Lilly's, a small, DePaul-area music venue in Lincoln Park, operated as a blues club for several years before the eponymous owner turned the place into a showcase for local music. Lilly's still occasionally books blues bands, but more often than not you'll find local college rock bands providing the tunes, with an entourage of pitcher-drinking DePaul students on a study break filling the floor. Occasional hip-hop nights bring in a different crowd without losing that same college-bar feel.

The two-story venue packs in a small stage at the front of the room with a wrap-around bar toward the back. Lilly's looks like a prime site for a backyard barbeque, with green stucco archways dividing up the room, wrought iron patio furniture and live plants cascading down from the second floor loft area. But this is no indoor Garden of Eden: Hipsters lounge on the overstuffed couch next to the window, drinking beer straight from the pitcher while the night's bands rock out into the early hours. It's not a rough crowd, but the local bands tend to attract their friends, so everyone seems to know one another.

The bar has Miller and Miller Light on tap, with a small selection of domestic and import bottles. A selection of liquor is also available, but the drink of choice here is beer, beer and beer. Cover charges range from $2 to $7 depending on the band, and, though a college student you may be, you must be 21 or older to get in.

Centerstage Reviewer: Aimee Hall