Pre-Show, Chicago

…sitting in the Darkroom now, a very vibey establishment in Chicago’s old Ukrainian neighborhood. Kinda nice just to be in one place for a while and not have to move. I may take a cab into town to go to the Jazz Record Mart, if there is time, but we’re waiting for the sound guy now, and we have to soundcheck before we can do anything. Very cool room – leather couches, booths, and banquets, exposed brick and nice woods. We’re playing with a fellow indie-pop band called Truly Yours, a go-go dance troupe called the Revellettes, and Black Diamond Bay, a group that spun off of the Canadian group the Dears (from what I can gather).

Indianapolis was another heart-warmer. Our bassist Clint is from there, and he had a huge turnout of friends, neighbors, and family, all of whom were incredibly supportive. We dined at a Cajun place that Clint really likes – 23 dollars for the whole band. Can’t beat it. The room was a bit cavernous, but the sound guy Al did a good job with our eccentric set-up, and the crowd – 99% of them somehow connected to Clint – loved it. “Annette” is starting to get less shaky. We didn’t play “How to Hurt,” which we will definitely do tonight.

Us at Yat's:



The band that followed us, Heavy Hometown, was really great, too. Killer lineup – a singing drummer, a singing guitarist, and a keyboardist played a Fender Rhodes for bass and a Roland Juno for squiggly synth sounds…

Spending time with Clint’s family was really inspiring, too. Indiana is beautiful, all overlapping plains and tree-lines marking property boundaries. A neighbor brought her daughter to meet us, since I guess we’re a real touring band and are rock stars in Indiana. The hometown paper, the Lebanon Reporter, also did a nice piece about us…

No soundcheck tonight…so I hopped into a cab and hit the great Jazz Record Mart on E. Illinois and stocked up on Eddie Condon CDs.