For over three decades, Aadam Jacobs, aka 'Chicago's Taping Guy', recorded gigs in or around the Windy City for his own personal archive.
Jacobs was a fixture at clubs such as Metro, The Empty Bottle, Double Door, Lounge Ax, Cubby Bear, Hideout, Fireside Bowl and more, amassing a collection of recordings of over 10,000 gigs.
"I wanted to have a physical archive of the concerts I went to," he explained in 2019.
Now that collection is being uploaded online for free on the nonprofit digital library Internet Archive, as part of the site’s 'No Tape Left Behind' project. And it's a remarkable treasure trove for those who might wish to hear archive recordings of local heroes such as Smashing Pumpkins or Liz Phair, international stars such as The Cure, Nick Cave and Depeche Mode, alternative rock legends Fugazi, Sonic Youth and Hüsker Dü or less celebrated indie rock heroes such as Superchunk, Lungfish, or Guided By Voices.
