America 250 Rocktober Song #11: "Corn Dog Sonnet #7" by Sincere Engineer

We're heading back to the Midwest for the eleventh song of this Rocktober.  Chicago's Sincere Engineer has been putting out music for about ten years now.  I've had the pleasure of seeing them four or five times, and they put on a great show.  They always seem like they're (a) having fun and (b) grateful to be there -- which are two of the best qualities a band can have while onstage.

Musically, they straddle the line between punk, pop punk, and indie rock, whatever that means.  I think I would classify their songs as being observational, introspective, and/or somewhat self-deprecating.  And my selection probably falls within all everything I've just mentioned.

"Corn Dog Sonnet No. 7" is a song off the band's debut album, 2017's Rhombithian.  It doesn't get more American or more Midwestern than encased meat encased in cornmeal and deep fried -- and then writing and recording a song about it.  Well, more specifically, it's about lying on the couch all day and eating corn dogs.  The video, which was made by lead singer Deanna Belos, has various scenes of the songs lyrics written on things in mustard -- and as the liner notes to the YouTube video say, "probably ruined a lot of stuff in the process."  It doesn't get more Chicago than mustard and hot dogs.  Frankly, people who put ketchup on hot dogs are untrustworthy as humans.  There, I said it.

I'm going to be returning some videotapes tomorrow, but I'll be back on Monday for another exciting week of America 250 Rocktober.

CoronaVinyl Day 99 (Geographic Name): Chicago IX by Chicago

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Before we get to the music, I'll be taking another break from posting tomorrow and this weekend, as I celebrate our nation's 244th birthday.  Today's CoronaVinyl category is "geographic name," and by that, I mean a band or artist whose name contains the name of a specific city, state, country, or continent.  Vinyl-wise, I had plenty to choose from:  Asia, Patti Austin, Boston (who I already featured), Chicago, Perry Como, Creedence Clearwater Revival (who I already featured), Marshall Crenshaw, John Denver, Emerson, Lake & Palmer (who I already featured), Hiroshima, Jackson 5 (who I already featured), Michael Jackson, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, Janis Joplin, Dave Mason, Joni Mitchell, Otis Redding (who I already featured), Sugarhill Gang, James Taylor, USA for Africa, Dinah Washington, Grover Washington, Jr., and Jackie Wilson, among others.

It turns out, however, I only live in one of those places, and that's Chicago.  No American band other than the Beach Boys has had more success on the Billboard singles and albums charts than Chicago. They have sold over 120 million albums worldwide, with 18 platinum albums, five #1 albums, three #1 songs, and 21 Top 10 songs. They were the leading US singles charting group during the 1970s. They released 12 albums in the '70s, five of which hit #1 and ten of which were in the Top 10.  At one point in 1974, all seven of the band's albums were on the Billboard album chart at the same time.  All but one of the 30 singles they released in the '70s charted on the Billboard Top 100, with 22 Top 40 hits, 13 Top 10 hits, and one #1.  And, if memory serves me correctly, they are the only band in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 with a Top 40 hit in four consecutive decades ('60s-'90s).

They were finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.  The year before that, Billboard ranked them as the #15 band/artist of all-time in terms of success on the Hot 100 singles chart and #9 all-time regarding success on the Billboard album chart.

The band was good about naming their albums in sequential order with a Roman numeral.  I have several Chicago albums, but I decided on 1975's Chicago IX, since it's their first greatest hits album.  It topped the album charts in the U.S. and Canada, and it has since gone platinum five times in the U.S. and thrice in Canada.  The only one of the eleven songs on the album that didn't reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 is "Wishing You Were Here," which topped out at a meager #11.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Feelin' Stronger Every Day"
This song just builds and builds.  It starts as kind of soulful, jazzy pop song, then breaks into an uptempo bridge that builds into an all-out frenzied jam at the end.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Make Me Smile"
"Make Me Smile" is another great song.  While most of the band's songs featured bassist Peter Cetera or keyboardist Robert Lamm on lead vocals (or both), this one features some soulful vocals from guitarist Terry Kath.  It was the group's first Top 40 hit in the U.S., rising to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

CoronaVinyl Day 32 (Illinois): Super Fly by Curtis Mayfield

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

With my additions to CoronaVinyl categories, I added a bunch of geographic categories, such as states, countries, and countries within countries.  The first of those is Illinois, and while I had various artists to choose from, I went with Chicago's own Curtis Mayfield.  He is one of 23 artists who has been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice -- first as a member of soul pioneers The Impressions and second as a solo artist.  He's also a member of the Songwriting Hall of Fame and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Mayfield grew up both on the South Side and then in the notorious Cabrini-Green public housing projects on the North Side, along with Jerry Butler, with whom Mayfield formed The Impressions in the late '50s.  After Butler left The Impressions in the early '60s, Mayfield took over lead vocals, in addition to handling songwriting duties.  With Mayfield at the helm, The Impressions had a string of hits, like "Gypsy Woman," "Keep On Pushing," "It's Alright," "Woman's Got Soul," and the Civil Rights anthem "People Get Ready."

He left The Impressions in 1970 for a solo career, and two years later, he wrote and performed the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Super Fly.  The film is about a pimp and coke dealer who is trying to get out of his life of crime.  The soundtrack hit #1 on both the general Billboard album chart and the Billboard R&B album chart, and both singles from the album landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, with the title track going to #8 and "Freddie's Dead" reaching #4 (both were also Top 5 hits on the Billboard R&B charts).  Mayfield's funk and soul soundtrack is one of the few soundtracks that outgrossed the movie for which it was made, and while the film was not a huge success, it was the highest-grossing blaxploitation film at the time it was released.  The album itself was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

More so than the chart success of the soundtrack, Mayfield's songs and lyrics didn't sugarcoat anything or glorify drug use or inner city life.  To the contrary, Mayfield provided a dark and poignant social commentary about the perils of drug addiction, life in the ghetto, and the unfortunate choices those in poverty are forced to make.

Mayfield went on to make 23 more albums, including his final album in 1996, released six years after he was paralyzed from the neck down after lighting equipment fell on him during a concert in Brooklyn.  He died in 1999 at age 57, due to complications related to type 2 diabetes.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Pusherman"
"Pusherman" is one of those songs I alluded to above that details how drugs can pervade lower income areas.  If you didn't pay attention to the lyrics, you might think it's just a catchy funk song.  It's sung from the perspective of a drug dealer, who extols his importance to you, his purchasers and victims.  

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Superfly"
The title track is another funk classic.  The song is an ode to the film's main character, and it played over the closing credits of the film.  And if you recognize the intro, it has been sampled in a bunch of songs over the years, including The Beastie Boys' "Egg Man" from Paul's Boutique and the childbirth section of the intro track to Notorious B.I.G.'s debut album Ready to Die.

Retro Video of the Week: "Down With the Sickness" by Disturbed

This coming Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Chicago-based metal band Disturbed's debut album, The Sickness, which made a pretty solid splash among the nu metal of the day.  The album went to #29 on the Billboard album charts, but more importantly, it has gone 5x platinum in the U.S.  Admittedly, I don't know a ton about Disturbed, other than that they formed in Chicago -- which I obviously appreciate -- and lead singer David Draiman has an unusual and interesting backstory.

Anywho, I'm picking "Down With the Sickness" as the song for this week's Retro Video of the Week because it's the Disturbed song I'm most familiar with.  I've always liked that "ooh-ah-ah-ah" that Draiman screams out at various points in the song.  The song was certified platinum by the RIAA, and it hit #5 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and #8 on the Billboard Alternative chart.

New Book: Chicago by David Mamet

Last week, I finished reading Lou Reed: A Life by Anthony DeCurtis, a fascinating look into the life of one of the most influential figures in rock history.  Reed, of course, was the lead singer of The Velvet Underground in the late '60s and early '70s before going solo for the next 40 years or so before he died in 2013.  From forced electroshock therapy as a teenager to hard drugs to the underground New York gay scene to making an album of industrial noise as a "fuck you" to his record label to dating a trans woman to getting married and going "straight" to that strange collaboration with Metallica, Reed lived a life full that won't soon be duplicated.  He was a notorious curmudgeon, but also had a total soft side and was a loyal and caring friend to many.  I definitely recommend this if you have any interest in the VU or Reed.  My favorite anecdote was from 1987.  Reed was going to be performing at Farm Aid, and he stayed with John Mellencamp in Bloomington.  You see, my favorite bar in Bloomington is The Bluebird, a live music venue.  On the back wall, there's a big picture of Reed performing, and I just figured that was an homage, but it turns out Mellencamp arranged for Reed to play an unannounced warm-up show at the Bluebird with Mellencamp's backing band.  So that was cool enough, but then Reed showed up to visit Glenn Gass's history of rock and roll class for a Q&A session.  Gass is my favorite professor or teacher at any level of education.  These Bloomington details seemed a little odd and too specific when I was reading it -- not that I was complaining -- but then I remembered that the author, Anthony DeCurtis, is a fellow IU alum.

Next up is Chicago by David Mamet, which came out last year and is Mamet's first novel in 20+ years.  It's historical fiction set in 1920s Chicago (Mamet is a native Chicagoan), so it should be pretty good.  Is there anything he can't do?

Books Read in 2019:
-The Anatomy of Evil by Michael H. Stone, M.D.
-The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
-Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix by Charles R. Cross
-Chuck Klosterman X: A Highly Specific, Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century by Chuck Klosterman
-Lou Reed: A Life by Anthony DeCurtis

New Book: Hidden History of Lincoln Park by Patrick Butler

Sorry for the posting hiatus.  I was too busy with work, turkeys, and the like.

A couple weeks ago, I finished reading Different Seasons by Stephen King.  Different Seasons was released in 1982, and it is comprised of four novellas.  Three of of them have been made into major motion pictures, and the fourth is apparently going to be made into a movie within the next two years.  I liked all of them.  Here are the novellas:
-"Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" is, of course, the basis for The Shawshank Redemption, which I've never seen in full, but I know the premise and I know how it ends.  The novella is good.  It's about perseverance, but you already knew that.
-"Apt Pupil" was the basis for the 1998 film of the same name.  It's about a teenage boy who discovers that a nazi war criminal (now in his 80s) is living under an assumed name in his California town.  The boy and the man become acquaintances, bringing out the worst in each other.  
-"The Body" was adapted into the 1986 classic Stand By Me, which I haven't seen in forever, so basically all I remembered was the infamous puking scene.  The premise is that four twelve-year-olds in rural Maine in 1959 hear about the location of the dead body of a kid from another town, so they head off to find it.
-"The Breathing Method" is scheduled to be adapted into a film in 2020.  It's about a strange and secretive men's club in New York City, where the members occasionally tell weird or macabre stories.  It is the story within the story that an elderly club member bestows on the membership that was definitely the most grisly and interesting part of the four novellas for me.  I'm interested to see the film adaptation of "The Breathing Method," as there is some pretty gruesome stuff going on.

I have since started reading Hidden History of Lincoln Park by Patrick Butler.  Since I've lived in various locations in that neighborhood for over a decade, I figured I should probably know a little bit more about the history.  Everyone knows about John Dillinger being shot in the alley next to to the Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue, or the St. Valentine's Day Massacre at what is now an empty yard on Clark, between Armitage and Webster, but there is a lot more (good and bad).  Hell, I've already learned about some local bars that I've visited many times that are haunted.

Books Read in 2018:
-How Music Works by David Byrne
-But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past by Chuck Klosterman
-Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
-My Cross to Bear by Gregg Allman with Alan Light
-Different Seasons by Stephen King

Tuesday Top Ten: Shows I Saw at Riot Fest

A little over a week ago, I had the pleasure of attending my first Riot Fest, here in Chicago at Douglas Park.  In years past, for one reason or another -- weddings, football games, Oktoberfest, seances, etc. -- the weekend of Riot Fest has been bad for me.  This year, however, the musical gods were looking out for me.  Riot Fest always has an amazing lineup, and this year was no exception.  I went all three days and saw some amazing bands and artists.

Before I get to the music, let's talk about the fest itself.  The only other music festival I can really compare it to is Lollapalooza, and these two fests couldn't be more different as far as the patrons, attitude, and ease of intrafest movement.  There is no EDM, which means there aren't hordes of suburban teenagers tweaking on Molly.  The average age is probably somewhere above 30, which is nice.  And the fest itself is much more compact, which makes it a lot easier to see two bands who might be playing at the same time.  Also, it was a breeze getting into the fest all three days.

I only had a couple complaints:

• First, it is a giant pain in the ass to get to and from the fest.  Douglas Park is kind of in a no-man's land on the near southwest side.  Only one L line goes anywhere near the park, and they didn't seem to be running enough trains after the fest ended each night.  Trying to get a cab or Uber out of there was nearly as bad.  We had to walk about a mile Saturday night to get to a spot where our Uber could pick us up without having to get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.  I'm not sure there's a solution to this, other than putting Riot Fest in my back yard, as I've suggested no fewer than six times a day for the last six years to the Riot Fest organizers.

• Second, for whatever reason, they didn't announce the daily lineup until about a week before the fest.  I don't know if that was on purpose or if there were issues, but that's not cool.  

• Third, they need to put some lights near the food stands because when it got dark, it was nearly impossible to read a lot of the menus on the booths or to see the giant smoked turkey leg I was wolfing down.

• Fourth, there was a giant emotional support hog that somehow got into the fest, but then again, its owner was wearing jorts.

But the positives far outweighed the negatives, and I'd go back without hesitation.  

Here are the bands and artists for which I saw two or more songs over the course of the weekend:

Friday:  Matt & Kim; Flogging Molly; Bleachers; Atmosphere; Cypress Hill; Weezer

Saturday:  Gary Numan; Reignwolf; Bully; Cat Power; Wolfmother; Twin Peaks; Elvis Costello & The Imposters; GWAR; Jerry Lee Lewis; Beck

Sunday:  Blondie; Alkaline Trio; Father John Misty; Bad Religion; Run The Jewels


Here are my top ten shows that I saw over the course of the weekend:

10.  Atmosphere
One of the people who went with us wanted to see Atmosphere, and I didn't have anyone I wanted to see at the same time, so I went along and was pleasantly surprised.  I only have one Atmosphere song in my music catalog, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  They were entertaining and energetic.

9.  Bully
High-energy punk rock is kind of what Riot Fest is all about, and that's basically what Bully plays.  On a hot afternoon, they took my mind off the heat for a while.  Well, not really, but it was still enjoyable.

8.  Jerry Lee Lewis
Only at Riot Fest can one see GWAR and then walk a hundred yards or so to see an 82-year-old legend of rock and roll.  The Killer can still kill.  It may take him a while to walk from the side of the stage to the piano, but once he gets there, it might as well be 1956.  His band was solid as well, including IU alum Kenny Aronoff on drums.  There aren't too many early rock and roll legends still alive (pretty much just Lewis and Little Richard), much less touring, so this was pretty awesome.  On a related note, one of the oddest moments of the weekend was walking into Riot Fest on Saturday.  I overheard a millennial couple debating the morality of going to see Jerry Lee Lewis later that night because of the fact that, in 1957, Lewis married his teenaged first cousin once removed.  Boys will be boys!

7.  Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly never disappoints.  Never.

6.  Cypress Hill
As part of their set, Cypress Hill played the Black Sunday album in its entirety -- but from back to front.  That was one of my first CDs, so it was a nice trip down memory lane, and I was amazed at how many lyrics I still remember.

5.  Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Declan MacManus and crew played all of his hits and kept up the energy.  We were all amazed that he is 64.

4.  GWAR
One of the bands I was most excited to see was horror metal stalwarts GWAR.  I couldn't tell you the name of a single GWAR song, but I knew it would be a spectacle, and I was right.  Massive costumes somehow don't hinder the band from playing some pretty damn good speed metal.  And then there's the stage show.  Monsters, ghouls, demonic priests, blood shooting from various orifices.  It was everything I had hoped for and more.  And, perhaps coincidentally, it was the show at which the most people tried to sell us drugs.  Yeah, dude, I want to buy acid from a stranger so I can trip for the first time ever at a GWAR show.

3.  Run The Jewels
I had seen Run The Jewels last year at Lolla, and they were great.  At Riot Fest, they were a last-minute surprise addition, and they were the headliners Sunday night.  The people I went with wanted to get close, and so we did.  It was a great show.  Like GWAR, I don't really know any songs, but I didn't have to know any to have fun.  It was a lot of energy, and both Killer Mike and El-P worked the crowd and were funny when they needed to be and serious when they needed to be.  Definitely a great way to end the fest.

2.  Beck
I had never seen Beck before, so I was pretty pumped when he was announced as a headliner.  As I said to a friend during the show, he is basically the David Bowie of our generation -- a rock and roll chameleon who makes good music no matter what the genre.  Xenu has been kind to him.  His show was fantastic.  Great music and great lasers.  The only bummer was that Andrew W.K. was playing at the same time, and I would have liked to have seen him too -- since I like to party -- but I've already seen him in concert, so I stuck with Beck.

1.  Weezer
As of less than two weeks before Riot Fest, blink-182 was supposed to be one of the headliners.  Then, Travis Barker had some health issues, so the band had to cancel their tour.  Enter Weezer to take their place.  Now I like blink-182, but I love Weezer.  They killed it.  In addition to their own hits and their spot-on cover of Toto's "Africa," they covered the Turtles' "Happy Together" (with a little mashup of Green Day's "Longview" in the middle), "Take On Me" by a-ha (acoustic), blink-182's "All The Small Things" to start the encore in honor of who they replaced, and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" to end the show.  To reiterate, I love Weezer.

Tuesday Top Ten: Lollapalooza Edition 2018

August 2-5 was this year's edition of Lollapalooza, once again in lovely Grant Park here in downtown Chicago.  Due to some poor work trip scheduling on my part, I was only able to go Thursday through Saturday, but had to skip Sunday because I was traveling.  Shit happens, I guess.

And on top of that, I had a miss a few bands I wanted to see on Thursday (most notably, Franz Ferdinand) because of some other non-music-festival-related commitments, and then Saturday was a disaster.  One of the two entrances to the fest -- the one I use almost exclusively -- was closed for 45 minutes in the middle of the afternoon because it was so backed up, so I missed seeing another few bands I wanted to catch.  I also had to miss the headliners Saturday night (Vampire Weekend and The Weeknd) because I had tickets to a Jack White aftershow at the Metro.  I'm not complaining at all about that -- just that I probably would have tried to see half of both headliners' sets.

Now normally, I would have some long, elaborate post ranking my ten favorite bands that I saw, complete with pictures of each band and all that shit.  This year, however, since my Lolla experience was somewhat incomplete and I only saw some or all of 14 sets, I'm going to just run through everyone I saw chronologically and give them a grade.  No more work trips the Monday after Lolla.

Thursday
Slaves:  A-
This British duo rocked an early afternoon crowd.

Basement:  B+
These guys were kind of punkish, garage rock-y, so I enjoyed them.

Curtis Harding:  B+
I was happy to see a few soul acts in this year's lineup.  Harding was the one I most wanted to see, and he was solid.

Camila Cabello:  B
My daughters -- who I took with me earlier in the day on Thursday -- were livid that I was going to be seeing Camila Cabello and they were not.  She was fine.  I don't really know much of her music, but the millennials seemed to like her.

Arctic Monkeys:  B-
I love Arctic Monkeys, but their set was a little too drowsy and loungy, in large part because their new album is a concept album set in a casino and lounge in space.  I could have used more rock from them -- and I know they can rock.

Friday
Post Animal:  B+
These Chicago-based rockers put on a good show, with a combo of rock, punk, psychedelia, and pop.

Parquet Courts:  A
I have been a fan of Parquet Courts for several years now, but hadn't seen them live.  They didn't disappoint, and they were pretty funny as well.

CKY:  B+
My only real familiarity with CKY comes from their song "Flesh Into Gear" off the Jackass movie soundtrack (Bam Margera's brother Jess is in the band).  They played that one, so I was happy.  They were otherwise too hard for the people I was with, so we only stayed for a few songs.

Greta Van Fleet:  A-
This was the band I was most excited to see at Lolla, and they didn't disappoint.  Three brothers and their cousin from small town Michigan who sound like Led Zeppelin.  That's all you need to know -- other than the fact that there is no one in the band named Greta Van Fleet.

BORNS:  B
We were listening to this kind of from the middle of the field in between where he was playing and where Bruno Mars would be playing afterward, and I liked what I heard.

Bruno Mars:  A
I have only a handful of Bruno Mars songs in my vast music catalog, but he's always been one of those guys who I thought would put on a really good show, and I was right.  He is certainly a headliner, and he killed it.

Saturday
LL Cool J:  A
After Greta Van Fleet, LL Cool J was a close second as far as who I was most excited to see.  His set was a hip hop history lesson for all the youngsters.  He was awesome.

St. Vincent:  A-
I guess I didn't realize how weird St. Vincent is.  I don't mean that as a bad thing.

Dua Lipa:  B-
This was background music while I decided how quickly I needed to leave to get to my Jack White aftershow.

Jack White aftershow:  B+
The White Stripes are one of my favorite bands, and I own every studio album Jack White has released with the White Stripes, Raconteurs, Dead Weather, and solo.  I was beyond excited when I got tickets to his aftershow at the Metro because it would be the smallest venue in which I had seen him.  It was a "no phone" show -- the first I'd ever been to -- which means everyone got a little neoprene pouch to put their phone in, and it snapped shut, so you couldn't use your phone until someone unlocked the pouch after the show.  I didn't mind that, frankly, since it meant I didn't have to watch the show partly through someone's iPhone.  White was great and played some White Stripes songs I wasn't expecting him to play, including one of my favorites, "You're Pretty Good Looking For a Girl," which he's played less than 20 times live solo.  My only beef is that he played for a mere hour and fifteen minutes (and the setlist.fm page for the show incorrectly says there was a second encore), and I could have stood for at least another hour.

Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite Pops

Whether you call it pop (which is the correct term), soda, soda pop, sody pop, or Coke, Chicago is no longer it's friend.  As you may have heard, Cook County -- the adorably fiscally irresponsible county home to over five million residents, including yours truly -- recently enacted a "sweetened beverage tax."   Now, with a few limited exceptions, whenever you buy a "sweetened" beverage -- whether sweetened with sugar or artificially -- you now pay one cent per ounce in tax (in addition to the 10+% sales tax you're already paying).  So, if you're buying a case of Diet Coke, that's an extra $2.88.  This is all supposedly for the kids.  You know, because an extra 20 cents is going to prevent a kid from buying a bottle of Mountain Dew.  Hell, even Gatorade and Propel are being taxed.  Does the Cook County Board not want us to replenish electrolytes while working out?  Now that seems irresponsible.

The worst side effect for me is that the 7-11 across the street has now removed unsweetened iced tea (which is not part of the tax) from its fountain drinks because it doesn't have a way to systematically distinguish in its cash register system what's in one Big Gulp versus what's in another.  So now the healthiest option on the tap has been eliminated.  I used to be able to walk in with a dollar, get a Big Gulp of iced tea, slap a dollar down, tell them to keep the two cents in change, and strut out like I was the cock of the walk (which I was).  Now, I either have to buy a fucking bottle of unsweetened iced tea (which is never quite as good as the fountain) for $1.89 or I have to pay $1.18 for a fountain Diet Mountain Dew.  This is a choice no one should have to face, not even Toni Preckwinkle.

As I enter the Post-Pop Era in Chicago, I fondly remember what it was like to drink pop without being taxed, something my children will never have the pleasure of experiencing.  With that, here are my ten favorite types of pop (in alphabetical order).  Some are specific brands, while others are general types.
  
1.  Cherry Coke
I remember when Cherry Coke was introduced in 1985.  My mom and I (and presumably my brother, because who leaves a 3-year-old at home unattended?) walked to the Circle K a few blocks away and bought a couple cans of Cherry Coke.  It was awesome then, and it's awesome now.

2.  Cream Soda
I am a huge fan of cream soda, although not when it has too much vanilla (looking your way, A&W).

3.  Diet Coke
At some point late in college, I realized that drinking regular Coke, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper probably wasn't good for my waistline.  I stopped drinking coffee because it gave me the jitters and the shits, which is an unpleasant combination when trying to sit through a history lecture.  So I switched to Diet Coke, and never looked back.  Of course, McDonald's has the best Diet Coke.  That's just a fact.

4.  Diet Mountain Dew
I used to drink a good amount of regular Mountain Dew, but decided that wasn't good for me either (see Diet Coke, above), so I went with Diet Dew.  Even with the extra 20 cents tacked on, I'll still get a Big Gulp of this now and then, if I need a pick-me-up on a Saturday afternoon.

5.  Diet Vernor's Ginger Ale
Growing up, I would visit my grandparents in the Detroit area, where there was this insanely effervescent ginger ale called Vernor's.  I like regular Vernor's, but it's usually too bubbly.  Diet Vernor's, on the other hand, still has the gingery power of regular Vernor's, without the risk of making me cough up my drink.

6.  Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb
I don't know how any one dislikes Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb, even if the latter has changed its name to Pibb Xtra.

7.  Faygo Rock N' Rye
This is another holdover from my trips to Michigan as a kid.  It's kind of it's own beast, so I'm not sure exactly how to categorize it -- maybe a cherry cream soda.  Whatever it is, it's fantastic.

8.  Green River
Green River is a Chicago institution.  It's a Kelly green lime soda that I'm pretty sure you can only find in the Chicagoland area -- often on the fountain of a mom and pop hot dog stand or Italian beef spot.  The best part is that the CCR song and album of the same name were inspired by the pop.

9.  Orange Soda
I love a good orange soda, which I realize is redundant, whether it's Fanta, Crush, Sunkist, Slice, Jones, Jarritos, or generic.

10.  Root Beer
Root beer is another one of those pops that I find it impossible that anyone could dislike it.  I could drink root beer at any time, with or without ice cream.  There isn't any one particular brand of root beer that I prefer over others, but I'd say a list of brands I enjoy includes, in no particular order, Dad's, Mug, Barq's, Goose Island, IBC, Sprecher, and Faygo.

What about you fine folks?  Is there any kind of pop I should try, when outside the confines of the second-largest county in the country?

Tuesday Top Ten: Lollapalooza 2016

I apologize for not posting much over the last week.  I've been hella busy trying to bring back slang from the early 2000s.  Also, I spent the better part of four days attending Lollapalooza here in Chicago.  This was the 25th anniversary of the first Lollapalooza, which Perry Farrell started as kind of a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction.  It's the twelfth year it has been in Chicago, since its reincarnation.  I've still only missed one since it's been in Chicago, and this year's version was expanded from three days to four, in honor of the 25th anniversary.  

When the lineup was announced, I wasn't too excited with the headliners -- Lana Del Ray, J. Cole, Radiohead, Major Lazer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Disclosure, Ellie Goulding, and LCD Soundsystem -- but there were a lot of non-headliners that I wanted to see.  All in all, it was another successful year.

It started Thursday, and i decided to take Daughter and Lollipop during the afternoon because kids under 10 get in free.  The Kidzapalooza section was fantastic, with hair dying, airbrush tattoos, painting, various instruments kids can play, and a tent where they could sing their own hip hop song.  My girls came up with a surprisingly vulgar diss track aimed some boy in their school named Ethan.  Watch your back, bro, or else you're gonna end up on the wrong end of a glitter pen.

Around 5, I dropped the girls off with Jester, and then headed back to the festival with my friends Daniel and Meredith.  It was raining a little by this point, which was a recurring issue the first couple days.

One of the nice additions this year was a commemorative Bud Light can just for the 25th anniversary.

They also added prosecco to their wine selection, which proved to be a welcome addition to my drinking regimen.  As a reminder, once the sun goes down, I switch from beer to wine, since it's more bang for the buck, and presumably I will have to pee less.  Of course, when you're downing 5-8 liters of water during the day, I don't think there's much short of spontaneous combustion that can prevent you from peeing a lot.

After the fest ended Thursday, Daniel and I went to see an official Lolla aftershow at The Metro featuring Jane's Addiction.  

They didn't go on until about 12:30, so it was a late night, but a good show, despite the fact that Perry's mic wasn't turned up enough.  Seeing them in such a small venue was cool.

Friday morning came far too quickly, but I was surprisingly not in bad shape.  I fulfilled my fatherly duties Friday morning, and then Jester, in her infinite wisdom, took the kids to Indiana to visit her sister for the weekend, leaving me to my own devices.  Believe me, it's mutually beneficial, even when a headlight pops out of our car on the interstate and she has to get out in the pouring rain to kick it back in.

As I just alluded to, it rained for a good chunk of Friday afternoon, but once it stopped, the temperature was great, and good times were had by all.  Wisely, we decided not to go out after Lolla ended Friday night, and I got about 9 1/2 hours of sleep.  It was glorious.

Saturday started well, with a couple of solid bands.  As I do every year, I was wearing my "festival flip flops," a pair of Bulls flip flops I got at the United Center during Game 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals, after I managed to bust a flip flop before the game started.  They are rubber, but pretty solid, and wearing them ensures that I don't ruin my regular flip flops with water, mud, or teen tweakers' vomit.  Why am I talking about my flip flops, you ask?  Well, Saturday, as we were walking from The Joy Formidable to get some food, a whore stepped on my left flip flop just right as she passed me in the crowd, and the strap ripped out of the sole.  How do I know she was a whore, you ask?  Because whores never apologize, and she certainly just kept on walking.  Thankfully, we were right by the medical tent, where they gave me some medical tape to patch it up.  Amazingly, it held up for the rest of the day.

After the last show Saturday, we ended up smoking cigars and drinking heavy beers on my back porch, which was a pleasant end to a day that will live in infamy.

Sunday was gorgeous, with not too many clouds, but not too hot.  Granted, it's always hot at Lolla when the sun in shining.  The lineup was great, and I had some delicious lemongrass beef noodles from Tank Noodle in the middle of the afternoon.  One thing we -- and Lolla's schedulers -- discovered on Sunday, is that you should never underestimate the drawing power of Third Eye Blind.  They played at 3:45 on a side stage that is probably the fourth biggest stage at Lolla.  It was insanely packed, and it took us way too long to navigate ourselves out from being kind of close to being able to breathe.  Unfortunately, the sound was off, so you couldn't really hear them very well, but the crowd still loved it. Here's a couple shots of the crowd, although they don't really do it justice to show how crowded it was. 

Later, as the night was winding down, I took this panoramic shot of the crowd and skyline during the last show of the night (LCD Soundsystem).

Walking out, we saw this glow stick graveyard -- a fitting end to another glowing weekend of music and fun.  

Apparently, the festival organizers are going to make it four days again next year.  Right now, that doesn't excite me, but give me another week, and I'll be on board.

All in all, according to Fitbit, I walked a total of 91,888 steps Thursday through Sunday, and it certainly feels like it.  At least I made the brilliant decision several months ago to sign up to run a 10K next Saturday.

Here are the bands over the course of the weekend for which I saw two or more songs:

Thursday:  Weathers; Hiatus Kaiyote; Bob Moses; Arkells; Melanie Martinez; Kurt Vile & The Violators; The 1975; The Arcs; The Last Shadow Puppets

Friday:  The Struts; Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls; Lettuce; Alessia Cara; Wolf Alice; Radiohead; Ghost

Saturday:  Potty Mouth; The Joy Formidable; Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats; Leon Bridges; MUTEMATH; Jane's Addiction; Red Hot Chili Peppers

Sunday:  DREAMERS; FIDLAR; Third Eye Blind; Silversun Pickups; HAIM; Bloc Party; LCD Soundsystem

Here are my top ten shows I saw over the weekend:

Honorable mention:  Melanie Martinez; Wolf Alice; The Joy Formidable; Red Hot Chili Peppers; DREAMERS; Bloc Party

10.  Leon Bridges

He would probably be higher on the list if I had seen more of his set. What I did see what basically a modern day version of Otis Redding. He has the voice, the moves, and the ability to captivate a crowd. Hopefully I'll be able to catch him next time he's in town. 

9.  Potty Mouth

This all-female group churned out a solid set of grunge-tastic, pop punk. It was the first time they had played a major festival, and you could tell they were excited and humbled to be there. My favorite part of the show was when someone in the crowd started the overhead clap, and everyone else joined in. Someone in the band excitedly remarked that it was the first time anyone had every done that at one of their shows. It's always nice to see bands who really appreciate being there. 

8.  Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

I was pumped to see these guys, and they didn't disappoint, playing their catchy blend of soul and rock. 

7.  Jane's Addiction

I actually think their set at Lolla was better than their aftershow at The Metro Thursday night. The sound was definitely better, being that I could clearly hear Perry Farrell's voice. The show was a combination of burlesque, freak show, and rock show. Tom Morello came out to accompany Dave Navarro on a rollicking version of "Mountain Song," and Jimmy Chamberlain came out to play the regular drum set on "Jane Says," while Stephen Perkins handled the steel drums. 

But the highlight (?) of the show was when two backup dancers were hoisted above the stage to swing from giant pins stuck in their upper backs. It was grotesque and intriguing all at the same time. They didn't seem to mind what I assume is excruciating pain. The second picture below gives you an idea of the skin pullage involved.

6.  FIDLAR

I have seen these guys a few times, and they have come a long way since they were writing their setlist on the back of a PBR case when they opened up for The Hives a few years ago. They played an energetic set of their many songs about being a slacker, doing drugs, not scoring with chicks, and skateboarding or surfing. 

5. HAIM

I'm not sure what I was expecting from the sisters Haim, but I mistakenly throught they were more mellow. After all, the last time I saw them was in 2010 at The Troubadour, where I also saw Mischa Barton. They put on a great show, full of energy and rocking songs. The highlight for me was their cover of Prince's "I Would Die 4 U."

4. LCD Soundsystem

They headlined Sunday night. This is one of those bands that I have somehow managed to avoid over the years -- not malevolently or anything, but sometimes you just can't listen to all the music in the world, no matter how hard you try. So when I saw they were closing out Lolla, I was ambivalent, but I figured it would allow me to leave early after a long four days. Turns out, they put on a hell of a show. It was full of energy. The crowd was into it. We stayed until the end. 

3.  Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls

We only caught the second half of this show, and we stayed kind of far back so that we could get some respite from the rain under some trees. Thankfully, we had a view of the big screens next to the stage to see the action. This show was all energy. I had never heard of these guys before Lolla. It was a mix of punk, Celtic punk, rock, folk, and mayhem. Turner worked the crowd like a champ, and even crowd surfed in the pouring rain. By the end of the show, we said "hell to the rain" and got closer for the last couple songs. For the record, I have never actually uttered the words "hell to the rain."

2.  The Struts

This is one of the bands I was most excited about seeing. Thanks to long lines getting in, I missed the first 15 minutes of their set, but it was still fantastic. It's pure rock and roll, built for large festivals and arenas. At one point, lead singer asked everyone to crouch down to the ground, and the thousands of spectators obliged, before all leaping up in unison as the band kicked into gear and ended the show in a fitting rock frenzy. I'm hoping they come back to Chicago soon. 

1.  Ghost

I'm not a big Radiohead fan, so I wasn't thrilled when they were announced as Friday night's headliner. But Perry must have been looking out for me because he scheduled one of my favorite new (well, relatively new) bands to play Friday night during the second half of Radiohead's set. Of course, they played on the darkest stage. Thanks to the draw of Radiohead, their weren't too many people at Ghost when they started, so I was able to get about 15 feet from the stage. As always, they killed it. I'm not sure there's currently a more entertaining band. For the rest of the weekend, I found myself thinking "I wish Ghost was playing again." Once Papa Emeritus III and the Nameless Ghouls get into your head, they don't leave.