rumors of Fireside’s demise have been swirling for years. Interestingly, the Fireside Bowl website makes no mention of this hard-partying era, saying only, Logan Square became a bit unruly. Some of the better-known bands that have played there are Jimmy Eat World, the Mekons, Less than Jake, The Ataris, The Promise Ring and Alkaline Trio. “It’s sort of a legendary place–a lot of bands who played there have gone on to be mega-popular.” With 16 lanes, rock-themed decor, and live music events, Fireside Bowl offers a distinctive and energetic bowling experience. This vintage-inspired establishment is known for its punk rock heritage and vibrant atmosphere. “It’s definitely too bad,” Carrillo said. Fireside Bowl is a unique bowling alley located in the Logan Square neighborhood. Jeff Carrillo, who played at Fireside just two weeks ago with his band Mahjongg, said he first heard about the club in the mid-’90s when he was a student at the University of Missouri and was making friends from the Chicago area. “A stable, all-ages venue putting on independent music is a rare thing–you can count them on one hand,” Thomson said. ![]()
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