A Wonderful Zero 7 Concert
I went to a Zero 7 concert last night. Obviously they would never come to Milwaukee so I high-tailed it to Chicago for the night.
So here I am, in Chicago. Staying over at Karl and Ray’s apartment near Soldier Field. I didn’t get too much sleep, their couch isn’t very comfy compared to my bed at home, but it was worth it.
Anyways, yesterday I got up, took a shower, and got dropped off at the Amtrak station. Wisconsin and Illinois have this service setup where you can get between Milwaukee and Chicago for $20 each way. They run multiple trains daily so I just grabbed the 1PM one and got in at 2:30.
So I got here, dropped my stuff off, and made my way up to Loyola. Of course, the friend of mine from Loyola was busy, so I had to kill an hour. I went downtown and looked at Loyola’s new downtown residence hall. It is absolutely beautiful.
Then I spent an hour at a Starbucks drinking down a caramel frappuccino and reading the last Saturday New York Times they had left. I had been to a few other Starbucks on my trek (there are 3 within a 3 block radius) and could only find the $5 Sunday edition, so when I saw the Saturday edition I jumped on the opportunity.
Actually, I probably should have paid to read the New York Times… Oh well, I put it back as I found it anyways.
Then I made it to Loyola. Of course, the L sorta broke down on the way from the downtown campus to the lakeshore campus, but the delay wasn’t that bad. I got to Lakeshore, looked over the Loyola Campus, and felt anxious to get back there. When I got off the L I met up with my friend and we went to dinner. It was a good dinner, pricey at $7.50 for Chipotle, but having the opportunity to catch up after a long time away was a good feeling.
After dinner I flagged down a cab and made my way to the concert venue.
The venue is really small. Well, not super small, but still, small. 1,100 people can fit in it, with booths and chairs along with a dance floor. All unreserved seats, so you could sit anywhere you wanted (except the booths, those were reserved.) I found a cool guy who I talked to for about an hour about music and etc then the show started.
Now being under 21 I obviously didn’t have a wristband to get me alcohol. But the guy I was with got me a beer from the waitress and I accepted after a bit of nagging. I wasn’t intending on drinking, but turning it down didn’t seem appropriate. Our waitress didn’t give a fuck that I didn’t have a wristband and I got offered a few more beers, but I turned them all down. I wasn’t there to drink, and I am glad that I stopped at one.
Anyways, the concert. First of all, José González is a great singer and guitarist. He opened the concert and was one of the main vocalists during the Zero 7 set. Some of his stuff was… ok. But then he started getting into it and I loved it. So did the crowd.
After he was done, Zero 7 came out. Like a lot of electronic groups, the main guys didn’t do much. Played keyboards a bit, messed with their Apple notebooks, and etc. The real star of the show was, again, José González and Zero 7 regular Sia Furler. Sia was just great. Very excited and was dancing and really having a fun time on stage. Jose was of course sitting down with his guitar, while the drummer/guitarists/main guys were in the background keeping everything together. I am not usually a concert person, but I have to admit, considering this trip will probably end up costing me $120, it is worth every penny.
Then I took a cab to the apartment, got in, noticed that my stuff was actually back at the office four blocks from the apartment, and made my way down the street at midnight to go grab my stuff.
Getting back I watched a few TV shows and talked for awhile then tried to get some sleep.
And now I sit here. Awake at 9:45 while everybody else is asleep, and ready to go home.
