| My old buddy Adam
graduated from M.I.T. in May 1999, taking a job with Tenfold
in Chicago after the summer. Checking the calendar, I found a perfect weekend
in October to go visit; the weather would be perfect, he'd be getting lonesome,
and, oh yeah, Phish
would be in town.
Adam and I toss the disc in Lincoln Park above, the John Hancock tower looming large in the background. Below, sailors take on Lake Michigan on an overcast Saturday afternoon. |
| Flying into O'Hare late Friday night, I was perplexed by a flying cow hanging from the airport ceiling. He was wearing aviator goggles and had wings. His name, apparently, was Lucky. Lucky was one of over 300 cows that were visibly placed around Chicago through the summer until late October. Perfect timing. |
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| Saturday was fun. An hour or two of frisbee in the nearby Lincoln Park proved entertaining, then we set off downtown to go cow hunting. Shooting with the semi-automatic Elph, I found over 50 cows. Peering off skyscrapers, directing traffic, or just mulling about on street corners, the cows of Chicago proved a most bizarre wonderful art exhibit. I marveled at the awesome architecture of the city, the free Lincoln Park Zoo was a treat, and I was surprised to see actual beaches so close to the downtown. Next to New York and San Fran, Chicago is probably the third coolest city in America. |
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Adam lived in a neighborhood affectionately known as Boystown. Much
like New York's Greenwich Village, Chicago's gay district was hip and happening,
although Adam's girlfriend Carmen can attest that Adam's not a true
resident. We walked 10 minutes to Wrigleyville, finding the one bar,
the Cubby Bear, that was broadcasting the New York baseball games. Across
the street from Wrigley Field, we watched the Mets clinch a playoff spot
and the Yanks clinch home-field advantage before heading into The Metro
to see the John Popper Band.
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| John Popper was one of the most influential artists during my formative high school and early college days. But during the popularity explosion that followed the release of "Runaround," I lost touch. After a half dozen concerts, five albums, a drumstick and a harmonica later, I hadn't seen Popper in over three years. Following the death of his bassist Bobby Sheehan, John went on tour with a new band and while they weren't nearly as good, it was nice to see Popper again. It's always tough to enjoy a mediocre band the night before a Phish concert. |
| My only knowledge of the Rosemont Horizon is the historic show that
Phish played there on Halloween '95. That was the show that opened with
Icculus and featured The Who epic, Quadrophenia, in its double-album
entirety, as the second of three sets. Although the name of the venue officially
changed to the Allstate Center, the ticket still said Rosemont Horizon,
and that's much cooler anyway. After two hours of traffic on a 20-minute
ride, I was forced to eat the ticket above after failing to find anyone
to give it away to. Too bad. It was a great show.
I loved hearing the Hebrew School standard Avenu Malkenu cue the chaotic Big Black Furry Creature From Mars, and the new tune, First Tube, blew me away immediately. Phish was joined by Sugar Blue on harmonica and legendary Chicago blues guitarist Son Seals for the encore. They ripped. I took a 6 a.m. flight back Monday morning, going straight from La Guardia to work where I put in a full day. Ah, the things I do for that band...  |