Chicago: Become Familiar with its Distinctive Neighborhoods

so i went to some bar up north i think? damen and foster maybe?

This was probably either Leadway or K's Dugout. Was there an easel in the corner and amateur art on the wall and the top 40 being played on satellite radio, or was there an Internet jukebox being commandeered by Vietnam vets?

Morning all. Barely. I wanted ILX to be up yesterday when I had time for it.

while king khan & bbq were playing, we were standing at the side of the stage, by the stairs. dude from busy s1gnals squeezed his way in front of me and then proceeded to pull like three of his friends in front of me too. then this big dude came pushing through, but i wouldn't move because i was tired of people shoving me. he said "get out of the fucking way!" i was pissed off and so i said "where the fuck are you going?" he gave me a dirty look but just kept moving up to the stage. i think maybe he was security or worked for the note but he had no item of clothing or badge or anything identifying him as such, and didn't say anything like "security coming through." probably dumb behavior on my part as dude was like twice my size but i was in a really bad mood, as noted.

This was probably either Leadway or K's Dugout. Was there an easel in the corner and amateur art on the wall and the top 40 being played on satellite radio, or was there an Internet jukebox being commandeered by Vietnam vets?

i could not tell you. i'd go with the easel place with top 40 music. there were a lot of girls there.

My thoughts re: said show:
* first band I really liked the music, could take or leave the vocals (probably leave) as they were were a bit obvious and affected
* second band had some good slow songs, but mostly were embarrassing to watch - then guy behind me dropped all this pizza on the floor that I had to dodge
Then I did this wonderful thing that hasn't happened at a show in a long time where I got extremely claustrophobic and overheated and felt like I couldn't breath and like I would faint soon. So I rushed over towards the door and sat at the bar there. It was freezing cold but I didn't care because all I wanted was space and fresh air.
* KK &BBQ were so entertaining. Great vox. AMAZING guitar playing SKILLZ. Nice costumes. I was really annoyed by all the shoving but was still glad I went.

What is up with KK/BBQ shows being INSANE? At Cakeshop here the sight lines are terrible to begin with, so if you weren't within about 12 feet of the stage you couldn't see anything...and I was up there but having trouble breathing and could not actually move my arms and hands, it was so tight. I gave up. Show was...well, not ruined by any means, but frankly I liked the opening bands better.

Props to n/a for holding his ground though. I hate when people shove their way to the front after arriving late. When I went to see *cough*thekillers*cough* at the Congress a couple years ago, I got burned by a cigarette for refusing to move when this girl and her 18 friends tried to push past us.

Oh, forgot the third band. They played while I was breathing at the bar, so I didn't see them in action. I liked them well enough, especially one song which I can't remember now, but mostly every song sounded the same. I'm sure I would have appreciated them alot more had I not been off in a corner.

I've mentioned this before but I really hate on the shorties at shows that think that because they are half as tall as I am they can shove past me. I got here first, bitches! Of course, rock n roll doesn't usually shine on punctuality.

Sarah just changed my whole life for the better. COLORED LABELS ON GMAIL ARE AMAZING.

Oh yeah, no problem, I'll just listen to the set while staring at the middle of your back. With laser beams.

Get there earlier and get a good spot closer to the stage.

Which is what I do and then a zillion girls shove in front of me and call over to their friends to join them.

Really I don't like anybody that feels they deserve to be closer than people who got there before them, for any reason. Also, if you can't make it through a 45 minute set without four trips to the bar for more beer, just stay by it instead of making us all suffer as you attempt to shove your way through the crowd with four full beer cups.

I'm just bitching -- at the last few shows I've gotten shouldered aside by much taller boys who then planted themselves right in front. Asking them to move for you sometimes backfires when you don't realize that there's going to be a mosh pit starting in approx 7 seconds and you've just moved to the front of it.

Also it's not my fault they banned smoking indoors.

What does the smoking have to do with it?

This show was so crazy smoky.

Maybe instead of getting in front of the earlier/non-smoking/slow-drinking people, then, I should just ask them to all move closer together? Because as the club fills up the large gaps they've left between each other aren't really the appropriate spacing anymore.

Oh, Sarah, because with the ban here, I usu go outside to smoke between sets. :)

Also, if those dudes shouldered you aside to get in front, they were doing exactly what I hate!

http://www.scienceaid.co.uk/biology/plants/images/osmosis.jpg

Exactly.

down with tall people!

My best anecdote from being the tall guy in front is from when a ton of my college friends and I came to Chicago to see Fugazi at the Congress. We were the first people in line, like 5 hours before the doors opened, and we got let in in time to see the opener finishing their sound check. We were up against the stage almost all the way across. Photographers and asshole fans tried to push in front and gave me all manner of shit for being "too tall" but they didn't wait outside on the street for hours, so fuck them. Plus I was (and still am) bigger than them, and so could be intimidating. I think I was wearing a tshirt with the sleeves cut off that day, too!

Also at that show matttttt and my friends Brad and Rachel got their picture taken down in front by the stage and were on the front page of the Trib lifestyle section.

xpost: I can't hear you down there!

As a 5'6"er, I say tall people have every right to be as far up front as they want--as long as they're in a squatting position.

Yeah, like we'd cede our advantage and open ourselves up to your lilliputian kickings!

i get so annoyed by all this stuff at shows as well, it makes me feel old that for a lot of shows i think i'd prefer assigned seating.

dan, was that the show they did with shellac? i was there as well, although standing more towards the back. picked up cute boy that was waaaay too young for me,though.

Yes! And the Ex. That was the shit. $6 for that show, what a deal. One of the best shows of my life.

Bell's returns in six bars: Clark Street Ale House, Lemmings, Silver Cloud, Northside Bar & Grill, The Handlebar, and Twisted Spoke.

Four of those six are within a half-mile radius of The Crotch. :(

Hell, 3 of them are within 3-4 blocks on the same street. I haven't been to Lemmings in a long while...

Yay for the crotch. ha ha
I love handlebar so much, so very very much.

hola amigos
my weekend was not notable.

i did just devour a me-made spinach pie. this was my 3rd attempt to get it right (making, not eating -- i'm pretty awesome at that part) and i think i'm almost there.

I haven't been there in a while, but I've always been kind of underwhelmed by Handlebar. Still would like to go back, though. I tried a couple of months ago, but it was way too busy and so we went to Treat instead.

Handlebar is gooooooood

i think i need to stop going to shows that other people want to go to

Yeah, you probably need to find a more inaccessible/exclusive genre to explore.

too many people like music

Bbbut the VEGGIE SIDES. Also, they have bottled root beer there, which makes me so so very happy.

I recommend taking up experimental sound installations, instead.

I went to one of those recently, in Millennium Park. Lots of space there!

Like, you know, a drop of water falling every 3-7 minutes onto a sheet of glass, that's miced and sampled and fed back to the speakers as a child crying. That sort of thing.

that was the wrong venue for that show but whatever, i know why they played it. when they were here last year they packed the abbey and before that mark practically banged out the empty bottle by himself. i wasn't shocked that it was crazy insane packed but i was hoping the weather would keep some people away.

unrelated- being so congested that you have to breath through your mouth = not good times at all.

that stinks, kevin!

our building is having a holiday party in the lobby. i feel like the loser kid at middle school lunch, because there's nobody else in my office (literally), so i don't know anyone. i got a plate of free food and am now having a holiday party with you guys instead!

Let's go for drinks on Thursday. I'm going to Old Timer's after work if I don't hear anything beforehand.

i'm going to a champagne tasting on thurday, and then getting food ready for the party...which you're all really excited about, right? right?

ooh sounds like fun
but i can't because i will be hopping around gree hee hee

collette! that reminds me. i am not going to be able to make it to your party because it conflicts with another holiday party related to d's work. :( i'm sorry. i do celebrate your citizenship.

aw, we'll miss you! have fun at the other party, though...

That reminds me, I'm a "maybe" for the partay.

Just heard: Winter storm on the way, could generate 6" of snow.

I'm listening to the Democratic candidate debate live on NPR. Kucinich is astonishingly on point almost across the board.

All this talk of snow and no action...

it's coming down here