Yes, yes, crash, bang, and boom.
Happy 4th of July. And also 3rd and 5th.
After the show was wrapped, it was off to other musical endeavors.
Stars, Stripes & Saxophones.
An extension of Saxophone Christmas, it is a not quite annual
July saxophone band event in the park.
Fewer numbers than Saxophone Christmas, and the program
includes more Americana and a patriotic flourish.
I usually play soprano saxophone for this kind of event,
but this time around the director was in need of more tenor sax players,
so I switched it up and covered a Tenor part.
Sammi, headed up for a basking session.
Let's get this party started.
Wearing one of the many Sax Xmas t-shirts collected over the years.
Hanging with the baritones.
Early the next morning, my friend Tammi and I caught the Amtrak in Kewanee to
get ourselves to Chicago.
After dropping off our backpacks at the hotel, we grabbed an early lunch
at Miller's Pub.
I was craving some fresh greens, and the salmon Ceaser salad sounded
delicious. And it was. Yum!
After lunch, we walked the half a block to the Art Institute.
Obligatory selfie in front of the lions.
We split up for a bit, so I wandered into the Egyptian section.
More of the artifacts made more sense now that I've studied a bit more
Another visit to the resident mummy.
Mid-century furniture section.
Saw Hopper's Nighthawks painting.
And the American Gothic.
I was drawn to this one.
Sort of a Giorgio de Chirico vibe with the shapes and colors.
But it's actually a painting by Hughie Lee-Smith.
Tammi and I met up again and made our way to the Chagall window.
Such vibrant colours.
This isn't my first visit to the Art Institute, but it is the first time I've
found this room.
It is apparently a restoration of the Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room.
Available for rental for parties.
Soon it was time to head back to the hotel, check in and get ready for the
concert. Yes, we were in town for the Dave Matthews Band concert
at the Huntington Pavilion.
Got the show poster!
And got to use the poster tube Tammi had given to me a
couple of years ago. For just this purpose, actually.
It works great.
I bought my poster, rolled it up and stored it safe and dry all night inside the tube.
with a handy carry strap, for hands-free ease after the show.
I'd seen lots of people with these tubes at shows over the years.
It is also the perfect size to store my sunglasses when the sun went down.
We shared some pizza and a pretzel, had some
tasty, though expensive cocktails, and enjoyed the show.
On the ground this time.
Whatever the Warehouse gave me when I requested tickets.
Stage Left solidarity.
My boi Dave.
After all of these years watching this man play, he still entrances me.
I can't explain it.
He's hypnotic.
A different set list each night, I was surprised to hear some old, rare tunes.
Proudest Monkey and The Last Stop came out of the vault, and So Right.
Quite a few tunes from the Everyday album.
A few newer ones. And no cover this night.
Rye Whiskey for the Dave solo and an encore with Pig.
A great set.
He doesn't always speak at shows as much as he used to do, but he
stopped a couple times to express his feelings about not
"othering" people or being cruel for cruelty's sake.
It was an eloquent commentary on immigration.
A lot of the song choices seemed to reflect his feelings too,
but that could have been my imagination.
After the show ended, we collected ourselves and made the walk
back to the hotel.
A huge chunk of the Loop and the park was barricaded for
some NASCAR event.
During the night, I'd heard gun shots.
Tammi had heard them too, when I asked her about it in the morning.
This was something I'd not experienced yet, as it's a bit
rare to hear them in the tourist-friendly downtown area.
Didn't see any signs of it the next morning though,
so we continued on our way.
the owl on top of the library has a book.
Chicago at night it lovely, but Chicago in the early morning light is so nice.
Got our cawfees and headed back to the train station.
Home again, home again.
Found this book at the library.
A history of the banjo.
I've always been interested in the banjo.
It's history is woven into the history of slavery.
Which is less nice, but still important to learn about.
While browsing the website for the Last Picture House,
I stumbled onto a screening of an Italian horror film on the rooftop
of the theatre.
Complete with Italian snacks (gelato).
There was one ticket left, and everything about this event is
right in my wheelhouse, so, despite being a late-night on a Tuesday,
I got myself to the theater for a late show.
An interesting view of downtown Davenport that I don't get to see too often.
Mmm, gelato.
Keeping with the Italian theme, I had an Aperol spritz to sip on.
I recently picked up a bottle of Aperol in a clearance bin and
have yet to open it. But now that I know how to use it in a cocktail,
I can sip on them for the rest of the summer.
The feature film was Suspiria.
I've seen this one, but it's been a whole lot of years since,
so I was actually kind of happy to see it again.
Great use of colour and sound and fake blood.
It's a great-looking film, with a fairly compelling story.
It ended up being a great night to be outside.
Very pleasant after the sun went down.
Not only is this a great portrait of David Bowie from one of my
favorite Bowie eras, I really like his sweater.
That's all. LOL
We've got pumpkin blossoms.
this is not a drill.
The lilies are starting to bud too.
Lots of life springing up in that little corner of the yard.
While at Michael's to get a poster frame for the newest DMB poster,
I found some fake flowers in the summer clearance sale.
Lilacs for Alejandro.
Red, White & Boom 4th of July event with Identity Crisis.
Hot and humid, but a great night to be out for a show.
LeClaire Park was a party on the lawn and everyone seemed to
have a great time.
Observe the Clarinet Christmas t-shirt.
I was hoping the snowflake could double as a firework burst.
Fun group to play with.
Rest of the weekend has been pretty relaxed.
On Friday, I went out for an Indian lunch, watched movies and
mowed the yard. And that's it. Needed a day of nothingness.
The calendar gets busy again soon.
Some tasty fruit and my new poster.
Up next:
Texas and Clarinetfest 2025
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