Dave, Part Deux

Saturday, September 18th.

Okay, I just finished our blog from yesterday. Now, to get today down and I’ll be all caught up!

It is now 3:30 in the morning, so try to hang in there with me. I hope this all comes across in English, but I make no promises.

We crawled out of bed this morning for just enough time to confirm that our feet were bruised on the bottoms. Yesterday took a toll on us and we weren’t ready to face the day just yet. Thankfully we didn’t have any morning plans, and so we laid in bed and watched the rain pour down and the bolts of lightning streak across the sky. Once we were ready to emerge for the day the rain had let up and we headed north again, this time to a little diner a few blocks away. I was craving eggs benedict, and this place delivered.

After breakfast we hopped on the El train to head to the south area and check out the college, a frank lloyd wirght house and maybe some other things. BUT a combination of motionsickness and some rough looking people/projects that our train was going through had us turning back before we made it all the way south. I didn’t realize the EL train would move so much more than the Subway, but that thing rocked back and forth and made me one miserable girl in no time. So, we hopped on the train going the opposite direction and headed into downtown. We went to Pfitzer park and checked out the giant eyeball. Very cool. Kind of creepy, but cool none the less. Then we hit up a dunkin’ donuts, a drug store for motionsickness pills and a gas station for gingerale. I figured ONE of those three things had to cure me!

We spent the afternoon checking out Downtown, (OMG, I’ve never seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and it just came on the TV…and it is in Chicago! I’m looking at exactly where we were today! So cool!!!), we did some shopping and then headed back to the house to rest up before Dave part Deux.

Now, we didn’t have the up close and personal general admission tickets for this show…instead we were in section 216, otherwise known as BFE. Thankfully we had insurance, and weaseled our way back into the gen admission section! We weren’t as close as the previous night, but we also got there right at showtime and were just happy to be in gen. admission at all!

Jason was good, again. Then it was time for Dave. My fingers were crossed. PLEEEEEEEEASE DAVE, we traveled 2k miles, show us what you’ve got!!! He came out, and started the show on a strong note, good song, good energy…and then…it just kept getting BETTER! The show tonight, AMAZING! Easily the best we’ve ever seen. He played so many great songs and was 100% into it. We’ve seen him on his last night on tour before and his whole demeanor changes. It is kind of like the last day of school…before you graduate. So happy to be done, but so hard to say goodbye. Dave sang, and danced, and played his guitars, and sang some more. The really cool thing about this show, and about being in the gen admission section (this show sold out in less than 5 minutes) was that we were surrounded by his fans. His real, honest to goodness, fans. At one point he played the very beginning of a song, and before he could start singing, the audience belted out the lyrics and sang the ENTIRE song to Dave as he played. It was beyond cool!!! His face was priceless, he was just in awe. It was PHENOMENAL!!! The whole show was excellent and I’d do it all again in a heartbeat!

After Dave said goodbye and the lights came on a guy approached us asking if we’d e-mail him some of the pictures I had been taking. We said of course and got his info. He thanked us profusely, we talked about Dave, how good the show was, and other small talk and then he said “you guys wanna grab a beer or something with us?”. US was him, his wife, and another couple they were with. We said “sure” (we knew we had nowhere to go after the previous night of people-gridlock). So, we followed them to a reggae bar down the street. We got in, no cover charge (I think it was their “white guy discount” cause we were the only white people in there!! Hahaha) and they bought the first round. We listened to the music, danced, drank and moved on down the road. Next we ducked into an Irish pub and scored a sweet corner spot, and then a table with room for everyone. It was perfect. John and Courtney are from New Jersey and Gretchen and Dave are from Pennsylvenia (I think, I’m really sleepy). We also met up with Josh, a kid they met the previous night who had driven up from Memphis for the shows. The seven of us sat, drank, talked and had a BLAST. We drank until the bar closed…which is 3am out here. What a fun group of people!! I love when nights work out like that, nothing you could have expected or planned on, but awesome none the less!! We exchanged info, and all promised to keep in touch.

Now, we’re finally home, exhausted, sore, tired and totally happy. Kevin is passed out and I’m ready to join him!

I can’t help but wonder where Dave is this evening and if he’s thinking of me too.