Adam Harrington is a digital producer at CBS Chicago, where he first arrived in January 2006.
Acclaimed Chicago bar and music venue The Hideout has been sold to a performer and former employee, but the owners said it will carry on as the same beloved place that visitors have always known.
Owners Tim and Katie Tuten and Mike and Jim Hinchsliff have owned The Hideout, at 1354 W. Wabansia Ave., for 30 years. They announced the sale to Teri O'Brien on Thursday.
"For 30 years we've watched thousands of people walk through our front door looking for connection," Katie Tuten said in a news release. "The Hideout works because of the people who gather in it. That doesn't change with this transition; in fact it will grow. We are incredibly thankful for the community we built, friendships we've made, and the amazing Hideout staff past and present who helped bring our vision to life. Their dedication and talent have been at the core of what we created."
O'Brien said the "soul" of The Hideout will remain unchanged.
"The Hideout shaped me," she said in the release. "This place helped launch careers, build friendships and bring people together in ways big and small. It is an honor of a lifetime. I'm humbled to take on this role, to support the staff and community who make the Hideout what it is. The soul of this place stays exactly where it belongs -- with the people who fill it."
The Hideout is located in an 1881 balloon-frame house in an industrial area behind Elston Avenue. It has gone by the name The Hideout since it opened -- legally post-Prohibition, at least -- in 1934.
At one time, The Hideout served workers at the factories along the North Branch of the Chicago River. Since the mid-1990s, it has been a destination for live music, particularly indie rock and alternative country -- eventually taking over the scene left behind when Lounge Ax closed in 2000.
"It's where Jack White threw up in the alley, due to a terrible flu, taped up a black and white bed sheet behind Meg's drum set, put on some red polyester pants, and then flew onstage and played his pants off," the Hideout website says of the venue. "It's where Phantom Planet filmed their first low-budget video for 'California,' which became the theme song for some canceled TV 'dramedy.' It's where Robin Hitchcock got drunk on red wine and sang classic rock covers with local power trio kings Mr. Rudy Day."
Published reports note that Robbie Fulks was an artist in residence at The Hideout from 2011 to 2017. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco has also appeared at The Hideout many times.
"We're lucky to have so many great venues in Chicago and each has its good points but the Hideout has always felt most like home," Tweedy said in part in the release. "They treat their customers and bands like family."
The Hideout has also hosted a variety of other events, from surprise performances by A-list musical and comedy acts to fundraisers, talk shows, plays, weddings, and late-night dance parties.
Activists and union members have also regularly met at The Hideout. It has also hosted the community-based meal project Soup & Bread, WTTW-Channel 11's "The Interview Show" with Mark Bazer, and The Axios Office Hours, a happy hour and interview show hosted by Axios Chicago's Monica Eng and Justin Kaufmann. In February 2023, Eng and Kaufmann hosted a mayoral forum at The Hideout.
The news release also included kind words from both Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
In 2019, The Hideout joined other independent music venues in going up against the developers behind the proposed Lincoln Yards development, which called for five new concert venues run by Live Nation. The Lincoln Yards development was not built, and a scaled-back development called Foundry Park has since been proposed for parts of its site, published reports noted.
The Hideout also closed for a couple of months beginning in November 2022 after former program director Mykele Deville issued a social media post characterizing the venue as a toxic workplace. The bar reopened in January 2023 following an equity audit, and emphasized a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, reports noted.
Westhead and Glass Beagle were set to take the stage at The Hideout on Thursday night, followed by Spoon Benders Friday night. On Saturday night, Kristi Durkin and Crud host the all-night Speed Bump party.