Show Report: Chicago, IL

yes, miracles happen at martyrs 4.21.06

when i lived in michigan i used to scoff at chicago...now that i dont live in michigan i really enjoy chicago. its my new favorite midwestern city. we were playing with our boys bump again at a club called martyrs. this show turned out to be a much needed shot in the arm...of positivity that is. the stage was great and had a great sound and vibe to it, the club was nice and roomy and the crowd was fantastic. so far the audience reception we have had both times in chicago has been above and beyond the call of duty. im totally down with chi-town. before the show q and i shopped at trader joes and found a cafe with wifi to be all computerized at. after the show we all got to stay at rob's bro's house. i actually slept in the van with tony because they have 2 dogs and tony isnt cool with that but it was fun for some reason. bill and pam rock. their house is killer and bill even let me use the shower in the master bath that had a steamer in it. you drop in these eucalyptus drops and bam you're incased and infused and purified with this great smelling steam. it was sick. after that i kicked back in a hammock and then ate some bbq. life is good in chicago. bill and pam even put their own dogs in crates for a while so i could bring tony in their yard and run around with him. how is that for hospitality. im glad west indian girl has such nice families conveniently located in all the major time zones.

wrigley doublement thanks to: dave for stopping by and shooting the show. dave waited patiently after the show for all of us to be in one place at the same time so he could mastermind a band photo shoot on the street. it was good fun and im glad he took so many shoots. when he sends some over i will be sure to post. send em over d - and hey man, thanx for kudos on the blog. i always appreciate it when people ask about the blog. it means we aren't just spending all this time for nothing. i also wanted to thank one of our biggest fans lorena for showing up and requesting/yelling "northern sky". it was because of her that we added it to the set. lorena and mike, you guys are awesome and really brought the positive energy. it was so positive that at one point i thought you were one of rob's relatives. i love you guys and am glad we made your evening so much fun. i also want to say hey to the wonderful anne reeves. anne was at the nyc show and im glad she got to see us on such a better night. thanx for the wheat brew, it was one of the tastiest beers i had all tour.

dressing room and rider wrap up: the green room at martyrs was umm, actually all green. it was upstairs and very much away from all the fray. i was into it cos it was like having your own apartment with bump as your roommate that never leaves. we got the basics from chicago....beer and pizza. all good, no complaints - the staff at the club was all real cool as well... and that goes a long way around these parts in case you havent read.

Mariqueen's Mind


The City: i really enjoyed chicago the last time i was there. we played in an area a bit more yuppyish this time around. not that there's anything wrong with yuppies... i always secretly wanted a friend like alex p. keaton. anyway, if i had to live in chicago i wouldn't complain.

The Venue: we played at martyrs which is a great bar. we had a huge green room [it was literally green] fully decked out with board games and four couches [it gets my vote as best green room on the tour]... buttt no throat coat and apples. sigh. i walked over to trader joes and fixed that.

The Show: i was starting to feel the symptoms of congestion so i was scared that i wouldn't perform up to par. at this point in the tour i was beyond cantankerous. i was physically drained and mentally unstable. i guess you don't need to be of sound mind and body to play an amazing show because that's exactly what we proceeded to do. uh uh uh awe. some.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: all sorts of lunacy. i needed rest... and fast.

Interesting Things After The Show: i went straight to the merch booth where i was greeted nicely by a lot of enthusiastic west indian girl believers. i got lost in a conversation with the lovely lorena [she introduced herself... "lorena... you know, like bobbit!"... that's awesome] but in the midst of it all i think i scared off a particulary kind fan. he asked me to sign a napkin and was about to tell me something when someone else came up to me and asked me to sign a cd. im a pretty decent multi-tasker so i was planning on signing the cd infront of me while listening to whatever this sweet gentle guy had to say, but i looked up and he was gone. i looked at my tour manager, ian and he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "what can i say, youre scary."... great. oh well, hooray for dirty martinis! rob and i went up on stage with bump for the last time and did "send me an angel"... hi bump boys: i just wanted to take this opportunity to tell you how much fun i've had with you... I love YOU GUYS! speaking of bump, joey choma [you know... the guy who's ALL OVER most of our show reports] and jc came out which was super fabulous five thousand. dave [tall one on the right] came to our show with a canon 20d on hand. he snapped tons of, what i can only imagine, really cool shots of us but i have yet to see them. hi dave please send those pictures to mariqueen@westindiangirl.com puhleaze. thank you so much for coming out it was nice meeting you. rob and fran's friend, amanda came and brought her friend sasha. sasha also brought her friends meshuggunah and hutzpah... ask nathan about them. god where are those toothy smiled emoticons? after packing up, eating burritos and the dramatics that entail alcohol men and women... we packed it in the van and drove to deerfield, where rob's brother [thanks bill and pam: couldn't have asked for better lodging and you guys were so much fun!] let us sleep in his lovely home. poor fran had to sleep in the van that night. aw.

THE JAMES REPORT

Chicago is the shizznet. My brother came out in full force and brought all his peeps. Bill, Pam, Mark, Becky, Allysa, Brian, Lisa: I love you. I had more fun in Chicago than humanly possible. Thank you.

NATHAN'S NONSENSE

it was a warm, sunny, and almost windless day in chicago when we rolled into town, something i'm not at all accustomed to from this city. martyr's bar- aptly named, if you consider performers as a martyr to their craft- was situated in the ravenswood vicinity of north lincoln avenue. after soundcheck and a helping of bland pizza provided by the venue, i decided to take a stroll southward on lincoln in an attempt to find a cafe, other than starbucks, where i could relax and recharge. i must have walked for 5 miles, passing along the way a gazillion bars and pubs and pizzarias, all bustling with a frenetic buzz, and about six different starbucks establishments, all of which were eerily empty. having struck out on my quest to find a cafe, i finally gave up and hailed a cab for a $10 ride back to the venue. perhaps because of this, i had trouble locking into a groove for this night's show, but it was still fun and seemed to go over well. afterwards, i had the great pleasure of meeting meshuggunah and hutzpah, all warm and squishy and full of life. sure would've loved to spend more time with them, but mama sasha had other ideas. sasha came down with her friend amanda, who apparently knew rob from somewhere. later, i would discover that amanda and i actually attended the same stinkin' high school, though not quite at the same time, and that she had met my sister, kristen, previously. small world. well, it was sad to part ways and vacate the city i never seem to have enough personal time in, but i'm sure we'll be back. until then, let 'em hang low, chicago.

sending bump an angel...in booty shortsmulti tasking - stylin and profilinit's a hard job but someone's gotta do itour favorite blog celebritieshappy shiny peoplethe man with the planwarming up for minnesota ;)

-F10