Taste of Lincoln Park, Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, Illinois

The Taste of Lincoln Park is one of Chicago’s many summer street festivals. In this case, Lincoln Avenue between Fullerton and Wrightwood is closed for an afternoon and evening of food, music, and other activities. There wasn't an impressive array of food options, but as it was only a couple blocks from my house, any situation would have been fine with me. The main act of the evening was the Gin Blossoms, who every thirty-something remembers from their few hits in the 90’s. Also playing that night were Tripping Billies, a Dave Matthews cover band.

After wandering the festival a bit, we started watching the cover band, which were surprisingly good.
After a few songs, we trekked down to the other end of the festival to see the Gin Blossoms. However, that end of the festival was completely packed. It was difficult to squeeze into a spot anywhere reasonably close to the stage. There were only a few songs that any of us wanted to see and showing up late for their set, we missed one of them, “Follow You Down.” After a few songs, including “Found Out About You” and “Allison Road” we decided we were better off with the Dave Matthews cover band. So back down the other end we trekked. It was much less crowded, and we got to hear a few songs that the real band didn't play earlier that month.

Gin Blossoms Setlist:
Follow You Down
Somewhere Tonight
Don't Change for Me
Miss Disarray
As Long as It Matters
Found Out About You
Until I Fall Away
Learning the Hard Way
Lost Horizons
Allison Road
Dead or Alive on the 405
29
I'm Ready
Wave Bye Bye
'Til I Hear It from You
Hey Jealousy
Encore:
Competition Smile
Now

Phish, FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois

On a Sunday evening after just returning from a wedding on the east coast, I made a last minute decision catch Phish’s last night in Chicago. This would be my tenth time seeing them over the past 14 years, even with their five year hiatus from 2004 to 2009. I suspect this is more than I’ve seen any other band, perhaps excluding the bands of a few friends but maybe even those as well. Like Dave Matthews Band, I have a recording of every single one of the ten shows, which include:

2000-09-15 - HersheyPark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania
2004-08-09 - Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia
2004-08-12 - Tweeter Center, Camden, New Jersey
2009-06-12 - Bonnaroo, Manchester, Tennessee
2009-06-14 - Bonnaroo, Manchester, Tennessee
2009-08-15 - Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland
2009-12-05 - John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Virginia
2010-06-27 - Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland
2013-07-20 - FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois
2014-07-20 - FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois

I was again on the lawn for the show, this time knowing to hang back a bit further. I also again marveled at the beautiful view that the venue provides of the urban landscape. I found a little grassy area within good distance of the screen and a speaker. The show wasn’t quite as crowded as Dave Matthews Band (it was a Sunday show of a three night run), so I had plenty of space. I was on my own but met various people on the lawn to hang out with including some kids (early 20’s) who were seeing Phish for the first time as well as slightly older veterans like me.

The setlist wasn't the best I've ever seen, but there was certainly enough to get excited about in the nearly three hours of music including many that I've already heard live before such as “Bathtub Gin,” “Ghost,” “Down with Disease,” “Weekapaug Groove,” and “Theme from the Bottom. It was also my first time getting to hear “Gumbo” and “Scent of a Scent of a Mule” live, both of which go all the way back to the mid-90’s as well as “Winterqueen,” the only song from their recently released album, Fuego (2014) that they played. All four members of the band also joined Fishman on his drums during “Scent of a Mule.” The show ended with phan favorite, “Character Zero.” Unfortunately, the glow stick war, which is the most fun aspect of hearing the song live, was a bit disappointing. I think I was just a little too far back on the lawn and it was a little too sparsely populated. I suspect attendees had also used their glow sticks up in the past two nights.

Even after ten shows, there are still quite a number of Phish songs that I have yet to hear live, including “Split Open and Melt,” “Bouncing Around the Room,” “Fluffhead,” “Harpua,” “Simple,” “The Squirming Coil,” “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” and one of my personal favorites “The Lizards.” Many of these songs were played on other nights in Chicago in 2013 or 2014. Obviously, I just need to keep seeing more Phish shows. Including this show I’ve now seen a total of 211 songs and 124 unique songs.

Also interesting was that on the way out of the show, the venue employees and phans were thanking and high-fiving each other. Many people said “thank you for having us” and “thanks for coming.” I’ve seen that here and there before, but never to such an extent; it was really nice.

Set 1:
Gumbo
Runaway Jim
Tela
The Line
Scent of a Mule
Bathtub Gin
Silent in the Morning
Maze
Ocelot
Walls of the Cave
Set 2:
Down with Disease
Winterqueen
Theme From the Bottom
Mike's Song
The Wedge
Ghost
Weekapaug Groove
First Tube
Encore:
Character Zero

Moon Hooch, Square Roots Festival, Lincoln Square, Chicago, Illinois

Relative newcomers Moon Hooch have been getting a lot of recognition recently from the hosts of NPR Music after their discovery last year at SxSW. Earlier in the week, I happened to look up their tour schedule and discover that they would be at the Square Roots Festival in a few days. I decided to stop by the outdoor street festival, held in Lincoln Square, for this one set. I arrived as they were just about to start but a couple hundred people were already gathered around the stage, though it was still easy to walk to the front of the stage.

The band consists of three members, dueling saxophonists Mike Wilbur and Wenzl McGowen backed by drummer James Muschler. Other than the occasional chant/spoken word bit, Moon Hooch is a purely instrumental act without any vocals. Nonetheless, their sound is quite modern and unique, kind of a blend of jazz and house music, house music on jazz instruments. The band describes it as “Cave Music, like House, but it’s more wild, more jagged, more free, more natural to live in.” The music is infectious; it’s hard to NOT dance along to the beat. Judging by the crowd; I don’t think I was the only one to feel this way.

The two saxophonists are both amazingly talented musicians, very technically proficient in their craft. They manage an impressive breathing technique in which they are breathing in through their nose and out through the horn, though I couldn't tell if it was happening the same time as per the circular breathing technique.

Mike Wilbur played the tenor sax exclusively, while Wenzl McGowen switched between various saxophones and saxophone-like instruments including the tenor and baritone saxophone as well as the contrabass clarinet. The clarinet sounded like a dubstep didgeridoo; I’m not sure if that’s the natural sound or if it was altered through some type of effect. For one song, he also added a large traffic cone to the bell of his saxophone horn to deepen the sound.

Dave Matthews Band, FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois

America’s birthday would mark my ninth time seeing Dave Matthews Band, stretching back 15 years to 1999 in Hershey. I realized when counting up my shows that it had been almost four years since I had seen him last. It’s also worth noting that I have a recording of every one of the nine shows.


My list includes:

1999-08-04 - HersheyPark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania
2000-08-23 - HersheyPark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania
2001-08-01 - HersheyPark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania
2004-07-11 - Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, Virginia
2008-06-28 - Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, Virginia
2009-08-08 - Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, Virginia
2010-06-13 - Bonnaroo, Manchester, Tennessee
2010-11-06 - Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2014-07-04 - FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois

We arrived on the lawn of the pavilion half an hour before Dave took the stage. The venue looks west toward the city, so the backdrop of the stage was the sun was setting behind the buildings of the loop. It’s truly one of the most beautiful urban views for any amphitheater. Unfortunately, given the terrain of Chicago, it’s very flat, which doesn’t lend itself well to a good view of the stage from the lawn.

We started as close as we could to the stage, just off to the right and close enough that we could see some figures on stage. However, within a couple of songs, we found this area a bit too crowded and the crowd a bit too chatty. Due to speaker placement, we were hearing more of the conversations around us than the music. As the sun dipped below the buildings, we migrated to right, where we could still see the stage but we were in a less crowded section right below a speaker, so we could hear much better, though we couldn’t see the only lawn jumbotron screen well. Finally, we moved to nearly the back of the lawn, right underneath another speaker and with a great view of the screen, the city backdrop, and access to the bathrooms and beer stands. This would be our spot.

The band played two sets, one acoustic and one electric. The first set consisted of slower, more relaxed songs as compared to the electric set. The exception to this was “One Sweet World,” which I was a bit surprised to hear included as part of the electric set. However, other than Stefan Lessard and Tim Reynolds playing acoustic vs. an electric instruments, most of the band already play acoustic instruments most of the time, so the difference in sound between the two sets isn’t as significant as it would be for some bands. Other than this minor detail, the show was very much the same Dave Matthews Band that I remembered – an unpredictable setlist, extended jams, and audience participation. I believe the lineup is the same as when I previously saw the band, including Tim Reynolds, Jeff Coffin, and Rashawn Ross as members of the band. Also present were The Lovely Ladies on backing vocals.

The evening included staple songs that I had previously heard several times before but always enjoy, including “Ants Marching,” “Crash Into Me,” “Don't Drink the Water,” “Tripping Billies,” “#41,” and “Grey Street,” though I did like getting to see acoustic versions of several. It was also my first time getting to see live performances of “Long Black Veil” and “The Space Between.” This marks a total of 177 songs, including 88 unique songs, that I have now seen live. Two songs that still elude me are “Halloween” and “Typical Situation.” Both songs have worked their way into setlists more recently after not getting much play for a number of years.

Acoustic Set:
So Damn Lucky
Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd
Crash Into Me
Sugar Man (Sixto Rodriguez cover)
Ants Marching
Sweet
Take Me to Tomorrow (John Denver cover)
What Would You Say
Electric Set:
#41
So Right
Don't Drink the Water
If Only
One Sweet World
Satellite
Belly Belly Nice
Seven
So Much to Say
Anyone Seen the Bridge
Too Much intro
Tripping Billies
Drunken Soldier
Save Me
Long Black Veil (Lefty Frizzell cover)
Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel cover)
Encore:
The Space Between
Grey Street