Never went to Monarch. Went to one concert when it was Limelight.

The owners were trying to run the Castle Theater in Bloomington as well. Took a lot of time, resources; guess business just wasn't as profitable as they hoped.

I get notifications from each. It seemed like the bigger name acts went to Bloomington. And maybe it was my tastes of musical genres but I've been to more concerts at the Castle than Limelight and Monarch put together.

@ChefKevin : Bloomington has a large college crowd to attend the events.
Another example of how Peoria is continuing to decline.

@starbound64 : I think it may be more to do with location. The Castle is "Uptown", next to ISU's campus. The Limelight was way the heck up north of Pioneer Parkway. No way you are attracting a significant amount of the Bradley crowd.Edit: Oops: the Castle is in Bloomington, near ISU and Wesleyan campuses.

@starbound64 : I see that, but I've heard of quite a few of the bands that perform at the Castle but have to look up most of the bands at Monarch. I know I'm archaic, but it seems odd that the bands with the broader audience appeal (since my old *** knows about them) play Bloomington and not Peoria. I guess it could be coincidence, but I me knowing about bands that would appeal to ISU students seems odd.

@mypeez : The Castle is in Downtown Bloomington...still closer the ISU than Bradley is to the Limelight.

@leslie110 : Sorry for that. I was thinking the Castle was the Normal Theater, a little further down but on the opposite side of the street from the Garlic Press. They usually advertise for classic films, so still a movie theatre than and not a concert venue.