Chicago's Aragon Ballroom will celebrate it's 100th anniversary in 2026 and has been a gem of the city's Uptown neighborhood on the North Side for that entire run.
Funded by brothers Andrew and William Karzas to help legitimize public dancing, they hired architects Ralph D. Huszagh and Boyd Hill to create its ornate stucco façade, wild balconies, and grand arched windows.
For it's unique interior the brothers tapped John Eberson, a movie palace to mimic a courtyard of a Spanish palace the brothers had visited and were inspired by.
"The Aragon was modeled after the Aragón palace in the Alhambra," William's son, Andy, told legendary Chicago author Studs Terkel in 1963.
"There was an open-air terrace in Spain from which the Moors sat and watched entertainments in the courtyard, and the open-air effect is carried into our Aragon, too. It is an open-air place with stars in the sky and clouds that float over and twinkle."
At the cost of $2 million ($36 million today), the new dance hall which boasted incredible art on the ceilings and walls as well as a spring-loaded ("floating") floor had “all the appointments of a movie palace except the seats.”
To appease the socially conservative ruling class of the city who were in a mild panic over the idea of public dancing, jazz, and the possibility of races mixing (gasp), the Aragon employed chaperones and enforced a strict dress code for the first era of its existence.
Men were required to wear suit coats and ties and the ladies were expected to sport elegant (knee length) dresses.
A high priority of the chaperones were to ensure teens and young attendees did not dance too closely.
In its early days, the Aragon, now known as the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom, featured orchestras led by Wayne King, known as the “Waltz King”; Dick Jurgens, a leader in the sweet band style; and Guy Lombardo, famous for his “Royal Canadians” and New Year’s Eve broadcasts on radio and TV.
Rise Against
"Inside it looks like a scene from Arabian Nights or something," Rise Against's guitarist Zach Blair said a few years ago about the venue they've rocked six times now.
When RA's singer Tim McIlrath sat down with Setlist's Bree Wilde, he shared how he saw Nirvana play there when he was just 14, and to say the least, it was a life-changing experience.
"As you can imagine, it was just a mind-blowing show, for sure," he said, "and so in the times we've played there, I've always sat in that dressing room thinking, 'oh, this is where Nirvana was hanging out.'"
Here's some more notable groups who have rocked the joint and got the fans to dance on those maple floors.
Smashing Pumpkins
It's hard to think of a more popular venue for bands from Chicago to play once they've graduated from the 1,100 capacity Metro to the 10k Aragon.
Our records show Billy Corgan has played there nine times, eight with Smashing Pumpkins and once with Zwan.
November 29, 1991 – Gish Tour
December 9, 1993 – Siamese Dream Tour
December 10, 1993 – Siamese Dream Tour
November 3, 1997 – Adore era
April 16, 2000 – MACHINA/The Machines of God era
May 6, 2003 – Zwan -- Mary Star of the Sea Tour
December 7, 2008 – post-reunion show
November 30, 2018 – The Nights We Stole Christmas
December 12, 2024 – Q101 Twisted Xmas event
Aerosmith
If you're one of the many who jammed out to "Sweet Emotion" from Aerosmith's 1978 Live! Bootleg, that was recorded at the Aragon during their Draw The Line Tour.
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop has played the Aragon six times, according to our database. Three times with the Stooges and three as a solo artist.
In 1977 he visited the venue twice: once in March during the Idiot Tour and then again in October during the Lust for Life Tour.
Van Halen
After a pair of warm-up gigs in front of hometown fans at the cozy Whisky in February of '78, Van Halen went on their first world tour the next month opening for Journey.
Their first stop was the Aragon where there was "little room left onstage after the other acts set up for Van Halen and their gear," according to Best Classic Rock Bands.
"They were all wobbly from wearing three-inch platform shoes (soon abandoned for Capezio dance shoes for Roth and sneakers for the rest of the guys). The lighting director’s headset didn’t work. And to add final insult to injury, they’d left on the headlights of their equipment truck, and its battery was dead when the band packed up to leave after the show.
The returned the next year as headliners, and as seen from the photo above, they had the space to rock out.
Get your tickets to all the upcoming shows on the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom website.
Other Venue Spotlights: The Apollo Theater, Aragon Ballroom, The Bluebird Cafe, First Avenue, The Fillmore, The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood Palladium, KIA Forum, Madison Square Garden, Massey Hall, The Metro, Nippon Budokan, O2 Arena, O2 Academy Brixton, Pappy & Harriet's Palace, Radio City Music Hall, Red Rocks, Royal Albert Hall, The Ryman Auditorium, The Sphere, Stubb's Bar-B-Q, Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena, The Whisky, 9:30 Club
