I also had the chance to make it over to Schubas—although sadly I arrived too late for one last bowl of their glorious mac and cheese—to see Lou Barlow and Wye Oak. The latter are a band who's music I'm totally familiar with, but whom I was somewhat surprised to discover to be a duo. They always struck me as at least a trio, but I suppose that's just a testament to how full they can sound thanks to one of them pulling double duty on drums and keyboard. The raw, almost alt-country sound served as an admirable lead-in to Lou Barlow's eclectic set which transitions between delicate acoustic ballads and loud, straight-ahead rock. It was pretty cool seeing the Dinosaur Jr. bassist in action with the Missingmen, turning in tracks from their Sentridoh III EP. For pictures and further thoughts, kindly direct your gaze to the post I wrote for the TOC blog.
My last day at the office, a couple of the guys from Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin came in and did an in-office performance which you can see over on the TOC blog. They were nice enough to invite me to their show later in the evening, so I ended up getting one more chance to see a show at Lincoln Hall before hitting the road. I caught a set from co-headliner Telekinesis, a band that seems to have matured quite a bit since their Merge records debut. SSLYBY's set was the highlight of the night, heavy on tracks from their brand new record Let It Sway. I can't say I've ever kept track of this band in the past, but I'll definitely being keeping my eye on them in the future—years on the road have molded this group into an extremely tight and fun live act. After a few Schlitz and some words with the SSLYBY boys, I bid Lincoln Hall goodbye (for the time-being).
My last night in Chicago was—oddly enough—spent with a bunch of folks from Athens who were in town visiting friends. It got me pretty excited about getting back home, so I guess it was somewhat opportune. Regardless, I miss all the great folks I met, and all the places I became accustomed to hanging out at. If nothing else, this summer solidified my resolve that Chicago is definitely the place where I can see myself ending up. I'm extremely grateful that things panned out the way they did—Marvel, I think you actually did me a favor by rejecting me (water under the bridge, I'll still read your comics). But, like I said, there's no use in moping about it, I've got some great memories, and I'll be back soon enough.
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