It's Curious City, where we take your questions about Chicago and the region,

and investigate, report, explore, from WBEZ.

If you were a regular on Chicago's indie rock scene in the 80s and 90s, there's a good chance you ran into this one dude.

He sported long, wavy hair, sometimes wore a pink dress, and he had a bulky tape recorder he used to record shows.

And this guy, he inspired one listener to send in this question.

Whatever happened to the taping guy who used to tape shows and hang out at the Metro,

lounge exit, Doubledore in the 80s and 90s?

I'm curious city reporter Monica A.

And it wasn't hard for me to find out who this taping guy was.

I just asked my colleague Jim Deerogatis, and he knew exactly who I was talking about.

Adam Jacobs.

Adam was a fixture at shows at Metro, at Lounge Jacks, wherever he could go with his tape recorder,

capturing live sets and being a record of history.

But as far as boring... record of history. You may be fat in the pub, what's your wife think of that?

But as far as why he did it and whether he got permission, well, I recently heard some great stories.

And even though Adam got in trouble with some club owners and musicians, in the end, he

managed to create about 10,000 live recordings.

Recordings that capture a moment when Chicago was an important incubator for a growing indie music scene.

Here's former Lounge Jack's co-owner, Susan Miller Tweedy.

What Adam has is really, really priceless.

He is a living archive. Tweety. What Adam has is really, really priceless.

He is a living archive.

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