Burn Rome Burn Tour, Day #5

Date: Tuesday, October 17

Place: The Chicago St. Pub, Joliet, Illinois

This date was an unknown going into the tour. We were holding out hope that a show in Champaign would come through last minute... but none did. So we called up our good friend and fellow musician John Condron who owns a nice little bar in Joliet called The Chicago Street Pub.

We figured since we were out on the road, had all our gear, and had to be in Detroit the following day, we might as well stop in Joliet and play and impromptu show for the Tuesday night regulars at Chicago Street.

Morning in our southern Illinois hotel room was slow in gaining traction... and we finally got on the road towards Chicago a little after noon. The drive was without incident and we made a quick stop at the Guitar Center in Joliet (so I could buy a new case for my guitar) before heading over to Chicago St.

After unloading our gear, I wandered off to kill some time at the Harrah's Casino in scenic downtown Joliet. Amazingly enough, I walked out an hour and a half later having won $150 playing video poker.

Burn Rome Burn Fall Tour '06: We Gamble, We Win.

Good times.

After some dinner, we set up and started playing on the early side to a suprisingly big and responsive crowd. Again, rather than feeling rundown from playing our 5th show in 5 nights, my voice felt strong and got stronger throughout the set.

As a band, this show was probably the best of the tour in a lot of ways, and the crowd seemed to respond to what I thought was a kind of precision and ease that comes with being on the road. We all felt it, we all heard it. We all loved it. After the show, we hung around for a couple of beers and to talk to the crowd, and then loaded up the gear and hit the road.

We rolled into Chicago at about 3:00 am, and I walked in the door at home to a frantic, funny puppy who seemed to have missed me desperately. As I did him. Sleep came quickly and soundly. And was accompanied by a cat parking herself on my chest for a good part of the night, a welcome stop home with one show left to go on the We Gamble, We Win Tour.

jbg