Amazingrace Coffeehouse
Amazingrace Coffeehouse (later known as Amazingrace) was a notable and influential counterculture music and performance venue in Evanston, Illinois, during the 1970s. Run by a collective called the Amazingrace Family, it was best known for its welcoming atmosphere, eclectic menu, excellent sound system, and respectful audiences. Amazingrace was the top music club in the Chicago Reader poll 1973-1975, plus Number 3 in the 1975 wrap-up of "Who's Who in Chicago's Alternative Culture". Performers from a wide variety of genres (including blues, bluegrass, folk, funk, rock, jazz, comedy, spoken word, and theater) played at Amazingrace from its beginning on the campus of Northwestern University until its final incarnation at The Main on Chicago Avenue in Evanston.
Amazingrace had its beginnings in the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam movement, and was closely associated with the cultural and political ferment of the 1960s and 1970s. It started as a spontaneous food service to student protesters on the campus of Northwestern University. The idea for a permanent student restaurant originated when university officials closed a cafeteria that served the independents on campus. Students formed the Scott Hall Grill Committee, which then successfully requested permission from the Associated Student Government to run a food service and entertainment space in the basement of 601 University Place. At the same time these students formed a communal living situation in an empty University housing apartment on Sherman Avenue.
The coffeehouse in the basement was a hit, often selling out of lunch and packing the room for evening music. Student volunteers made daily runs to Chicago’s South Water Market for fresh produce. Patrons sat on the floor at cable spool tables to eat granola, chicken soup and soy loaf. Anyone with a good recipe that could serve 400 cheap was invited to take a turn at cooking.
Performers such as Bill Quateman and Fred Anderson came in to play, and patrons passed the hat to pay them. The as-yet unnamed venue also presented outdoor concerts, sponsored art shows, and hosted an alternative Free School, whose offerings included "Street Medicine", "Alternative Structures: From Plastic Bag to Geodesic Dome", "Meher Baba", and "Computer Programming for Freaks".
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