The Riviera Theatre is a

concert venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Ty ...

located on the north side of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States.

About

Built in 1917, it was designed by

Rapp and Rapp C. W. & George L. Rapp, commonly known as Rapp & Rapp, was an American architectural firm famed for the design of movie palaces and other theatres. Active from 1906 to 1965 and based in Chicago, the office designed over 400 theatres, includ ...

for the

Balaban & Katz Balaban and Katz Theater Corporation, or B&K, was a theatre corporation which owned a chain of motion picture theaters in Chicago and surrounding areas. History Balaban and Katz Theatre corporation started in 1916 in Chicago by A. J. Balaban an ...

theatre chain run by

A. J. Balaban Abraham Joseph Balaban, known as A. J. Balaban or Abe Balaban (April 20, 1889 – November 1, 1962), was an American showman whose influence on popular entertainment in the early 20th century led to enormous innovations in the American movie-goin ...

, his brother

Barney Balaban Barney Balaban (June 8, 1887 – March 7, 1971) was an American film executive and innovator in the film industry who was president of Paramount Pictures from 1936 to 1964, and honorary chairman until his death. Life and career Barney Balaban w ...

and their partner and brother-in-law, Sam Katz. It is an example of French Renaissance Revival architecture. It later became a private nightclub in 1986. The theatre is located in the

Uptown Uptown may refer to: Neighborhoods or regions in several cities United States * Uptown, Chicago, Illinois * Uptown Manhattan, New York City, New York * Uptown, Richmond, Virginia * Uptown, Dallas, Texas * Uptown, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania * Upt ...

section of the city, at the intersection of Lawrence,

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and Racine. The area has several notable theaters, including the Aragon Ballroom, which is only 0.2 miles away. Since 2006 it has been owned by Chicago-based Jam Productions (itself owned by Jerry Mickelson and Arny Granat), which claims to be the "largest independent producer of live entertainment in the United States". In October 2015 in a labor dispute, Jam Productions fired the

stagehand A stagehand is a person who works backstage or behind the scenes in theatres, film, television, or location performance. Their work includes setting up the scenery, lights, sound, props, rigging, and special effects for a production. General ...

s of the Riviera Theater. As of 2017, the Riviera Theater continues to serve as a venue for many popular acts, both local and national.

Notable events

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (often shortened to Thrill Kill Kult or TKK) is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago and founded by Groovie Mann (born Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (born Marston Daley). ...

performed at the theatre October 28, 1988 and three tracks from the performance were released in 2004 as part of the reissue for their debut album. *

Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter and producer whose music crosses genres including pop, R&B, jazz, dance and electronic soul.Paoletta, Michael (February 22, 2003) "Watley Relaxes In The Setting of The ...

performed at the theatre July 21, 1989 during her Larger Than Life album tour. *

Tin Machine Tin Machine were a British–American Rock music, rock band formed in 1988. The band consisted of English singer-songwriter David Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on bass and vocals ...

performed at the theatre during their

It's My Life Tour The It's My Life Tour was a concert tour by the Anglo-American hard rock band Tin Machine. The tour commenced on 5 October 1991 after two warm-up shows, one press show and three trade-industry shows, visiting twelve countries and concluding afte ...

on December 12, 1991, which was recorded and became part of their live album, '' Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby''. *

Groove metal Groove metal, sometimes also called neo-thrash or post-thrash, is a subgenre of heavy metal music that began in the early 1990s. The genre is primarily derived from thrash metal, but played in slower tempos, and making use of rhythmic guitar pa ...

band

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

Filmed their music video for

Walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

at the theater in 1992 *

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

played a release party for their 1995 album

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness ''Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'' is the third studio album and first double album by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on October 23, 1995, in the United Kingdom and on October 24 in the United States ...

the night before its release here. * Blondie played at the theatre on August 14, 1999 as part of their 1999 comeback

No Exit tour The No Exit Tour was a 1998–1999 worldwide concert tour by American new wave band Blondie to promote their revival and reformation as a band and their latest album ''No Exit'', which was released during the tour. The tour marked the band's fir ...

. Recordings of three songs from the concert - Under The Gun, No Exit, and Heart of Glass - were included on Blondie's 1999

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

album. *

Type O Negative Type O Negative was an American gothic/doom metal band formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1989 by Peter Steele (bass, lead vocals), Kenny Hickey (guitar, co-lead vocals), Josh Silver (keyboards, backing vocals), and Sal Abruscato (drums ...

performed with

Moonspell Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band formed in 1992. The group released their first EP, '' Under the Moonspell'', in 1994 and followed up with their debut album, '' Wolfheart'', a year later. They quickly became the most recognizable meta ...

and

Cradle of Filth Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their ly ...

November 22, 2003 for their Life Is Killing Me album tour. *

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

performed at the theatre July 5, 2013 as part of their Hey Cruel World... Tour. *

Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian singer and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker (musician), Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring a ...

performed at the theatre October 10, 2013 and the recordings were used for their live album

Live Versions ''Live Versions'' is the first live album by the Australian psychedelic rock band Tame Impala, released on 19 April 2014 (Record Store Day) by Modular Recordings Modular Recordings (known simply as Modular) was an Australian record label f ...

. *The venue served as the opening night on Miley Cyrus'

Milky Milky Milk Tour The Milky Milky Milk Tour (initially called the Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz Tour) was the fifth concert tour by American singer Miley Cyrus, held in support of her fifth studio album, ''Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz'' (2015). The limited-run tour v ...

which was a very limited tour with only 8 cities across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. The show sold out within a few minutes with one fixed price of US$69.69. * Chlöe performed at the theatre on April 11, 2023 for the opening night of her highly-anticipated

In Pieces Tour The In Pieces Tour was the debut concert tour by American singer and songwriter Chlöe. It was announced on February 28, 2023, in support of her debut single studio album '' In Pieces'' (2023). The tour began on April 11, 2023, in Chicago, Ill ...

. *

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

performed to a sold out 93XRT concert crowd on May 11, 2024.

References

External links

Official website
Music venues in Chicago Movie palaces Theatres completed in 1917 {{Chicago-struct-stub