And your ears shall hear…

Yesterday was Saturday, the sun was finally out, and, of course, one of my part time jobs was calling.   I work as a traffic editor in the NBC 5 Traffic Plus Center, located in Chicago’s downtown Loop.  We are hidden inside the Boeing building, 100 North Riverside Plaza, which is poised on the west side of the Chicago River.  The reason why I tell you all of this background information is to set the scene.  On my walk into work, the sun reflects off the breath taking skyscrapers and sparkles on the Chicago River, and all the people are scurring to places that I tell myself I would go if I had the day off.  While everyone else was out in boats, walking, shopping, drinking, eating hot dogs and watching baseball in the warm sun, the Cut Out Kid was on his way to work!  Might I also add to this picture, that we Chicagoans have barely seen the sun in June and the month is almost over.  So, the only thing that kept me positive while being stuck inside this state-of-the-art-hell on this beautiful 80 degree day, was the fact that after I got off of work it was just a hop, skip, and a jump to the Taste of Randolph, where there were a bunch of old skool 90’s bands playing.  The day couldn’t end fast enough, and when it did, we made our way down to “the Taste.”  Having to wade through all of that human traffic, we barely made it down to stage in time to see the first song of the Posies.  Now I was excited to see the Posies, as I haven’t truthfully kept up with them for a long time, but loved one of their recored when I was in high school.  Word on the street was that they were going to play that album, “Frosting on The Beater,”  the one that I loved so much from ’93, in it’s entirety.  Awesome!  That is exactly what they did, and they sounded as good as they did in ’93!!  The Posies completely rocked!  They blew me away, as they sang, harmonized, and jumped around the stage like little kids, actually having more fun than most bands do these days.  I missed the 1st song “Dream all Day,” but was lucky enough to catch to the 2nd one “Flavor of the Month,” which sounded so light and airy, just perfect for this outdoor festival!  They blasted through other tunes off this same record “Definite Door,” “Earlier Than Expected,” “Burn & Shine,” but the weird part was I don’t remember hearing “Solar Sister,” which is my favorite track.  They could have played this tune before we got down there, but I was told that they didn’t.  All in all I was blown away at the way The Posies performed, and the energy they brought out to that stage.  They have only improved over the years and it was great to see and hear as it evoked a lot of great memories.  Urge Overkill came on next and they also rocked pretty hard.  Though if I had to make a choice, I would say The Posies were just that much better and on top of their game.  Urge also brought back a lot of memories and had us talking about that great Chicago era that spawned everyone from Liz Phair to the Smashing Pumpkins, those were the days!  They played all their classics including “Sister Havana” and my all time favorite “Positive Bleeding!”  The band did sound really tight, and they nailed that performance!  Nash Kato was dressed in all white, still had the long, straight hair, sunglasses intact, and played some flashy guitars he seemingly borrowed from the rock gods; yes, he still has all of his swagger!  Urge played songs from all of their albums, except for the Neil Diamond cover and fan favorite “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon.”  Great music, great night!  We didn’t stay for the Tinted Windows set, but rumor has it that Evan Dando showed up and  jumped on stage to cover The Knack and Velvet Underground for a stint.  Wish I was there for that, but you just can’t see it all.  There is a time for work, and there is a time for play…and what about record shopping!?