Sunday, August 3, 2008

Briefly, From Chicago

I'd been housesitting, and now I'm on vacation, in Chicago, where I'll be seeing the Cubs play the Pirates in approximately four hours.  Pics, hopefully, to come.  Also of my father's recent trip to Shea Stadium.  I didn't go, true, but he had the mental composure to not leave his disposable camera on the train.  We'll have to see, however, how they develop.

I'm here for Lollapalooza, which was at Grant Park, where it was hot and humid, overcrowded but surprisingly not overpriced (relatively speaking), and the sound system was shot to hell during the Black Keys' set.

Also, whoever thought Cat Power the ideal performer to play in a parking lot at four in the afternoon needs to actually listen to the records.  Honestly, surrounded by similarly sweating and smelly people who'd been there probably since noon and have drank way too much beer already is not my ideal concert going experience for music so austere.  You just can't mosh to "Lived In Bars."

The Raconteurs, on the other hand, were the perfect band to perform as the sun sunk into the skyline.  There first album wasn't what I hoped, though "Steady, As She Goes" is a great single, but they really got it together for Consolers Of The Lonely.  Anyone who wishes they made records like they used to ought to check it out.

A regional supergroup, White is easily the brightest star, and sucked every ounce of anticipation from the crowd.  Taking center stage, he played with his back to the audience until his vocal part came, at which point he turned around and unleashed that hellhound wail of his. You could feel the tension break across the crowd like an electric current.  It might read contrived and cliched, I was there and it was anything but.  Hell of a show.

Cubs on Sunday, White Sox on Friday, maybe Grahm's first baseball game, Red v. White.  We'll have to see how he behaves on game day.  If the schedule holds, it'll be Lester vs. Buehrle, a pair of 6-2 lefties.  I'll hopefully write some more about the matchup, but today, it's off to the cozy confines.

No comments: