Steve Albini Way unveiled in Chicago; watch Kim Deal speak at the ceremony, and Jeff Tweedy, Fred Armisen & Mekons’ play the afterparty at Electrical Audio

As you may recall, the Chicago block of Belmont Ave where Electrical Audio studios is located was renamed Steve Albini Way and that became official today with the unveiling of the street sign at the corner of Belmont and Rockwell. Speaking at the ceremony were Kim Deal, whose great new solo album was mostly recorded with Steve at Electrical Audio, as well as Steve’s widow, Heather Whinna, Electrical Audio’s Greg Norman, and Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa.

“He was a flawed human; he would contradict himself in two sentences. But at his core he understood the value of each person,” Kim Deal said. “Well, not each person. If you were a bully, he wouldn’t like you at all. Maybe he stuck up for people too hard. He wanted to stick up for the underdogs…he really didn’t like ‘winners.’ I think he liked people with a good, healthy dose of low self esteem.” She added, “I think he thought that the music business was exciting, and I don’t think he’d like that I said that,” and also told anecdotes about getting invited to Poker Night, how Heather changed him (for the better), and more. You can watch the unveiling ceremony below.

After the unveiling, things moved inside Electrical Audio for a private party featuring a few more speeches and then a live performance by The Electrical Adjacents, an ad-hoc group made up of Jeff Tweedy, Fred Armisen and the Mekons‘ Jon Langford & Sally Timms. It was a very Fast Product / Leeds punk set: Gang of Four’s “Armalite Rifle,” the Mekons’ “Now We Have The Bomb,” Gang of Four’s “Anthrax,” and finally Mekons’ “Where Were You?” You can watch that below as well.

We miss you, Steve

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