On Saturday, I went to the Morton Arboretum to see the Gin Blossoms. Remember them? I can’t believe it’s been ten years plus since “Hey Jealousy” came out. I still think back to a mix tape I had from that period that introduced me to the Gin Blossoms, the Counting Crows, Cracker, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc. It was such a great time for music. We haven’t, in my opinion, matched it since.
So the Arboretum is trying to fashion itself the Ravinia of the West. I think this is their first summer of live music. It was really cool; very serene and calm and lush, and the acoustics were phenomenal. The grounds where the concert was were not very large, which is understandable, since the space was not created with concerts in mind.
Some no-name piece-of-shit band opened; their name didn’t stick. Then the Blossoms took the stage and rocked immediately. They apparently have a new CD coming out in the fall, but they only played a couple songs from it; the rest were mainly from New Miserable Experience and their earlier EP. Songs like “Hey Jealousy,” “Allison Road,” “’Til I Hear it From You” from the Empire Records soundtrack, and “Follow You Down,” from Congratulations I’m Sorry. They didn’t play my two favorites: “Mrs. Rita” and “Competition Smile.” But overall it was a great show.
I’ve been in a nineties music phase lately. I went to the Vertical Horizon concert a few weeks ago. When I’m there listening to this old music, I remember the Jeff of that period, and it brings a smile to my face. Being a kid again. Feels nice for an hour and a half.
Robin Wilson, the lead singer/songwriter, kept self-effacingly referring to the concert as being at a Ribfest. He recognizes that what goes up must come down and after they had the most played video of the year when Empire Records came out (the filmstrip video for “’Til I Hear it From You”) they were destined to fall out of immense popularity and probably did make the Ribfest circuit. He ended the show by saying next time they’d play at a better Ribfest. I laughed and laughed.
Now if I can just get another chance to see Blessid Union of Souls….
3 comments:
They played Naperville RibFest two years in a row, I believe. Maybe you'll get lucky again. Ok, random humorous sidebar, but I have to share it.
I was watching Sesame Street this morning. (that's not the humorous part, I just don't have cable and matt lauer drives me crazy.)
But, Ernie was talking on a banana pretending to have a phone conversation. And he was trying to get Bert to do the same. Bert said, "Ernie, I don't think I'm emotionally secure enough to do this." Ernie finally convinces him, and the skit ends with Bert getting excited about talking, and saying, "Yeah, I'm 6 ft. 2, blonde hair...No, I don't think we should meet."
What's the deal with that??
Eric: That's hilarious. And completely creepy. I don't remember Sesame Street having such disturbing subtext. But maybe any problems in my life can be traced back to too early exposure through supposed childrens shows of disturbing imagery. Weird.... Eric when are you going to get a blog so I can read that?
You know what. I had one for 2 weeks, but I refused to give any my link, because I wanted to write anonymously and have an audience full of strangers. Yeah, that didn't really happen. I think it's really only by word of mouth that people stumble across these things.
I'll think about it.
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