Went to see the Eels at the Park West in Chi-town last night. Last Eels show I saw featured E in an old-fashioned flight uniform complete with goggles, a giant (ok, just a giant super-buff dude) doing calisthenics, whipped cream, and rock and roll delights. The time before that, E wore a three-piece suit, smoked a cigar and had an orchestra onstage. It would be fair to say that I didn’t really know what to expect.

eels rock show-2006

The Park West is tiny, fitting about 700 in what is basically a really big, super swanky Canopy Club, except with chairs all the way up to the stage. Those chairs made me sad, since there was no room for doing anything but sitting. E came out after a first set consisting of a movie about E and his physicist father. He played alone for a few songs, then was joined by E’s main man, “the Chet.” The Chet, like E, can (and did) play every instrument on the stage-guitars, piano, harpsichord(?), drums, and several exotic stringed items.
That was it: the two men played music and people sat there and listened (and the Chet did a couple readings from E’s new book, not yet released in the U.S. but available last nite for about 2 seconds). E played lots of music off of Electro-Shock Blues, the super-sad but totally wonderful album written during an especially difficult time in the Everett family history (so goes the story). Lots of these songs are pretty rockin and upbeat on the album, but last nite they were slower and emptier of adornment but no less beautiful. I really thought about crying-but didn’t. The show felt long and was so intense that it was a surprise when it ended after little more than an hour.

I had a great time, I loved it and thought it was awesome, but it was a kinda strange experience nonetheless. The sound was amazing, the space felt tiny, and the music was kickass, but it was still kinda weird, in a good way. It’s like E said “F*ck it- I know my music is rules no matter how I play it, so I might as well do what I want and people can like it or not.” I was proud of him and lucky to be an Eels fan and get to see such an unusual and heart-stopping show. Thanks E, I’ll see you next time you come around, and every time thereafter…

Ok, so I didn’t actually get tasered, or even threatened with a taser, but pepper spray is kind of a bummer also. What, you say, was I in a riot? No, no, just assembling peacefully to enjoy some local music, and getting a shot of pepper spray on the side. Now, most everyone reading this blog probably knows about the Local Music Awards last night (it is featured right on the website, after all), and those who went are also probably aware of the other free show right next door to the High Dive, at the surprisingly lovely Memphis on Main.
Zmick, Elsinore, Beauty Shop, to name just a few of the six bands that played for free at Memphis on Main last night, in case the free performances at the LMA’s weren’t enough. It was a very fun little evening, with lots of people bouncing back and forth between the two shows, everyone getting their money’s worth of sweet local music (haha). There was an actual feeling of community and mutual enjoyment.
But anyway, back to the pepper spray. So, there we are, a crowd of happy listeners, well sated after a great Elsinore set, awaiting the Beauty Shop, when all of a sudden, the whole bar had to adjourn outside for some fresh air (in order to escape what I believe was a cloud of pepper spray). Oddly, the band was not ushered outside, confirming the fact that bands are hardcore and willing to take abuse in the name of setting up the stage for playing music. What heroes.

I know, maybe it seems kinda incongruous, but I love baseball. I love good pitching, pitcher meltdowns, gold glove winning plays, fielding errors, batter drama, home runs, foul balls, umpire-manager battles, people getting hit, players changing their facial hair, and the fan cam. I love when baseball season starts back up and I get to hear all those names again, names of players I hate (Jeter, A-Rod, Pudge, Rolen, Bonds, etc.), names of guys I like (Prior, Maddox, Lee, Manny, Big Poppy, etc.) or names of guys I don’t feel anything about but actually recognize. It’s like a bunch of your friends, some randoms you sort of know, and some guys you like to make fun of all just came back to town on the same day. (I know, I kinda sound mean, but baseball is pretty forgiving of ridicule in the name of a good time).
Maybe I am genetically programmed to like baseball: all the boys in my grandpa’s family played and/or coached baseball, one of my great-uncles actually making it to major league training. However, genetics does not rule all. My grandpa was a Cardinals fan, a fact I’m sure we could rib each other about, as I am a Cub fan, myself. Actually, I grew up as a nominal Red Sox fan, in a family that didn’t care too much, at a time when the Sox were still Cub-ish, always melting down and being gently or cruelly mocked in New England. So it’s not really too much of stretch for me to Cub fan status, although now my two teams just drift farther and farther apart in the universe of Major League Baseball. Alright, the Cubs just tied up Opening Day in the 9th inning, so I gotta go. Hooray for baseball season.

Ok, so I know it’s a teeny bit early, but table sets have been magically appearing outside of all our favorite outdoor hangouts. Cowboy Monkey, Kopi, Esquire, Guido’s even. Outdoor chillin is huge in the C-U area, and almost any relatively casual place has outdoor tables available, as well as some more cushy spots (Jim Gould, KO Fusion, Radio Maria).
It won’t get really crazy busy outside for awhile, but when it does it will happen fast and last all summer. I love this time of year in C-U, cuz restaurants tend to be pretty chill about dogs outside, and that means our dog can come out and have drinks with us, which is great for her since loves to get tipsy (haha). No, but seriously, it is great to be outside in the spring and summer, surrounded by other people loving the outdoors and having fun. I urge you to take advantage of the fabulous town resource that is the C-U outdoor scene. Have fun and feel free to pet my dog.

Happy Birthday to a C-U institution (at least for those of us who didn’t grow up here). The Canopy Club turns 10 years old this year, cheers to the Canopy!

happy birthday to you
you live in a zoo…

When they opened in 1998, the Canopy was probably (it must have been, right?) the biggest middle-sized place to see a show in town. The Assembly Hall being so huge, and the Champaign downtown spots being either smaller or non-existent, the Canopy helped out those college kids and townies who desired more live music. The Flaming Lips, Bela Fleck, Ghostface Killah, Iggy Pop, Local H, Les Claypool, Smashing Pumpkins, They Might Be Giants, tons and tons of local music…should I go on, cuz I could for a while. So many great shows, many more to come.

sorry, this show already happened

My first Canopy experience was seeing The Eels, a show that took place right after Elliot Smith died. Since the head honcho of The Eels, the crazily talented Mark Oliver Everett (see blog #50-”the best band you (maybe) never heard of”) was a good friend of the unfortunate Mr. Smith, the show ended kind of abruptly, and those of us waiting outside to catch of glimpse of the mastermind were disappointed. Despite this, I enjoyed the Canopy at the time, and have only grown more fond of it as time passes and I see more shows there. Something is in the air at the Canopy, and bands seem honor-bound to play a sweet show. I have seen some of the best Beauty Shop shows ever there, as well as amazing Ween, Keller, Claypool, and more. So party on Canopy, happy birthday, you don’t look a day over 5.

I have been out of town since last Wednesday looking at potential graduate schools for english literature. I know, not the most interesting biographical info ever, but hold, on, I’m going somewhere here. Checking out different campuses is cool and kinda sad, since it makes it quite clear that I will be moving out of the CU area at some point in the not too distant future. For those of you in school at UofI and/or otherwise affliated with the school, listen well: we have some sweet f*cking uildings.
My sweet spot for the week is the UofI English Building, with its atrium, wood floors, and amazing upstairs. For those of you who have never been to the 3rd floor of EB, it is kick ass. More wood floors, cool recessed windows, and even a little gothic scary-ness. I have always kinda though this, but in my visits to other English Buildings I have really realized how lucky we are. I know lots of people complain about Lincoln Hall and Gregory and the inequity between science money and humanities funk, but after visiting places with low walls, no light and no space,a building like a huge horizontal brick, I have a new love of the old UofI spots. I urge you to love it while you can, students and visitors, and hopefully you too will remember the creaky floors and drafty windows of the ancient university buildings with equal affection when it is your time to move on.

America loves cars. Even if gas goes up to $5 a gallon, people will probably still be driving giant SUV’s while texting. Here in C-U, we are actually pretty darn bike-y. Not as bike friendly as Portland OR, which has been recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as bike-tastic, but we do enjoy our cycling in this town. Perhaps in response to the bike-centricity of C-U, car drivers insist on being noticed by breaking the laws of traffic.

Now, I know this is a college town, and as such, there is a higher general population of self-involved drivers, but also a lower rate of drama over small car-related offenses (important when you have to double park and hand something in at school real quick). No, no, I won’t bitch or moan about driving and/or parking skills in town. Please consider this to be a public service announcement instead. I have a blog, so I get to use this space (every once in a great while) to address the town-related things that I deplore, as well as all those things I love. Hear my cry of lament, Champaign-Urbana: I am scared being smooshed.

keep your eyes peeled!

What is the deal with the disregard for red lights? I have lived in towns and small cities on both coasts and in between, and granted, at first it seems that wherever you live people drive poorly. However, I have neverever lived in a place where drivers run red lights like they do here. I don’t move forward anymore at a recently-turned green light until I have waited to make sure that the guy three blocks away is going to actually stop. I’m not mad, C-U, just scared. Left turns on red lights, cars speeding through lights that have been red for 15+ seconds. This is an especially relevant issue for those bike people I was referring to earlier, since they stand to get mowed right the hell down. If you are a biker or an unsuspecting driver, please watch out. If you are a blatant runner of red lights, please don’t kill me or anyone else with your self-absorption.

Ok, I’ll come clean: I have more than once wished that this town (or what ever one calls the strange configuration of C-U) had a Trader Joe’s. I know, I know, it is a giant quasi corporate organization, that is certainly semi-evil. But damn it, they have the best selection of sweet natural foods, wines, deli related goods, and everything else you would find a huge grocery store, except it’s all heady organic, sister bear. For awhile, shopping at Urbana’s Strawberry Fields only made my secret desire more acute. Used to be they had three rows of food, four/five aisles filled with vitamins and shampoo and smell oil, and the deli, which was pretty awesome, to be sure. However, since the major renovation, Strawberry Fields has been vastly sweetened. Ok, so now the deli is gone, but the coffee bar serves coffees and smoothies, they have lots more food and the “natural pharmacy” has a little area all for itself. Also undergoing vast improvement is the Co-op, that nondescript building on the corner of Springfield and Wright. They have always had fresh local eggs and meats and stuff, but rumor has it that they are also expanding. Finally, if you want special European goodies, like spreads, oils, vinegars, cheeses, olives, etc, check out either World Harvest Foods (on University) or Euro-Mart (on Springfield).

When you lay it all out, I guess we do alright with natural/local/heady-organic/exotic food. OH! I almost forgot about the Urbana Farmer’s Market, which is kind of lame right now, but only because it’s winter. Word to the wise regarding the Farmer’s Market in the summer, however: go early. It gets crazy and crowded and the all natural asphalt gets so hot and awful. I pretty much refuse to go after 9.30 am, so don’t make me regret sharing the earlyness secret with you…just don’t push me in your rush for heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil, and we’ll be cool. So I guess life without Trader Joe’s is pretty sweet here in Champaign-Urbana after all. Enjoy eating well.

For a totally land locked town, Champaign-Urbana has a lot of sushi places. Yes, Lake Michigan is kinda close, but I don’t think I would eat anything pulled out of there anytime soon. However, lots of places do fly in high quality fish for serving raw or lightly fried. I would recommend KO Fusion on Sundays and Mondays, when they have $1 sushi and 1/2 price wines and sake (for those of proper age, of course). Last time I went to dollar sushi night, they even had a choice of a kind of tasting plate, with one of each special $1 roll for only $10. There is a wide variety of maki on “the list” of dollar-priced items, with raw, cooked, and even non-fish choices. Have as many as you want, and wash it all down with a cheap glass of good wine, and you have yourself a meal fit for a samurai king for under 15 bucks…sounds pretty sweet to me.

Even the most casual peruser of my blog knows that I was off in the wilco-strastosphere for most of last week. This is not a post about the excellence of the shows (a topic already given ample space). Instead, it is just a little response, of sorts, to all the buzz about wilco as the “new” grateful dead or the new tour phenom. As a person who has been into the dead for a long time, long enough to feel the sting of almost being old enough to have some jerry time before he died, the idea of a new “dead” that had nothing to do with jam bands is especially interesting.
What makes people think or say this about wilco in this day and age? Jeff seems to enjoy cultivating a relationship with the crowd, creating a more intimate feeling of people just hanging out…and maybe you want that hanging out to continue in Nashville, Mobile (tickets still available!), or Tulsa. All the guys kick ass on their (and sometimes other people’s) instruments, innovating and flourishing wherever they please. Although the band doesn’t do extend jamouts, they mix up and play with each song each time, adding something new or taking out something familiar. They definitely play a different show every night, despite the repeats, each with its own motion and feeling. Most of all though, wilco is simply a magical live band. The first wilco show makes you believer, I promise. I don’t know what it is, why or how it works, but they cast a freakin spell on you. I am even more wilcoed out than before the Riviera shows, having gained new appreciation for songs I used to feel so-so about, and extra loving songs I used to just mostly love.
So maybe the whole grateful dead thing comes down to a simple question of magical musical experience (careful, your hippie is showing). But really, you can’t know till it happens to you, and maybe people find it easiest to express that live show magic by invoking the grateful dead. I don’t think jerry would be disappointed with that.