The Thirsty Whale

The Thirsty Whale, which opened in 1981, was a rock and roll club at 8800 Grand Avenue, River Grove, Illinois. It brought in acts like Blue Öyster Cult, Molly Hatchet, Black Oak Arkansas, Extreme, Foghat, Johnny Winter and Peter Criss. Survivor performed here monthly early in their career.
The club began to be a showcase for local Chicago area hard rock and heavy metal bands such as Enuff Z'nuff, D'Molls, Uzi, Defcon, Paradoxx, Wicked Ryhme, and others from the mid 80s through its closing in 1996. The height of club was during the mid 1980s, The Whale was the place most every up and coming local band wanted to play, typically Saturday and Sunday's would have early all-ages shows and in the evenings over 21 shows. Young bands would have the opportunity to open for national acts to grown their fan base and sometimes the attention of major record companies. Although the Thirsty Whale was a small club in size it had its own scene and from it grew a local music magazine The Chicago Rocker owned by The Whale's booking agent Tony LaBarabra. Chicago never had the metal scene that Los Angeles had but The Thirsty Whale was always a stop over for most bands playing the arenas in Chicago.