Matteo Lane Visits Boystown

The guy doing the talking hand in the beginning is too funny

We need a brother intro video! I just imagine another Matteo 😂

You dating a man who ate/loved Dominos while living in Chicago, surrounded by amazing pizza, is one of the most terrifying things you've ever said!

How is this not titled Mateo’s Memory LANE?!

As a female, I loved walking through Boys Town getting shouted out by gay men giving me compliments. 😂

When I first walked by taco burrito palace and saw it demolished I almost fell to my knees and cried. A tragedy

Love your old man “back in my day” impressions and how you said “Good times” after some funny memories

Being a little older, and having grown up a few blocks south of where you started your tour……Where the DSW currently is, in the old building on the second floor was a gay bar called Windy City. It was a triangle bar and the windows went around the triangle point. It made for greats views out on the streets. On the back part of the building was a fun gay dance bar called Club LaRay. Before Spin was a gay bar called Foxy’s owned by a couple of guys who ran Medusa’s. Sidetrack started out as a single storefront that I first went to as a twenty year in 1983. Show tunes was on Thursdays, I think, and we would sit on cases of beer that were stored along the wall. Before Hydrate, there was Manhole, before Manhole, it was Christopher street, and before Christopher Street, it was a quilt shop that I took quilting lessons at in 1975 as a twelve year old. Ha! The storefront that was the dance floor at Manhole was the quilt shop and I could not help but laugh when years later I would be there on underwear night dancing in my undies and all the shenanigans that were taking place in that space. That whole block they tore down with the Mexican dive was the best. Not only the Mexican dive place that was just fun for the entertainment value at 2am, but the old school Little Jim’s on the corner and then the Ram bookstore. The double storefront sex shop further down the block also went with them. Was good to see Las Mananitas on the corner survived the wrecking ball. Change happens and I am just happy I was there in the beginning and have had so much fun with friends throughout. Still do. Santa Speedo Run at Sidetrack in a couple of weeks…..Love your realness, Matteo! 😊

Here’s how old I am: I remember walking down Boystown and all the gay establishments blacked out their windows so no one could see inside. I was so scared. Walking down now, you see huge bay windows which are removed during the summer so people can sit on barstools to look out at sidewalk traffic. We’ve come a loooong way!

It makes me feel better that I was not the only one that didn’t realize everyone else was on drugs.

you’re such a great storyteller

Clark and Halsted intersection is where drag queens and cubs fans meet

Lakeview Jewel! I lived in the rat palace apartment building right next to the loading dock. No need for an alarm clock, the semi truck backup alarms did the job. Moment of silence for the closed Treasure Island grocery store down the road.

I was at your performance at Market Days...phenomenal experience for the audience. I'm glad it was for you as well! I especially loved your song about Chicago and wonder if it's available anywhere other than my memory

It's great to see Matteo back home in Chicago, and the tour of his old stomping grounds. For people who don't know Chicago, there are other gay friendly neighborhoods, too, such as Andersonville and Rogers Park.

Welcome home, Matteo! We love you!

I lived across the street from Hydrate in 2003 - 2004, at the corner of Cornelia and Halsted! although Hydrate was called the Man Hole first and then it got remodeled and then became Hydrate. I remember Hydrate had little water misters attached to the awning (hence Hydrate) so it was really nice on hot days. The building I lived in was on the corner across the street and there was a shop literally called Gay Mart on the first floor of my building. It had all kinds of knick knacks and things, I loved living in that neighborhood! There was a shop called Batteries Not Included across the street from the Chicago Diner. I can totally vouch for Taco Burrito Palace, it had the best food, honestly, I ate there a lot. Sidetracks had these alcoholic slushie machines behind the bar and they were so good. The neighborhood looks so different now, I barely recognize it but I definitely recognized the 7-Eleven! lol Matteo was not wrong about that 7-Eleven, it has seen ALOT! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

One of my dearest friends (now deceased) lived on Halsted across from the Whole Foods. I was visiting and he took me to Sidetrack. So I'm walking around looking for the dance floor because what gay bar doesn't have a dance floor. I asked him where it was and he told me there wasn't one. I was shocked to my core!

This was such a trip down memory lane, I have all the same recollections of this strip from my late teens/early 20s. Thank you!

RIP Berlin nightclub off the red line in Boystown. The workers went on strike for better pay and work conditions, and the owners opted to close instead. It was JUST announced. 13 years ago I would go there every Thursday night with my friends. 😭