I can’t believe I never reviewed the movie “30 Days of Night”, but I picked up the King of Leon CD “Only By The Night”, and the first track (“Closer”) is mesmerizing. I think I find it so good because it immediately reminded me of 30 Days of Night, and how tight that movie was. I have no idea if the song was written about that movie, but if it wasn’t, it would’ve been a perfect fit for it. Frickin’ moody and tight as hell. “Closer” started me off on the right foot as I went through the entire album a good 10 times. I think the first half of the album crushes the later songs, but it’s a solid listen all the way through.

Anyway, watch 30 Days of Night, then go pick up the latest KoL CD. The first song will kick your ass when you couple it with the vision of the movie. It’s a solid album and the first 4 songs are worth the purchase alone. The album averages 3.9 stars in my iTunes library…an average that may go up the more I listen to some of the lower-rated songs on there.

I went to the Ravens/Browns game yesterday thanks to Ticketmaster having some extra seats available. Despite being in the very last row, I was really excited as this might be the only Ravens game I get to this year. Plus, while the picture seems like the seats might suck, I don’t think there’s a bad seat in Cleveland Browns Stadium.

After going to eight games and only seeing two wins last year, I was weary of making another drive to see them play, but this Ravens team just seems different. I was so excited when the Ravens drafted Joe Flacco, but never expected him to play this year. Sure enough, 8 games into the season, the guy is playing pretty well and helping to lead the Ravens to the same number of wins (5) as last year with eight games remaining. Yesterday’s game just showed how much he’s improving with each game. He still drove me nuts when missing wide open receivers down field, but that should come at some point. He threw some great passes into really tight places when it mattered yesterday, and the conversion of a third-and-long (16, I think) deep in his own territory kick-started the Ravens comeback.

The diminutive Ray Rice - who I was touting as a serious running threat this year after seeing him in training camp – came up huge yesterday, rushing for 154 yards on just 21 carries while filling in for Willis McGahee. It’s a shame that Le’Ron McClain is getting the short-yardage TDs in the red zone after Rice’s efforts, but I’ll take it. That combo worked for the Steelers a few year back when Bettis got all of the TDs after Duce did all the hard work, and if it keeps working for the Ravens, so be it. The dude is exciting as hell to watch…when he’s not dropping kickoffs, that is.

The biggest thing for me yesterday didn’t really revolve around the rookie players as much as it did the Ravens rookie head coach – John Harbaugh. For all of the question marks surrounding his hiring…you know, “can this young guy control a veteran-laden team”, or “is an untested coach going to be able to turn this franchise around after a 5-11 season?”, yesterday’s come-from-behind win definitely showed me that the Ravens have a turned the page in a lot of ways.

With the team trailing the Browns by 14 in the third quarter and the momentum clearly going against the Ravens, I was guilty of thinking this Ravens team was the same one I’d been watching for the last decade. A team that would let their heads get too into the game. A team that would give up and throw fits at the first sign of adversity (or maybe throw flags into the crowd). Down 14 and watching Flacco get sacked deep in the Ravens territory on 2nd down to set up a long 3rd down, the Ravens offense did something none of us fans were expecting. They got the 3rd-and-long…on a pass! I think it was an 11-play drive in total, topped off with a McClain rushing TD that brought the Ravens to within 7.

From there, the game was all Ravens. Some strong defensive plays, and the incompetence of Browns receiver, Braylon Edwards, who failed to bring in a perfect pass from Derek Anderson gave all of the momentum to the Ravens, who would take the lead after a 60-yard run by Rice set up Matt Stover’s 3rd, and final, field goal of the day. Once the Browns were forced to take their game to the air, the Ravens started blitzing and forced Anderson into errors – one of which was a pick-six by Terrell Suggs. 24 unanswered points later, the Ravens were in cruise control.

The amazing thing was that the Ravens didn’t give up. The drive, spirit, and discipline displayed in their comeback showed me that John Harbaugh’s philosophy is coming to fruition. This same team under Billick would’ve folded immediately when things started going against them. While the Ravens realistically may not make the playoffs without 11 wins, the fact is that this team has put itself in the position to win in 7 of its first 8 games this year. Each game has shown an improvement, albeit against some less-than-stellar teams. With the Ravens coming into this season as a team dubbed with the ole “rebuilding” tag, they’ve outperformed everyone’s expectations, and with a half of the season to play, their season still has endless possibilities.

It’s amazing that this team, led by a rookie head coach, quarterback, and yesterday, running back, could even be in this position. Here’s to a great second half of the season. I hope this team continues to improve because they’re finally playing exciting football! Go Ravens!

…and a good offensive line, a quarterback that doesn’t hold the ball forever, avoiding huge penalties on offense, and a defense that can actually stop game-winning drives - none of which the Steelers had yesterday during the Giants 21-14 victory over Steelers.

I was fortunate enough to go to the game yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. I love going to football games as a neutral spectator because I don’t have to invest my energy into either team, and the fans don’t bother me because their anger is directed in other directions, mainly other fans. On that note, it was crazy how many Giants fans were at the game. Seriously. It was very similar to the type of Steelers fan turnout you see in other stadiums. Their numbers definitely created an interesting atmosphere in my section with the jawing going back and forth all game. The real comedy is that the people who wanted to start stuff with the Giants fans in front of us were actually the older Steelers fans, not the typical young, drunk fans.

Anyway, the Steelers looked like crap against the Giants. I mean, aside from two big play touchdowns, the Steelers couldn’t move the ball at all. Ben couldn’t find receivers open even when he had time, which probably helped aid in his 5 sacks and 16 hits. The guy just can’t see the field and holds the ball way too long. Either that, or Santonio Holmes is so good that he just gets open faster. Um. Right. Some of his interceptions were so bad and there’s no excuse for them. The sad part is that Ben is in his fifth year and just got a huge pay day, yet he’s showing that he still plays with the same ignorance that he had the past 4 years. He looked no better than that rookie named Flacco yesterday. I don’t care if he has success avoiding sacks and extending plays from time to time. The reality is that people are going to start getting a good hold on you and taking you down, and we’re seeing that more and more. For all of the amazing plays he’s made, he’s also made a ton of awful ones while trying to make something out of nothing. He still hasn’t learned to throw the ball away fast enough. He’s always trying to Favre it out when it’s not the right decision. I like the gunslinger mentality sometimes, but yesterday he helped throw the game away with 4 interceptions – 2 of which were definitely on him. I’m going to continue with the thinking that his strong statistics have a lot more to do with who’s been around him than with Ben himself. When the game is in his hands, he’s so hit or miss against good teams. At least his QB rating yesterday was better than his appearance in Super Bowl XL.

While I wasn’t amazed by the Giants, they were impressively consistent all game. Their running attack was stifled by the predictably strong run defense of the Steelers, but they just kept pounding away at the Steelers with the same enthusiasm for the entire 60 minutes. While the Steelers were hit hard by some holding penalties on crucial plays, and the loss of their long snapper, the fact is that the Giants won because they just kept hammering away and the minute the Steelers offered up some momentum, the Giants’ consistency was there to take it all out of Heinz Field and back to Jersey. The Giants play for 60 minutes, and teams like the Ravens, who have lapses throughout the game, are going to pay the price if they don’t stay disciplined for the entire game. The fact that Eli didn’t get sacked once by the Steelers also shows how good the offensive line is for the Giants. They win with consistency, discipline, and solid play from their quarterback. Those are the three things that the Steelers just didn’t have yesterday.

I’d also like to add that I still believe that Mewelde Moore is the best running back on the Steelers. Although it’s purely hypothetical – making it completely useless, yet I’ll still bring it up – I have to believe that Willie Parker wouldn’t have come close to 84 yards against the Giants. His inability to bounce outside and push up the middle would’ve left the Steelers with even less of a running attack. It’s a shame that Willie will probably regain his starting spot despite the fact that Moore’s performances the last few weeks – including his game changing play in overtime against the Ravens – could possibly be the main reason the Steelers don’t have a few more in the loss column. I like the way Mewelde plays. Hopefully he doesn’t get pushed back down the depth chart without a fair fight.

Oh, and the long snapper thing was amazing. Yesterday, Greg Warren, the Steelers long snapper ended up hurting his knee in the third quarter. It’s amazing how that changed the game. After the Giants pulled within two points at 14-12 with another field goal, and held the Steelers deep in their end, Pro Bowl linebacker, James Harrison, filled in for Warren at long snapper. The result was a snap that went way over the punters head and out of the back of the end zone for a safety that would tie the game at 14-14. You knew at that point that the game was over, and I seriously couldn’t believe how I never really thought much about how important the long snapper was. I mean, when’s the last time you even thought about the long snapper. They rarely make mistakes and only do one thing, so they sort of fly under the radar. Never again.

Of course, I don’t really care that the Steelers lost…at all. In fact, on a day that the Ravens would crush the hapless Raiders at M&T Bank Stadium during the one o’clock game, this Steelers loss was a nice way to keep the division close (although, I still don’t know if the Ravens can beat a team like the Giants, either, to win the division). Regardless, today sees the Ravens only one game back with plenty to play for. We’ll see what happens after next weeks game.

The best seats I’ve ever had at a NFL game!

“If you build it, they will come.” On an uncharacteristically humid night in mid-October, that statement applies more to the idea that if you let the other team build a commanding lead, eventually AE’s team Indigo Heather would show up to play. And play we did.

Despite a 3-2 record and a number three seeding, careless fielding errors and inconsistent hitting during the 5-game regular season had left our softball team in a cup-half-empty mentality going into the playoffs. While we did take the eventual number one seed to extra innings before losing a scrappy week 3 affair, the consistent batting and fielding of both the Cardinal and White teams – number one and two seeds, respectively – made our team the long shot going into the playoffs.

In the first semifinal game of the night, we faced the White team, the team that trounced us 21-10 in week 4 of the regular season, and the number two seed with a 4-1 record. During the regular season meeting between our two teams, team White took advantage of a slew of fielding errors and slumping bats at the plate by our team, to clearly show who the better team was. Fortunately, we left our inferiority complex far from the weathered Gardner Field in Troy Hill.

A combination of simple hitting, aggressive, but well-executed base running, and solid fielding allowed our underdog team to jump out to an 11-3 lead going into the bottom of the 4th inning. Unfortunately, our team’s penchant for fielding errors came back after a solid start. A nine-run bottom of the 4th, saw the White team jump out to a 12-11 lead. Fortunately, we didn’t let being on the losing side of the score line affect us like it would’ve earlier in the season. Quickly regrouping, our team in all it’s indigo heather glory continued putting up runs with everyone pitching in and hustling around the bases, regaining the lead and never looking back. Despite a strong push in the final innings from the White team, Mike’s relief effort on the mound and the sure hands of the fielders behind him and in front of him – namely Kourtney’s timely tag at home – allowed our team to complete the upset none of us could’ve have imagined during the regular season. It was a team victory in every way with players like Carmen outrunning throws to first, Meadows hitting hard and trucking the baselines, and Eric finding his form at the plate at just the right time of the season.

The other semifinal game pitted the confident Cardinal team against the underrated fourth seed - the Yellow team. In watching Yellow produce runs at ease against the previously undefeated top seed, it became obvious that we were going to have our work cut out for us regardless of who the opponent was in the final. Yellow demonstrated how to win with effective hitting up the middle and through the infield gaps while backing up their offense with flawless fielding – things that our team had only been able to demonstrate in spurts during the regular season and semifinal game. After the Yellow team effectively acted as the Cinderella team, downing the previously-dominating Cardinal team, the final showdown was setup between us and Yellow – the three and four seeds. The battle between the two underdogs and a demonstration of consistency versus inconsistency was to follow.

First, there was the erratic inconsistency of our team against the impressive offense of Yellow, resulting in a 7-1 lead after the first inning. While we began fighting back, time just seemed to be running out on a possible comeback, as Yellow continued to exceed or match our run production inning-to-inning. With the game sitting at 13-5 in the bottom of the 5th, Stinogle got us started, followed by myself, and Raina – all three of us would touch home plate before the end of the inning. With the game sitting at 13-8, Yellow managed to knock in one more run, but that would be the last run of the night for them, as the final two inning were all Indigo Heather.

The comeback gained steam in the bottom of the 6th. Down 6 runs, our inconsistency actually paid off, as everyone pulled together and showed up to play. Every batter picked up his or her game, both in the batters box and on the bases. Starting with Jeff’s two-run homer, the final 4 runs in the 6th inning came with two outs. With Yellow obviously in shock at the rapid shift in momentum, and the game knotted up at 14, the championship was now in our hands. Literally. The top of the 7th would require only four fielders – Valenty, Kourtney, Konrad, and Raina. With Valenty pitching to Kourtney, the first batter popped out to Raina. The second batter grounded straight to Valenty for an easy out to first basemen, Konrad. While the third batter made it to first, Raina’s ridiculous catch on a line drive over her head against the fourth batter ended the top of the 7th, and provided us with a chance to end the game with the next run. The once cup-half-empty team was now overflowing with confidence and hope, the end result was no longer going to be a surprise.

Kristen, who had played two superb games at 2nd base, stopping nearly everything that came her way, led off the bottom of the 7th inning with a great single that got through the infield. Next up came Valenty – AE’s playoff quality pitcher, who struck out in his previous opportunity to be a hero during the regular season. Fortunately, Mike wasn’t going to let himself make the same mistake twice, hitting a ball that seemingly traveled about 300 feet into left field with no hope of being caught. While the unfortunate initial result was a ground rule double because the ball ended up lost in Gardner Field’s thick outfield ivy, his monster hit advanced Kristen to 3rd base with no outs. With Ryan up next, the only meal on the menu was a deep fly ball, and that’s exactly what he delivered. What ensued as Kristen crossed home plate was reminiscent of the type of celebrations we saw when the Red Sox downed the Yankees in 2004 – cheers, chest bumps, high fives, and a newfound camaraderie between the once down-and-out players that were now champions. Go AE, er, Indigo Heather!

So…in the process of rating my iTunes music library, I came across this little recording I did about 2 months ago of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man”. While it’s very raw and sort of boring, I figured that I might as well put it out there. This was actually the first song I recorded in preparation for recording some of Aaron’s requests from way back when. Some of those requests are forthcoming, but this recording test – the first with my shiny, semi-expensive microphone, and my not-so-new-anymore Taylor – is at least my attempt at NOT being a perfectionist AND not hording recordings for my own personal enjoyment. I was never pleased with it, and Davis can attest to my inability to “let go” of songs.

This recording was also for Lisa. Now, she won’t have to request it if I see her again. She can have it to listen to whenever the hell she wants to! Ha ha. Enjoy…or not.

Simple Man (9.1 MB) (please right-click and save…)

On Thursday, Megan and I took to the road to meet Mundis for the final outdoor show of the season at Pier Six – Cake with the Winterpills! We arrived at the venue around 7, but unfortunately had to wait until 8:30 for the opening band to take the stage. With the cold weather kicking in, signaling a hint of Fall in the air, most of the vendors weren’t open along the lawn side of the venue, so food and beer options were pretty limiting, and the crowd seemed much more sparse than the last time I was at Pier Six to see Cake in the warmer months.

Mundis’ friends were actually at the show to see the Winterpills, so we traded tickets for the opening band’s set, and chilled off to the side eating awful food. The Winterpills were decent. I’d like to take a listen to their stuff on CD because their sound was pretty laid back and ended up provided us with more of a background ambience for our conversations than highly engaging tunes that I could focus on. They had a  sort of mellow Death Cab for Cutie sound, but never really picked it up too much. I’ll wait to judge them until I get better acquainted with their stuff, but their live sound was sharp and they sounded good. They also get points for having tour posters, although, I didn’t pick either one up.

By the time Cake came on, the crowd had filled in and we were enjoying our seats in the 9th row, center. The show wasn’t the best Cake show I’d ever seen, but they were excellent as usual. The beginning of the show had some sound and lighting problems that obviously angered John McCrea, but once everything was fixed, the show went really well. Cake’s just such a good band. The songs are well-written, interestingly composed, and executed with near perfection. While the whole band is excellent, their guitarist and bass player just blow me away. The bass in a live setting makes you realize just how much it drives Cake’s music. The setlist highlights for me were definitely “War Pigs”, “Stickshifts & Safetybelts”, “Arco Arena”, “Mexico”, and “The Distance”, but in reality the entire show was solid. I even think we got to hear one new song, but that’s based solely on the idea that neither myself or anyone around seemed like they had heard it before. Regardless, it was pretty good.

Naturally, our seats put us right next to “that guy”. You know, the ultra-loud, obnoxiously drunk guy that keeps screaming the band’s name before the band takes the stage. The guy who spills beer on his girlfriend. The guy who doesn’t use deodorant, but wears a wife-beater shirt. Yeah…that guy. He sat right in front of Mundis. Interestingly enough, the last time we saw Cake, there was an issue with someone sitting near us having some fierce body odor. Anyway, aside from “that guy”, the crowd was alright. Cake brings an interesting mix of fans, which are more laid back for the most part, but still fun.

Anyway, this was my 4th Cake show, so I’d obviously recommend seeing them to anyone. My only recommendation would be to study up on your tree knowledge – that is, if you want a tree to plant. At one point, the band gave away a small Granny Smith apple tree to the first fan who could guess what kind of tree it was. Without the apples, it obviously made people’s guesses pretty poor, but eventually someone got it…and it wasn’t me. The girl who figured it out got to go up on stage and take the tree home if she promised to plant it and nurture it. It seems like this is their new thing at every show. Gotta love Cake – helping the environment by improving the air quality with both new trees and great sounds. It was definitely worth the trip.

With the Steelers and Ravens playing Monday night, Megan grabbed some tickets for the Citizen Cope show, and that became my Sunday night excursion. The show was at the Carnegie Library of Homestead Music Hall. The quaint 1,022-seat venue was a pretty cool little venue that would be perfect for any solo show – which was what was on the menu for my Sunday – a Citizen Cope acoustic show.

While I’m not a huge Cope fan, I attribute my lack of fandom to not having a lot of his music (not that there’s much). I do have one of his albums, The Clarence Greenwood Recordings, and it’s pretty decent. I absolutely his song, Sideways, but I always thought that a lot of his songs run together and don’t really change pace too much, which tends to give his music that “every song sounds the same” reputation with me. Of course, I’m going to revisit some of it now, after the show because there were definitely some great songs in the mix.

Anyway, the show was decent. He played for about an hour-and-a-half, but it was more than enough for me. As previously stated, a lot of Cope’s songs are pretty slow and simple, which are sometimes fine, but I felt like the show ran at a snails pace at times. He wasn’t really a vibrant performer and didn’t engage the crowd very much. He more or less stood up there with minimal movement, strummed simply structured songs, and sang. While his voice was actually excellent and many of his songs are really good, the idea of him putting on a solo acoustic show should’ve really been reserved for a place like Club Café in the Southside, as he didn’t even sell out the music hall.

While it may sound like I’m bashing the whole thing, Cope just sort of gets a bad grade because the last show that I saw was Eddie Vedder’s solo shows in Chicago and because I’m not really all that into Cope. Granted, Vedder’s been a big time front man for almost two decades and made his reputation from swinging from lighting rigs and being sort of a spaz (albeit 500x less than Iggie Pop), but Cope just didn’t captivate the crowd. He was as stiff as a board, and while the music was excellent, he just made me feel like he didn’t want to be up there, or that he was uncomfortable. Of course, in watching him online with his band, he’s really not much more of an entertainer, but at least with a band there’s more interest going on. Despite some quality songwriting and great voice, his minimalist skills on guitar, his lack of energy in both song and body language, and his nearly non-existent crowd interactions just made me feel like doing solo acoustic gigs aren’t his thing. Again, this is a highly skewed viewpoint thanks to Mr. Eddie Vedder’s captivating performances a month before. I think I just had high expectations of walking away a bigger fan than when I walked into the show – similar to how I felt after I saw G. Love and Special Sauce at Lollapalooza two years ago.

Regardless, I don’t think I would rush to see another solo acoustic Citizen Cope show any time soon. I’d definitely give his whole band a shot, though, and I’m going to pick up the rest of his music because there are definitely some gems in the mix.

Mundis flew into Chicago and met up with me for what’s quickly becoming our semi-annual, spend-more-money-that-you-have vacation to see something Pearl Jam related. Where seeing Pearl Jam has sort of become more habit than anything for me, the opportunity to see Eddie Vedder solo brought up feelings of both excitement and apprehension. I was excited for the chance to see Eddie play, not just because of the rarity of such an intimate gig with a rock “legend”, but also because I really wanted to hear some of the Into the Wild soundtrack – which happens to be excellent.

Of course, I wasn’t sure how well Ed would carry a show alone. Would he be able to captivate me for two-plus hours, or would I get tired of the singer-songwriter vibe? Would the setlist be interesting, or would I have spent money only to hear Betterman, Last Kiss, and Corduroy on acoustic? There was also the question of Ed’s voice. The guy has pipes, but years of touring, smoking, and drinking have definitely worn on his baritone and his ability to hold the high notes he so easily reached 10 years ago. Could he actually sing for two-plus hours over two consecutive nights?

Well, after two nights in Vedder’s semi-hometown of Chicago, any reservations I might’ve had coming into the shows were completely gone. I actually think that Ed was better alone than he is with Pearl Jam. That’s not to say that I’d see Ed 20+ times because Pearl Jam shows are awesome, but the whole experience was so damn good that I was left with a better impression of Ed and his talent from his solo shows than I ever was from seeing a Pearl Jam show.

First, the voice. Vedder’s voice is ridiculously good, and in an intimate setting like The Auditorium Theater, the subtleties and range are impossible to overlook. No longer was there a rockin’ band mixed in to support and/or drown out his voice. When the accompaniment is limited to one guitar, the voice needs to take control…and control it did. No longer did Ed have to scream and growl in the prototypical rock style. He could simply croon and let the songs live on their own. He sang with clarity that really undermined the mumbling reputation he’s often mocked for.

The setlists were ridiculous and held many surprises. In two nights we heard many songs from Into the Wild and various Pearl Jam tunes, but some of my favorites were the cover songs. Hurt was covered in more of the Johnny Cash version and is one of those songs I wish I could have to listen to over and over. There were random covers like Pete Townshend’s Let My Love Open the Door, Trouble by Cat Stevens, Blackbird by The Beatles, The Who’s Can’t Explain, and Dylan’s Masters of War. The covers just added such a surprising twist to the show. While I’ve heard Trouble and Masters of War live a handful of times, songs like Blackbird and Can’t Explain came totally out of left field and blew me away with their looseness and Ed’s willingness to try new material. Some were better than others, but for me, the fact that I got to hear something new, albeit a cover song, come out of Ed’s mouth was refreshing. I’m sure Mundis would agree.

My other two favorites, and I mean clear-cut favorites, were the performances of Arc and Society. Arc was a song from Riot Act that Ed had only sung a few times before, and was dedicated to the 9 fans who had died at the Roskilde Festival a few years back. Using a loop machine, Vedder laid down various layers of chants (9, I think) – all free flowing and full of dynamics starting with a very low chant and growing in pitch. Once the layers are looped it’s just this huge, beautiful sound. It was amazing. I had only seen him do it once before in Boston, but to see him do it two nights in a row was incredible and seriously blew me away. I’m not sure if another song even came close to affecting me like that one. Society is my favorite song of the the Into the Wild soundtrack, and it was performed both nights with Liam Finn doing backup vocals. Combined, their voices took that song to a new level.

Speaking of Liam Finn…I have no idea how I felt about his opening act, but I will say that A) his voice is really, really good and similar to his father’s, and B) Liam is a really talented musician. His solo show involved drums, loop machines, noise, and a backup singer/percussionist. I still haven’t picked up his solo album, but I plan on doing that at some point. He’s a hell of a musician and I think there’s a lot more to come from him. It was also cool to see him join Ed on drums for Hard Sun, as well.

As if a great show wasn’t good enough, I got to see the Stanley Cup thanks to Brett Lebda and Chris Chelios bringing it to the show, and we got to see Sean Penn come out for the second night’s performance of Hard Sun. The real treat, though was listening to Vedder’s banter between songs and his exchanges with the crowd. When people were still calling out unsolicited requests and Vedder said something along the lines of, “hey, can you give me a break from being a human jukebox and stop trying to shove quarters into my ass”, I had to laugh. He also went on a mini rant about how he has a setlist and he wasn’t going to take requests from “amateurs” after he’s been making setlists for “some band you might’ve heard of” for the past 17 or 18 years. It was great. You could tell that after 10 shows or whatever it was, that he had grown tired of the loudmouthed, self-important fans who couldn’t sit down and shut up during the show. He often asked the crowd to stop talking during the storytelling parts for the sake of the people who paid to sit in the gallery seats, making it a point to tell a story of how his very first concert ever was at The Auditorium in the very last row of the gallery, and how those seats are “really uncomfortable”. He also told the crowd this whole story about how he met Cubs legend Ernie Banks, and Ernie asked him to write a song for the Cubs before busting out the song All the Way, a really decent song that could work for just about any perpetually failing team with some slight lyric modifications. Mundis and I were sort of annoyed that even when Ed writes a stupid song for the Cubs, it’s really good. I’m sure it’ll be playing around Wrigleyville for the next 100 years of failure.

Anyway, Ed’s ability to engage the crowd with great storytelling and witty remarks made the experience a memorable one. For the first time, it felt like we were really getting to know who Eddie Vedder was, and it sort of took him down from that invisible pedestal that many people put him on and made you think he was just like the rest of us…just with more talent…and money. It was excellent and I would recommend seeing him to anyone I know, fan or not. The show was well set up, Ed didn’t drink at all so he didn’t screw up very much, and the banter was excellent…as well as the surprising setlists. While I hated spending money on the tickets, the experience was definitely worth it, and I’d go again in a heartbeat.

The ONLY bummer about the whole two nights was the crowd (well, and the 3 posters at $35 each). It was a typical, drunken moron PJ crowd, despite the intimate venue and show offering. Most of the people seemed more interested in getting their next beer, talking to their friends, and screaming out requests and the typical, “I love you, Eddie”. I guess these are the fans who were disappointed that Ed didn’t play everything off of the greatest hits album. The only thing that made the girl spilling beer on Mundis’ head a forgettable moment was the girl who threw her phone up on stage. She hopped up on stage to get it, and instead of grabbing it and running back to the crowd, she tried to run up to Ed. That security guard removed her insanely fast. So fast, in fact, that Ed didn’t even see it happen. The whole crowd thing was just so obnoxious, but thankfully, the show trumped the idiocy surrounding us. Thanks, Ed.

As tends to be the norm for me – whether intentional or not – I ended eating at mostly chain restaurants during my trip. It’s one of the most frustrating realities of my travels, but oh well. We had some Chicago-style pizza delivered to the hotel which was good, I had a wicked-good burger at the hotel, and downed a quick meal at The Berghoff, but none of that stuff truly kicked my taste buds into complete happiness. My favorite nighttime meal was probably at Maggiano’s, but I found out later that it, too, was a chain. Oh well. All in all, my trip gave me nothing exciting food-wise to write home about, except for that one place that truly insists on making me feel like an obese man in a skinny body nearly every time I go there – The Bongo Room!

All of my friends have heard me rave about this damn place for the last couple of years, but I just couldn’t get enough of it this time when I was staying a few blocks away. Whenever I thought to myself that it was time to try somewhere new, I decided that there was definitely something more delicious to consume for breakfast. I literally ate at The Bongo Room every single morning that I was in Chicago. Which reminds me…I forgot to give Aaron money for the last day. Damn. Mental note for the next time I’m around.

Regardless of the realization of yet another debt that I need to pay in this fabulous economy that’s supposedly only in my mental space, The Bongo Room is my ultra anti-depressant. Maybe it’s the sugary goodness…or maybe it’s the high sodium, but it’s so delicious that you can’t walk away without saying, “damn, I need to come back again!”. It’s such an American restaurant – over-the-top, highly-caloric, and destined to leave its trendy restaurant goers addicted to all things that cause button popping on their designer jeans.

I only ate three meals in all of my trips to The Bongo Room during my latest trip, and all three were awesome. While the basil and feta omelet was pretty ordinary and delicious, my other two meals were quality selections. I ate the breakfast burrito twice. It’s really a simple burrito with egg and guacamole, but it’s great. If they don’t make their own guac, they sure as hell have an amazing guac supplier. The thought of eggs and guac together on a plate sort made me nauseous, but it was surprisingly excellent in every way. I wasn’t into the sour creamy stuff on top, or whatever it was, but once I removed that, it was super. Most people will probably like that topping, though. Oh, and naturally, it had to be covered in cheese!

Of course, the meal that real champions would eat isn’t Wheaties, it’s the white chocolate & caramel covered pretzel pancakes from The Bongo Room. Yeah. They exist, and yes, they are disgustingly good as their descriptive name would lead you to believe. Salty, sugary, and guaranteed to give you a sugar rush that you actually won’t regret. I mean, if you’re on the Atkins Diet, you’re not going to be thrilled with yourself, but I can’t imagine too many people not enjoying them. Surprisingly, I couldn’t finish a full order, but the half order was perfect.

My only complaints are the same ones that come with any hip, trendy place, that actually has good food – waiting for a table, and the cramped feeling. Of course, the waiting thing wasn’t much of a problem for us most of the week. We usually went closer to 11am, and we only had to wait about 30 minutes the one Saturday morning for a table for 6. Not bad, and the grub was definitely worth it. See you there next time I’m in Chicago!

I absolutely love Chicago. Granted, it wasn’t winter - where the cold and snow would probably make life pretty annoying - but spending 6 days in the city with essentially no plans made the trip a lot of fun.

I had been to Chitown a few times before, but I had never really spent that much time in the downtown area without any semblance of a plan. The first time I went, we were going to Lollapalooza, so there was very limited time to explore. The second time, the trip revolved around going to a game at Wrigley and chillin’ with Silvers, so I didn’t explore that much then, either. I must’ve walked the majority of the city during my time there this trip, though. Mundis and I even walked from Wrigley back to downtown by taking the scenic route and walking along Lake Short Drive, which I have to say was awesome, and made me wish I was sporting some running gear…or even swimming stuff. All of the walking reminded me of the time Aaron and I spent in San Francisco - albeit without the geeky Flash conference interrupting my tour of the city. I walked so much that I actually had to pick up a new set of sneakers, which are mighty sweet.

I went to the White Sox game, where we got to see Ken Griffey Jr. hit his first homer for the Sox…and where I found the team I would cheer for if I lived in Chicago. Sorry to any Cubs fans I might know. The ballpark, although nowhere near as nostalgic as Wrigley, is just simply nicer and reminds me slightly of Camden Yards, just not as nice. Mundis made me get all touristy and go to the Sears Towers, which was pretty cool…except for the amount of tourists. The most exciting part for me was trying to figure out how a spider could climb to the top of the Sears Tower, and whether or not it really thought it would have more success catching food in a web 1,353 feet in the air. What do you think?

Anyway…there are more posts coming on this trip, but I’m going to be breaking them out into their own entries, so be patient. Next up…The Bongo Room…