I saw Bryan Ferry in Chicago!
It was an adventure in itself getting myself to Chicago.
I left work a bit before 11am, and got to the Amtrak station in Princeton, IL
by Noon. My train was scheduled for 12:38pm.
The train, I soon discovered, was 4 hours behind schedule.
Oh my god. This won't do.
There were 2 other people, a mom and her daughter, waiting
for the train with me. After we'd figured out that the train would not be arriving anytime soon, we started to chat about how to get into Chicago without driving all the way in (the whole reason I was taking the train. I can drive into Chicago,
but I don't want to.)
We eventually agreed that I would ride with them, and navigate us all into the Forest Park Transit Center to catch the train into town. This led to me essentially hopping into a stranger's car (though in a neat twist, they live near my neighborhood!)
So, we get to the station to meet the Blue Line and the daughter and I get on the train and get into town. Late, but finally there!
I check into the hostel, and not being overly late, I managed to still meet up with my friend Dion at the House of Blues for some dinner before the show.
Finally got to the show.
The Chicago Theatre is gorgeous. I got through security and, after visiting
the merch counter (no posters, so I got a sweet world tour
t-shirt) and grabbing a hard cider from the bar, I took some time
to check out the place before finding my seat.
His band is really good. I especially like his saxophone player.
She played soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones, and keyboard.
I loved her sound. At times it sounded like it was sent through
a processor or delay pedal, but it fit in great with the sound of the band.
Yes! Yes yes yes! Two giant disco balls!
Ferry and his band played for almost two hours, and while I'm not
a hard-core fan, I did recognize a lot of the songs he sang. A few from
the Roxy Music days and some from his solo albums.
Bryan Ferry sounded great, despite his aging rock star status.
It was worth the trouble to get to this concert. 😍
Walking back to the hostel after the show I walked back to the hostel,
dodging the hordes of kids with questionable fashion sense who were
in town for Lollapalooza.
It was nuts. Streets were blocked with giant trucks.
Traffic was jammed up all along State Street, buskers were out,
and the fashion choices were just so questionable.
The train back to Princeton was not late the next morning.
However, I saw four people miss their train while waiting to board
my own train. Don't be late to your train, folks. They won't let you on
after the gates close.
I'd also like to take a moment to recognize myself for
finishing my 10th (consecutive) Bix7 race. It was not my best race,
my time was horrible, I had no energy, but I finished the damn thing.
45th Anniversary finisher medal.
Blingy!
No comments:
Post a Comment