Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] My chaotic trip (Chicago shows report)

Dan Heaton dnheaton@yahoo.com
Sun, 5 May 2002 20:45:13 -0700 (PDT)


Hello everyone.  Wow, what a crazy week.  I'm only now
starting to recover and get everything together.  The
Oils were amazing, possibly even tighter and more
energetic than the October shows at the House of
Blues.  The set lists had plenty of gems amid the
usual favorites, and the crowd really responded with
lots of excitement.

So here's how my time went.  Sorry if I ramble a bit.
I started the drive up from St. Louis Wednesday
morning and was making good time for the first few
hours. With about 60 miles to go, I was getting close
and cranked up Capricornia for motivation. 
Unfortunately, during Luritja Way my car overheated
and the engine died.  So my hopes of seeing the Oils
seemed pretty dim in Braidwood, Illinois, a long way
from Chicago.

However, through the aid of relatives in Joliet and
some friendly mechanics, I was able to hitch a few
rides and catch the train into Chicago Wednesday
night.  My car wasn't going anywhere for the night, so
why not at least see the Oils?  I arrived just at the
end of Will Hoge, and then had to scramble in hopes of
finding Jon, who had my ticket for Thursday night's
show.  I hated being "that guy" who pushes to the
front right before the headliner comes on, but I had
to do it to explain my absence earlier and snag the
ticket.

Luckily, everything worked out.  The May 1 show was
very packed, and the band fed off the crowd's energy.
I enjoyed hearing a lot of the new stuff (especially
Poets & Slaves), but the set was pretty devoid of old
songs.  Still, I was not disappointed in the least. 
After Been Away Too Long and Too Much Sunshine
provided a great opening, they cranked into Read About
It, which was an early surprise.  To summarize, the
highlights for me (beside the usual favorites) were
Time To Heal and Now or Never Land.  Both really are
enhanced live, and they mesh nicely with the heavier
songs.  River Runs Red was great, even in a shortened
version, and Concrete rocked the house. 

After discovering my car was history on Thursday, I
returned early and earned a front-row spot for the May
2 show.  Even though it was super-late, I enjoyed this
one even more. The Oils were tighter than ever, and
having a bit more space was a nice bonus. The
business-card requests provided some fun.  I wrote
down Stand in Line and others added Back to the
Borderline, but No Time For Games was still a good
choice.  Jim even went off a bit in the middle and
jumped up and down.

Overall, I had another great time at the concerts.
Even Will Hoge was much improved this time around. My
car situation added some obstacles, but I still was
able to catch both concerts.  It was great to see all
the powderworkers again (too many to name).  I
hopefully will return for the Taste of Chicago.  

Cheers!

Dan

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