The Metro Chicago’s premier mid-sized music venue turned twenty this year, and there’s no reason to doubt another two decades. Owner Joe Shanahan has garnered himself a national reputation, thanks in large part to helping launch such illustrious careers as the Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair and the Smoking Popes. That reputation came to light this last year, when scores of large-venue acts like Snoop Dogg, Wire and Queens of the Stone Age played the Metro in honor of Shanahan’s twenty years. In terms of watching bands play, the Metro is virtually unparalleled, with a broad, standing-room-only floor and a balcony for those who prefer to hang a little farther back.
