The recent buildout here is impressive, adding a large lobby & bar, a patio behind it, and modern, fully accessible bathrooms. The main music room remains unchanged with its stage and its bar. They do have Woodford Reserve, a nice touch for my fancy Noble Bourbon Boozers. With the new setup, you can start one tab and its accessible from both bars, and from waitstaff, if the show is seated and they are present. Its a small room, great to see a show. Its also very ADA friendly, with a reserved space right up front for GA shows, and designated seats during seated space shows. Email the box office a couple days in advance with any questions. read more

My favorite concert venue on the North Shore of Chicago. It seats around 150 and most shows have an option of table or general admission. The sound quality is fantastic and the staff is very friendly. It also gives off an intimate concert vibe because you feel like the artists are right there (they actually are!). read more

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This was a really cool venue. No food but good drinks. The entertainment for the night was top notch. It was a Prince tribute band. When I tell you it was a time to be had. The service upon entry was nice. I would definitely visit again read more

Space - Drink menu - Performing Arts Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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I would have loved a music venue like during my NU days, but there wasn't much to Evanston back then. I stopped by here last weekend to see a fleetwood mac cover band. So fun! We ate across the street at Shinsen before heading over, although looks like we could have eaten here first! It was a sold out show and we were a little late thanks to indulging in good sushi and sake across the street so we were standing way in the back. However, it will still intimate and comfortable even though the place was packed. The sound quality was great the cover band was a lot of fun! I would definitely come back for another show! read more

I love the vibe here, it's small enough to be intimate but big enough to pull some great artists! The fact that it is just off public transit so you don't need a car to get here from Chicago is a huge plus. Staff is super nice and always add to the atmosphere and great experience. Always looking for who is playing at Space next! read more

Saw Yot Club here, hope he comes back because it was super fun. Good cocktails, very cool inside, awesome show. Also shout out faerybabyy read more

I'm a big fan of SPACE. A great venue for people wanting to listen to the music and not use it as a backdrop. Get a table and relax. This small space is intimate. The crowd here is usually a bit older for reasons I can't explain but when you go you do see people of all ages there. Lots of people on dates too. I am told the drink specials are fantastic. They don't have gluten free beer yet but hey, no place is perfect. read more

Great venue. Wonderful employees. We have been going to adjacent Union restaurant for years and absolutely adore that place. Tonight, we went to see ""Celebration of Prince" in Space. Awful, blasting back up, steamroller drummer. That may have been intentional to drown out the lead singers voice. The lead singer exemplified a persona that was absolutely the antithesis of Prince. He spoke to the audience if they were children . This performance, however, would not deter me from coming back to space. I know that typically they have much better bands! read more

Small club ! Very cool ambiance and sound is Great! Me and the wife seen Ally Venable on a tues. Night. Show waa fantastic and all seats are fantastic. We got to meet her after show. We will be bak for sure. read more

Space - Very nice,small club !! - Performing Arts Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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Space is a great intimate concert venue in Evanston- a great way to see your heroes and new music close up! Attended a show recently of new-to-me bands, and was impressed with the ease of buying tix online, ease of entry, cleanliness of everything, and professional staff. Plenty of local craft beer choices at the bar, and the bartender was on point! As was the sound for our show- Space is a really well-run club. If you're in the need to grab a bite before you show, Union connected to Space is a great option. Look for their Out of Space offsite concerts with even bigger names during the summer months. Space! read more

Space - Performing Arts Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Almost don't want more people to find this place....it's that great of a venue. Saw the Wooten Brother's Band who were absolutely bringing the funk like only they can! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MORE GREAT ACTS at this place! read more

First time here , when you first walk in to your left is Union Pizza and a full bar , entering Space had the pleasure of seeing the famous and talented Jeff "Skunk" Baxter& his band , full bar , great seating or standing room , sound is great . read more

Space - Performing Arts Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Fantastic venue. Bring earplugs if near front. Table seating is best but many shows sell out so GA seating is fine too. Good bar during show. Dinner at Union Pizza is a good combo but book reservations early since they fill up also. read more

I had an easy time navigating this venue and getting parking. I caught a show here and it was lovely. The only odd thing is that the bar is located on the right side of the room, so you'll have people getting up and walking in front of you during the show if you're near the bar. read more

I haven't had a chance to see a show there yet, but I loved their solution to the stay at home orders: Space Record Club! For $60, I was able to select from a few different vinyl options in partnership with Squeezebox (I went for Johnny Cash), a choice of a 4 pack of various local brewery beers (Sketchbook), a piece of Space merch (I went for the pennant), and a delicious dessert treat from Noir d'Ébène (a local chocolatier). It was a super easy curbside pickup and a great way to support a local music venue that can't fully operate during the pandemic, as well as the other local businesses that were part of the package. And, a portion of the sales went to My Block, My Hood, My City, which is awesome. Loved this creative solution during these crazy times, and relaxing on a weekend with a beer, a new record, and a yummy treat was quite lovely. read more

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Fun espresso martini class at Space. We made two martinis and tasted two others. Class was easy and informative. read more

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Space is a nice little live music venue that is hard... nay impossible to find any downsides. Upon first arrival it can be minorly confusing where the entrance is, all you see is people enjoying pizza, until you see the blatantly obvious, larger-than-life sign that clearly identifies SPACE. Walking to the back you are greeted by cordial staff members who check tickets and advise you of any current policies just before letting you inside. Space is mainly occupied by a large number of tables, with chairs flanking the stage. There is also a bit of standing room around the edges and rear (primarily) but I highly recommend getting a table if you can (it'll be served by waitstaff, too). The small bar off to the side, however, seems to serve drinks at a decent clip. Being a small venue there really isn't a bad spot in the house and the acoustics, to the non-audiophile, sound great. If a favorite performer has an event, or even if you're looking for something fun to do, don't hesitate to grab tickets. You'll enjoy Space and all it has to offer. read more

Pretty, intimate venue with great performances. There's a good amount of seating for the shows and several drinks available for order. There's an awesome pizza place also connected to the venue, definitely recommend you come early and grab dinner there first! They are strict about vax cards and masks but as long as you follow the rules we had no problems. read more

Space - Performing Arts Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Great little place with a cool vibe. Great place to see music . Standing room only when we went and staff was great!

This is an interesting place. First, the positives. The acoustics are excellent, and the staff is great. The attached restaurant is really convenient too. But! The parking situation is insanely terrible. If you're not walking or Uber-ing, be ready for a headache or three. Although it might vary by artist, the last time we were there the crowd was talking so loudly that both the headliner and opening act had to tell them to shut the eff up. In those situations with general admission and no seating, it's not really a listening venue as much as it is a bar with a band and a very expensive cover charge. I'm not in a hurry to go back, although if an artist I really want to see is booked there, I would probably psych up and do it. read more

Lovely concert venue. Good sound small intimate space. Attached restaurant is consistently tasty. Pizza salad etc

I WAS a fan of Space up until their recent renovation. The quality seems very nice but there is absolutely zero charm and it lost its appeal to me. On a recent visit to see a show there I was very disappointed. The term COLD is probably fitting. There was only one bartender at the new outside bar. No servers inside the venue and the inside bar was closed. Really? What were they thinking? Four of us sat through a show and didn't want to get up and miss the show to go outside to get a drink. A missed opportunity for the venue of potentially 8 drinks and we were unhappy customers. The bartender obviously missed out on making some money too! The place was as cold as a meat locker and not a manager in sight to do something about it. Really poor management and the place is stark cold design. I have been coming to Space at least once a month for years. I will avoid the place now unless there is a great band that I can't see anywhere else. Super disappointed in a venue I used to look forward to going to. Shame on them! read more

I recently purchased tickets for a concert from this venue. They use a 3rd party vendor, Ticketweb, for sales. The price for two tickets was $40. At the checkout I was charged an additional 30% surcharge which brought the total to $54. Ticketweb is a subsidiary of Ticketmaster, so having dealt with them before I am not surprised at this bit of piracy. Had I seen the surcharge before checking out I might have made a different decision. But I did accept it just the same. I'm sure that this is part of their business model. It is a quite common practice, but my complaint is that they purposely obfuscated the surcharge. 30% seems to be an outrageous amount of money for the doling out of tickets electronically. And I'm sure that the venue was fully aware of this before hand. The money for the surcharge is somewhat inconsequential. But the honesty is simply not there. Shame on them. read more

A great intimate music venue. The musicians are basically part of the audience. I saw Lisa Fischer and was blown away by her artistry. She can't be defined by any specific musical style. She is more than "Gimme Shelter". read more

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I kind of want to be real quiet about this place, but I also want to shout from a mountain top - this place is AMA+A+A+A+ZING! Turns out, I have a favorite concert venue, it's just really far from home, in a quaint little area. Service, cleanliness, sound, set-up, drinks, ambiance ~ Yelp 5-stars across the board. Saw JJ Grey last night, he was excellent! It felt like MTV unplugged. Intimate, candles, stories, music, stories about music. Can't wait to go back in April for another show. I was a little worried about parking, but we found free parking on the street almost immediately. Also, I was a little worried about the venue being too small and stuffy, it was just perfect. read more

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Great acoustics, a bit small and cramped if you are COVID sensitive. Intimate and well lit to see the artist form any spot. Overall just a great place but it is small and seating is in table format limiting seats a lot. read more

The Ambiance was great! Very friendly staff! The acoustic sounds were very good! I would Highly Recommend seeing a Performance there!

This is a good independent venue but they're utilizing a ticket servicer in Eventbrite who in turn charges outrageous service fees. This is discouraging to smaller artists who even with same-day purchase online is still a 22% markup. Even if I buy months in advance - 35% markup or higher for more famous artists. Why would I pay that without assurance that it's all going to the artist? Until they utilize a different ticket servicer or guarantee the fee goes to the artist, I'm taking my patronage elsewhere. read more

We went last night for the first time to see Deacon Blues (a Steely Dan tribute band). You enter the Union Pizza building, then either go straight down the hallway to the venue (in the back of the building) or go left into the bar and restaurant area. We parked across the street in the brightly lit public parking lot. Free on Saturdays. There aren't many spots but someone was pulling out as we pulled in. There is also street parking where you don't have to feed the meter after 6, or the place also provides $7 valet. We got to the place an hour before the music doors were going to open so we sat at the bar (instead of waiting for a table). We ordered drinks and a four cheese pizza. It was very good. At 7 we got in line in the hallway to enter the music venue. There were about 15 people ahead of us. When we got in there was an empty row of chairs in the back, so we picked two at the end (we didn't reserve a table). The place is so small that any seat has a great view of the performers. It reminds me of the old Ivanhoe theater. They have a bar in the room and servers running around to get you drinks if you prefer that. It was a wonderful night of music. I'd go back in a heartbeat. read more

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I love SPACE for so many reasons. The musicians that play at SPACE are wonderful, and their calendar reads a who's who of musicians I want to see live. (My pocketbook often disagrees with the amount of times I come here, but it's always wonderful.) The table seating does fill up fast, but it's nice if you're ordering pizza from Union. I have seen shows in both the main room and the studio. The studio is very intimate because of its' size, but what amazed me is how intimate the main room feels as well. read more

Space - Zoe Keating at SPACE. - Performing Arts Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Was considering another visit for a band I wanted to see but recall the attitudes, and now read the reply from management. Suggest you read some studies on the mask mandate you "take extremely seriously". America, and even Evanston, can do better. We went to the Salt Shack instead, much better musical space and fresh air easily accessible. read more

I have seen a few shows at Space and think it's an awesome venue. However, we recently purchased tickets to a show and were not able to attend. The venue only offered Will Call tickets. When we called to change the name to another person, they said they would not. The only way to transfer was for us to go down to the venue on the night of and physically transfer them. For a small venue, I found this exceptionally unreasonable. If you're not willing to help people with this, then offer another mode of ticket delivery. Or allow people to do so via eventbrite. read more

Gorgeous venue, the sound was amazing, with great beer and friendly staff. We came to see The Gibson Brothers who put on a phenomenal show performing many songs from the Dan Aurbach-produced album "Mockingbird" and other bluegrass favorites from the multi-IBMA winners. Perfect location in Evanston with easy street parking and dining nearby or the restaurant that's part of the venue. 5 stars. read more

Great pizza.. Nice vibe.. staff is pretty cool too.. I really enjoyed this place and the music

SPACE is 95% perfect - excellent acoustics, sight lines, pizza, ambiance - love a good b-hole lookin light fixture and SPACE hosts some of the finest b-hole lookin light fixtures in the country - but there are two issues that mar an otherwise flawless A+ experience. 1, the sensors on the hands free faucets in the bathrooms are too high up. You've got to hold your hands way above the lip of the sink to actually wash them, and possibly splash water all over the front of whatever you are wearing. Maybe now it looks like you peed yourself lol oops. And 2, I don't know if it's a weird old digital soundboard that just spits out artifacts all over the reverb tail, or some jacked up shielding somewhere in the signal chain or something, but every show I've ever been to here is plagued by what sounds like the old GSM noise that used to happen if you held your early 2000's cell phone too close to a speaker and failed to turn it off for the show. read more

Space - cool lookin stage area with top notch b-hole lights - Performing Arts Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

if you are looking for a concert with dancing, singing, and overall good vibes, this is not your place. every single whisper I would muster... was met with insanely rude comments and angry stares. speaking in this venue is simply not accepted. if you are seeking a good time, do not come here! :) read more

Went last night to see Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials. First time at Space and I have to say it will not be my last. The acoustics were great and I love the fact that you can reserve a table and get table service so you don't miss the performance. And I love the fact that you can take food in with you to the show. Next time we will do that instead of having dinner at Union. The size of the room lends to an air of intimacy that makes it feels like the performers are giving a show just for you. Will definitely be going back to see other shows. read more

I saw the English Beat here a couple of weeks ago, one of my favorite bands. They don't get five stars anymore, but it's not about the music. It's about the space, this glorious space. And the $3 PBRs. This is a seriously great place to see live music. It's not overly large, so it's easy to see the band from most anyplace in the room, unless there are a lot of tall guys standing around. Good sound too, very well mixed. There are a few tables up front, but I'm not a fan of those. When, inevitably people crowd around the stage (like me) to see the band, you can't see anything from the tables. But otherwise, yeah. And they have some GOOD music here. And I was here with fellow Yelper and friend, Ellen M., and it doesn't get more five star than that, bitches. read more

Really cool place to see the Dave Brubeck show such a cool comfortable place..... friendly helpful people very good acoustics read more

Space - Performing Arts Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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First time visitor, very happening and lively from the street. Immediately upon entering the music space you like oh yeah, this is good. Super cozy, intimate, swank space that is ideal to see your fave music. There were people literally sitting at the feet of the performers. Beer selection is proud and they do a good job of still offering something affordable (i.e. Miller Lite $5), or you can get as foo foo with your beer as you would like. Hats off to the bar for actually having peach lambic. Foo foo cocktails abound ($10) very exotic, mixologist type stuff. If you are looking for bargain for mileage, you might consider going with the high end cocktail because leisurely sipping lasts longer and keeps buzz steady. If you plan on pounding your cocktail, best stick to the beer for better bargain. We tried the lone bee? (gin and ginger) and the black manhattan. My date cared for neither but they both were good. Two fyi's - only food available is pizza from the main room and you have to go get it and bring it in with you. Standing room only literally - no seats available whatsoever. A few sparse high tables to set your drink on. So be ready to stand for the entire show. We did not check out the main room while we were there so will have to amend this review later with that info. Surrounding neighborhood is gorgeous, parking was easy to find if you were creative. The show we were at was sold out but we did not feel overcrowded in the least. The sound in the room was phenominal and they grooved old blues records in between sets. The show we saw (lone bellow/saint johns) allowed for meet and greet with the artists if you wish. If you wish to wander outside the venue, head north for additional nightlife options - ned devines, pete millers, world beer market, jt's, etc. So far, my fave live music venue in Chicago out of what I have experienced so far. read more