The Sidebar Tavern: Home to the city's strangest happy hour scene
Happy birthday, Sidebar Tavern!
If you haven't heard, the Sidebar Tavern (218 E. Lexington St.) turns 11 this month. To celebrate, the basement dive is throwing an indoor/outdoor festival Friday and Saturday. More info here.
In true Sidebar fashion, this is the first time they've ever celebrated a birthday.
I did a profile of the Sidebar, which ran in today's paper. This spot has the weirdest happy hour scene in the city.
Since it's close to city hall, they get all these government employees in suits and ties. But since it's also a punk bar, they get a bunch of hardcore kids too. Oddly enough, everybody seems to get along ...
In the piece, I talked to owner Richard Ashburn and promoter Matt Joseph (both pictured), as well as one or two regulars.
Ashburn really doesn't know too much about the punk scene (he leaves that part up to Joseph). In fact, the Sidebar became a punk bar almost by accident.
I don't get out to the Sidebar as much as I'd like to -- especially since it's right up the street from The Sun. But it hosts one of the best dance parties in the city: Reaction! And it's a pretty neat little spot to see a punk/hardcore/throwback rock show.
(Baltimore Sun photo by Gene Sweeney, Jr.)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
Matty, if you're reading this, the camera truly adds 15 pounds. I think you may have made it up to 114lbs in that picture!
Sorry Pants, I had to.
Posted by: Chw | August 20, 2009 10:47 AM