As the clock strikes midnight, Lawrence barfles show up en masse and pack into this tiny bar, most likely the result of nearby Free State Brewery's last call. But there's an added draw besides booze: Tonight, as with every night at the Gaslight, there's live music. By 12:30, the place is packed, as patrons squeeze together in anticipation of the band that is about to play. A few minutes later, Jazz Chaos Theory—the featured band on this particular Monday night—strikes up its unique mix of psychedelic rock and acid jazz, and heads all around can be seen rhythmically bobbing to the beat.
This sort of eclectic and accepting atmosphere is what the Gaslight Coffeehouse and Tavern is known for around town. The bar shares this freewheeling spirit with its namesake of the 1960s—the Gaslight Tavern—though the original Gaslight has no direct relation to the new one, says Doozie Midyett, music enthusiast and co-owner of the Gaslight.
Back in the 1960s, the Gaslight Tavern was a stronghold for left-leaning thinkers and revolutionaries. Melanie Coen, Lawrence resident and bartender at the Gaslight, says the bar, located where the Kansas Union parking garage now sits, was a place for revolutionaries to gather in that tumultuous era.
She says KU officials did not like the thought of revolutionary ideals being brought to the forefront of campus politics and even feared a radical uprising occurring on campus property. In
response to these fears, the University planned to bulldoze the bar in early 1973 but this plan never came to fruition because a group of regular Gaslight attendees burned down the place the night before it was due for demolition, Coen says.
Though people talk about music more than politics in the Gaslight Coffeehouse and Tavern, there's a vibrance to this place that at once pays respects to its conceptual counterpart of the '60s while carving out its own niche among social gathering spots in Lawrence.
"There's something magical about this place." Midyett says. "We've tried to create a different environment for people in Lawrence to hang out in and so far that is really working."
Midyett says that in the next year, plans are in the works to make customerfriendly improvements to the Gaslight, such as connecting the outdoor patio with the indoor bar area by adding a window to the north side of the building. A sake machine, an espresso machine and an expansion of the patio are other additions to look for in 2005, she says.
The Gaslight is located just over the river, nestled between an antique store and Johnny's Tavern.