Fun Via Chicago

This past weekend was a good time. I got to see Wilco, hoard some Indian sweets & savories, and hit a sex shop in the big city. You see, The Dulcinea and I went down to Chicago for the weekend. We arrived Saturday afternoon and headed on over to Ambala on Devon to get some tasty treats. I ended up buying countless Pera, bars of Barfi, balls of Motichoor and Besan Ladoo, and various types of Halwa. The Dulcinea too bought way more than she could possibly eat alone. At least she can give some to her kids and make sure they have good early culinary experiences so they don't grow up to eat an endless parade of fast food shit. From there it was off to my brother's place to chill before heading down to the Vic for Wilco. Carl was engaged in an APBA baseball game so we didn't get to see him much. And I completely forgot to get my necklace and shirt back from him. At about quarter to 7, we headed down to The Vic. In hindsight, we should have left earlier as the line to get into the theater already stretched more than a block. Parking was ridiculous as to be expected but I did get some good parallel parking practice in over the course of the weekend. The show was general admission and we ended up top. Good view, though. I don't think I'd ever been to The Vic before, at least not as an adult. I reminded me of the Barrymore here in Madison. It wasn't all sparkling pretty but it had character. The show started off with a fairly sedate "Misunderstood" - with horms. This was cool as it's one of my favorite Wilco tunes and the last time I saw them live (1996 at Summerfest), I was pretty drunk. Here's the setlist:

Misunderstood (w/horns--Jeff dubbed them "The Beards" though only one actually had a beard)
Company in My Back
The Late Greats
Hummingbird
At Least That's What You Said
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
A Shot in the Arm
Muzzle of Bees
Via Chicago
(at this point Jeff introduced the band while Frankie was switching out his pedal)
Handshake Drugs (we had to imagine swirling feedback b/c Jeff's guitar amp started to fail)
Jesus, etc.
Say You Miss Me
Theologians
I'm the Man Who Loves You (w/horns but Jeff's guitar dropped out)
---------amp-fixing break 1------------
I'm The Man Who Loves You (again with horns, and Jeff's guitar dropped out again and he played the solo on Nels' '59 Fender while Nels redeemed himself from Friday night by doing a little dance on his amp and successfully jumping down and landing on his feet)
Poor Places>Wishful Thinking
Spiders (Kidsmoke) (Jeff went over to Pat's amp and plugged in)
Sunken Treasure (no harmonica)
---------amp-fixing break 2 (Jeff was getting shocked during ST) -----------------
Political Science
Be Not So Fearful
Passenger Side
Heavy Metal Drummer
Comment (Jeff kissed Kris and crowd surfed for a while)
The Lonely 1
(fake encore--i.e. they pretended to walk off stage but just stayed on)
New Madrid
I Shall Be Released
Someday Soon
Far, Far Away
California Stars (w/horns)
A Magazine Called Sunset
Promising (first time ever with a full band?)
Candyfloss (by request of Ms. O-Rama)
She's A Jar
Hoodoo Voodoo
Something in the Air

As you can see, Jeff Tweedy had lots of guitar problems. They were recording the show on audio and committing it to film for a DVD release so this was quite unfortunate. Tweedy was frustrated but made the best of it. At one point, he annouced that they'd just play a couple more songs for the cameras and then do acoustic songs since he couldn't play electric any longer and and do some requests. It was rather cool to hear the old Uncle Tupelo tune "New Madrid". Someone requested "Gun" but no one remembered how to play it. I want to say that new boy Nels Cline on guitar was absolutely great. He made some of the most harmonious noise I've ever heard. Most of the songs included and ended with lots of loud, fuzzy bits of feedback and distortion and Cline really went apeshit during these parts. Even though Tweedy couldn't be heard during "Handshake Drugs", he made enough noise on his own for 4 people. Pat Sansone played keyboards and occasional guitar (until Tweedy coopted his amp) and was great as well. Banging out all those weird noises on his synthesizers - "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" being a great example - fit perfectly somehow. It was just a lot of fun despite technical problems. The aforementioned "IATTBYH" is a killer song and live it was even better. That harmony from chaos thing rooted in Glenn Kotche's percussion playing. "The Late Greats" actually sent a shiver down my spine. It's one of the most catchy songs ever. The whole crowd sang along on "Passenger Side" and cheered loudly when Chicago was mentioned/referenced during "Via Chicago" and "Far, Far Away".

Afterwards, we headed over to Kings Gyros for some greasy early morning food. Then it was off to bed at my mom's place. She was out of town for the weekend and we had the place to ourselves...In the morning, we went to Tre Kronor for a Swedish breakfast which was delicious. The Dulcinea had Swedish pancakes while I had an omelette with caraway seeded Havarti and a type of Swedish sausage. And we shared a hazelnut danish. Mmm...Looking through the Chicago Reader, I noticed something that The Dulcinea would enjoy: a sex toy shop. So we headed down to Broadway and hit The Pleasure Chest. She bought herself a vibrator and plenty of lube. We wandered up the street to Clark for a bit before heading back towards the Kennedy. Before we left, we spent a long time at the American Science and Surplus store on Milwaukee. The Dulcinea bought a bunch of bric-a-brac for her kids while I snagged a Harry Potter Troll Booger Potion kit. I'll keep you updated on my booger potion making.

After our stop there, we headed home. It was a good time. Next time we go down, we're definitely taking more time to wander about. We want to go to Lincoln Square on any day but a Sunday when the Merz Apotheke is closed. There's just so much to do and see that you have to take your time and not be hurried by a schedule.