Day 12: Chicago, Pt. 2
Welcome
Yesterday we played our second show at Thalia Hall.
The largest item in our morning schedule was a bouldering date with our friend Julia from the band ratboys. We met at a nearby climbing gym and went through the usual rigmarole of signing our life away with a waiver, and then trying to find the right size of climbing shoe to rent that will fit my very wide feet. They are usually very narrow and squish my toes in like a ballet shoe. This apparently helps you with climbing.
I was bloody hungry by the time we got back to the bus and we headed straight out to get brunch. I had been recommended a local spot called Azul 18 and its convenient location right opposite Thalia Hall made it a sure thing. The menu was strong and ranged from authentic Mexican dishes all the way to classic American diner fare. I settled on Chilaquiles - a rich option but also an option that contained vegetables. It was topped with a pair of poached eggs and on the side I had a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
On the lower level of Thalia Hall there is a lovely cocktail bar with a grand piano that lies unused during the day. We decided to make the most of this situation and headed down there in the afternoon to rehearse our acoustic set for an up and coming session. One of the great features of this piano is that it has had a bar added onto it. A useful place to set down your drink and it also has an aesthetically pleasing corded rope trim. The other great feature is the Casio electric stage piano that has replaced the original outdated set of piano keys. It can sound like anything you want it to.
Night two in Chicago was another raucous affair filled with lots of extremely competent heckling. Just how you want a Saturday show to be. Afterwards we loaded out quickly so we could get on our way up to Canada. To get all of our belongings out of the green room we had to pass through the downstairs cocktail lounge and by this time of night it was really going off. There was a man at the piano playing Piano Man, by Billy Joel. Next time I passed through he was playing With or Without You. The next time it was Wonderwall. He massacred the chords as people leaned around the rope-braided piano bar screaming along with him. We reluctantly left and hopped onto the bus for our journey east.
