oasis played on the ipod, tour diary #9

Okay, so this will be from memory since I stopped writing in the notebook at this point. This is also the last date of the tour before Chicago. After 12 hours in the car and a few missed turns and wrong turns in Cincinnati, after we finally arrived at the venue. The drive here was long but we drove through some beautiful mountains in West Virginia. There was no cell phone reception here and we got separated from Jeremy and the others but we eventually stopped at some grocery store to meet up and get food and snacks and stuff.
The Comet Bar was cool. If it was in Chicago, I would go there all the time. Chris said it was like Club Foot here in Chicago, just that Castle Grayskull was replaced by a trout on the wall. There were two rooms, the bar and the live music room. As part of our deal, we got drinks and food. They had these giant burritos that I coudn't finish but were really damn good. Saucy staff and a cool laid back crowd were hanging around all night.
Hartfield rocked, Jeremy's friend Lisa was very cool and hung out with us, then we played our set. It went well, and I rocked the Rainbow Shit over the store front windows. After the show, I think it was Chris (thanks dude!) who said the magic words "hey, why don't we just drive home tonight!" and after we all talked about it we decided that we would. Right after the show. This other band from Chicago called Lesser Birds of Paradise played too and were fucking amazing. The music reminded me of the Mermaid Avenue CD by Billy Bragg and WIlco that I have. The lyrics were fantastic, with really pretty and mellow and intricate guitar work. It didn't make much sense to follow the loud ass rock bands with this but I was glued to my chair, front and center. This never happens with me, so let that be a testament to how good these guys were. I can't wait to see them again.
We all piled in the cars and set out for the 5-6 hour drive to Chicago. At some point I drove Jeremy's Volvo and I was feeling ducky and awake, okay maybe a bit delirious from being in the van for 12 hours, then playing a show, and now driving again and Oasis was playing (we had no music in the van since NYC where John lost the face plate to the stereo), but still I was feeling ducky and Jeremy needed a nap. We switched off again soon and we made our way to Chicago as the sun was rising. I couldn't wait to take a shower in my own house and sleep in my own bed. A real bed.
We actually drove past Chicago and straight into suburbia to drop off the gear and Cory then back to my house where Chris was going to stay and sleep and John was on his way home. After we got settled, Chris slept for like 5 hours or something and I slept for 2-3. I swear, that kid can sleep through anything and anywhere. By mid afternoon we got up, and got some food at Penny's before driving him back home on the far south west side. Oak Lawn to be precise. One thing of note, is that we passed by Bobak's at Archer and Cicero. I had seen this place on Check Please and little did we know that it would become known as Meat Fest. Oh yes. Meat Fest. More on Meat Fest later. Perhaps a Meat Fest blog entry....or TWO Meat Fest blog entries! Wow, how many times did I just say Meat Fest? See, there I go again. Meat Fest!
So after dropping Chris off I got home and relaxed, my head still spinning from the past week and realized that I didn't have to do anything till Tuesday at Double Door. I'd have to get there on my own too. How weird. I will end this by saying that I woke up the next morning running straight for the window to see if they were loading up the cars, expecting to see John next to an open van door and Jeremy and Cory hauling some amps to the van and Taka taking guitar cases to the Volvo. I saw none of this and went about my morning.