You’re not doing too bad for yourself if you celebrate your 29th birthday with a private preview party of your very own bar. And if your name’s Pete Wentz.

On Tuesday, the Fall Out Boy bassist and partners—local nightlife fixtures Matt Eisler (Empire Liquors, Victory Liquors) and Stephen Westman (Lakeview Broadcasting Co.)—unveiled Angels & Kings, their new River North bar with a gritty rock ’n’ roll edge in the space most recently occupied by Rockwell. (Celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton is also a partner, but he didn’t attend.)

Yeah, this spot has star-studded appeal. But the group plans to give Angels & Kings substance too. Get ready for live band karaoke Wednesdays hosted by Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman (when he’s in town), Angels & Queens Sundays for the GLBT crowd, and AK47 Mondays for industry peeps.

At Tuesday’s preview bash, guests walked in to have a mugshot taken—a theme carried throughout the space. Oversized celeb mugshots of James Brown, Janis Joplin and Ozzy Osbourne—just to name a few—grace the walls. Smaller shots of Pete and wife Ashlee Simpson-Wentz hang on the DJ booth; eventually patrons might see their own pics plastered on the wood plank-covered walls.

Dark walls and low lighting create the perfect mood for rocker wannabes who prefer a bit of privacy. The overall aesthetic is raw and edgy, yet comfortable. Bench seating lines the wall opposite the bar, while a couple of large gangster booths and an elevated platform with couches cover the front half of the space. It’s also fun: Bathrooms are covered in chalkboard paint, a yellow halo lights up above the DJ’s head, painted AK-47s by artist Peter Gronquist are on display, and there’s a huge gong behind the bar for the staff to ring when a big shot buys a “gong shot”—meaning everyone in the bar gets a shot.

 

Private, invite-only parties take place this week; AK will open to the public next week.

[ Karen Budell is the Metromix nightlife producer. ]
kmbudell@tribune.com