Some bars get cooler with age, and some simply get older and crustier. The Hexagon Bar in the Seward neighborhood of southeast Minneapolis has somehow accomplished both after 80 years in business.
The Hex — which sits at the corner of 27th Av. S. and 26th St., across from Stardust Lanes — has followed the examples of the Turf Club, Mayslack’s and the Terminal Bar, becoming an old neighborhood bar that books younger music acts.
Thanks to a new stage and booking agent, Chris Dorn of the Beatifics, the place has suddenly become popular again. But one of the reasons it seems so hip is that it really looks and feels like the same, old, divey neighborhood bar. The artwork is mostly cheap beer signs. And the main waitress, Rosie, reminds you of “your favorite aunt and a drill sergeant,” as owner Bob Hupp affectionately described her.
“We hadn’t seen a lot of changes for quite a while, so it seemed like it was time to make some,” said Hupp, whose family has run the Hexagon for three generations.
Hupp’s place has one of the oldest liquor licenses in town, obtained right after Prohibition in 1934. It’s called the Hexagon because of the shape of the old bar, which was replaced in the ’80s.
To get an idea of the old/new dichotomy at the Hex right now, you’d have to go back to Halloween, when Ol’ Yeller played there dressed up as a cheesy ’80s-era rock band complete with acid-washed jeans, pony tails and bad Tom Petty and Blue Öyster Cult songs. About half the crowd seemed to get the joke. The other half seemed excited to hear a band like the ones the Hexagon used to have.
“There are two sides to the bar, literally and figuratively,” said Dorn, who started booking this summer after a successful 1966-vintage “hoot” night in May.
The Hex sits on a corner that has been a haven, off and on, for local music. In addition to the Hex’s minor music history — including swing-style combos in the ’40s and ’50s — it’s where Duffy’s (later Norma Jean’s), Mr. Nib’s and other clubs stood in the ’70s and ’80s. The Hex is all that’s left.
Under Dorn’s musical direction, the place is quickly becoming Minneapolis’ answer to the Turf Club. Tonight’s show is by the Neil Young-loving garage bands Kruddler and Genius Jr. Next weekend’s gigs include Spaghetti Western and the Deaths on Dec. 2 and regulars Big Surf on Dec. 3. The next big hoot night is an A&M Records tribute on Dec. 10, featuring the likes of the Autumn Leaves, Astronaut Wife, Basement Apartment and Jan.
A sure sign of the Hexagon Bar’s newly hip status: DJ Jake Rudh permanently moved his weekly Transmission shows there from the Imperial Room on Wednesday. Contrast Rudh’s cool blend of post-punk and electronic tracks with the Hexagon’s Sunday shows by the Country Doctors, an old-timey country jam led by Trailer Trash’s Dan Gaarder for about the past eight years.
As with the Country Doctors shows, Hupp and Dorn know there are some things about the Hex not to be updated.
“I asked some of my younger, hipper friends how we could improve the place,” Dorn said. “Most of them said, “Don’t change a thing.’ “
