On Leidseplein, where the tourist violence never really stops, Chicago Social Club, the Soos for intimates, has managed to establish something special. No sterile club concept, no VIP tables, no dress code that makes you think three times. Just a place where house music plays until it gets light outside, with a bar open as early as eight o'clock at night. The club opened in March 2011 and has since become known as one of the few places in the neighborhood with a catering license until five in the morning on weekends.
The musical direction is clear. The name refers to Chicago, the birthplace of house music, for good reason. Chicago Social Club's resident DJs spin house and tech house, and they know what that means: grooves that throb, sets that go somewhere. Guest DJs stop by regularly, including PIV, who previously performed in November. The crowd knows what it's coming for, and the programming plays right into that.
The space itself is compact. Not a hall where you get lost, but an intimate setting with both a bar area and a club floor. The atmosphere is deliberately informal, a little messy even, and that's not a defect but a choice. A locker service is available; you need a two-euro coin for it. The club opens at 11 p.m. on Thursdays and closes at four in the morning. Friday and Saturday the roof goes off until five. The bar is open six days a week, Tuesday through Sunday; Monday is off.
Chicago Social Club is not a place for your first night out, but for those who know what good house sounds like and want to feel it until five o'clock.
The minimum age of 21 is stricter than the standard 18-plus used by most clubs. That filters. The crowd coming in knows what it's getting into, and you can tell by the atmosphere. Chicago Social Club is not a place for your first night out, but for those who know what good house sounds like and want to feel it until five o'clock. Right in the middle of Leidseplein, for over fifteen years.