Random Chicago Night

One of the things I love about living in the city is amount of random that can come into your life. This past year I have been more whimsical in what I do and where I end up. It's a response to the inflexibility I've encountered in other areas of my life. 
When Carolyn, a friend of ours, invited us to see a band I'd never heard of at the Empty Bottle, I said "Sure, why not?" 


I started off by having drinks at The Bedford with Sarah, Anne, and Kate. Kate brought me three boxes of cereal (Boo Berry, FrankenBerry and Count Chocula). Sarah and I were supposed to exchange books; she held up her end and I forgot the one I was to loan to her. We drank cocktails and had a good time. Being a relatively warm evening for the beginning of November I was going to walk to Bite where Ben and I were to meet Carolyn for a quick dinner before the show next door. First I had to drop off cereal at home and change, a heavy sweater was not needed. Plus who wants to bring three boxes of cereal to a crowded show. Although that would have made the photo booth pictures 10x more fun.


Bite was delicious, I could have licked the bowl clean. I've had their mussels before and meh they were okay. This time they were scrumptious. And I don't bandy that term around much. Plus you get twice the carbs- grilled bread and fries! We drank a a bottle of white and Carolyn got a history of 'techno' music from Ben. Then we shared the pumpkin flan. It was not a flan like as pannacotta-ish which was okay with me because I am not a fan of flan- too slimy in texture. I like a thicker custard. But this was delicious and texture perfect. 


Off next door to The Empty Bottle. Al Schorsch was an opener and I knew that name. Back when I was a big Critical Mass rider he and I were always up front with a few others corking intersections and causing trouble. His brother Tom is also in One of the Girls which included for the longest time the baptist pastor who married Ben and I. Now Al plays banjo and has his own band, Al Schorsch's Country Soul Ensemble. And they were pretty good, while I do not regret the flan I wish we could've seen more of their set. I won't mention the next band- well okay I will- the three of us all agreed musically they were very talented. But they needed to dump their lead singer. He couldn't decide which register to sing in and it grated your eardrums. The headliner, Slim Cesna's Auto Club, more than made up for any bad opening band. I will call it revivalist rockabilly. Two singers (one also played banjo and auto harp), a drummer, an upright bass, a keyboard/steel guitar player, and a guy playing a double guitar (with a Jesus/Mary hologram on it nonetheless). How they all fit on that tiny-ass stage I have no idea. They put on one hell of a show! WE stayed up way past our bedtime but it was worth every moment. Ben and I left before the encore, I can only take so much of a crowd and the two squawky girls next to me drove me off. We walked home in the chilly fall air content.