“Last Night at Lounge Ax” takes us back to a different era of live music—before phones lit up every room, before social media made everything instant. It was a time when fans lined up outside box offices to buy tickets, called venues to check set times, and learned about shows through posters, word of mouth, or the local alt-weekly. The internet was just beginning to change how people connected, but live shows still felt immediate, local, and unfiltered.

The film immerses viewers in the final three nights of Chicago’s revered indie music venue Lounge Ax, which closed its doors in January 2000. What unfolds is a heartfelt and unsentimental look at a scene in transition—a vibrant sendoff that’s both a celebration and a goodbye. These last shows, packed with longtime regulars, devoted fans, and standout performances, marked the end of an era for the venue and, in some ways, for the Chicago music scene as it had existed.

including performances from

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282

King Kong

Shellac

Traitors

Milly’s Orchid Show

The Dishes

Jim O’rourke

Eleventh Dream Day

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy

Dianogah

The Coctails

Bride of No No

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