The past two weeks have been extremely eventful. One Bachelor Party, one Bridal Shower, two Deer Tick Shows, and three wins from the Cats. Some might say the best two weeks of the year so far! Read about it in more detail below!
Song of the Week: New song by Deer Tick. Card House. Rachel and Beth both said this was a "salsa-esque" song and they are right. Love this new jam by DT.
The first week this blog covers took place during Spring Break, so I had a little break from coaching lacrosse and was able to get some things for the Wedding done as well as rest my brain a little bit! Also if you didn't notice, this blog is covering a two week period. The blog will now switch to a 2 times a month blog because of the business!
Saturday April 2nd is the bachelor party. The weather is crazy as it snows, blows, and shines. I have the best family and friends who all made it out! John, Johnny, Adam, Brian, Grant, Sean, Gio, Farrell, Rob, Phil, and the out of towners Nolan and Cameron. The day started around 1pm as we headed over to the Revolution Brewery, but then found out they don't serve food, so we quickly went out and got Chipotle to eat at the brewery. We had a couple of tasty drinks before heading to bubble soccer. Knocker ball, aka bubble soccer, was extremely fun and we all got way sweatier than anticipated. The game was also a bit dangerous! The game started by myself running full speed at Rachel's bro Phil. We collided and I launched probably 10 feet in the air and smashed the ground. I immediatley began laughing. It was so fun, I continually laughed as we all smashed into each other. What fun. The grond was astro turf so it burned the knees a little to get up and your knuckles would rub against the plastic of the ball, ripping your skin off. Bloody knuckles! John also busted out his Gopro video, so we will have to get that out soon. You really only needed about an hour of gameplay, and we played games like soccer, generals where you need to protect one person, and sharks and minnows.
After the fun, we left sweaty and out of breath to go shower. After showering we met up at Brian's where we enjoy some BP, Mario Kart and Deep Dish Pizza from Lou Malnatis. After a few hours of enjoying time together, we headed out on a little bar crawl of sorts.
We started at Sluggers where I dominated my first round in the batting cages, but only to be witnessed by Brian. My second round was with the fast pitch, which was quite the struggle, only connecting a couple of pitches. My final and third time in the cages was a disaster, with everyone watching, I think I maybe hit one ball, although still made some great cuts. There's always next year. After having fun in the cages, we cabbed it over to headquarters where I set records on Q*Bert, we played some ninja turtles, and NFL Blitz.
After Headquarters we took the short walk over to Delilah's where I run into a couple old NV teammates, Hamilton and Bogart. After a drink or two there, we then go to Atlas Brewing Co, before walking over and finishing up at Prost where we get huge unnecessary beers pretty much by accident. We walk back and skip the last three bars on the docket (Burwood Tap, Dukes, & Franks) as well as The Wiener Circle b/c it was late and the line was too long. We decided to get some Papa Johns and Wing Stop. I finally get to to bed around 2:45 am! Great night, thanks to all the gents who came out and made it an awesome time!
Our wedding invites went out on Monday 4/4/2016. Rachel did an amazing job with them! Yahoo! Check ya mail boxes peeps. During the next week the Cats win 3 straight and set a school record for goals scored in a game with 22 vs North.
All these activities lead up to The Deer Tick Acoustic shows on 4/7/2016 at Old Town School of Folk Music and 4/8/2016 at the Majestic Theater in Madison. On 4/7 I headed back home to the city and Rachel was kind enough to get us some Jimmy Johns subs for dinner. We ate them until Beth got to town and then we jumped in her car and headed to the show. After struggling to find parking we finally found some and walked over to the venue around 6:45 for the 7:00p show. Before heading into the theater, I scanned the DT merch table and picked up 3 new 7" vinyls for a couple of their side bands, as well as a Deer Tick book, and the tour Poster. John, Melissa, Brian, and John's friends Kenny and Pete met us at the show and then we all headed in. The theater was pretty small, maybe holding 200 or 300 people. Everyone had their own little seat and it was a very intimate setting. We were set up stage right, a little farther right than I thought, but still with a pretty decent view.
Ryley Walker opened up for Deer Tick, a local Folk musician who put on a great 40 minute performance. We were going to be in for a real treat with the acoustics sounding amazing in this venue. Finally Deer Tick came on around 8:30p. They opened up with a Merle Haggard song, Today I Started Loving You Again, to honor the late country musician. They played an amazing and unique set including their new song Card House, a circus-esque Thyme by Dennis, a penny whislte (recorder) version of Smith Hill, a Chicago classic Clownin' Around by Dennis, and they ended with a 11 minute Jam of Mange where Robbie Tick went all out of the keys. Dennis was rocking his Kanye Tee for its final time. I was able to record the entire show via audio, and a few songs via video, so will be working on those as long as my editing program quits not working... and hopefully get them out in a week or so. They ended up ending the show with what I am calling a Mange send off. Each member left the stage one by one after playing some sort of solo during the song Mange. John left first, followed by Ian, Robbie, CR and Dennis was the final member to leave. The lights came on and we headed over to Half Acre Brewery and had some beers before heading home. Melissa and John were going to drop us off but instead we decided to get some Wiener Circle. We got the Trump Super Pac which had 4 three inch dogs, a fry and a drink. Finally we walked home and hit the hay around 1 am.
Woke up Friday April 8th for work and struggled to make it through the day. With word that practice was cancelled. I headed up to Grayslake around 3:30p and made it to John's around 5p. We then walked over to Twister Burger and I got myself a Buffalo Blue Cheese burger with fries. So tasty. Around 6:15 we decided to depart for Madison. The show started at 9p and it usually takes about 2 hours from Grayslake to get there. On the drive up we went through multiple snow showers, then the sun was out, the sky turned a strange orange red color, and then it would be super snowy again. It was some of the craziest weather John or I had ever seen. We finally got to Madison around 8:30p and found parking near the Capital Building on a street we call bum alley. We parked there last time when we saw Delta Buds in June of 2015, and the homeless frequent this street.
It was bitter cold out on the walk over to the venue. Once inside, we immediately loved this venue. It was very similar to that of BlueBird in Denver, with a couple of different levels. We established our ground, front row on the second level right in the middle of the stage, giving us some prime seats. Although I prefer a up and close experience at shows, these standing seats from a bit back were perfect. Ryley Walker came out and put on another killer performance, getting the Madison crowd bumping. Right when he took the stage, John and I knew we were in for a different type of show compared to the one last night. There were probably 600 or so people there, with drinks flowing, people were being loud and routy. Around 10:15p Deer Tick took the stage and again opened up with a Merle Haggard song. With the crowd going, this show was more similar to a normal Deer Tick show, however all the band members were sitting. The backdrop of the Majestic was really cool as well with the lighting. It reminded me of the MTV Unplugged Nirvana show and was a really neat and different experience compared to the night before. I again recorded the whole show via audio and parts via video and will get those up once edited. In the mean time, someone from the front row posted some songs so check them out. Deer Tick ended up jamming for almost 2 hours! Playing about 8 more songs compared to the night before in Chicago. I guess when you only play one set you can play longer! They again played a jam version of Mange, which went on for 13 minutes. Robbie Crowell stole the show on the keys, putting on a top notch performance. At one point during the show John McCauley went on a little tangent about how Deer Tick should get a hot dog warmer and sell hot dogs at the Merch table. He also ripped into some obnoxious fan which was pretty funny as well. Some other top songs from the night included The Rock, Christ Jesus, Make Believe, Pale Blue Eyes (Velvet Revolver Cover), and Houston TX.
One of my favorite lines from McCauley was at the end of the show when he says, we'll see ya next time Madison, and next time we'll bring hot dogs! Check it out in this video below.
The show ended at about 12:15a and we walked back to our car and then decided to take a little longer but safer way home since it was icy out. We got back to Grayslake around 2:30a and then I continued on to Naperville. Finally getting into bed at 3:45am. What an amazing night! Cannot wait until these guys come back and be sure to stay tuned for the release of the full shows!
I had to wake up at 8 on Saturday 4/9/2016, to catch a bus with the Jv boys and ended up having to coach the JV team and got my 15th JV win by dominating 9-1. The varsity came out hot in a physical game as well and we won 12-6. The boys were kind enough to play some Deer Tick on the way home as well.
Sunday 4/10/2016 was the Maluta side Bridal Wedding Shower. We had it over at Zachary's in Palos Heights. So many friends and family came to make the day very special for Rachel and I. It was a beautiful and lovely day (despite the weather), filled with delicious food, fun games, sweet amazing presents, and love from family and friends. We cannot thank everyone enough for their kind gifts and love for us! A special thanks to my Aunts Jan, Ruth, and Lillian for setting it all up. Thank you all!
TV Show: The Walking Dead season finale was intense. A new direction with new leaders? We will wait until next season to see, but hopefully they change the show up a bit... kinda getting old...
Bloodline Season 2 Trailer is out. Looks great and can't wait!
Video of the Week: Old Deer Tick and Joe Pug video just posted. Check it
Thanks for reading. See ya in two weeks! Lots more of life headed your way!
