Saying Goodbye to VCR
By Alina Pawl-Castanon
From its narrow hallways, low ceilings, and exposed brick, VCR has become a DIY staple on the Chicago North Side for musicians and community creatives alike. Adorned with a well-loved Kimbal piano in the corner and shelves lined with DVD’s, books, and self-made recordings, you can feel owner and operator Chris Lee’s intention within its woodwork.
From sheltering drunken cigarettes from rain in the cement backyard, to restringing guitars on the floor ten minutes before set, it has been the home to it all. After hosting over 150 shows in its almost 10 years of operation, Lee is getting ready to open VCR’s doors for the last time for a Farewell show on April 17th, 2026.
Since it’s creation in 2017 with Joey Eichler, Chris Lee has had roommates come and go from the enmeshed art and housing space. Over the past two years, with lease changes and a constantly evolving housing dynamic, the weight of sole operational and financial responsibilities fell onto Lee’s shoulders.
“In the last two years alone, I’ve ended up paying over $15,000 in rent and bills for various roommates,” Lee explained in his recent GoFundMe post. “ I guess I was so determined to keep the venue alive that I didn’t really keep track of how much the housing side of things was costing me, both financially and mentally.”
While tonight marks the end of a long-standing staple of Chicago’s local music scene, it’s not the end of VCR and its impact. Lee used his home studio equipment to capture the sounds that bounced off the venue’s walls over the years of performances, with the recordings finding their final resting place on their Bandcamp.
Tonight’s curtain call includes local bands close and dear to VCR and Lee himself: Heavy Sleeper, Little Church, Beastii, and Zakary Extract.
While local Chicagoans grieve for VCR and the fall of local DIY spots within a constantly changing economic foundation, tonight is a reminder to reminisce on what matters most: You can take the music out of VCR, but you can’t take the music out of the community.
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Links:
GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-diy-venue-the-vcr-cover-costs-as-it-prepares-to-close
Bandcamp: https://thevcrchicago.bandcamp.com/
