It's a 10+ hour drive from North Little Rock, so on Thursday eve, we departed via automobile and stopped a little past the halfway point in Mt Vernon -- the Amarillo of Illinois, I'd say -- and continued on the next morning. We started approaching the city around 2:00 p.m. and got stuuuuuck in some standstill interstate traffic, which made me extremely cranky and in need of a nap because I am a child apparently. We eventually pulled off the interstate, which was only nominally faster, BUT, at least we could take in some cityscapes.
We were an hour late meeting our airbnb host. Thankfully, she was super nice & understanding. She gave us quick tour/rundown of the place and as soon as she left, I totally assed out for an hour or so.
Our rental was a weird apartment in Old Town. Looks like the Holiday Inn in Ft Smith on the inside:
The view from our balcony:
Night time view:
ATM roused me from deep slumber and we went to ditch the car in a garage (didn't need it), ate a slice AND a hot dog, and took another disco nap because our fun was to start at midnight. Woke up at ten p.m., did the 3 S's, went underground to the red line, and made our way to Smart Bar to go d a n c i n g to house music, not 80s, not oldies, etc. House. You know what? We really needed that, it has been YEARS since we've gone proper dancing. Morgan Geist, of Metro Area, was selector for the evening, with some local fella name Olin opening. We smiled & got sweaty for hours, it was so much fun. Left at 3:00 a.m., picked up a burrito on the way to the train and headed back to the apartment. The last time I noticed on the clock was 4:01 a.m.
Favorite song from Olin's set:
The next day, we slept in, but not too much. We were going to try to go to Skydeck -- I really wanted to step on to that ridiculous glass ledge they've got -- and then have lunch at my favorite Italian restaurant in Chicago, Club Lago. Let's all point and laugh at ATM & I for thinking that we could just waltz up to top of the Willis Tower on a Saturday, no big deal.
We took one look at the line and decided that we'd just go eat instead. It started raining while we were on the train en route to the restaurant. When we deboarded, we took refuge under the elevated tracks for awhile and then ran from awning to awning to Club Lago. It was actually kind of nice as we haven't had decent rain in (N)LR in forever.
Video by ATM
I love this restaurant so much, I've considered sending them holiday cards. The significance of this restaurant is that I hate spaghetti, I believe it's an inferior pasta dish. It's g-r-r-r-r-oss! BUT, Club Lago makes one that I crave from 650 miles away. A nice heap of perfectly cooked spaghetti noodles with an amazing tomato sauce and a big, fat meatball right in the middle of it. Start with their calamari, order an S. Pelligrino, and tuck in. You'll find that you won't speak for several minutes because you are too busy eating and loving life. Club Lago is never too busy, the service is good (they don't interrupt your meal 1,000 x's to see if your meal is 'ok'), and the atmosphere is comforting to me. Ace.
After lunch, we went to the apartment to prepare ourselves for Pitchfork Fest. Our mission was to see Chromatics and Hot Chip and then book it out of there, no hanging around longer than we needed to. Oh, holy hell, did it come rushing back to me why I hate going to festivals. At one point, I just stood there frozen in complete dejection. I think I was trying to force an out-of-body experience where you float off to the ocean for a swim. I eventually came to. If you go expecting a certain amount of bullsh, then I'd say you're pretty much mentally prepared. But, there'll always be some damn weirdos to throw you off. Like people who choose to dress in ensembles intended for the fall/winter months. That kind of ridiculousness hurts my head. All in all, though, Chicago is pretty unpretentious and it's one of the things I like about it. We got there right before Chromatics started. Their setting up took forever and we probably saw exactly 1.5 mins of their set before we walked over to the red stage for Hot Chip. Right as we walked up, they started, so our timing was perfect.
You guys, my HC adoration has gone through the roof. It's great having a band crush because that means you needed it and that you're not hating your entire musical catalog and you have something amazing to listen to on your commute and the fellas seem like total sweethearts, not some guys trying to play you. I love them.
This is as close as we could get. Eventually we moved because we opted for sound over sight. Here's Joe! He of The 2 Bears. <3
They put on a most excellent live show. It seems like a fun band to play in, it really made me want to play music again. Long forgotten feelings. As planned, as soon as they were done, we hi-tailed it to the Beauty Bar for this:
We tried to get tix online, but their website claimed first come, first serve. We learned that apparently they did have pre-sale tix and they were all sold out. Unbenownst to us, they were only letting in the first 50 people in line. Fortunately, we got there in time. Let me tell you, it's a weird thing to be at an event where they turn people -- hot, gorgeous people -- away at the door. Exclusivity! But, I get it, it's not a huge place, there were still a lot of people. Pretty wild.
I was pretty exhausted from the night before and from the festival, so I had to really dig deep for another night of late dancing. Obviously, it was worth it. We were outside when Joe, Alexis & Al arrived. I was so stoked, that I gave Joe a far off wave, which he returned with a big smile. I'll admit, I can get a little starstruck because I have crushes on these guys, guys! BUT, it gave met the energy I needed to have another amazing night in Chicago. I'd like to note that the people of Chicago may have southerners beat re: friendliness and hospitality. We were treated so well and strangers often came up just to chat us up. It was so lovely. I was told to "Have a nice day" like a 1,000xs.
Not very good photo, obviously, but here are the gents Joe, Alexis and Al's back. They selected great tunes. Local DJ Ross Kelly is quite good, too.
Alexis Taylor:
Beauty Bar:
We left the bar, sweaty, exhausted, satisfied. Got a cab, picked up a late night pizza (yeah), ate it, and went. to. bed.
In the morning, we bought snacks and drinks for the road, searched high and low for a breakfast joint - a lot of places are surprisingly closed on Sunday OR they are too busy for people trying to leave town. We found this great little Mexican place, thankfully. You can't go wrong w Mexican, although I was a little thrown off by their putting lettuce and cheese on their tacos as opposed to my usual onion & cilantro. Still pretty good, though. We ate and left.
I was bummed that we couldn't visit with our good ole Chicago chum Neil. As usual, he's off living a lovely life and is a very busy man. Good for him! Next time, hopefully, we can sit down for dinner and a session.
A little road side DIY body work:
We'll be back, some time in September. Hoping to catch some local bands. Disappears. Coffin Pricks. E +, et al.
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