Sound-Bar has spent more than two decades as River North’s big room, a 20,000-square-foot club at the corner of Ontario and Franklin built for lasers, long nights and headliners who fly in for a single set. This New Year’s Eve it gives the countdown a name of its own. On Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026, the club bills its NOVA 2027 party as Sound-Bar’s Last Dance, and the building upstairs already has a new future planned.
The night runs from 9 PM to 4 AM at 226 W Ontario St, with a premium open bar until 1:30 AM, a small-bite buffet, a champagne greeting at the door and a champagne toast at midnight. NOVA is the long-running New Year’s Eve party from Chicago Twenty Something, and Sound-Bar is its stage: two floors, six rooms and three DJ booths, with resident DJs keeping every room moving until close.
Twenty-two years of River North nights at Ontario and Franklin
Sound-Bar opened to the public on March 26, 2004, after a long, much-anticipated buildout. Designer Rocco Laudizio of Slick Design shaped the club in a minimalist, European style: smoked glass, stainless steel, ash wood and color-coded rooms that each feel like a separate club. The main room holds an 8,000-square-foot dance floor under a 16-foot ceiling. Off the main floor, glass doors seal the Round Bar, a crimson, circular room with its own DJ booth and six VIP booths.
Downstairs the club changes temperature. The lower level splits into the Red Room and the Orange Room, mirror-image lounges with couches and bottle-service tables, plus the Yellow Bar, the only bar set right on the lower dance floor. That floor runs under an LED ceiling the full length of the room, with a second DJ booth that lets a different sound play below while the main room peaks above. At full stretch the club can host as many as 1,200 guests.
Over the years the booking has matched the scale. Trance and progressive names such as Markus Schulz and Ferry Corsten have played the main room, Chicago house heroes have held the decks on the city’s own sound, and touring EDM acts route through on Friday and Saturday nights. Even this fall the calendar reads like a festival bill, with Bassjackers, Ferry Corsten and Eelke Kleijn all booked in November.
Why this New Year’s Eve is billed as the last dance
In July 2026, Concord Capital bought the Leahy Building at 226 W Ontario for about $4.1 million, with plans to turn the six-story building into Leahy Lofts, 70 apartments with a two-story rooftop addition, targeted for completion in spring 2028. The basement, where Sound-Bar’s lower rooms sit today, is planned as a gym, resident lounge, co-working space and bike room. The club is expected to leave the building, per the Chicago Sun-Times, and Concord’s principal Drew Millard put the timing at eight months when the sale was announced in July.
No closing date has been announced. The New Year’s Eve party carries the Last Dance name on Sound-Bar’s own event page, and the club’s calendar already reaches into 2027, with a Chromeo DJ set listed for Friday, Jan. 29. What the billing makes clear is the mood of this Dec. 31: a farewell-season countdown in one of Chicago’s largest clubs, in rooms that will soon look very different.
How the night runs, from the first pour to 4 AM
Doors open at 9 PM, and the early party ticket covers the main room event with full venue access until 4 AM and guaranteed admittance. The schedule, as Sound-Bar and Chicago Twenty Something lay it out:
- 9 PM: doors, a champagne greeting and the start of the premium open bar
- 9 PM to 1:30 AM: open bar with Grey Goose, Tito’s, Jack Daniel’s, Patrón, Tanqueray, beer, wine and soda, plus a small-bite buffet
- Midnight: the countdown and a champagne toast
- 1:30 AM to 4 AM: the after party, with a $5 bar package
- 4 AM: close
Shots, neat pours and martinis sit outside the open bar. Noisemakers, glow sticks and party favors come with the night, and once the open bar closes at 1:30 AM, drinks are $5 until the lights come up.
Three booths, eleven DJs and every genre in the building
NOVA’s lineup leans on Chicago’s own club circuit, with 11 local DJs including AY-K, Eric G, fleece, GENOME, J4MS, JANNYPAKK, Jorbs, JUMPIN, LAFTR, STANDBY and YERAY. Sound-Bar’s resident DJs fill three separate rooms of sound, moving between EDM, house, Top 40, hip-hop, rock, pop and R&B, so the main room can be in full laser-lit peak while the lower level runs throwbacks. Set times post on Sound-Bar’s X account on the day of the show.
Tickets, tables and what to wear
Tickets are on the NOVA New Year’s Eve Eventbrite page from Chicago Twenty Something and through the Sound-Bar event page. Sales run in phases, and the first phase has already sold out; Sound-Bar says the party sells out every year. Tickets are nonrefundable.
Tables and bottle service book directly with the club at reserve@sound-bar.com or through the reservation form on the event page. Table requests must arrive before doors open on Dec. 31, availability is limited, and table minimums apply. For groups, NOVA takes group inquiries at GroupRates@NovaNYE.com. Sound-Bar is strictly 21 and over and asks guests to come dressed to impress, so think New Year’s Eve sharp: a jacket, a dress, shoes you can dance in until 4 AM.
The club sits a short walk from the Brown Line stop at Chicago and Franklin, in the same River North pocket as late-night rooms such as The Lair.
More Sound-Bar nights before the countdown
The weeks before Dec. 31 give a full run at the room. Bassjackers plays on Friday, Nov. 13, Ferry Corsten plays on Friday, Nov. 20, and Eelke Kleijn brings a live set on Friday, Nov. 27. On Saturday, Dec. 5, House Music Is Home puts DJ Sneak, Terry Hunter and Gene Hunt in the main room, a fitting Chicago house night for this season, and Flosstradamus headlines the Christmas weekend on Saturday, Dec. 26. Our Chicago nightlife guide for November 2026 and this weekend’s nightlife picks map the rest of the city around them.
Sound-Bar’s Last Dance at a glance
- What: NOVA 2027 NYE Party, billed by the club as Sound-Bar’s Last Dance
- When: Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026, 9 PM to 4 AM (open bar 9 PM to 1:30 AM)
- Where: Sound-Bar, 226 W Ontario St, Chicago, IL 60654 (River North)
- Tickets: Eventbrite and the Sound-Bar event page; nonrefundable
- Tables: reserve@sound-bar.com
- Age and dress: 21 and over; dressed to impress
- Club line: (312) 787-4480, info@sound-bar.com
Sound-Bar Chicago FAQ
When is Sound-Bar’s Last Dance in Chicago?
Sound-Bar’s Last Dance is the NOVA 2027 New Year’s Eve party on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026, from 9 PM to 4 AM at 226 W Ontario St in River North. The early party with the open bar, small-bite buffet and midnight champagne toast runs from 9 PM to 1:30 AM, and the after party runs until 4 AM.
Is Sound-Bar Chicago closing?
No closing date has been announced for Sound-Bar Chicago. Its building, the Leahy Building in River North, sold in July 2026 for conversion to apartments, and the club is expected to leave the building, per the Chicago Sun-Times. Sound-Bar bills its Dec. 31, 2026 party as its Last Dance and lists a Chromeo DJ set on Jan. 29, 2027.
What is included with a Sound-Bar New Year’s Eve ticket?
The NOVA early party ticket at Sound-Bar Chicago covers entry from 9 PM to 4 AM on Dec. 31, 2026, with guaranteed admittance, a premium open bar until 1:30 AM, a small-bite buffet, a champagne greeting, a champagne toast at midnight and party favors. Shots, neat pours and martinis are not included, and drinks are $5 from 1:30 to 4 AM.
How do I get a table at Sound-Bar on New Year’s Eve?
Email reserve@sound-bar.com or use the table reservation form on Sound-Bar’s NOVA 2027 event page to book a table or bottle service for Dec. 31, 2026. Requests must arrive before doors open on New Year’s Eve, availability is limited, and the River North club applies table minimums.
Who throws the NOVA New Year’s Eve party at Sound-Bar?
NOVA NYE is produced by Chicago Twenty Something, the promoter behind the party, and Sound-Bar Chicago is the venue. Tickets are sold on Chicago Twenty Something’s Eventbrite page and through Sound-Bar’s event page, and the 2026 edition features 11 Chicago DJs across two floors, six rooms and three DJ booths.
What is the age limit and dress code at Sound-Bar Chicago?
Sound-Bar Chicago is strictly 21 and over, including on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2026. The River North club asks guests to come dressed to impress, so plan on a sharp going-out look with shoes you can dance in until the 4 AM close.
Further reading
- Sound-Bar official site
- NOVA 2027 NYE Party / Sound-Bar’s Last Dance event page
- NOVA New Year’s Eve tickets on Eventbrite (Chicago Twenty Something)
- Sound-Bar’s NOVA 2027 announcement on Instagram
- Chicago Sun-Times: Leahy Building in River North, home to Sound Bar nightclub, sold for conversion to apartments
- FOX 32 Chicago: River North’s Sound Bar building to become 70-unit apartment complex
- Nexus Radio: Sound-Bar to close after more than two decades
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