The Hideout owners talk cops who love Thurston Moore, the perils of owning a bar and their 15th anniversary

The Hideout owners talk cops who love Thurston Moore, the perils of owning a bar and their 15th anniversary
Flickr/Joshua Mellin
The Hideout owners talk cops who love Thurston Moore, the perils of owning a bar and their 15th anniversary
Flickr/Joshua Mellin

The Hideout owners talk cops who love Thurston Moore, the perils of owning a bar and their 15th anniversary

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The Hideout is the best bar/music venue in Chicago. 

OK, I’m biased, as that’s where we do The Interview Show. But I don’t think I’m alone in my opinion. For those who don’t know The Hideout, this description from the bar’s website explains the place far better than I ever could: 

“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. It’s where Phantom Planet filmed their first low budget video for ‘California’ which became the theme song for some cancelled 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. It’s where Joe McFee, Ken Vandermark, Areyellah Ra and their friends will blast out Free Jazz every Wednesday night… . It is the place where bands play their first shows ever. It is where they come back, in another band later. It is where they play in nine different bands in ten years. It is a community where every bartender, door person and sound tech is in a band. Where no one quits, they just go on tour.”

This Saturday, The Hideout celebrates 15 years with its annual block party. As long as you forget that 24 hours beforehand, the parking lot where you’ll be hanging out was filled with garbage trucks, it beats the zillion other block parties in the city hands down. This year, Andrew Bird, Mavis Staples, Jon Langford and White Mystery are among the performers.

Here, the four owners of The Hideout, Tim and Katie Tuten and Jim and Mike Hinchsliff, talk everything Hideout and, in a very Hideout moment, buy everyone a shot.