day one: we arrived mid-afternoon to abby' friend melanie's apartment. she lives there with her husband and two small children, quite the different set up than i'm used to while in chicago, but that's what i was going for. i'm in the windy city so often for shows, but i had yet to experience the tourist side of things. so abby and i planned out our weekend with lots of museums and trips downtown in our schedule. we ate dinner with melanie and the family and walked around hyde park a bit and saw the university of chicago campus, as well as some cool churches and bookstores. pretty sure i passed out at cold before eleven that night. holy travel exhaustion.
day two: we awoke bright and early and hit up the shedd aquarium first with the four year old and one and a half year old, and boy was that an experience. everyone was on spring break and there were sooo maaany kids! we were pretty overwhelmed, so we saw all there was to see and left around one. abby and i had planned to meet up with sam, but lunch fell through so abby and i ventured out on our own. we are at potbelly's, and then people-watched from a starbucks. (we were going to wander around outside and maybe see millennium park but it was pouring rain. fail.) abby spent the evening at home with the wee babes; i spent it out in the suburbs at model stranger's practice space/recording studio with sam and kristen. there was wine and there was pizza and there was lots of lively conversation. i believe i went to sleep around three am.
day three: the big day. we got up early once again to experience museum number two: the museum of science and industry. it. was. freaking. awesome. we left around two i believe, and then the public transportation adventure began. i've taken the el a couple times in chicago, but the first time was with chicago natives, the second with herds of people all going to the same destination (lollapalooza). but abby and i fared just fine. we took a bus from hyde park to the red line, and the red line to downtown. there we wandered in search of food and settled with mexican, then wandered some more and got lost, then wandered to millennium park where we saw the bean, hung out on michigan for a while, and then took the red line to the blue line to subterranean in wicker park. BAM.
show time! abby and i were both exhausted at this point, but the night was only just beginning. we got off the train, rounded a corner, and i heard a bunch of friends screaming my name. at least we were in the right place! hugs from steph, claire and sam were exchanged and we eventually went inside. up first was shortstop from tokyo, a delightful little ska band (ska's not dead!) so we all danced around and got our skank on. after them were the downtown struts who put on one hell of a show for being the second band playing early on in the night. (punk's not dead either.) there was lots of moshing and stage-diving and in general a happy buzz of energy. next up was the fold, a pop punk band who's been around for quite some time. i remember discovering their music from an old tooth and nail records sampler cd i got years ago. and it wasn't until maybe two years ago that i made the connection that they were involved with so many chicago friends and bands that i already knew. the music world is so small and tight-knit; one of the many reasons i love it. they played a fantastic set and i was able to sing along to a couple songs without even knowing any of their newer music. that's how catchy they are. you hear em playing in a friend's car once and bam! the ear worm has been planted. the crowd was getting pretty intense at that point and abby and i could hardly stand any longer. we ended up in the back by the merch, where i promptly ran into mike who was in town from LA, who was double-fisting glasses of wine and wearing fake, neon raybans. what a classy motherfucker. we enjoyed the frantic from afar, and man what a show. this was probably my fourth or fifth time seeing the frantic perform, by mere association with all of the other chicago bands i know. i can't say i've kept close tabs on them, but in the two years that i've been seeing them play, they've matured so much and their sound just gets better and better. the crowd was absolutely nuts and the venue was probably close to ninety degrees.
it still floors me to see four local bands pack a venue like that. i'm not sure of subt's capacity, but i'd guess a couple. the show wasn't sold out, but it must have been close because people were paaaaacked in tight. i think back on that weekend in chicago and it's so cool to see music thriving. things like that just don't happen in st. louis. the mere fact htat i hung out with some friends in their practice space and watched them write new music is mind blowing, because while it may be second nature in chicago, that's not an option in st. louis. there aren't bands like that. i can count on ONE hand, the number of st. louis bands who take themselves even close to seriously enough to even have a practice or recording space. and the fact four local chicago bands can pack a venue like that? impossible in st. louis. i can't even name four local bands off the top of my head and i'm FROM st. louis. ask me to name chicago locals though? i could without a doubt give you fifteen. not to mention the plethora of members of other local bands in attendance at the show, giving their support of their fellow musicians. it pains me, but it also makes my heart swell with pride. because while st. louis (and columbia too, i mean, i do live here most of the year for school...) has close to nothing, chicago makes my head spin every time i'm in it. so. much. passion.
please take a minute and check out amazing chicago talent:
thefoldrock.com
thefrantic.com
and while you're at it, check out this guy on twitter. we've only met once or twice in person, and it was quick and in passing (so this probably makes me a bit creepy) but christian picciolini is doing amazing things for the local scene.
twitter.com/cpicciolini
post show we hung around for a bit talking to various people and eventually trekked out to oak park to hang out with meesh. wine was had, apples to apples was played, stories and giggles and all kinds of silly things were shared. abby and i stumbled into our crash space as the sun was coming up. literally. and then we got up three hours later and made the seven hour drive back to mizzou. let's just say there were kesha and backstreet boys sing-alongs in order to keep ourselves awake. quite the successful spring break!
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