Purgatory
Saturday night I drove an hour down 46, an hour down I-70, and about 40 minutes through cornfields to come to Charleston, IL.
An extra half hour of that was figuring out the roads since Yahoo! Maps failed me. It apparently didn't take into account that where it told me to turn right onto County Road 8 was actually in Podunkville, IL, population 16 all with the same last name, and in Podunkville County Road 8 was actually Washington Street and not Adams Street (they didn't really have streets for more than two presidents) since Adams Street is actually County Road 13. Fortunately my superior sense of direction saved me with more worry than actual trouble.
I arrived and began hanging out at this bar, The Uptowner, by myself since Misti had to hang out with--well, we'll leave it at someone--and Johanne was out of area even though she'd agreed to go. It actually probably worked out better that I had no one to hang out with because it inspired me to talk to the only people there who I'd ever even remotely met before, the Tossers themselves.
I played a game of pool with Dan, the bass player (usually upright, though that night he played an electric). Then Dan and I teamed up to beat two of the locals two games straight.
I also met (actually re-met for the most part) the rest of the band, except for the lead singer Tony. I kind of get the impression Tony's a prick. The rest of the band hangs out together and he's off doing his own thing with a couple people that came with them. Most likely manager and/or roadie types.
After a little wandering aimlessly the opening band, The Siderunners, started playing. Their bass player is amazing. There were two pillars about twenty feet from the stage that all the locals seemed scared to go past, so the only people between these pillars and the stage were me and the Tossers. Unfortunately they had sound problems with the mic cutting out about as often as not. Those problems continued halfway through the Tossers' set.
I tried to help with the mic cutting out during the Tossers' set by singing along to the songs I knew as loudly as I could. I got a smile and a nod from a couple of the guys on stage for knowing the words.
Their set was great, even in spite of the sound problems. I don't know why this cheesy small-time band hypes me up better than just about any other.
Before the show Becca, the fiddle player, said she'd get me a CD since I drove all the way from Bloomington, IN to BFE, IL just to see them. So I hung around after the show which turned into me spending a lot more time talking to the band, especially Dan and Aaron Duggins.
Over the course of talking to Aaron, apparently I became his best friend for the night. He hooked me up with a shirt and two CDs (which I insisted I pay for) and helped me get the insert of one of them signed by the scattered band members as a birthday present for Misti. He also offered me his e-mail and phone number, invited Misti and I to their CD release show October 8th, wrote down our names so he could put us on the guest list, and offered to let us crash at his place any time we were in Chicago.
I'm going to e-mail him tomorrow to make sure he wasn't so drunk he forgot all this.
The way back was more of the same getting sort-of lost thanks to Yahoo! Maps, and then I crashed in Terre Haute at my friend John's. We did stupid human tricks to amuse each other and watched Pool Hall Junkies. Good movie.
Friday Misti and I are going to Chicago to see the Tossers shows that night and Saturday as a part of Misti's birthday present, and coming back Sunday. We're actually going to crash with my aunt Julie and cousin Emilie so I can see them while I'm there too. So I should have more stories next week if I'm not too lazy to type them.
An extra half hour of that was figuring out the roads since Yahoo! Maps failed me. It apparently didn't take into account that where it told me to turn right onto County Road 8 was actually in Podunkville, IL, population 16 all with the same last name, and in Podunkville County Road 8 was actually Washington Street and not Adams Street (they didn't really have streets for more than two presidents) since Adams Street is actually County Road 13. Fortunately my superior sense of direction saved me with more worry than actual trouble.
I arrived and began hanging out at this bar, The Uptowner, by myself since Misti had to hang out with--well, we'll leave it at someone--and Johanne was out of area even though she'd agreed to go. It actually probably worked out better that I had no one to hang out with because it inspired me to talk to the only people there who I'd ever even remotely met before, the Tossers themselves.
I played a game of pool with Dan, the bass player (usually upright, though that night he played an electric). Then Dan and I teamed up to beat two of the locals two games straight.
I also met (actually re-met for the most part) the rest of the band, except for the lead singer Tony. I kind of get the impression Tony's a prick. The rest of the band hangs out together and he's off doing his own thing with a couple people that came with them. Most likely manager and/or roadie types.
After a little wandering aimlessly the opening band, The Siderunners, started playing. Their bass player is amazing. There were two pillars about twenty feet from the stage that all the locals seemed scared to go past, so the only people between these pillars and the stage were me and the Tossers. Unfortunately they had sound problems with the mic cutting out about as often as not. Those problems continued halfway through the Tossers' set.
I tried to help with the mic cutting out during the Tossers' set by singing along to the songs I knew as loudly as I could. I got a smile and a nod from a couple of the guys on stage for knowing the words.
Their set was great, even in spite of the sound problems. I don't know why this cheesy small-time band hypes me up better than just about any other.
Before the show Becca, the fiddle player, said she'd get me a CD since I drove all the way from Bloomington, IN to BFE, IL just to see them. So I hung around after the show which turned into me spending a lot more time talking to the band, especially Dan and Aaron Duggins.
Over the course of talking to Aaron, apparently I became his best friend for the night. He hooked me up with a shirt and two CDs (which I insisted I pay for) and helped me get the insert of one of them signed by the scattered band members as a birthday present for Misti. He also offered me his e-mail and phone number, invited Misti and I to their CD release show October 8th, wrote down our names so he could put us on the guest list, and offered to let us crash at his place any time we were in Chicago.
I'm going to e-mail him tomorrow to make sure he wasn't so drunk he forgot all this.
The way back was more of the same getting sort-of lost thanks to Yahoo! Maps, and then I crashed in Terre Haute at my friend John's. We did stupid human tricks to amuse each other and watched Pool Hall Junkies. Good movie.
Friday Misti and I are going to Chicago to see the Tossers shows that night and Saturday as a part of Misti's birthday present, and coming back Sunday. We're actually going to crash with my aunt Julie and cousin Emilie so I can see them while I'm there too. So I should have more stories next week if I'm not too lazy to type them.