As both of my regular blog readers already know, the Chicago Public Library has organized a contest looking for the best “Chicago song” written and performed by a local artist. I’ve entered a song called “Steps from the Lake,” and if you have a moment, I’d appreciate your voting for it at the contest site (look for “Zapruder Point — Steps from the Lake” in the right-hand column):
On the technical aside tip, I would have liked to’ve cut away from the performance more, peppering in bits like you see at the beginning and end. I did a little poking around, and apparently if you have iMovie 6 or iMovie 9, placing bits of “b-roll” atop “a-roll” footage without interrupting the original audio is easy. But what do I have? iMovie 8, naturally. Ah, well. I think it turned out pretty good, regardless. Thanks again to E.L., Liam, Amy, and Bob. YES!
So two or three weeks ago, I read in Gaper’s Block about a song contest the Chicago Public Library was putting on. Write a song about Chicago, post a video of it, and you could win maybe some money (I forget), and a chance to play a concert outdoors downtown. I had the song in mind — “Steps from the Lake” — but how on earth could I film it? And wouldn’t it sound dumb with just me? No violin, no backups? Without those elements, it’s a ridiculously minimalist song.
I remembered that Tom and Casey might be swinging into town for an art show. Would it be sometime before the contest deadline (September 27th)? I called Casey, and it turned out they weren’t coming until October. “But you should call Elizabeth from Canasta. She’s really nice, and maybe she’d be into it.” I tried to change the subject, but before I hung up, Casey again prompted me to not be shy, and to give Elizabeth a call.
I did the next best thing: I sent her a Facebook message. Canasta is a good band, and a successful and therefore crazy-busy one, so I didn’t feel too confident. But she hit me back the next day, saying it sounded like fun. I was thrilled. Meanwhile, other gears got turning in my head — and in Amy’s. Amy thought maybe she could borrow a camera from work, and she volunteered to be cinematographer. She brought home a Flip video camera for us to play with. We tested it in the backyard for sound. Not bad. (It was and remains hard to tell what level of quality this contest is going to get, but the website seems to emphasize the SONG rather than the video…)
As for location, I called my friend Bob C, who had access to the roof of one of “The Cobs,” a.k.a. Marina City, a.k.a. “the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot buildings.” He was down with it. Now all we needed was to coordinate. I wanted to work around Elizabeth, who’d mentioned up-front that she had a tight schedule. When we finally got a date in place that worked for Bob and Elizabeth, I pulled a hail-Mary: I contacted Liam Davis from Frisbie. He hit me back the same day I sent the email, saying he’d be down for singing backups, sure.
Elizabeth, Me, Liam
Wowzers, people! Liam used to be in this band The Moviegoers, and their farewell show back in 1999 was the first show I saw as a Chicago citizen. Since then, we’ve been in each others’ peripheries, playing a weird open mike once several years ago, and running into each other at Hoot Nites, and sharing the bill on a rare appearance of Lovers on Third (his and Justin Roberts’ stripped-down rock combo). He also sang “God Loves Everyone” at Justin’s wedding, which is where I got the idea. Anyway, the main thing is that Liam’s, like, the best singer in Chicago. The Moviegoers actually tackled “Hounds of Love” by Kate Bush on the “I Wanna Be Kate” tribute album. I’m raving, here, so I’ll just say that between him…and Elizabeth…and Bob and the Cob…and having a kick-ass wife…this was a real coup.
Such a delicate operation it was, such an aligning of stars…that I didn’t want to jinx things by writing about it until it was all over. Which it is, now. Whew!
I met up with Amy last Thursday and we had some lovely mussels at Bin 36 right below the Cob. Everyone else was due at 6:30. We shook hands, smiling on the sidewalk. Bob led us through the lobby to the elevator, and away we went.
Elizabeth was in fine form, even though she was under the weather. Liam rocked it as well. We did one take with tambourine, and two without. Various angles were captured by Amy and Bob C (Amy got a second camera at the last minute). After the third take, it was pretty much too dark to go on, anyway. But man, it was gorgeous up there. And I think we pulled off a sweet take of the song — or maybe two.
I can’t believe how lucky I am to live in a city this beautiful, and full of musicians who are down with supporting each other and doing things just for fun. Thanks to Liam, Elizabeth, Bob and Amy! I’ll post a link to the video once I cut it up. Cheers!
If you didn’t know, Chicago has been screwing up its parking meter system for a while now. Turning it over to not-great private vendors, etc. On some streets, they’ve started that whole “pay at the machine” deal, and apparently on such streets, the now “old-school” parking meters remain “as a courtesy to cyclists.” I’d always wondered about the legality of locking up to one of those, and now at least in some places, it’s totally, obviously cool. Nice one, Chicago!
Just so you know, I haven’t been posting with regularity due to some work drama. To make a long story short, it looked like I was out of work for a minute…and then suddenly it didn’t. And now I’m not really sure what my employment status is going to be past the next couple of weeks. It’s definitely crazy, but I can handle it. Meanwhile…
Last Monday, the newly-reunited Feelies were playing a free show at the Millennium Park band shell. Tom and Casey used it as an excuse to visit from Cincinnati, and I sat with Tom and the rest of the Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness (the erstwhile tribute combo I’m proud to’ve been a part of) in the pavilion after some lovely picnicking on the lawn with some other friends.
Yes, it was uncrowded enough to get into the pavilion — halfway towards the stage, actually — just as they started playing. At first, I thought they were a tad shaky, but they were really cooking by the fifth song or so, and it was heavenly. They did one new song, a truckload of favorites, and a surprise cover of R.E.M.’s “Boxcars” (which was actually a perfect fit). I couldn’t stop tapping my foot with each song. My calves got sore.
As with a lot of favorite bands, it’s hard to describe exactly what’s so appealing, and the difficulty’s greater with the Feelies. I mean, their songs are very repetitive, and with the best ones, the repetition is sort of the POINT. In some cases, it’s used to mesmerize (“When Company Comes,” “Let’s Go”), while with others (especially in the live setting), the repeating riff or jangle is like a track they lock into, and the ride just gets faster and faster (“Away,” “Slipping (Into Something)”).
The highlight of the show was easily “Crazy Rhythms.” During the extended percussion breakdown, people rushed the stage, clogging the aisles all the way back to where I was sitting. I like to think this was an outpouring of pure Feelies love — they might disappear for another twenty years, and we were relishing our last few minutes together. Couldn’t have picked a better night for it, either — no humidity in the mid-70’s, pink clouds dusting the skyline as night fell. A gorgeous night.
Small postscript: A couple nights later, Aselin had an opportunity to introduce himself to Chicago-based rock critic and famous Feelies-obsessive Jim DeRogatis. Jim remembered the Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness, and told John he’d mentioned us to the Feelies themselves, and they were sincerely touched by the tribute. He also said we should have told him we would be at the show — he’d have introduced us to them backstage. Shucks.
Anyway, even though he’s way off about Springsteen, DeRo (as they call him ’round here) is a-o-kay in my book.
