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(FORMER) TOP DOG HOTHOUSE
RISING THREAT UNCOMMON GROUND ON DEVON
“We were careful not to do a HotHouse part II,” says David Chavez, one of the former programmers at the defunct HotHouse and now the booker at the new Uncommon Ground on Devon (1401 W Devon Ave, 773-465-9801). Amid the rancorous postmortem period for the beloved world music and jazz venue, larger issues were overlooked, Chavez says. The new owners of the building purchased it in 2007 with removing the HotHouse in mind, he says, rendering much of the squabbling moot. And while the audience for world music is growing, Chavez says, international artists’ money expectations have grown, too. Keeping artists’ rising demands in mind, several things separate Uncommon Ground from HotHouse: It’s a more intimate space; there’s a bigger emphasis on presenting local acts that play international music; there’s an exceptional sound system (designed by Jonathan Laney, who also helped design the Pritzker Pavilion’s acoustics); and location, location, location. Edgewater, a neighborhood Chavez calls the “most diverse in the city,” now has a concert space to match its demographics.
