Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Thursday May 14, 2015 - Chicago, IL

Tour Blog – Show 4 – Chicago
May 14, 2015

We left around 3pm and hit Chicago right at rush hour. A slow but scenic drive through Grant Park and along Lake Michigan led us to the Red Line Tap in the Rogers Park neighborhood. It was cool to see Brettly again, who we've worked with at the RLT few times before - super good guy. Good sandwiches and a damn impressive whiskey selection make it a great stop! We loaded in (in the rain), parked the truck and waited for show time. I’d been a little under the weather so I elected to crash out for a few in the truck while the boys kept their bar stools warm and traded stories about Detroit, Ypsilanti and Chicago with Brettly and the bartender.

Track A Tiger was up first, kicking out a good set of catchy-chimey-droning pop numbers with some great harmonies. It was their guitar player’s birthday and these dudes (and lady) seemed in good spirits. Around mid-set my dear friends Angie and Steve came in and the night took an upward swing. It was fantastic to see them again and get caught up. We were up next. Playing on mostly house gear can be challenging and we struggled to find our sound but we played an ok set to the thin crowd. After us were headliners the Craig Scott band, who were sorta poppy-alternative with smart tunes and a super polished delivery. We loaded out and headed towards the southwest suburbs to our AirBnB accommodations.

Our lovely host Suzanne met us at the door of her home on a big horse farm near Aurora at 2am with a hot lasagna and fresh salad on the table. It was over the top but so nice and so appreciated (and did a pretty good job soaking up the booze). Before long it was lights out. This morning I took a lap around the stables and met many of the 25 horses being boarded there. Zoe the cat and Thunder the dog played guardian of the dog food all morning and Zoe always seemed to have the upper hand over the big, determined but less-intellectual dog. We had breakfast at an awesome mom & pop restaurant in Aurora called Harner’s. Gabe got the ham steak which was awesome because “he dared to order it” and my 1-egg hobo omelet was pretty great too.

We crossed the Mississippi around 2pm and we’re in Iowa City now, getting some downtime at our AirBnB house before dinner and then our show tonight at Gabe’s. The rain has given way to blue skies and upper-70s temps, I'm feeling a lot better, and LA Witch is on the bill tonight too so it should be a good show.