Finally, here we are! Downtown...headlining two nights at the House Of Blues in Chicago! - Alan Doyle, with a smile across his face
Gay Porn. - Bob Hallett, in response to Sean's question as to whether he too would be starring in a major motion picture this summer.
Just a few quick notes before heading out to to a bit of Windy (and Rainy...this is rapidly becoming a Chicago tradition) City touristing, along with anotherCedar Falls video I finally got uploaded, this of General Taylor and the rescue of a Fair Lady(bug).
It was a very good show for a packed house last night in the Chicago House of Blues, a gorgeous venue there will be no photos of, sad to say, HOB being how HOB usually is with cameras. Really a cool setup though, especially watching the folks up in the two balconies high above the main floor. The crowd (on all levels) was nearly as excited about being there as Alan clearly was - one of these days I am expecting him to jump straight out of his pants when he gets as excited as he was last night, or perhaps better to say I am hoping for such an outcome - though those are indeed lovely pants he's been wearing...that white stitching tells its own tantalising tale. I do believe he has found the next generation of The Pants That Say Alan. To quote the Rock/Movie Star: Lovely, lovely.
A good set list for this show too, one major highlight being what Sean called the debut live performance of Rocks Of Merasheen. Although they did do an impromptu a cappella version of that same song back at the Atlantic City House Of Blues show last spring, this one was with full instrumentation and it sounded beautiful, especially Bob's accordion part. It was great to hear John Barbour again - played very powerfully by all hands...this has to be one of GBS's best instrumental arrangements - and Gallows Pole made for a deadly and much-appreciated substitution in the customary "Mari Mac slot" of their set list. Hearing Something Beautiful during the encores was a delightful surprise, and the return of Excursion was welcomed and enjoyed. Alan promised a quite different set list for tonight's second HOB show, so even more to look forward to.
My own personal Top Highlight of this first HOB show was a blistering rendition of Oh Yeah, glorious to eyes and ears alike. Alan's guitar-playing was purely impure pleasure, and that white stitchery deserved accompanying-instrument billing. A thousand curses on the HOB's no-camera policies. A thousand blessings on the benefit of lovely, lasting memories. I'm very much looking forward to that tantalising tale tonight.
Speaking of tantalising tales, some of the Hotel Sax's rather unique amenities are quite the imagination-teasers, in particular the leather pillows strewn across the bed. It's got me toying with a new chapter of that Tale, one featuring the combination of pillows and white stitches. Not quite sure how to work in the bowling alley yet...still thinking about that one. The creative process takes time.
Comments