Somewhere on Halsted between the neighborhood bars of Lincoln Park and the gay bar/clubs of Boystown lays aliveOne. The name is an obscure Phish reference that most people who aren't into Phish might not get.

It's a two-room establishment with two equally stacked bars. The main room is populated with a handful of tables, a pool table and a pinball machine. If you want to get a certain kind of mood going, come when it has just opened and the place is empty. It can be a dark, sinister bar when the right music is on and only a few patrons are in your midst. Plug the jukebox with the live version of "The End" and listen to Jim Morrison's voice weave around the candlelight and imagine yourself a modern day Colonel Kurtz adrift in the sea of iniquity that is the city of Chicago. Anyway, the jukebox contains a collection of live CDs from around the western world. They mostly contain the rock legends from the '60s and '70s: Zeppelin, the Doors and Stones. And of course, Chicago legends in their own right, Wilco. But they also have the flipside of greatness with such bands as Phish and Widespread Panic. Along the walls are hundreds of bootleg videos documenting concerts that fit every taste. Yes, they take requests.

The rear bar is back in a large room like the basement of a house party, only with a much higher ceiling. A few couches are thrown against the walls and they have parties back there, concerts, CD-release parties and the like. Tuesday's $2.50 pints are a huge draw. (Jeremy Fredeen)