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August 20, 2005
My Night in Rockford
So all week I thought I was going to Rockford College. Partially because I'm an idiot and thought the only thing in Rockford, IL was Rockford College. Partially, because when I asked my friend where we were going for this concert, I thought she agreed we were going to Rockford College. Oh, and add in a touch of WILPF mania, and you'll understand why I thought I was going to Jane Addams' alma mater.
Instead, I drove past my friend's flat and had to drive back the other way. I was anxious, since my driving tour of Chicago made me later than our agreed upon meeting time. Little did I know we couldn't leave on time anyway - someone needed to find the perfect outfit.
So then there was the mad dash to Rockford. With a driver-decided pit stop for gas and food. Then I felt guilty the rest of the way to Rockford, since the band we were going to see started at 9pm and the stop I thought would take 10 minutes ended up taking closer to 25.
So we got to Rockford and despite my turn into Rockford College's driveway, managed to get to the decidely un-college-like setting, Elixir night club. As soon as my phone rang, I knew it was mi chavo. Primarily because no one else calls me, especially not at night. But I missed the call. At about 9:05, we got to the front of the club line. And my phone rang again. I answered and told mi chavo I was at a club with my friend and her fam and would talk to him tomorrow. Then we went inside to hear the best band of the night - Blackmaker.
Their music was unique and yet reminds you of the great rock you never hear anymore on commercial radio. It has an infectious beat and pure rock presence on stage. And I'm not just writing this because one of my friends dates the drummer. I really did enjoy their music the most.
There were three other bands that night. And lots of drinking and chatting and spilling beer. I was primarily responsible for the spilling beer part (my inner klutz always shines through). It was sorta a surreal experience. To explain how I knew my friend, I had to mention my boyfriend (they used to work together), which leads to conversations that seem uncomfortable to me. As much as I love mi chavo, I want to be able to meet people as an individual and not always proclaim my couple-ness. Anyway, after an extremely full week of getting reacquainted with Central Standard Time, work, and my father's birthday, I had forgotten that today is my anniversary. Which I remembered last night at a rock concert.
In any event, there was a lot of rock music last night. Blackmaker opened for Theory of a Dead Man. Since ToaDM's website doesn't allow you to view info on their old shows, I can't tell you the names of the other bands that played last night.
At the end of the night, we were caught in a thunder storm. Anyone who knows me knows I hate driving in rain (my one real accident happened in the rain) and I hate driving long distances (bad wrist problems). After driving my grey whale alone most of the time, it was weird to have five other ppl with me. At first, people chatted but then they all started falling asleep. Since I am horrible at staying awake past 2am, I started rambling to my friend about her office's politics...which is weird since its been months since it was actually a concern for me. Back to my own reality. I'm off to write a proposal for WCUSP - Women Challenge U.S. Policy: Building Peace on Justice in the Middle East, a national campaign of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
Posted by cj at August 20, 2005 02:15 PM