To go away on a summer's day, never seemed so clear
The doowad family went to Chicago for Doowadette’s 14th
birthday last March to see Vampire Weekend. As adopted St. Louisans, they have
a true love/hate relationship with their bigger brother city to the north. This
trip played on both aspects, though it was more about the love and admiration,
tinged with a bit of envy for the resources available for Chicagoans, in spite
of their baseball team on the north side. This mix had its genesis in the
playlist doowad made for the weekend sojourn up I-64. Since that time, it has
been quite the trial to get the two ladies to sit down with him and work on
this. The weekend was the highlight of their year (even with some conflicts
between teenage daughter & her mother, natch). The concert was really just
the cherry on the top of the sundae of the experience. The road trip was a
great bonding time for the three of them, laughing to the FOTC cuts, singing
along with the VW songs, and otherwise enjoying the soundtrack of Chicago
blues, Talking Heads, Zevon, Clash, the proto-VW of Mr. Simon, and the
proto-Simon of the Everlys. The last two tracks on the mix were not on the
original playlist, but have been on constant repeat in doowadette’s iPod the
past few months and she insisted on their inclusion here.
Now it’s a different game
They left early so they could arrive just after noon and
head to the Museum of Science & Technology which doowad had heard about
since he was a boy growing up in small-town Missouri . In any case, the old-school and
large-scale exhibits impressed him the most, though some exhibits were similar
to what they have here at their little Science Center Chicago March wind before the concert.
Winter’s Cold Is Too Much To Handle
They made a roundabout trip to give the finger to Wrigley in
Wrigleyville, just north of the Riviera
where VW was playing. Luckily there was a bookstore just across the street from
the theater where the band was playing (doowadette wanted to plug the national
chain, but doowad doesn’t believe in corporate sponsorship, I guess that is
ironic considering the bombardment of ads featuring the titular band over the
past two weeks, ni modo). Doowad kept an eye on the front door of the theater
to make sure they didn’t end up too far back in the GA crowd. When he saw two
guys make their way, doowad figured it was time to stake their claim. It wasn’t
too bad, about or 4 or 5 hour wait , though doowad definitely understood why
Chicago was called the Windy city as the air ripped through the street, nearly
relieving a few concertgoers of their tickets. He made friends with the other
kids in line, though he was easily 20 years their senior. Normally, doowad
would feel a bit ridiculous being the old fart at such a gathering, but the
reward of seeing the smile on doowadette’s face made it all worth it. The two
teenage boys who had been able to nab first in line had actually just driven
down from Milwaukee
where they had just seen the band a couple nights before (not that there was
anything wrong with it). About an hour before the show, doowad called ika &
doowadette to come on over. So being third in line allowed them to land a place
front row-center, which was just Goldilocks, especially after his chilly wait. The
crowd eventually filled in behind and around them. The first act was fine, Abe
Vigoda, also a bit of 80s throwback, but more like New Order, Smiths &
Depeche Mode (not that there was anything wrong with that either) than Paul
Simon, Talking Heads & Clash like the headliners. A seemingly nice couple
was making conversation with them, but turned out it was only for the
convenience of getting on to the rail as well, actually putting themselves
between doowadette and him with ika on the other side of the couple.
A devastating backstroke
They felt a little squeezed in, but that was nothing
compared to when Ezra and the boys came out. The whole mass of youth came
crashing around them as the first notes of White Sky started. Whenever doowad
or doowadette want to remember the concert, they call to the other one “Oh,
Ezra!”. Doowad locked his hands onto the rail, basically cocooning doowadette
from the crowd behind him. Unfortunately, they looked over for ika and didn’t
see her, then all of a sudden they saw security reaching down and pulling her
up and over the rail and literally carrying her off to the side. It really seemed
as though she had fainted, and the security guy who offered to help her out of
the crowd obviously thought so too, though it turns out she was just bending
down to grab her purse. After her “rescue”, she didn’t have it too bad,
basically in the press quadrant for the rest of the show. It was basically
impossible for doowad & doowadette to move from where they were. Doowad
actually did have a few taps on his shoulder for people wanting to try to get
in near where they were, but doowad told them he had been out in the cold for 5
hours and he wasn’t giving up his spot for anything. Like doowad said, since
doowadette was safely in the cage of his arms, and he is a head taller than her,
he was really the only one of the in danger from the overly-lathered crowd. Doowadette
didn’t even notice how close he came to getting elbows in the face, especially
from some particularly enthusiastic young man to his left who rocked out a bit
over the top enthusiastically to Holiday & Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (again,
nothing wrong with that). Doowad said later that he felt like he had received
the best massage ever, just adjusting his back up and down among the bony
little elbows & shoulders pounding him. After the show, they were relieved
to find ika safe and sound and that she had actually been able to enjoy the
show.
Around the corner, the house that modern art built
So yeah, the concert was great, and this mix is obviously
dominated by their family’s mutual appreciation for the group, but the real
highlight of the trip was the next day when they visited the Chicago Art
Institute. With the lyrics to White Sky still ringing in their ears, they
really spent a nice afternoon wandering the halls. From the Renoir to the Van
Gogh to the Monet and the Picasso, they could feel the power and genius within
each canvass. After a late lunch at the museum cafeteria, they turned their van
southward and headed home.
As a postscript, none of them are pleased that the band has
reached the full sell-out level, but
well, that seems to be inevitable with so many artists. And, as the final two
tracks prove, doowadette herself has “moved on” from VW somewhat (at least till
the next album comes out), though the as a family, they can separate the
cheesiness of the 60-second spots from the permanently-etched memories of those
glorious few days in March.
Disk 1
The Everly Brothers - Illinois (doowad)
Paul Simon - St. Judy's Comet (ika)
Vampire Weekend - White Sky (doowadette)
Warren Zevon - Genius (doowad)
Talking Heads - Road to Nowhere (doowadette)
Joaquín Sabina - Máter España (doowad)
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (doowadette)
Son Volt - Too Early (doowad)
Paul McCartney - I Lost My Little Girl (doowad)
The Rolling Stones - Play With Fire (doowadette)
Magic Sam - Sweet Home Chicago (doowad)
T. Rex - Jeepster (doowadette)
Ryan Adams - Firecracker (doowad)
Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy (doowad)
Tilly and The Wall - Shake It Out (doowadette)
Mecano - Hoy no me puedo levanter (ika)
Everything But the Girl - Lullaby of Clubland (ika)
Vampire Weekend - Holiday (doowadette)
Queen - You're My Best Friend (doowadette)
Flight of the Conchords - Think About It, Think, Think About It (Live) (ika)
Mr. Loco - Papas (doowad)
Toy Selectah - Contramelt A (doowadette)
Disk 2
Neil Young - Walk On (doowad)
Honeyboy Edwards - Sweet Home Chicago (doowad)
The Clash - Long Time Jerk (doowadette)
The Zombies - Just Out of Reach (doowad)
Vampire Weekend - M79 (doowadette)
Paul Simon - Gumboots (ika)
The Beach Boys - Heroes and Villains (doowadette)
George Harrison - What Is Life (ika)
Queen - Bicycle Race (doowadette)
Toy Selectah - Contramelt B (doowadette)
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - Love Is All Around (doowadette)
The Tourists - I Only Want to Be with You (ika)
Vampire Weekend - The Kids Don't Stand A Chance (doowadette)
The Beach Boys - Hang On To Your Ego (doowad)
Toy Selectah Mex-More Remix - Cousinz (doowadette)
David Gray - White Ladder (ika)
The Who - Pure And Easy (doowadette)
Ezra Presley & The Boys - One (Blake's Got a New Face) (doowadette)
Warren Zevon - Splendid Isolation (doowad)
Bill Withers - Lean on Me (ika)
Paul Simon - Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War (ika)
The Beatles - I Need You (doowad)
OK Go - End Love (doowadette)
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