The Poison Control Center

APRIL 4 – PANCHO’S, CHICAGO, IL [SHOW #192]

[JT] Day 228.  49,860 miles.  Shortly after we arrived in Chicago we met up with our booking agent, Shawn, and went to a nearby Whole Foods to discuss some band business.  His Chicago friend Tim met us there too and we had a nice reunion with him.  Tim is a marathon runner who keeps himself in fine shape, and Shawn credits him for getting him back into running.  Surprising as it was to us, Tim recently survived a heart attack and that was the subject for much of our conversation that night.  For dinner we walked down to the Chicago Diner where we gathered with Nicole and Tyler and two of their friends.  We had a wonderful dinner together.  The diner is 100% vegetarian, so no one had any trouble finding a great meal.  By sheer coincidence, the diner was celebrating its 28^th anniversary, and we all won free gifts from the grab bag.  Patrick and David each won packages of seitan, I won a free dessert, and Devin 4 passes to the Contemporary Museum of Art.  Tyler and Nicole graciously treated everyone to dinner.  Tonight was the NCAA championship game between Butler and UCONN, and Tyler being from Connecticut was in a celebratory mood.

After dinner we went to Pancho’s, the night bar next door to Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant on California Avenue.  The bar had only recently begun hosting live music after the nearby Ronnie’s stopped having shows.  Before then Pancho’s had just been a karaoke bar.  We got to meet Pancho himself, who was working behind the bar and wowing people with his bizarre cocktail-pouring tricks.  He was quite the character, pulling out various percussion instruments from underneath the bar and playing along to the bands.  When we were on stage, and I was playing the trumpet solo on ‘Pacific Sunrise,’ I heard a second horn sound coming from behind the stage.  When I looked back I saw Pancho.  He had stuck behind the stage and pulled out a saxophone and was soloing along!  He also whipped out the sax on ‘Give It A Try.’  In the middle of our closer ‘When The World Sleeps,’ we spontaneously busted into a cover of Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention’s ‘What’s The Ugliest Part of Your Body?’  Johnny flipped out and ran up on stage to sing with us.  When we segued back into ‘When The World’s finale, I handed the bass over to Johnny and grabbed my trumpet to make some noise.  Johnny rocked the bass and I think Pancho was in the mix too.

It was a fun night, and we enjoyed the company of many of our Chicago friends.  Nate “King” Cook, who recorded our upcoming album, was in the house.  Other friends from near and far were there too, and it was sort of a relief to play in a more relaxed atmosphere of the small bar compared to the larger Chicago rooms we typically play.  And, as always, it was great to have Shawn along with us again, who is always missed on the road.

The jam in the van:  Bob Dylan The Whitmark Demos: 1962-1964 The Bootleg Series Vol. 9 / The Wheelers Bubix / Super Furry Animals / Of Montreal Satanic Panic In The Attic

The word we heard:  “Ged da fuck outta here” –Pancho

Dinner was a winner:  Chicago Diner “Meat Free Since ‘83” (thanks Tyler…go UCONN!)

The pad was rad:  Michael & Laura

Breakfast was the best:  eggs in a nest by Laura

We adore the door:  Vito / Corrine

Our friends the Bartends:  Pancho / Josena

Sound Tech we respect:  Mike

The fill of the bill:  Geoff Dolce / Brass Bed

Monument / Some Ordinary Vision / Pacific Sunrise / Torpedoes on Tuesday / Church on Mars / Terminal / Cognac Dreams / Give It a Try / When The World Sleeps / What’s The Ugliest Part of Your Body?