Side trax gay bar chicago

Well, there were some discos in the Chicago area as ofaccording to the Chicago Tribune. But bythe height of the disco gay, when Steve Dahl held his Disco Demolition rally, that number had grown exponentially. Go-go dancers, including a drag queen known as the Bearded Lady, often performed above the large dancefloor, which was surrounded by three bars and decorated by a pair of bright neon lips.

On some nights, the line of people waiting to get in stretched an entire block, just north of the iconic corn-cob shaped towers of Marina City. The beloved club was torn down to make way for a parking lot in It was side like the Bistro, but it was the only alternative for a big gay dance club. Saturday afternoons featured a roller skating party and Sunday featured shows by the Bearded Lady.

The club was renovated in with a new lighting system and a larger dancefloor. The club closed inshortly after serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer lured a victim from the premises. The chicago began offering entertainment in Wanda Lust, performer, DJ and entertainment director, even held classical musical nights.

Songwriter and performer Franne Golde launched her career in the music hall. The private club was also home to a number of themed private rooms. Frankie Knuckles first spun there in earlybut around he came into his own, striking up a fruitful partnership with the I. Record Pool and its Importes Etc.

Knuckles often received records before any other DJ in the city, introducing his audience to new, obscure 12"s that they would clamor to find for themselves. Frankie Knuckles has believers — people who religiously save themselves up for late Saturday night Ron Hardy spun Wednesday nights at the Ritz inthough a pair of arsons briefly closed the bar.

They would stomp their feet, they would clap their hands. One guy would take two of those big round metal ashtrays and play it like it was a tambourine. I kid you not. The club, which took over the old location of The Baton, a drag cabaret theater founded in by Jim Flint, bar known for its upside-down Old Style beer sign outside and two Altec Lansing Voice of the Theatre trax hanging over the dancefloor.

Crystal lived in a loft upstairs. Inside, the dancefloor lit up like the one in Saturday Night Fever.

Neo: where misfits fit in

In the summer, patrons looked out over Broadway Avenue from a rooftop bar and sun deck. It was eventually revealed that Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy picked up a young victim outside the club in October The club closed in November The Rialto Tap was a lively black, gay pick-up bar which became a house music hot spot in the late s under Michael Ezebukwu.

Music started at 6 PM and lasted until 4 AM.