Evanston

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Tour Diary – Iowa City, Evanston and Ann Arbor (Nov 1 – 3, 2013)

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Iowa City (Nov 1): We had a day off in Iowa City…Halloween in a college town. Most of us stayed safely inside our rooms and watch the debauchery unfold on the streets below. As the night wore on the howling became more intense, the clothing a little bit scantier and the footing a lot less sure…woo-hoo, paaaaaarty. Pete and Jeff decided to dress up for the occasion. Pete dressed up as his favourite hockey player and Jeff dressed up as Belzebub or maybe it was the donkey from a Midsummer's Night Dream….I'm not sure.

It was another church tonight. Not a bad sounding church, but a church nonetheless. The main issue was the size of the stage which was so shallow that we basically had to line up in a row against the altar wall. It made for a tough time hearing each other on stage. But it was a fantastic audience, small but mighty, and they helped us through.

Evanston (Nov 2): We always enjoy playing The Space in Evanston. It is not yet a great sounding room, but they keep tweaking and slowly improving it. It's a definite listening space which is what makes it a fun room to play, the audience is tuned in from the first note. They also have a great dressing room space in the back, which is clean and comfortable and inviting…and it has a turntable and an eclectic vinyl collection, say no more. We had a great day and two excellent shows…both of them sold out, with two excited and appreciative crowds. Tonight was the first night on this tour where it felt like we really took off…sometimes it just takes some time.

Ann Arbor (Nov 3): When we were pulling up to the venue this morning we were trying to figure out how many times we have played Ann Arbor. Al figured that it was around 350 times, it's probably closer to 20, but we settled on “a lot”. It's always been a good town for us and it's an easy place to visit. The Ark has been our home in Ann Arbour for the past few years. It's a small venue but a great listening space, the audiences are always tuned in and the room and stage sounds great (the only negative is that the dressing rooms are crap). The Ark is a non-profit room and tonight's show was part of their annual fund-raising. It was another good audience tonight, but I thought our performance was a little uneven, not terrible but it never took off….a little disappointing from our side of the stage but the audience seemed to enjoy themselves which in the end is what its all about.

Next up are The Kennedy Suite concerts on Nov 22 and 23 at the Winter Garden Theater in Toronto. We and alot of people behind the scenes have been working like demons putting the show together. It involves over 30 musicians and a few other whiz-bang production thingies ….it is going to be an exciting night of music, something completely original and something that we probably won't repeat, so if you are looking for a road trip…I think it will be worth your while. We hope to see you there.


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Tour Diary – Evanston, Ill (April 14, 2012)
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Tour Diary – Evanston, Ill (April 14, 2012)


 

Day Two. NHL playoffs are in full swing with three or four games a day and our satellite gets them all. We even have a PVR to capture what we miss while we are on stage. Heaven. Jared convinced me and Al to experience our first Five Guys Burger. Very tasty. Another excellent show in front of an excellent audience…funny how those two things often go together. The Space in Evanston isn’t the best sounding room, but they have made a lot of upgrades since the last time we played here in 2010. It’s another very intimate performance space, great for the audience and fun for the band. The backstage area is about as comfortable as they come and the staff, owners and promoters treat us royally. We couldn’t ask for much more. A very, very fun night. Meanwhile, the Senators and Rangers are settling into what could be a really nasty series; Vancouver is heading towards a catastrophic collapse; the Penguins defence and goaltending seem to have vanished; and the other series are just warming up…..and, according to the weather channel, we are heading into a whole mess of tornados and severe thunder storms…woo-hoo, game-on!

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Evanston, Ill (March 23, 2010)

(Jason Lent has forsaken the island paradise of Hawaii to follow us around for a few months. I have happily placed the tour diary in his capable hands. It should bring a new perspective to our ramblings.)

Tonight’s show was in Evanston, one of the northern towns that make up the small country known as Chicagoland. Coming from an island, the immensity of Chicagoland is hard to comprehend at times. It’s like a spider monkey hopped up on Red Bull was set loose in a game of Sim City. Highways and concrete stretch to the horizon everywhere you look and the highways intermingle and change names randomly. I missed a few exits today.

Evanston sits on Lake Michigan and I made a point to find a beach and set foot in the sand, albeit quite briefly. The venue was an aging hipster art space attached to a trendy restaurant with a fantastic beer menu. The venue was the sort of place that drives sound engineers nuts with exposed brick walls that deflect sound in unintended directions and a small stage that put the musicians in a tight cluster. The vibe and the lighting of the room helped to compensate for the sound and it felt like a groovy place to catch a show.

The band and crowd spent the first few songs getting to know each other before the energy started to crackle with a rocking version of “Stranger Here” from the upcoming album. Two rarely played (and greatly loved) selections from The Caution Horses album sounded exquisite. “Shining Moon” leaves the same station every night but the destination often changes. Tonight, Jeff’s harmonica catapulted the jam through a haze of blue.

With no back stage or side stage to retreat to, Margo sought shelter at a table of fans while the boys took “Working On a Building” for a walk. When the show ended, the lack of space forced a violation of Rock School 101 and the band simply stayed on stage for the encore. Someone requested “Lost My Driving Wheel” and the band was kind enough to oblige. Another comfortable night of music wrapped up and the tour bus set its sights on Iowa. In a few hours, I’ll do the same with my borrowed Honda Civic…


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