The Venue, the 200-seat music performance space in Aurora, will return to Livestream performances in December due to COVID-19 restrictions. All performances will be broadcast live from The Venue’s Facebook Page and YouTube Channel. At each performance, a donation is suggested and donations are split between the artists and The Fox Valley Music Foundation. All information and schedules can be found here: themusicvenue.org.
The Fox Valley Music Foundation’s annual Giving Tuesday fundraising drive will be Tuesday, Dec. 1 with a livestream performance by The Venue’s ensemble featuring music of the Doors, led by our Special Projects Producer, Scott Tipping. Now, more than ever, funds are needed to support The Venue as COVID-19 seriously has affected our ability to operate, pay our staff and provide live performances to audiences. Donations made specifically December 1 will make the Foundation eligible for additional funding, themusicvenue.org/donate.
• Two holiday, special performances are scheduled. The first will be the Dennis O’Brien Holiday at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12. Dennis is a fervent vocalist and guitar player who has been performing classic acoustic covers for 35 years. He is an accomplished entertainer who has shared the stage with notable artists such as The Eagles, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, America, and Poco, to name just a few, Dennis can be found at www.dennisobrienmusic.com.
• The second holiday show will be Dick Smith’s Holiday Hoo Hah: A Dark n’ Shiny Quarantine Wrangle at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 23. “Ok, first of all, these cats are mighty whacked. But they’re hella good. They take old forms and play the hell out of them in new ways. It’s bluesy old-timey, it’s inbred urbane country, it’s, hell, I don’t know what it is, but I’m diggin’ it,” said Frank Goodman of puremusic.com. Join us for a night of hilarity and wonderful music by a band led by Dave Nelson (Heartsfield) and Dave Ramont (a Fox Valley folk staple).
Everyone can get the blues at Christmas, so to help shake that off, the guys who rocked Mundy Park this past summer, The Blues Angels Trio will be perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. and blues great John Primer will be performing as a duo at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 18.
Two special presentations produced by The Venue will fill out the month. Our Album Covers Series will feature an acoustic tribute to The Allman Brothers Band at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20. The Venue for Venues series will feature S.P.A.C.E. in Evanston at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 27. This special series features an interview with the proprietor of a Chicago area music venue combined with a live performance. Bluesman Dave Specter and co-owner of S.P.A.C.E. will elaborate about the history and magic of S.P.A.C.E. combined with a live performance. We’re all in this together, so the Fox Valley Music Foundation is working with area venues to showcase their clubs and their performers and to draw attention to the plight of music venues in the Chicago area. A recent NBC News segment predicted that 90% of the small music venues in Chicago will close unless there’s some significant government help. Last month, November 22 we featured the iconic Chicago music room, Martyrs, and in January we plan to feature the rock club, Reggie’s. Join us for this unique series every 4th Sunday of the month. Donations collected during the Venue for Venue livestreams are shared with the featured music rooms.
All of The Venue livestreams remain available after the performances on both Facebook and YouTube, but donations are only shared during the real-time livestreams with performers and other venues, so best to catch them while they are in progress.
—The Venue and the Fox Valley Music Foundation