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If you are of a certain advanced age, and were ever into the rock and/or roll of the hair metal variety, chances are you patronized The Thirsty Whale. It closed in 1996 after a long run of playing host the the harder rocking bands throughout Chicago and it's suburbs. O.K., and Indiana too. Our band once played there but we didn't quite fit the mold since we sang wearing a hockey mask and a black one-piece dress ... but we did at least have the prerequisite long hair.
A friend of ours just directed our attention to a website memorializing The Thirsty Whale and it is bursting with memories of the venue just like a can of aerosol hairspray held over a fire. If you're looking for a way to while away the time before you finally get cut loose for the holiday break, this is a great site to wander even if you have never heard of The Thirsty Whale.
We recommend starting with the photos...
Thanks to Sweet Lou for bringing this historical document to our attention
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man, i went there one time in probly 93 or 94 and i cant remember who i saw. that's pretty bad.
One of the first shows I ever saw was at the Whale when I was like 15. Joey Belladonna had left Anthrax and was doing a club tour and played to like all of 60 people there.
It was awesome.
Thank God there aren't any shots of me with my hockey player 'fro. Back then it was either the Whale or all ages Polish nightclubs.
Any club that closes with a show by enuff z'nuff had a sense of humor about itself that clearly can't be replaced.
My band "Surreal" played there in 91 or 92, we weren't that good, but had fun. We opened for a band called 'I can't believe it's not Butterfist'
Man... those were some days....
L.A. Guns at The Whale in 1988, sponsored by WVVX 103.1 and emceed by Scott Loftus. The girl I came with left with another dude -- to add insult to injury it was clearly a pre-arranged hookup and she just used me for a ride there in my sweet '71 Impala.
Good times, good times.
Prescott: Scott Loftus could be a future flashback. He moved to 'VVX in the mid-80's after B-96 went to its dance format with his sidekick "Glen the Phone Man." The program was called "RPM: Real Precious Metal."
If you were lucky enough to get 'VVX on the dial, from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. (or maybe 4) it was a metalhead's dream.
vvx was the best. their intro was so cool. thursday night thrash attack!
Why, oh why did you do this to me?
So much material. So little time. I lived close to The Whale, but I was too young to go there.
I remember that the bands that played there always had lots of x's and y's in their names.
okay, the pics on the site are AWESOME! where was this place located?
My mom never let me go to the Thirsty Whale :(
But I used to love VVX.