It’s 5 AM on Easter morning, and Wally’s World is dead. After three years and more than a hundred DIY shows, the rock ‘n’ roll speakeasy is calling it quits. In a few months, the building that’s been home to Wally’s World—at 2841 W. Belden, under the Blue Line tracks in Logan Square—will be demolished, as its new owner attempts to have the property rezoned for residential use. The shadow of gentrification hangs over all. Wally’s will not rise again.
To get the story of Wally’s World, there’s no better place to start than with Ian Wisniewski, who’s long been the face of the venue. Better known as Magic Ian, he runs the label Maximum Pelt and plays in the band Ego, who closed out Walter’s Wake Week on Saturday night; he also did most of the booking at Wally’s World. For him, Wally’s was the culmination of a lifetime of involvement in DIY music—he says he was playing basement shows at age 12 in what he calls a “political punk band.”
The building is almost perfect for shows. Because it’s right next to the Blue Line, the noise of the train drowns out the noise from bands and the conversations of folks congregating outside—it also causes the “Wally’s Pause” as the talkers wait for the train to pass. There are few nearby neighbors; the Blue Line blocks off the area around the building, and across the street are the rear entrances of Cole’s Bar and a number of other businesses on Milwaukee. The location, however, has made the land highly attractive to developers.
