Long a hidden clubhouse for down-and-out boozehounds, Thin Lizzy cover bands, and country-western hobbyists, this little saloon ain't just for trucks anymore. We've got Chris Dorn, frontman for sporadically active popsters the Beatifics, to thank for the transmutation. Last September, Dorn took over booking duties for the Hex's modest stage, and he immediately opened the bar's rusty doors to the bright, sunshiny world of local music--indie rock and pop, to be more precise, with a smattering of the Americana and bluesy stuff that befits the place's proudly lingering dusty gin-joint vibe. As the bar's calendar began to fill up, so too did its barstools, and the Hex quickly became the Seward hotspot. "I like to favor bands from the neighborhood," Dorn says, "because live local music is as much a social activity as it is an exercise in artistic fulfillment." True enough. Perhaps that's why there's a wall separating the old bar, with its long-in-the-tooth regulars, from the younger throngs crowding around the stage or, during DJ Jake Rudh's Wednesday night "Transmission" sets, dancing around the tables. If this keeps up, the Hex just might have to make more room for all those incoming hipsters. The Dodecahedron Bar, anyone?