Sep 15, 2013

After a breakfast at Chicago Diner we drove to Humboldt Park and found a parking spot a block away for free all day. Funny how we've been getting closer each day with the car. It was raining and chilly out so I wasn't looking forward to a day in shorts and a t-shirt, but I also didn't want to bring a hoodie that would just get heavy and wet, so I went with the possibly uncomfortably cold choice. 

When we got to the gate we witnessed a girl casually walk past the ticket-takers, one of whom called to her and started to go up behind her. She noticed and she began to run (very slowly. very. slowly.) prompting a "security guard" to run after her for all of about 10 seconds. At that point they threw up their hands and said "I guess she got away." I was tempted to chase her myself as it wouldn't have taken much effort. The rest of walked on saying, "Oh that was all we had to do to get in for free? Shit. I wasted a hundred bucks!"

We got to the Rock Stage shortly before Hostage Calm came on. There were very few people there, partially because it was early and probably because of the rain. A handful of people knew their songs and were getting into. I was just standing in between people to stay warm. I would repeat this technique for the rest of the day.

We stayed at the Rock Stage near the front for the half hour between bands so we would be close for The Wonder Years. They came out and played an awesome, energetic set including new songs. I hadn't heard them play anything off the new album yet and the songs work very well live in their set. I love that album. Soupy ran off the stage and climbed a tree as we sang along and then did a front flip into the crowd and they surfed him back up front. I really love this band more every time I see them.

Next we had to run the straight line to the Rise Stage way at the other end of the street through crowded, muddy grass and dirt. We got there before Bayside started somehow and caught their whole set. Of course they were awesome. I was right up front, which was better than being along the curb last night at this stage. I felt very packed in at that point and had a hard time enjoying it at times when people around me weren't getting into it much. After that we went back to the other stage to watch Bad Books, which is Kevin Devine and Andy Hull's project. I don't know their music really, but seeing them was great. I think I'll be listening soon.

We went back to the Rise Stage yet again to see Best Coast. I don't know their music at all, but I figured I'd give them a shot. I squeezed up front to steal warmth from people, but no one was moving or really showing any recognition or interest in the band at all, so I decided it was time to go to my apartment. Yes, I did spent about a half hour alone in a porta-potty. No, I do not feel bad about this. It was warm-ish, not windy, and I could still hear the music. All wins for me.

I begrudgingly exited my warm little personal space and went back to the Rock Stage for Saves the Day. I was happy to see that the crowd was very into them. They played a fast and fan-pleasing set as they always do. I never leave a Saves the Day show thinking, "I wish they played this song," because they always play all of those songs. The new songs were fun and sound really good live as well.

I headed over to the mud pit formerly known as the Roots Stage and squirmed my way forward waiting for Brand New. There was this really perfect line of people that were standing on the edge of the grass, staying out of the muddy gravel area of the baseball diamond so when I got to this point I broke through like an event horizon and popped out on the other side mildly confused. Once my shoes were muddy it really didn't matter anymore so I trudged on. Brand New played songs. They played "Tommy Gun" of course but also "Quiet Things," which I would never expect. It was an okay set but much too Daisy-heavy for my taste. Not to mention the huge sea of people between myself and the stage really took away from some of the fun and energy I enjoy. I did have fun shooting photos of hundreds of cell phones taking video of the video monitor though. Ah, proof that they saw Jesse on a big TV in a park in Chicago. They will be the talk of their respective towns.

I ran away during the last song of Brand New to get to the Riot Stage in time to hear the opening guitar riff to "The Leaving Song pt. 2" which got me excited for AFI's set. I rushed up to the front of the crowd the best I could as they screamed through songs from Sing the Sorrow, my favorite album. They played some older songs that seemed to please the pit crowd and some newer songs that I almost didn't remember that I knew so well. They were, above all else, entertaining and fun. I was happy at this point that I bought tickets to see them in New Jersey next month.

After the awesome finish of AFI we walked the one block back to our car and then went back to, you guessed it, Chicago Diner. This was after a quick change out of wet, gross clothes in the car. I mean we really couldn't leave without one more visit. I decided to go for the Rodenbach flemish ale. It was quite tasty but not exactly what I'd wanted it to be. I got a reuben of course because I knew I would never regret that decision. I was right. I mean, just look at it. I thought about another milkshake, but I decided against that one as I might regret that.

With full bellies we hit the road heading back east into Indiana. We drove for a while until we were getting tired and then pulled over and set up camp for the night.

Sep 14, 2013

Chicago Diner again?? Yes. This time we parked right down the street from the diner since we saw so much parking yesterday. Found an all-day free spot within a mile of the park. I got the country fried steak and potatoes. Need a hearty meal if you're going to be watching music all day. It was amazing but huge. I took half of it with me.

I couldn't leave without getting the peanut butter cookie dough milkshake. It's one of those things that makes you make sounds as soon as you taste it. It is probably the best thing I have ever had. Really. If I wouldn't get sick and fat I would have like 30 of them. We went next door to Revolution Brewing so I could get a few beers and download things with their WiFi. We spent some time hanging out there until Joanna was ready to go down to the show. There were no bands I wanted to see for another 4-5 hours so I stayed behind and hung out in the car catching up on shows, trying not to fall asleep, and taking walks around the neighborhood.

Time really moved slowly while I waited, but I'm sure I could have found more interesting and useful things to do with my time that would have helped that. Eventually it was time to head down to the park so I got a slice of pizza to go from the bar we parked across from and walked swiftly down the street. I got into the gates just as Rancid was starting to play their first song. Those guys kick some ass. They played sooooo much from And Out Come the Wolves. I was quite happy. They seemed to have the crowds full attention as well, so that was nice. Great way to kick off the night.

I ran over to the Rise Stage to see Taking Back Sunday. They are consistently one of my favorite bands to see live. They are so much fun and they play a great selection of songs since they got the original lineup back.

There is a giant riser/VIP area about 100 feet from the stage directly in the middle of everything, which blocks the view of anyone behind it from almost all directions. This leads people to flood the sides of the stage, one of which is situated on a hill with a large curb on the edge. This is not a good thing to be underfoot in a crowd of thousands. One person trip and goes down the hill, taking a bunch of other people with them. It kept happening so I got away from it as best I could. I ended up on the side, down the hill, and right up front. It was still a decent view, but there was a very drunk girl that kept trying to get me to push forward and I kept telling her to go bother someone else.

During the last song we ran away to the Riot Stage to see Blink come on. They played basically the same set from the Starland show, but it was a good set so I can't complain. I was right up front for a bit, but I never tend to like that so I dropped back to where the pit was and had fun with all of my peoples. In usual Blink fashion, they sprayed the crowd with confetti at the end of the set and Mark stayed on stage awkwardly long trying to be funny (read: being funny) and the power went out right before his single-bass-note punchline.

I waited for a long while in the dark for Joanna at the merch area, but she finally appeared and we took our long-ish walk back to the car. It was nice to get out of there faster this time. We headed back to our spot at the hotel and made our car bed for the night.

Sep 13, 2013

We picked up where we left off in Ohio and finished the long drive to Chicago into the afternoon. Once we found the train station we wanted to park at and figured out which tickets to buy we got on the train and headed into the city. Our first stop was Chicago Diner for some delicious vegan food. I had to go with the reuben to start. It had been too long. It was wonderful. After we were stuffed we walked the mile to Humboldt Park, passing empty parking spaces all along the way. I guess we should have driven in.

We got to the entrance to Riot Fest at the park and there was no line to get in, so that was nice. We wandered around inside for a bit, getting a feel for the layout. It had been quite a while since I was at a festival. We watched a video at the FARM truck and they gave us a fresh dollar bill and talked to us about vegan living for a while. We watched a little of the Smoking Popes before we went to the Riot Stage to see Yellowcard. I never know how the first band at a fest will be, especially in the daytime with a cold crowd that just showed up. Yellowcard killed it and really kicked the weekend off right. They played an awesome set; so much better than the last time I saw them. Everyone was super enthusiastic and Sean even did two backflips! Fantastic.

Bad Religion was up next on the Roots Stage and that was quite a change in atmosphere. Older crowd, big mohawks, kilts, and a real mosh pit like they used to have back in the day. It was pretty sweet being in that crowd. I felt slightly more at home even if I'm not as into the faster punk music anymore. Regardless of my general leaning, I do love Bad Religion, and they played a kick-ass set. They blaze through songs like a chainsaw through butter. They must have played about 30 songs in their hour slot, including "Atomic Garden," "21st Century (Digital Boy)," and "I Wanna Conquer the World" back to back. It was pretty insane. They still know how to rock a crowd.

After Bad Religion I wandered for a while, watching GWAR for about a minute before I realized I didn't want to watch them. I met Joanna in the intersection and we went over to see Masked Intruder play the small stage. They were actually really fun and entertaining. Definitely a band I'd like to see live, but can't imagine getting into otherwise. The park looked pretty cool lit up at night. We didn't take advantage of any of the rides, but I guess we probably should have.

The crowd was huge already for Fall Out Boy. No surprise, but I squeezed up about halfway as they started the set. It was a very similar set to the show they played in Philly, but it was mostly enjoyable. A lot of songs from the new album again, so I felt like that slowed things down a little, but I was into while I was there. Once the last screams of "Saturday" were finished we filtered slowly out and I went to our meeting place by the merch booths which turned out to be a lot of other people's meeting place as well.

It seemed like a very long walk to the car, and once we found the Metro station, it seemed like a long train ride back to the car. Being tired didn't help. We got to the car and had a bit of drive ahead of us to the hotel where Joanna stayed when she was on tour in Chicago. This time she had to sleep in the back of the car with me though instead of having a nice bed. At least we had a safe, free parking spot.

July 3, 2013

We got a later start than planned because it takes a long time to get from my house to Joanna's. Once I got there we packed up her car, trying to figure out where everything fit well in the trunk and backseat, then got on the road for this year's road trip. It was slow going for a while as we left Jersey, but after that it was pretty smooth across PA. Once we got into Ohio, we found Hudson Springs disc golf course and stopped for a mid-afternoon game.

The course starts off with some shorter holes over small, rolling hills and through some groves of trees along the main park road. There were a few nice fairways that challenged us, but the harder stuff came on the back nine.

The course opens up quickly, with long and wide open shots through a huge field. This gives way to some more wooded holes that wrap around and come back for several more long arm shots through the grassy field to wrap it up. Definitely a fun little course.

We got back on the road through Ohio and Indiana into Chicago. This drive seems so familiar by now. We went to Quesadilla Mexican while we were in town and got some tacos to eat in the car. After we escaped the metro area we found a place to camp for the night. Not a bad first day of travel.