Wednesday Thursday

It was like a weekend, in the middle of the week. My parents watched the kids while Jason and I embarked on a midweek excursion of music and fun.

To try and keep a long story short, try to follow me here.  We had tickets to see Jason Mraz on Thursday night.  His best friend and fellow musician, Bushwalla  (Billy Galewood) was on tour with him.  Every year for the past five years a group has flown Billy out (independent of Jason) for LRC's (Living Room Concerts).  We went to our first last year which was held in a forest preserve.  We got to know the fans a bit and found them all to be really friendly.  The organizer, Rikki, has kept in touch with us through various social networking sources.  Since Billy was out with Jason this week, she set up an LRC for Billy and a few other local musicians on Wednesday night at Schuba's in Chicago in the small upstairs room.

I had the Grayslake Farmer's Market on Wed. until 7 pm, and we set out for the city right after.  We missed the first act but did see:

Anthony Bagnera of Makeshift Prodigy.

A bandmate who did a song.

Todd Carey

And of course Bushwalla (pictured here with Rikki).

 

Jason and I also invited Scott to the LRC.  I think he had a really good time.  He also let us crash on his floor.  Complete with Aerobed!  The next day, the three of us took a bike ride along Lake Shore Drive.  It was an amazing day.  Perfect weather.  We rode from his place on Montrose down to Fullerton by the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is where he'll be moving soon.  (To the area, not the actual zoo).

Could we ask for a better day? 

 

Great brotherly bonding.

No, not another member of the family, but one of the primates we saw when we took a quick walk through the zoo (it's free - so not like we are not getting our admission fee's worth by just breezing through).

When we went back up north, we went out to an Ethiopian restaurant called Demera.  I missed Ethiopian food and the food there was great.  Even Scott was making "yummy" noises the whole time!

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Did I mention that we got an email last week saying we'd be getting line jumper passes with our tickets?  We got in 15 minutes earlier than non-line jumper pass holders.

We ended up basically in the second row, surrounded by people we saw at the show the night before.

I really like one of the opening acts K'Naan.  A Somalian rapper.

Did I also mention they were taping this concert for Jason's next DVD?  So that was pretty fun.  The camera guy near us was really having a good time.

Yes, this close.

We were in a lot of the crowd shots.  We may end up on the DVD, who knows?

Look close, Jason's on the left and I'm on the far right.

How tired do I look?

 

Singing "Lucky" with Colbie Callait... for the third time.  Really!  He messed up the first time.  Not sure what was wrong the second time, but perhaps third time was a charm?

Bushwalla performed with Jason for the final song.

A very gracious Jason and his band.

Between Farmer's Market and 2 concerts, I think I may have gotten very close to winning a record for standing the most hours within a 2 day time frame.

Now to pack for our next adventure!