Aragon Ballroom (Chicago)

The Aragon Ballroom is the name of a historic ballroom in Chicago, Illinois. Aragon Ballroom, located on West Lawrence Avenue approximately five miles (8 km) north of downtown in the neighborhood known as Uptown, Chicago, was built in 1926. Designed to resemble a Spanish village and named for a province of Spain, the Aragon was extravagantly appointed. The hall was an immediate success, and remained a popular Chicago attraction through the 1940s. The Aragon's proximity to the Chicago 'L' (elevated railway) helped people flock to the hall, and crowds often exceeded 18,000 guests over the six open nights each week. Powerhouse radio station WGN broadcast an hour-long program from the hall each night to radio audiences throughout the Midwestern United States and Canada.

The Aragon hosted nearly all of the top names of the big band era. Among the best known names were Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, Xavier Cugat, Glenn Miller, Lawrence Welk, Guy Lombardo, Dick Jurgens, Harry James, Kay Kyser, Benny Goodman, Sammy Kaye, Artie Shaw, Eddy Howard, Duke Ellington, Jimmy Dorsey, Wayne King, and many others.

A fire at an adjacent cocktail lounge in 1958 forced the Aragon to close for several months. After the reopening, crowds declined significantly. Regular dancing ended in 1964. A succession of new owners used the Aragon as a roller skating rink, a boxing venue, and a discothèque, among other uses, plus occasional efforts to revive it as a traditional ballroom. During the 1970s, the Aragon was home to so-called "monster rock" shows, which were marathons of rock and roll acts often lasting six hours or more. Top acts included the Grateful Dead, The Byrds, B. B. King, Jethro Tull and others of that era.

In 1973, Latin promoters Willy Miranda and Jose Palomar became owners of the Aragon. The two men had promoted Hispanic dances and concerts in Chicago for years, and moved their productions to the Aragon with the purchase. They soon teamed up with rock promoters Arny Granat and Jerry Mickelson, who used the hall for their rock concerts.

In the late 90's the Aragon was bought by Luis Rossi (previous owner of La Raza Newspaper), Ivan Fernandez, and Mercedes Fernandez.

Today, under the name Aragon Entertainment Center, the hall hosts a variety of Spanish language shows as well as English language rock concerts. Recent rock acts include Muse, Slayer, Morrissey, The Mars Volta, Snow Patrol, Franz Ferdinand, Of A Revolution, and 2 nights of Umphrey's McGee on December 30th and 31st, 2005 followed by a 3 night run, December 29th - 31st, in 2006 as well as the upcoming Gigantour (May 6th, 2008) featuring In Flames, High On Fire, Children Of Bodom, Job For A Cowboy, and headlined by Megadeth. Boxing events are still held on occasion at Aragon as well.

External links

* [http://www.aragon.com Aragon Ballroom (Chicago) official web site]
* [http://www.compassrose.org/uptown/Aragon1.html 1925 Article about Aragon Ballroom, Chicago Daily Tribune]
* [http://www.compassrose.org/uptown/Aragon2.html 1925 Article about Aragon Ballroom, Chicago Evening American]
* [http://www.archive.org/download/otr_bandremotes/Remote-DickJurgens_1950-12-00_AragonBallroomChgo_WBBM.mp3 Hear Dick Jurgens perform live from the Aragon Ballroom in December of 1950]
* [http://magnoliamaldenneighbors.com/entertainment.html Animated History of the Uptown Chicago Entertainment District]
* [http://www.myfoxchicago.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=3904376 2007 behind-the-scenes video tour]