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Tour Report - Chicago -
Author:Miho On 09th September At 3:00 p.m. of Sep. 9th, I left Osaka for Chicago. It's the first time that I arranged my trip all by myself, not through a travel agency. So I was a bit nervous, but I thought that I would travel like this next time if I could manage the trip without any troubles. 13 hours later, I arrived Chicago at 1:00 p.m. on the same day I left. It was midnight in Japanese Standard Time. However, I wasn't sleepy at all because I was normally up till midnight to update my site. So, I went out of a hotel to explore the downtown of Chicago - after being lost for about 1 hour, I figured out where I was. I found Chicago fascinating and very well organized as a town. It must have been built by very rational people. Chicago became one of my most favorite cities. I walked around Loop area and the north side of the city, and I thought that those areas were actually much safer than the southern part of Osaka. After leaving the museum, I went back to downtown to look for the street appeared in Matrix. Surprise, surprise - while searching for the street, I was asked a direction by a traveler who apparently had just arrived the town. I took this incident as my lucky omen since I felt like Douso-jin, a Japanese god of streets who protects people from being lost while travelling, somehow came with me and protected me in Chicago. (Whenever I am asked a way to somewhere, I feel I am lucky and won't be lost because Douso-jin is with me.) Returning to my hotel room, I found that the hotel TV provided an internet connection. So I got on the internet to post a message to Janice and email my family (but they had not realized my email until I was back home - well, when your daughter gets older, less you care …) I was not comfortable typing though, because I had to hold the keyboard by my left arm At 11:45 at night, at last, I was able to talk with my friend, Tonia over the phone. Her voice made me very happy, and we agreed to meet the next day. On 10th September I met Tonia and some of her friends, and we had a very good time!!!!! In the evening, we went to the IMAX theater to see Matrix. We were all excited to see the movie again on the BIG screen!!! On 11th September At 8:00 am, I went to the House of Blues. In front of HOB, no one had not made a line yet, but I walked to the backside of HOB and found 7 girls had already showed up and waited. I got in the line and talked with some of the girls. They were all very kind to me and fun to talk with (Laura, were you in the line? Do you remember me?) At 8:30, the "Live at WTMX" morning show started. Julie called the station and they picked her call!! Julie told the station that she was standing in the line for the Dog Star concert tonight, and she told them about her feature. We shouted "HI!!" altogether for the show - it was the fascinating moment for a foreign tourist like me. One hour and half later, my friends, Tonia and Hillary showed up. While being there, I talked to many people in the line, and it was great. I want to thank all the people there. At noon, as Laura wrote, Erik and Cathy from MIX 101.9 brought lunch for a couple dozens of people in the line. Thank you, Erik and Cathy!! At 2:30 p.m., a crew of the station started to hand us VIP tickets. It began to rain when we entered HOB. Around 4:30, a staff of the station (or HOB) announced us that we would get autographed CDs after the show. I did not believe the announcement at that time, because I guessed that the band and the crews would be all tired after the show and forgot the promise. At 5:30, we moved to a small hall. VIP seats were placed in the center of the hall, and we were led to the right side . I wanted to stay near the speaker (but I couldn't?) - I could not see Keanu and Rob, but Bret and the audience. Javy, who was behind me, got drunk with rum or gin. Javy was very funny, and taught me how to dance. Hope to see you again, Javy!! At 6:00, Eric introduced the band members - Bret, Keanu, and Rob came in and greeted us!! Bret's hair grew longer, and Keanu looked thinner & was clean-shaven. I was sorry that I could not see Rob. As soon as I heard my favorite phrase in the beginning of "Alarming," I got instantly attached to their music. It's like all my senses were elevated to the next upper level, intense and very keen - I love this taste of feeling the band gives me! It's hard for me to explain what it's like in English, but I think it's similar to a thing Klagues wrote in his work Vom wesen des rythmu ("the essence of rhythm"), and the thing happened to me that night.I felt "love" for the band given from all the people around me. I also sensed "surprise" from the people in the VIP seats. Keanu and Rob seemed to enjoy the reaction from the audience, though I could not see them. Especially, Keanu looked so happy that he kept solid rock'n'roll. I regretted that I could not listen to Bret's special, a fire-like lib .As an encore, the band played my favorite song you world, which was not listed for the night's gig at all. I shouted this powerful phrase, "show me, hold me, kiss me" with the band (and while singing with them, I noticed a camera crew took a picture of me - please don't reveal pictures of me to the public, I would be pretty much embarrassed to be seen me being like that!).
Aftre the show, I went to eat dinner with Tonia and Lovecat. The famous Chicago pizza was amazing, and I could not finish my piece. I saved my pizza for the breakfast next morning. Tonia made fun of me, saying "it's real Chicago." The rain turned into a thunderstorm by the time we finished our dinner. That night, I tasted the best of Chicago. During the trip, I did not have any problems with my jetlag. I got sound sleep while in Chicago, and I guess it's because of the weather - this summer in Osaka was extremely hot that you could hardly sleep without the air conditioner (but I don't like it at all). Next time, I am looking forward to rocking out with you Dogstar members, my friends, and all the fans I'll meet in a Dogstar concert! (((((Dostar Rocks!!!!)))) Keanu sighting Sun Times Date:2000-Sep-15 I spy . . . Actor Keanu Reeves, whose movie "Hardball" is the only flick filming in Chicago right now, was spotted pulling away from Old Town eatery Topo Gigio Wednesday night . . . after a few glasses of wine and a plate of swordfish . . . on a red and black motorcycle. * Psst: Reeves is rumored to be interested in Sotheby's motorcycle sale Saturday. Is it actor Steve McQueen's famous vroom vroom? Sun Times Date:2000-Sep-15 Keanu and 20 assorted (Dogstar) pals piled into hot-hot Wicker Park eatery MOD on Damen, following the band's House of Blues gig. Keanu amused the MOD staff when he crawled under a table "like a four-year-old," to get to his seat on a banquette... Established since 1st September 2001 by 999 SQUARES. |
