The Cellar (teen dance club)


The Cellar was a teen dance club in Arlington Heights, Illinois that provided live musical entertainment in the 1960s. Founded in 1964 by Paul Sampson, this music venue primarily featured Rock and Roll music acts, although some Blues acts performed as well. Original location is uncertain. "The original cellar was located in the old St. Peters Church basement." , original vocalist for The Amboy Dukes contributes that its original location was actually a cellar located just a few blocks from the center of Downtown Arlington Heights.
It may have been under a church or community center as it had a stage cut out of the north wall. It was in the basement of the Bell Telephone building, then moved to the Tire Warehouse across the tracks from the former Captain Rapp's Restaurant The unused warehouse was located on Davis Street, along the Chicago and Northwestern railroad tracks. It closed in 1970.
The Cellar became a notable venue for several reasons, providing teenagers from the region with a place to congregate and to dance.
It was also notable because of its talented regional house / repeat bands, such as: the Shadows of Knight, The Ides of March, The Buckinghams, The Mauds, H.P. Lovecraft, Saturday's Children, Ted Nugent with The Amboy Dukes, The Huns, The Raevns, The Other Half, and Little Boy Blues, as well as The Drone Offspring.
Despite the fact it was a modest warehouse venue in a northwestern suburb of Chicago, The Cellar attracted national and international Rock acts, such as: The Who, The Cream, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Spencer Davis Group, Three Dog Night, The Steve Miller Band, and the MC5.
There are a number of notable considerations to keep in mind about The Cellar:
At least one album has been documented as a live Cellar sound recording. The Shadows of Knight recorded the songs on this album at The Cellar in December 1966: Raw and Alive at the Cellar, Chicago, 1966!