This post could also be titled Adventures in Public Transportation... or how i was late to the show... so allow me to start from the beginning... when i saw that two of my favorite artists were coming on one tour i was more than a little stoked, Father John Misty with Destroyer opening... git ta fuck outta here!! Tillman and Bejar on the same night n the same place, i'll take it, had no problem shelling out the requisite cash for this one and since it was at Stage AE i could take the T aka light rail down to the North Side and walk over, meaning i could indulge in my favorite pastime, taking mushrooms and seeing live music (this is the venue of the two Flaming Lips show and a previous FJM show as well, great place to see bands, and i've seen many here, with both an inside and outside venue... (funny that those crazy Germans Kraftwerk are playing outside in early March, the crowd could be standing in a snowstorm possibly depending on the Rust Belt weather)... the beauty of taking the T means i can take my medicine as well as not having to pay $20 or more to park my fucking car, essentially a win win... unless of course..
For anyone who ever takes public transport we all know at any given time shit can go south real quick... even though i'm not a hipster kid anymore i was well up for this show and so i got shit in order straight away, there was a lot going on around the old homestead but i managed to get things sorted, made Disaster his dinner and then headed out towards the T station... originally i planned to get the 6:55pm train which would get me to my stop by roughly 7:30 and then a short ten minute walk to the gig... of course the weather would have to be shit to say the least, no rain or snow but temps in the teens with a brisk little breeze to boot... i got to the parking lot, being a professional i knew that if i took my boomers when i got on the train i'd be in fine form by showtime and also knew that by the time i returned to my hood i'd be quite on the downside of the psychedelics, basically on the micro part of the macro with just a short jaunt home... i parked and headed up to the platform...
The anticipation was building for both boomers and show and i stood watching the clock on the platform and the track, waiting for the headlights of the train to come around the bend... i was listening to an announcement that didn't quite add up, that trains could be running up to 15 minutes late plus there were repairs going on somewhere and it was at this point i got a bit nervous, i listened to it a few times and watched the time tick away, i knew i could head over to another station and catch the Blue Line instead of the Red which would get me to same spot on the North Side, i was also debating driving down but that would of course considerably alter my plans... after another minute or two i ran off the platform hopped in the car and drove to the other station, got there with a few minutes to spare and hopped on the train, the fucking Red Line which would actually take me right past where i had just left, i was a bit pissed at the shit show but figured i'd still be down there in time to catch Destroyer, maybe i'd miss the first song but at least my plan and the savings on parking would still be intact... i hopped on and grabbed a seat, pulled out my capsules filled with the vaunted Penis Envy strain and downed a half a dozen or roughly two grams and change, nothing off the charts but enough for a fine evening especially combined with my pen full of the original blueberry strain of cannabis... i figured it would arrive at the North Side station at 7:55, ten or so minutes to walk and get in the door, golden...
Alas the PRT, the regional transit had other ideas... seems they were working on the track downtown which meant i'd have to get off at a stop near the Greyhound Station (a short walk from my old gig at the Big World Bank Machine), catch a shuttle bus from there which would take me to another T station where i would hop another train that would get me to the show... alright maybe i'd miss the first two possibly three songs but since the setlist i'd seen was roughly 9-10 songs a night i'd still see the bulk of the show... that is until the bus got to the next train which then proceeded to sit on the tracks for a good ten minutes while i watched the clock tick knowing that now i might not see any of the Destroyer set... i would have been more angry but at this point the boomers were beginning to do their thing and i was having a fun time watching the train wiggle though it wasn't moving at all... if finally began moving and i got to my stop at roughly 8:25, jumped off and bounded up the steps and speed walked to the venue, the mushrooms now fully kicking...
At the doors i went through the metal detector and of course set it off which meant i had to get wanded down, being a bit on the rise with the fungus this turned into a comedy of errors, i was actually looking towards the stage and watching Destroyer while simultaneously trying to empty my pockets, of course i forgot that i had glasses in one pocket, my wallet, my dad's old belt i took when he passed (a Dickie's belt, metal buckle, the old man had taste in work clothes), my fucking keys for fuck sake, luckily the security guard was laughing at what a trainwreck i was and i apologized and blamed the trains, she laughed and said no problem probably sensing that i was a "on something" as they say, finally inside i beelined for the pissers where i was muttering and laughing, the young guy a few urinals down looked over and i laughed and said the T was a fucking mess and i'm too fucked up on drugs to deal with that shit... i made my way out and found a spot by the sound board in the back as usual, being 6'4 i do realize i block anyone behind me from seeing while i can see over most people so i try to be courteous one might say, at one point i did turn around and grin because there was a noticeable spot behind me cuz no one could see over me...
The shrooms now fully kicking i took in the last three songs of Destroyer's set, Bejar being the lovable disheveled curmudgeon, drinking from his red Solo cup, a three piece band that surprisingly made more music than one would expect... and what can i say? it was excellent... yes there was that tinge of bummed that i didn't catch it all but hey there is no reason to worry, fucking life is grand when listening to music and tripping... i wandered outside to hit the pen, the venue is expertly set up and the outside area is right off the bathrooms and even had a bar open, i asked the two people working it if they had drawn the short straw to get stuck out in the cold and they laughed and said, our boss is a dick, i smiled, handed over my $7 for a large bottle of water and went back in to wait for the show...
One may be shocked to discover this but i tend to meet people pretty easily... having bounced around the world enough on my own i have no problem talking to anyone really (sans anyone wearing a certain red fucking hat mind you) and so while i stood near the soundboard i struck up a conversation with a couple of women, which turned out to be a mother and her daughter, i smiled and mentioned how i had brought the I-mac to see the Flaming Lips and how the old man got so fucking high he nearly passed out, we talked kids and cats which is how i found out the girl was her daughter, 15 just like Disaster and the woman, Meg, mentioned something about our kids being the same age... the topic turned to weed and Meg mentioned that until a few years ago she had her own grow room at their house and how she used to grow some really good shit, i of course responded that that was most fucking excellent and told a few stories about this guy named Kono, some of the capers he had pulled, mentioned my wasted youth as a dreadlocked white boy running the streets, to which Meg said she would have loved to see that and to which i showed her an old photo on the phone... Meg's reaction was funny as she looked at the photo and said, jesus i'd have chased you around... i smiled... she then casually slipped in a comment about being divorced...
We stood talking as Meg downed beers and i drank water, it turned out her daughter's favorite band was The Smiths to which i stopped and said, good kid! that they were my all-time favorite band as well and told the story about being off my head on booze and blow at a Mozza show in Cleveland and how i was hanging out with a couple of old queens in the lobby and to their amazement could sing every song they called out... it was a pleasant conversation though Meg was a little over the top when it came time to get a beer or use the restroom, she worried someone would steal her daughter to which i laughed and said don't worry i'll keep an eye on her, somehow this made her feel better and she went off to grab her beer and the daughter and i talked about music and weed as she pulled out her own pen and took a hit, i laughed and told her she needs to cover the light on her pen as "technically" you couldn't hit a pen in the venue, she giggled and said "oh shit" and thanked me for the heads up... Meg came back with her beer and went on again about how she was afraid to leave her daughter and i then laughed and stated you just left her with a tripping muppet! she then stated that i exuded kind and gentle vibes to which i said she would be correct... we chatted a bit more and then the lights dimmed and the band began walking onstage... to be cont...
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