Back in the Midwest, Part 2

Soooo...more successful midwestern gigs!

The absolute best part of this weekend was hearing the crowd respond every night when we played Hey Nineteen. The second verse begins, "Hey Nineteen, that's Aretha Franklin / She don't remember the Queen of Soul", and every time Greg sang that, the audience would go berserk. It was a wonderful moment.

Thursday: Cincinnati, Ohio.

Bogart's is a pretty important room in this part of the country. When I was in college, friends were always making the trip over to see bands play here, so the significance of being on stage at Bogart's cannot be understated.

Duke

Pre gig food. I'm not happy with the styrofoam and the plastic fork, though.

This gig was pretty good--our first time in Cincy brought 499 people out on a Thursday night. I had a good solo on Taking it to the Streets, but I was off for most of the rest of the show. It felt like my hands wouldn't work together on anything.

Friday: Indianapolis, Indiana.

We're probably not playing the Vogue again--as much as we collectively like the vibe of the room, the dressing room is HORRIBLE, and at this point we can draw more people than they can hold. Also, the dressing room...what the hell?  It's a joke.

Anyway...this was a semi-private/ticketed event. It sold out, though they lowered the cap from 1,100 to 600. We played it like it was a corporate gig, chugging along in no particular hurry, watching the ladies watch us. Lots of good looking people in front of us on this evening. Easy.

Saturday: Chicago, Illinois.

I remember playing the House of Blues here when it felt massive. Now, it's kind of an average room.

Tonight's attendance was 1,053, easily our biggest Chicago crowd ever, which felt awesome. Even with other options in town (Pearl Jam was playing Wrigley Field), we still brought over a thousand people, and gave them a great show!

Sunday: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

We didn't have far to go today, so I was able to squeeze in a run to Northwestern University. Our hotel was in Skokie, due east of Evanston.

Lake Michigan

On to Milwaukee!

right across from the Bucks' new stadium

Turner Hall is a very old ballroom, partially restored (only enough to keep from caving in?). It looks pretty cool, though, kind of like an old roller coaster. One thing we hadn't ever encountered--the stage is angled towards the front, so downstage is essentially downhill.

The entire place is run by a pack of hipsters and one old guy. They do a good job!

A little pre-gig stroll through downtown.

The Bronze Fonz!

exterior of Turner Hall

pre gig dinner--burrito bar!

This gig...after Chicago, I was kind of ready to go home. Three nights in a row was fine for me, but this place was such a pleasant surprise, that I ended up having a really good time. The venue was cool, the audience as great (259 on a Sunday in a town where we've never played), the burritos were satisfying, the green room was fifteen times as big as the Vogue's...this was a good weekend of playing!