Saturday in ChiTown

I arose on Saturday morning with some time to spare before I had to hit the road. I needed to get to my mom's place by 12:30. After putzing around for a bit, I jumped in the shower. Hastily packing a couple shirts in a big, I was off. Filling up at the gas station, I was dismayed at the prices. I tried to use the ATM there but it was out of order so I figured I'd go to one near CZ where I could stop in and get some good java for the road. The pitstop also gave me the opportunity to see a hottie barista. Soon enough, I was on the road. It was a very nice day, if a bit hot. I had my window rolled down and the radio on. The drive was quite uneventful and I was highly surprised that there were no lane closures. It is construction season here and I expected some kind of road work so I was pleasantly surprised. I made it to Chicago in good time and then ran into construction. The Nagle Ave bridge was being torn apart so there was a slight delay there but nothing major. I arrived at my mom's place a bit before noon. After being greeted with a hug and a kiss, I was shuffled inside. My mom asked me what my plans were for before the concert and I told her that I had none. So we decided to play it by ear. She then presented me with a loaf of cinnamon bread and a jar of hot peppers. (I'm so easy to please.) We talked for a bit before hitting the road. Off to grandmother's house we went. The plan was to pick her up to take her to the beauty shop to get her hair done.

Arriving at the Senate Apartments, my grandma was quite surprised to see me. She got in the van and we headed down the road once more. She asked how things were with me and I gleefully told her about my cabbage roll making venture. (It is from her that I get my Polish blood.) She then related to me how she makes them and I found it odd that we do it basically the same way. On the way to the salon, we drove through my old neighborhood and passed by those apartments by the intersection of Grace and Pulaski that figured in a dream I had last week. The salon is over by Pulaski and Milwaukee. It has changed a lot since I lived there. Most noticeable was the absence of the Milford theater. I related to my mom how my brother had taken me there when I was 12 or so to see a double feature of R-rated movies, Stripes and Used Cars. Ah, what a fond memory – seeing naked boobs on the big screen for the first time. My mom just shook her head, "So, it's all coming out now…" My grandmother and I were dropped off in front of the salon while my mom went to find a parking spot. The stylists are all Polish women as are most of the clientele. A sign above one of the windows had Polish on it and I asked my grandmother to translate. It came out roughly to "Home Style Hair Cuts". OK, I'm sure it loses something in the translation but I don't know any Polish so I'll take her at her word. Walking in, I immediately found my mom's description of the stylists from earlier in the week to be true – they were gorgeous! I first noticed a blonde woman in her mid 30s wearing very tight jeans then the blonde in back who was a bit younger. My grandmother got into her usual seat and work began on her coif by a third and older woman. I found a seat and poked through the Yellow Pages trying to ascertain the location of a restaurant to hit afterwards. To my left on the other side of a table with a load of magazines on it, a hottie brunette waited as something in her hair did something. It was wet and she had on the sheath. My mom eventually wandered in and sat next to me. The brunette went back to the stylist who continued working on her hair. I felt a bit out of place as my hair looked horrible. I'd washed it and spent 2+ hours driving at 75 MPH with the window rolled down. Admittedly, I am in dire need of a haircut as well. As my mom and I were sitting there chatting, I tried not to gawk too much. At one point, my mom said that the brunette was eyeing me up so I started eyeing her up. Her long, dark locks…mmm…Soon enough, my grandmother's coif was ready and we were off. We ended up dropping her off at home and my mom and I went off to find some lunch.

It had been decided to have Thai and we found ourselves at Thai Pastry Restaurant over on Broadway. Unlike me, my mom was unfamiliar with Thai food so we shared each other's delectables. I ordered something-something-Prik with tofu while she got Pad Thai. Oh, and I got an order of crab rangoon as well. The Rangoon ended up being among the tastiest I've ever had owing to the fact that the vegetables were finely diced and not minced so the filling wasn't just a glob of cream cheese. Plus the filling maker had added a hefty dose of celery seed which made them quite tasty. Whatever the hell it was that I had ordered was a very simple dish but very tasty. It had green & red peppers, onion, and tofu in a sauce over rice. The sauce was oniony with a dose of hot pepper to boot. The Pad Thai was hit and miss. It had a hearty, smoky flavor to it which I really liked but it was too sweet. Not overly but I prefer Pad Thai have only a hint of sweetness, at most. Still, I couldn't complain.

After lunch, we headed over to Ambala Sweets, an Indian confectionery, over on Devon. A cute Indian woman was behind the counter and I told her that I'd need their biggest box. She pulled one out and said that it was their medium-sized variety. I shook my head and said, "Bigger!" She replied by asking, "You've been here before, haven't you?" A flashed a sly grin before answering in the affirmative. The owner then came out and said hello as he recognized us. I then proceeded to purchase about $50 in sweets and a tin of savory snack mix. Being such a good customer, a second tin of snack mix got thrown in for free.

My sweets larder having been filled, we headed back to my mom's place for a bit before I left for the concert. I managed to get in a quick 15-minute nap. I awoke only see my mom staring at me. "You blow bubbles when you sleep," she told me, "But you don't snore." Around 5 I busted out of there. I was leaving a bit early but I figured I could perhaps more easily find a parking spot and, more importantly, grab a cup of coffee for a little pick-me-up. When I got down there, I saw that there was already a line forming in front of the Park West so I hastily turned onto Clark Street as I recalled a parking ramp just around the corner. I would do without the coffee and instead jockey for a good seat. Soon enough I found myself standing in line with a couple dozen other folks. For a show that veers perilously close to progressive rock, if not being squarely in the middle of it, I was surprised to see that there were a few hotties in line. A cute blonde who was probably all of 18 was there with her parents and I spied other women with their boyfriends/husbands. It was a hot day and the thoughtful folks down the block at the Ben & Jerry's shop were kind enough to give away samples of some kind of mocha smoothie hoolie. Needless to say, the burst of cool was most welcome. At one point, a group of guys came out of the venue and walked by us carrying boxes. Belew was one of them. Everyone said hi or cheered and he greeted us. It was weird to see how short he was. I mean, he's about average height but I'm 6'2" so, for me, he's short. I've stood close to the guy before but he's always been up on stage. It always amazes me how short rock musicians are. You get this image in your mind of these goliaths with their guitars weaving magic and then, when you're right next to them on level ground, you find out they're the most ordinary people. That was one of the big things for me when I went to the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame a few years back. I don't think any of the guys in the Rolling Stones are taller than 5'5" and weigh more than 100 pounds. Ian Anderson's (of Jethro Tull) stage costume from Tull's 1978 tour was on display and next to it was one of Stevie Nicks' dresses from around the same time. I swear that Nicks' garb dwarfed his. Anyway, the guy at the end of the procession looked at us and said, "Get ready to ROCK!"

Around 6:30, the doors opened. We hussled in and I found that the normally open space in front of the stage was littered with tables and chairs. I grabbed a seat just right of center in the 4th row. The opening band was called Pava and I can't find jack about them on the Internet. I'd never heard of them and was kind of annoyed as I'd hoped that the evening would be entirely devoted to Adrian Belew. I overheard a conversation a guy across from me was having about music so I struck up a conversation with him. He was a big King Crimson fan and he and his friend had driven the 200 miles from Springfield, Illinois for the gig. Roughly on time, Pava hit the stage. They were 4 guys in their mid- to late-20s and started off with a cover of Neil Young's "Fuckin' Up". It was sort of humorous as it was an all-ages show and it was odd to hear Neil Young being done at an Adrian Belew show. However, they did a good version, stomping version of it. I really appreciated the fact that I was in front of the drum kit so they were nice'n'loud. They went on and did originals for the rest of their set and most of the songs were quite good. A couple were thumping punk tunes but most of them were spacey pop songs. The only comparison that I can think of at the moment is make XTC more psychedelic. Not a good analogy, I know, but it's the best I have right now. I ran outside for a choke during the break.

I came back in and prepared myself for Mr. Belew. I'd never seen him solo before, just with King Crimson three times. Around me was quite a mix of people. A few guys in their 20s sprinkled amidst several in their 40s or 50s. Right in front of me sat a family. A middle-aged couple with their three kids, who were all teenagers. Two boys and a girl. I felt kind of sorry for the girl as I imagined that she'd been dragged there by her parents to see some old fart play boring music.

Around 8:30, the band took the stage. The guy who had told us, "Get ready to ROCK!", was the bass player. And he wasn't kidding. I don't know what the opening number was but it was heavy. I was sitting in front of the bass amp so I could hear it loud and clear. Unfortunately, there were times when I could barely hear Belew's guitar. The second song was the great King Crimson song, "Dinosaur". They followed this up with "Ampersand" from Belew's Side One, which came out earlier this year. I fucking love this song! And it was great live. To be honest, I'm not overly familiar with Belew's solo catalog so I didn't recognize most of the songs. But I must say that it was paced really well. There were plenty of his eccentric pop songs and they were interspersed with hefty doses of his more freaky instrumental nature. For the latter, the drummer and bassist would hold down the rhythm and Belew would just go crazy freaky styly with his guitar and effects boxes. In the middle of the set, Adrian announced that they were going to play some songs from Op Zop Too Wah as he'd never had a chance to tour behind that album. I was really impressed with the songs so I'll have to go buy that album. While he also played a smattering of King Crimson songs with which I was obviously familiar, the highlight of the night for me was "Big Electric Cat". On one hand, it's a blatantly catchy pop song but it's a bit weird with these odd cat-like scowls culled from the guitar and a chanting refrain of "Big electric cat – big electric cat". I sang along and just slipped into the moment.

One of the great things about the show was how Belew & Company belied the stodgy reputation of progressive rock. They were just up there having fun, really. Smiling and laughing with each other and talking to the audience. Plus there was a man and a woman a couple tables down who started dancing to, if I'm not mistaken, Crimson's "Three of a Perfect Pair". The band did two encores, the first of which began with Crimso's "Elephant Talk". The crowd roared when they heard the opening notes and anyone who wasn't already standing got to their feet and shook their booty. The final song of the night was a chaotic version of "Theela Hun Ginjeet", also by Crimson. It was sort of weird to see that teenage girl dancing and getting into the music right next to a guy in his mid-50s.

When I walked out the door, my ears were ringing so I knew it was a good night. I found my car and hit the road. I managed to stay awake though I did get drowsy at one point so I popped a couple truck driver pills. I finally got home at some point earlier this morning and found Stevie and Becca watching a flick with Jimmy Fallon and Queen Latifa. I watched part of it with them and it was god-awful so I hit the rack. I woke up a few hours later wondering why I wasn't still asleep. Today I need to get some stuff done. Grocery shopping must be done. Laundry too. Plus there's a couple things that need to be readied to mail tomorrow. And a podcast to make. And who knows what else need be done.