Day 3
Friday, August 14, 2026
The original thought was to do a kayak tour through downtown today. Groups are small and fill up quickly. I wasn't fast enough.
Instead, I just took a walk west until the river, cut down a few blocks, then came back.
I walked past a place called Mary, Mary Gift Shop. They claim to have unique gifts and home decor.
It wasn't the name that caught my attention. It was the blue dog out front. Why a blue dog? No idea.
Not something you see every day, a construction guy in a boat.
Ordinarily, I wouldn't mention a coffee shop, but Sinya's deserves the shout out.
The expected rain didn't happen. So, I took a walk to Washington Square Park. Still a bit gray.
Off to the left of the shot was a woman with her guitar. She was leading a dozen small children in a spirited singalong of Old McDonald. Periodically, there would be the sounds of a military jet off in the distance. It's a special event for the weekend. More on that later.
Taking the long way back... Anyone who remembers the old roadrunner cartoons knows why this caught my attention. The Acme Hotel is actually owned by Hilton. Decent ratings on TripAdvisor, too.
These mushrooms were out front of a long closed business on the corner of Clark and Ohio. This was the Rainforest Cafe, opened in 1997, but another business that fell victim to Covid. David Lissner did an interview inside with one of he owners. You can see that here:
There was one more adventure for the day. Part of me wanted to walk. But, tonight's concert venue was four miles north of the hotel. A few stops on the Red Line to Belmont Avenue was the much better choice.
But first, the brewery stop of the day, Dry Hop Brewing. Great neighborhood vibe to it. The beer, good but nothing special. Their flights are five ounce pours of all six of their beers. They were good, but one wasn't that distinctive from the other. While I was sitting there enjoying a late lunch, there were even more roars of military jets flying overhead, much louder than before. They were loud enough I almost expected the glassware to rattle.
Which brings me to the inspiration for this trip. A few years ago, the Norwegian Black Metal band Dimmu Borgir(pr;DEE-moo bor-JEER) randomly crossed my radar. It was nothing like anything I had heard before.
Three years ago, they did a tour through NYC, Chicago and LA. They were traveling with a full orchestra and choir. Sadly, I couldn't work in the brief tour.
Their new album came out this spring and they're hitting a few more cities, none near me. So, I bought a ticket for one of the Chicago shows. Imagine my surprise when this showed up in my mail...
It's been a long time since I had a paper ticket to a show. Kinda miss them.
The venue dates back to 1912 when it was named the Victoria Theater. After an extensive remodel, it reopened as The Vic with a capacity of 2,200. Naturally, a theater this old has its share of ghost stories. One is a woman named Victoria who is said to have taken her own life. The other is a stagehand who died inside the theater. Otherwise it's the usual phantom voices and footsteps.
Security was quick and painless. Since I was there early, I snagged my spot, right up front. Looking back at the inside of the theater.
The opening band was Hulder. Never heard of them, either. Since there seems to be a subgenre for everything metal these days, they're listed as Dark Medieval Black Metal. You can see one of their shows from 2024 here, if you dare.
While I knew nothing about this band, the woman standing in front of me knew every song. After the show, she asked one of the crew for the printed setlist. Most bands will have these on the floor close to where the band members stand.
Interesting show, but I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy their new album anytime soon. But, I do enjoy being introduced to new music.
Around 9P, Dimmu Borgir came out. Yeah, totally worth it.
I only made it thirty minutes into their set. The most pit was getting a bit out of control and I got tired being shoved against the railing again and again. I have nothing against mosh pits, but don't shove the folks trying to have a good time. So, I gave up my prime spot and moved way off to the side. No more pushing and shoving. And the room mix sounded better. So, Bonus.
"Stormblast" was the show closer, uploaded to the AlinP's Youtube channel.
Yeah, I was pretty wired at the end of the show. While I would have loved to see them perform with an orchestra and choir, absolutely no complaints.
A train ride home and I was done...
No comments:
Post a Comment