sometimes my real life and my online world collide, and when it does, it’s good to maximise on these rare occasions.
so, immediately following my recent foray into the chaotic world of the pre new i was bound for chicago town in order to spend three weeks doing stuff that helps pay the bills.
travelling with a hangover is something i have never really experienced before, but given that for the first time in many many years i was flying solo meant i was able to let my body takes its natural course of recovery and soak up a few movies (note the shifting subtle use of americanisms).
9 hours after boarding the plane i was experiencing 32 degree heat, and brain fizzling humidity. i am certain i heard someone somewhere laughing out loud when i stepped out of the air conditioned airport such was my reaction.
thankfully the trip to the downtown apartment was relatively painless and gave my head, and eyes, time to acclimatise.
now, chicago may not have the intense lure of nyc, nor the trippy hippy tourism of la, but i can assure you the skyline as you approach the city is breath taking.
buildings of glass, mirrors, bricks and steel rise and rise out of the land, but whereas nyc is a mass of claustrophobic inducing stress, the planners of chi-town have spread the city out.
this means you are able to soak in the excess of capitalism, but still experience a sense of space and wonder. having been here once before five years ago, i thought the overall impact as i approached would be tempered by familiarity.
more fool me.
my pulse raced as the taxi hit the ‘l’.
in case you are not aware, the ‘l’ is the nickname for the public transport system, which consists of a mixture of integrated buses, overhead trains (as featured in many a movie), and underground trains.
it turns out that my place of residence for the next few weeks is but a stones throw from the centre of the action.
i settle in, unpack, and look out of my 19th floor window.
and there i stay for 74 minutes, rooted to the spot taking in the view.
so, how does this all fit in with the groove of ireallylovemusic ?
well, the day after i arrive turns out to be a public (aka bank) holiday, and the beginning of the much loved cities festival season.
epicentre of a lot of the action turns out to be literally across the street from where i am staying, the jay pritzker pavilion in millennium park, and to kick off the season is a double bill of volcano! and hum.
shunning the lure of sleep (i have come to realise that jetlag is a whole new level of fun, and the best way is to fight your way through the pain, enjoy the sensory deprivation and wait for the hallucinations to really kick in before you try to sleep), i head for the pavilion not really having any idea what to expect.
6 minutes later (the roads are very very wide, and they really do take about 6 minutes to cross), i am once again speechless. the venue is an outdoor stage made for all weathers, with a backdrop that you cannot quite take in.
beyond the seated auditorium (about 1000 seats i’d say) is a picnic field over the top of which is a spiders web of metal pa speakers, and wires meaning that the sound perfectly balanced no matter where you sit.
eat your world guzzling heart out u2, these guys have figured it out without any need to kill any rainforests.
first up, comes volcano! who it turns out are a bunch of nerds looking thrilled to bits to be playing in front of a few hundred mates on such a stage. their brand of math-rock is not an easy fit to those of us who have not heard their disjointed grooves, but, clearly repeated exposure over the years has won them a hardcore following who enthuse and make the proceedings far more fun than i would have ever imagined. if they had played more songs like their groovesome closer then there is a strong chance i would have been tempted to pick up their album, as it is, their nerd-rock excess i suspect would become wearisome on the home listening front.
next up are local heroes, hum.
until a few hours before they hit the stage i had never heard of hum, but it turns out in the grunge wars they did rather well, and even had a hit with a song called ‘stars’. so i guess it should have come as no surprise that the arrival on stage of a bunch of clean cut local business executives was met with such a roof raising cheer.
unfortunately though, hearing the band rip into their chords, as opposed to jeans, threw me back into an era i really had no desire to revisit. an onslaught of guitar heavy angst started, lots of heads nodded and then there was that mass movement as 1000s all lunged forward in sync as the big kick-ass chord was given a belting.
oh, and, remember those over driven vocal outbursts followed by a quick blast of acoustic guitars to be followed quickly by another blast of wall topping noise: well, hum do that a lot.
i lasted 30 minutes before deciding it was preferable to pass out in the privacy of my own flash pad as opposed to getting thumped due to my indifference towards this much loved band of brothers.
in fact a good friend later on described them as follows : “smashing pumpkins vs pavement” which is absolutely spot on, so f*ck it, i’m a ripping that so that you have a good understanding as to why they are so popular here, and i walked away.
next on the schedule was the thursday show.
billed as ‘music without borders’, it looked to be an evening of far more enjoyable madness. the listings gave the bill as the very best, and balkan beatbox. two bands i know little about other than ettienne in the very best used to send ireallylovemusic stuff when he worked at ninja tune, and used to plug his radioclit radio mashups all the time to my all too typical ignorance.
more fool me.
the crowd were relatively small but welcoming. the very best hit the stage with a blast of smiles, happy upbeat ethno-pop sampling african trad songs, london styled beats, and the euphoric vocals by esaw mwamwaya.
a party was in action within minutes of them hitting the decks, and the addition of gravity defying dancers just added to the proceedings.
3 tracks in and one lone soul decided to sod the seating convention and headed for the front, determined to get some attention from the stage action. clearly his need to show his appreciation and dance hit the spot as within 34 seconds he was joined by a steady stream of young beautiful people all with smiles from ear to ear.
the band, realising they were on a roll and winning the war against audience apathy, rose to the occasion.
and so it stayed like that for the duration of their excellent set. more and more people succumbed, meaning by the end of their 45 minute set they had easily won over a mass of converts.
me included.
due to a unfortunate event involving falling off a pa system and broken ribs, balkan beatbox had to pull out of the show, but upon getting to the venue the listings the crowd were advised that the replacement was to be antibalas, a 10 piece from nyc famous for reviving the extended funk grooves of fela kuti for a broadway show,’fela!’.
now, i know little about fela kuti styled funk, but if this lot are anything to go by, then i need to sort myself out.
20 minute groove epics. predominantly instrumental, featuring horns, percussion, and keys,
intense build ups, all underpinned by a deep spine shifting raw funk that even got this jaded grey hair down the front.
easily one of the best shows i have seen in a long long time, and for the first time in days, that night i sleep very well.
very well indeed.
next up : pelican, the hood internet, a gospel show, and hollows.