Tour Jamz | Day 6 (Chicago, IL)
We hung around Milwaukee until 6:00 which felt more like 2:00 or 3:00 after becoming nearly nocturnal this week. Most of our afternoon was spent eating hot dogs, playing basketball (FINALLY) and watching about a dozen episodes of Adventure Time. It was great.
As we drove our big van and trailer into the packed streets of Chicago, cyclists screamed and dove for cover, some falling to their doom under the weight of our gear and fat butts. To our surprise, we found street parking directly in front of The Whistler which was a relief. We finally broke with our ways of always playing 2nd in the lineup and kicked things off first. With some good buds who had come out to hang and see us, we had a blast, despite some problems with monitors and levels.
Admittedly, we don’t know too much about Chicago neighborhoods but according to some of our friends and people we talked to last night, this was one of the “cooler” neighborhoods that was friendly and safe. We hung out at the bar and ordered PBR’s and a special cocktail they prepared for the bands called “The Presbyterian” which was some sort of whisky + ginger + fun juice mix drank.
Knyfs went on after us. They’re a two-piece instrumental group that took lots of influence from old school metal. Using interesting technical grooves and big breakdowns, they were another unique group that I’m glad to have seen and chatted with during this tour.
Before taking off to Crystal Lake where Noel’s relatives live, we chatted with our friend, Hunter about black people being in debt and painting weird stuff when they’re sad. We took off and hit up this KILLER 24 hour donut shop in Crystal Lake called Country Donuts. Trev, Dan, Lucas and I split a dozen just in time to get a big sugar high as we tried to quietly enter our home for the night without waking Noel’s family.
We woke up early today and hit the road around 9:30 so we can get to load-in at the Simon Estes Ampitheatre in Des Moines by 4:00 where we will play with The Envy Corps and a pyrotechnic performance group, aptly named Pyrotechniq. Really pumped for this one!
-Jeff
PS: After 3+ days of no underwear, I have now properly clothed my nethers for nearly 24 hours. Progress happens one day at a time, guys.
