Chicago Hope

Damanta digs out of the rubble of their trip to Chicago on Aug 4th.

So I woke up disoriented in Phil’s air conditioned to the sound of Matt getting ready to head out. Jon and Elegwen slept because they’d driven the last stretch while I dozed in the cab of the truck. I convinced Matt to wait for me and then we headed out to the local supermarket for a breakfast snack.

Phil lives in a ‘developing’ neighbourhood, which is to say an area that was previously undesirable but a few artistic types moved in on the cheap and its coolness is rising rapidly. When Matt and I stopped in a local grocery store we were the only white people in the place--an interesting sensation. I didn’t ask (Edmonton-born) Matt how he felt about it but having grown up in Vancouver, and lived in a small town in Japan, it was eyebrow-raising but not that far outside of the realm of past experience.

We walked to the bus stop in a deluge and the stop we needed didn’t have a shelter. Great. I ate my breakfast yogurt and these yellow things that you peel before eating (but Gwen Steffani is around to tell me how to spell the word so you’ll have to use your imagination).

The L-train into town was cool-gotta love the CTA. I love approaching American big cities and seeing the buildings looming larger and larger. Matt had two items on his Chicago agenda: The Art Institute of Chicago—home to American Classics like “American Gothic” by Grant Wood and “Nighthawks” by Edward Hopper and Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. As we descended the steps from the train platform at the appropriate stop for the Museum, we ran right into a pizza joint... Done deal. I've had better (last time I was in town) but it was good to enjoy some local 'scenery' instead of fast food crap and convenience store fare.

When we finally made it to the AI there was a line up and this gave us time we got to look back at the art deco skyline along Michigan Avenue and I was floored again (I was here in 2002 to see my sister, Leiana, play volleyball for UNLV). At the risk of sounding like some bumpkin from an isolated logging town on the west coast of Canada, I can never get enough of the intricate stone and brick work in Eastern American big city towers. I look like a total tourist whenever I am in New York, Philly, Chicago etc because I am always looking up. I suppose I am transfixed because almost all the tall buildings in Vancouver have been built in the last 30 years so they are all steel and glass. The Marine Building on Burrard is the only example I can think of in Vancouver that comes close to Michigan Avenue's towering works of art.

Inside the AI, after my obligatory look at Van Gogh and the Impressionists (Serrault's Pointillist work Sunday in the Park that appeared in the film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"), we concentrated on the excellent American Collection. We saw the above mentioned classics and I was really struck by how much great work has been done in the (relatively) short history of the United States.
Outside we walked North on Michigan avenue to Millennium Park which had been constructed since my last visit. There is a crazy water park with faces of Chicagoans that change about every ten minutes. Just before the face change, the lips of the projected face pucker and water is spewed forth onto the kids playing below. Probably the only place in the world you can get spit on by a local and enjoy it...
Millennium Park also has a polished aluminium orb that you can walk under and through taking pictures of yourself reflected on the convex surface. It is one of those places in the world (like the Leaning Tower of Pisa) that inspires a lot of hokey poses. Of course Matt and I took our turns...

We walked across an outdoor amphitheatre and I dreamed of watching one of my favourite (and Chicago-based) bands Wilco there...

Crossing over a Gaudi-inspired bridge to Grant Park, where I was also impressed by the well-signed and wide bike paths that ran parallel to the park... The Lollapalooza tour was cleaning up after a weekend stint (we would have been there--with Wilco--if the van had not broken down).
At this point, we got a call from Phil saying that the Elbo Room had agreed to let us play the opening slot on their Monday Night bill so we could do our live recording after all. Before Phil and the guys picked us up (after their afternoon "breakfast") we got to take our picture (Elegwen and Jon are there in spirit...) in front of the Buckingham Fountain, made famous in the opening credits of "Married With Children" and we went back to Phil's to gear up for the show.

There was a thunderstorm that hit as we were loading in and when I went around the block to find parking I got twisted around the myriad diagonal intersection that abound in the Lincoln Street area. When I finally got back (Note to self: Never ask for directions at Dunkin' Donuts) we were getting ready to sound check for our opening set. Then the sound guy said he wouldn't do anything until the electrical storm passed. There was talk of a potential twister touching down and that the place might close for the night...

When it finally passed and the bar decided to go ahead with the show we began to see how is was where missing our show the night before hurt us--while we got to play it was a far cry from the headlining slot we would have had the night before. The sound guy treated us like crap, insulting Elgwen's choice of microphone and actually leaving the board to go upstairs and drink during our set. Phil said we got some good signal so hopefully we'll get something out of the recording (even the our friend the sound guy ushered us off stage before we'd used our full 35 minute allotment...)
Afterwards we got some fun shots in and outside the bar with our name on the Marquee. Phil's girlfriend (whose name escapes me) took some great shots considering she was working with a $250 digital camera.

The headlining band was a Mandrel Sisters' style vocal group called The Pin Ups backed by a great jazz quartet. They did a great job of all the classics and came complete with a flirtatious blond singer who did her best to 'promote' the band to Elegwen and Jon but she seemed to lose a bit of interest when she discovered that we weren't local.

We headed back to Phil's to crash and get ready ride to Toronto the Tuesday morning--An adventure in itself!
JO