Sidetrack has long been one of the biggest supporters of the LGBT community. 'I don't think a lot of people grasped the idea that adding video to music was not just a short-term novelty,' he said. Johnston and company stuck to their vision. Gay bars in the 1980s had a very short life-span-typically two to four years, Johnston said.Īnd many said Sidetrack's video concept wouldn't last, and that it was simply a fad. 'Plus, we felt our community would find the bar, that I didn't need to advertise in predominantly straight publications.' 'If the bar had gotten into the Sun-Times or Tribune back in the day, I was convinced we'd become a sight-seeing spot for straight people who wanted to see what the gays are doing, and I didn't want that.' But I always refused, because I didn't want us to become a sideshow for straight tourists,' he said. 'I remember at least three times during our first five years that we had reporters come from the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, wanting to write stories about this great, hip, underground bar. But Johnston wasn't interested in their publicity. So much, in fact, that the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times wanted to write about Sidetrack. Still, Johnston said, 'We were busy from the first day we opened.' 'Frankly, it just wasn't a priority,' said Johnston, who, in the days before the bar opened, took a sheet of plywood, nailed it to the front of the bar and spray-painted the word SOON ( opening ) on it. The first two years we were here, there was a constant issue between us and the gangs.'Īnd there wasn't even a Sidetrack sign for the first five years. Most people would not walk by themselves, nor should they.
'When we opened, many would have called it a dangerous neighborhood. 'Halsted was nothing like it is today,' said Johnston, 63. Johnston, Peña and Chuck Hyde are Sidetrack's co-owners.
Today, it sits on more than 11,000 square feet, and has with 65 employees. Sidetrack started with 800 square feet and with six employees. 'It is beyond any dream or vision we ever had for the bar.' We never thought it would be this successful. Actually, we're constantly surprised by the bar. We feel incredibly fortunate a little surprised, too. We just had no idea it would be as successful as it's been. 'We always thought the bar would do well and last a long time. 'We were successful from the very beginning,' said Art Johnston, one of Sidetrack's owners and Peña's partner of 34 years. Sidetrack officially opened on April 22, 1982, and celebrated its 25th anniversary in June, 2007.ĭinverno passed away a few months after Sidetrack opened. Peña, in the 1970s, was a gay bartender at a gay bar in Chicago, and was a local celebrity of sorts. Peña was sold on the concept-and spent about two years developing a video library for the bar. This was, remember, the late 1970s-before MTV.ĭinverno and Jose 'Pepe' Peña went to San Francisco to check out the Midnight Sun. Halsted-ground zero for the club-hopping LGBT community in Boystown.ĭinverno envisioned a gay bar showing music videos a la the Midnight Sun, a gay bar in San Francisco. It was, you see, his idea for the Halsted Street bar, located at 3349 N. Rocco Dinverno is, no doubt, smiling down on Sidetrack. With that in mind, Ross Forman profiles each of these institutions. The nightspots Sidetrack and Hunters ( located in Chicago and Elk Grove Village, respectively ) are celebrating 25th anniversaries this year. Mark and Marian Hunter celebrate their union in an undated picture. The first New Year's Eve in Sidetrack's glass bar in 1999 Art Johnston ( left ) and Jose 'Pepe' Peña at Sidetrack's 10th anniversary in 1992 with the Budweiser clydesdales. This article shared 6498 times since Wed Jul 11, 2007