Hideout Review by Sean Parnell

The Hideout, along with Slow Down! Life's Too Short down the street on Elston, are the only two bars that I recommend driving to in Chicago. The Hideout is only accessible by coming down Elston turning east onto Wabansia. Cabs are not to be found in this grungy industrial area, unless one is pulling up with patrons coming in as you are walking out, which is the Chicago bar-going equivalent of hitting the jackpot. Just look for the glowing Old Style sign at the end of the block, directly across from Chicago Department of Fleet Management, where city snow plows and garbage trucks are kept and serviced. Parking is usually available right out front, but if there isn't, park creatively – you won't have to worry about getting a ticket as cops are busy doling those out in Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville. A needlepoint "Hideout" sign that looks like it belongs in your grandmother's kitchen is there to welcome you.

Step up the concrete steps, through the sticker-covered wooden door, and you're inside a badly-sided, glass block-encrusted musical oasis. The orange & tan linoleum expanse within offers a worn wooden bar on your left and table seating on your right. The bar does not have any taps, only bottles and cans, but does have a stuffed dear head below pink string lights. Hot diggity. Whiskey is more the Hideout's speed. The bar doesn't serve food, but help yourself to the complimentary beer nuts and pretzels on the bar. If you grab a table, check out the beer can collection behind the glass case. Also, have a look at the giant chalkboard on the east wall, which promotes all upcoming shows for the current month.

The real story at Hideout can be found in the back room, where the stage is located, also known as the "Chinook Lounge." Just beyond the front room's tables is the counter where you'll pay between $3 and $8 cover charge and get your hand stamped. Occasionally, the Hideout will host a benefit concert for around $25. I heard of one benefit designed to help support a local guy going through a nasty divorce settlement, where his wife was getting everything. Such is the spirit at the Hideout. The back room looks more like a rec room, because that's probably what it was previously. The room features wood paneling, tables with folding chairs, small blue and green candle globes, high-perched windows covered with iron bars, a plush gray banquette along the wall, Japanese-like paper lights with colored light bulbs, and bad paintings hung with care. The stage is located at the far end of the room and offers a piano, oriental carpeting, flashy orange curtain, wooden plank with "Hideout" painted on it, and longhorns above it. The stage is also bookended by two stuffed fish (including a marlin). More stuffed fish can be seen along the east wall. The back room does not have a bar, but does have decent waitress service. In the summertime, head out for some air or a smoke between sets into the beer garden located in front of the Hideout, which is reminiscent of the formerly "dumpster baroque" patio at Weed's Tavern.

The musical variety is impressive, focusing mainly on eclectic, alternative bands playing rock, punk, rockabilly, funk, and honky-tonk. Most of these bands are unknown local players, but the Hideout does attract some regionally and nationally known acts for whom the upstairs offers four beds and a shower if they need a place to stay. Regular bands include Devil in a Woodpile on Tuesday nights (bluegrass) and Neko Case (female rock / country singer).

A note about Devil in a Woodpile: it would be difficult to find a better bluegrass band in Chicago or anywhere else. If you like the soundtrack from the film, O Brother Where Art Thou?, you'll love these guys especially if they play one of my favorite songs, "When I Been Drinkin'" (a Big Bill Broonzy cover). Their shows are played acoustically in the front room, without any sound system or microphone, and with a revolving combination of harmonica, washboard (with a tiny cymbal at its base), guitar, stand-up bass, and a stringed instrument made from a hoe that is attached to the top quarter of a keg. In addition, the place gets totally hopping for the Devil so head over when you get itchy feet on a Tuesday night. Music is featured every night except Sunday, when the Hideout often has special family events complete with hot dogs and soda for the kids. On your way out, sign up for the Hideout's mailing list, located on a clipboard on the table just to the right of the door.

The best thing I found about the Hideout, is that it's a relaxing place to have a drink and see some excellent local talent. There is no Lincoln Park air of pretension, Bucktown poseurs or any other annoyance. The crowd consists of people that have sought out the Hideout specifically to experience good music. In this way, the Hideout is similar to the Green Mill, with a different genre of music and more of a casual tavern atmosphere that consists of a strangely good mix of blue collar workers, yuppies, bikers, suburbanites, punks, and all other types.

"Spot"
Photo courtesy of Edith Frost

"The graffiti in the girl's bathroom is my favorite: 'If you voted for Bush you can't shit here. Your asshole's in Washington.'

– Leigh K. on Yelp (May 28, 2008)

Having started life in 1934, the Hideout was purchased in 1996 by husband and wife team Tim Tutten and Katie Nicholson, and twins Mike and Jim Hinchsliff. These four have turned the Hideout from an after-work, blue collar hangout into one of the best music venues in the city, joining the likes of Metro, the Empty Bottle, Double Door, Beat Kitchen, and the Underground Lounge. The Hideout was even called one of the best bars in Chicago by Rolling Stone magazine, and has been featured in numerous other publications including Spin and the New York Times. Tim and Katie's annual Hideout Barbecue has even become an honored tradition at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.

"Born as a 19th Century Shanty, straight from the mud by ditch-digging Irishmen with dirty boots and hats, always hats, pushed aside by the nickel and dime Prohibition Era Sicilian button men. Cold War steel working Polish made way for the alternative, indie, free jazz, country, punk, post-rock of the 21st Century... The Hideout is the place where the hard working man and the hard working hustler met for beer and eggs. Where the '26 girls' rolled the dice for dances and 10 cent drinks."

Great music, no pretension, cheap cover. What more do you want, other than driving your own snow plow? For upcoming shows, Hideout stories, and more information after you been drinkin', check out the Hideout website. Now, when I come home, baby, please let me lay down and rest.