Rehab's Big Move

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 8, 2009 5:50PM

Rehab is not only the best party going down each and every Monday, it's also arguably the strongest weekly residency in the Chicago with it's appeal across multiple genres and everyone's welcome attitudes. We became fans of their evening at evilOlive partially because it didn't feel like a typical club night. Sure, there were throngs of dances, but there was always room to chat with friends or duck away fro a game of pool if you weren't feeling a particular DJ's set.

Last week came the surprise announcement that, starting tonight, Rehab was moving to it's new home, Debonair. We were skeptical of this change of venue, but after speaking to Rehab's promoter, Derek Berry, we're optimistic that the move might work. We're not huge fans of Debonair, but then again we weren't exactly in love with evilOlive. Simply put, the venue doesn't make the night, the crowd is what will ultimately determine if a residency is successful or not. Berry believes that Debonair will provide him with more options to explore as far as booking DJs upping the vening's ante, and we're inclined to believe him.

Of course the one major downside to Rehab's move is that Debonair is a 2 a.m. bar, while evilOlive was open until 4 a.m. Berry's solution to this quandary is to run an afterhours party from 2 a.m. until 4 a.m. at Green Dolphin. In our opinion this seems the most problematic component of the evening, though Berry is confident folks will take the short cab ride between venues to keep the party going.

And the move is not without its small share of inter-club drama. evliOlive didn't learn about the move until last Monday and are hoping to capitalize on Rehab attendees unaware of the move by booking their own dance party on Mondays that it's safe to guess will mirror Rehab's aesthetics.

Who will win in the end? While we really think that the move to a 2 a.m. venue will end up cutting Rehab's party a little shorter on Mondays we're putting the odds on Berry and his crew keeping the evening in their corner. And the upside to the move to a 2 a.m. club? On those night we do make it out to Rehab we're going to get to bed at a halfway decent time, right?

Rehab, every Monday at Debonair, 1575 N Milwaukee, 9 p.m., 21+