Bars of the Western World #4: Velvet Rope

Bars of the Western World #4: Velvet Rope

Recently, my daughter asked to be dropped off at Velvet Rope – our area’s most visible gay bar – on both Sunday and Wednesday nights. Those are karaoke nights, and my daughter and four or so of her girlfriends and their boyfriends find it a lot of fun.



On the Wednesday night I stopped by, drinks were a buck, which is undoubtedly part of the allure, and I think my daughter and her friends find the whole experience a little different, a lot of fun and non-threatening. I mention that last point because at some nightspots – I’m thinking bars on Madison in Forest Park – young women are going to get a lot of attention from guys, and sometimes that attention may be unwanted. That's apparently not a problem at Velvet Rope.

My acid test for a karaoke bar is if they have Gene Pitney’s “Town Without Pity” on the playlist. Velvet Rope did.

Gay bars used to be somewhat underground, outside the mainstream, separate from “straight culture.” That distinction may now be disappearing, at least in diverse communities like the People's Republic of Oak Park.

Anthony Todd, Food and Drink Editor at Chicagoist.com, told me he much prefers “the inter-generational, mixed-gender crowd of Velvet Rope to the waxed, 20-something hordes of Lakeview,” where he says gay bars are pretty much the traditional men only watering holes.

As the gay life becomes less shocking to the mainstream, a place like Velvet Rope – which in the past would probably have been located in some off-radar space with the windows blacked out (cf. the long-gone Nutbush ) – is now just another entertainment option for people of any age or orientation.

David Hammond wrote:Gay bars used to be somewhat underground, outside the mainstream, separate from “straight culture.” That distinction may now be disappearing, at least in diverse communities like the People's Republic of Oak Park.

Anthony Todd, Food and Drink Editor at Chicagoist.com, told me he much prefers “the inter-generational, mixed-gender crowd of Velvet Rope to the waxed, 20-something hordes of Lakeview,” where he says gay bars are pretty much the traditional men only watering holes.

As the gay life becomes less shocking to the mainstream, a place like Velvet Rope – which in the past would probably have been located in some off-radar space with the windows blacked out (cf. the long-gone Nutbush ) – is now just another entertainment option for people of any age or orientation.

More clubs than bars, but my college years would have been a lot less tolerable had my pan-sexual group of friends and I not gone dancing at Spin and/or Berlin once a week during our junior and senior years. And that was, ahem, more than 10 years ago. We've gone for old times' sake a few times since then, am thinking we'll stop into the late-night grilled cheese place, David, you posted about next time we're out.

happy_stomach wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Gay bars used to be somewhat underground, outside the mainstream, separate from “straight culture.” That distinction may now be disappearing, at least in diverse communities like the People's Republic of Oak Park.

Anthony Todd, Food and Drink Editor at Chicagoist.com, told me he much prefers “the inter-generational, mixed-gender crowd of Velvet Rope to the waxed, 20-something hordes of Lakeview,” where he says gay bars are pretty much the traditional men only watering holes.

As the gay life becomes less shocking to the mainstream, a place like Velvet Rope – which in the past would probably have been located in some off-radar space with the windows blacked out (cf. the long-gone Nutbush ) – is now just another entertainment option for people of any age or orientation.

More clubs than bars, but my college years would have been a lot less tolerable had my pan-sexual group of friends and I not gone dancing at Spin and/or Berlin once a week during our junior and senior years. And that was, ahem, more than 10 years ago. We've gone for old times' sake a few times since then, am thinking we'll stop into the late-night grilled cheese place, David, you posted about next time we're out.

That's too funny. I may have bumped into you at least once or twice. Do you remember Medusa's or is that going back too far?

A friend from Uptown and I (from Hoffman Estates) have been meeting in Oak Park because it's relatively easy for us both to get there. We walked past the Velvet Rope last week and almost stopped in; I guess we should have. Next time!

@Zoid -- I remember Medusas well. I used to go most weekends in the early 90s until they closed on Sheffield.

zoid wrote:That's too funny. I may have bumped into you at least once or twice. Do you remember Medusa's or is that going back too far?

Yeah, those were the days... Medusa's, sadly, was just before my time.

This thread is making me think of Chicago-based artist Edie Fake, whose work I just started to get to know this spring after seeing a show organized by him at Gallery 400. Besides authoring such zines as Foie Gras and Rico McTaco, Fake has made wonderful drawings and sculptures of real and fictional gay bars, taking much architectural-pictorial license, to explore themes of history and memory.

happy_stomach wrote:This thread is making me think of Chicago-based artist Edie Fake, whose work I just started to get to know this spring after seeing a show organized by him at Gallery 400. Besides authoring such zines as Foie Gras and Rico McTaco, Fake has made wonderful drawings and sculptures of real and fictional gay bars, taking much architectural-pictorial license, to explore themes of history and memory.

Maybe nobody cares, but, coincidentally, Edie Fake's work is on display as part of Woman Made Gallery's Underground show through August 18th. You can look through Foie Gras issues 1 and 3.





I love this stuff. There's also some other wonderful food-related works in the show. Bonus: the Matchbox is a five-minute walk from the gallery.