Entries Tagged as 'Music'

Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival

August 1st, 2011 · 1 Comment

The first year we lived in Logan Square we missed the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival because we had conflicting plans. Last year I took my niece Jess through and it was alright, but not great. This year it has finally all come together. The fest seemed really improved and we were able to invite some friends over and make an evening of it. Here is what I liked:

Revolution Brewing sponsored the festival and all of the beer there was brewed by them. I drank only the Bottom Up Wit (Refreshing Belgian-style wheat beer spiced with coriander and orange peel. Made with organic malt and wheat.), but there was also the Rosa (Tart summer ale infused with 20 lbs of Hibiscus flowers and touch of orange peel. Elegantly refreshing and defiantly delicious.), Anti-Hero IPA (An American hop assault for all the ambivalent warriors who get the girl in the end. “Look, I ain’t in this for your revolution, and I’m not in it for you, Princess.”) and Coup d’ Etat (Dry, spicy French-style saison dry hopped with German Select hops.).

In addition, sangria was provided by Lula, the popular Logan Square restaurant and wine was provided by Telegraph, Logan Square’s brand new wine bar. I loved how all the drinks were sponsored by bars and restaurants that were only a block or two away. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this at a Chicago festival before. I mean, the beer was made right there. Now, maybe next year we can get the food to be more local.

Another thing I liked was that we were on the square, which means grass and shade. Many times you go to a Chicago festival and there’s nowhere to stand or sit except in the hot sun on the burning hot asphalt. At this festival we got our drinks and walked across the street to the shaded, grassy park. So much more comfortable.

Thirdly: Art. It was an art fest, afterall. Along Milwaukee Avenue there were curated art exhibits and pop-up galleries in empty storefronts and sponsoring establishments. There were also all kinds of different art activities that featured more than 200 artists in over 30 exhibits. The only exhibit I went to was located in the Logan Square Comfort Station, which was conveniently located directly behind the beer tent. The exhibit was Folding Time: Explorations of Surface Reality, a showing of mixed media paintings by Chicago artist Jason Brammer. Pretty interesting.

We spent all of our time at time nearby the main stage at Milwaukee and Kedzie and the music there was pretty good. We enjoyed a mostly all-girl band (only the drummer was a guy) called Hollows. There was also a stage at Milwaukee and Kimball and one closer to our condo, the Cole’s stage at Milwaukee & Belden.


I bought this hat for Dallas. Do you like it?
Jessica

Killian
Alden

Ed (and me!)
My friend, Bottom Up Wit

Finally, and probably the best part, our awesome friends who came to the fest with us. In addition to the people above, we also saw Andy and Katie, who just got engaged about a week ago. And Dallas and I also talked to Jack for a while. Jack cuts our hair and his salon, Mops, was a fest sponsor.

Alden and I were standing in line to get a taco when we saw Dallas purchase and drink a pina colada served in a pineapple. What the heck!? I have no idea what he was thinking since he is never one to order a fruity drink. Must have been the new hat I bought him!

We left shortly after and everyone came back to our house. We had been slow cooking pork all day while we were away. Dallas also made blue cheese coleslaw and I made a caprese couscous salad ahead of time, so we all feasted and sat out on our roof deck, where it was a perfect summer night.

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Roscoe Village Burger Fest

July 12th, 2011 · No Comments

Last Sunday I biked over to join Jen and Quinn at Roscoe Village Burger Fest. We decided to go early because it was supposed to be so warm. At 11:30 a.m. it was already in the 80s. Since there wasn’t a line by the ponies, Quinn took a ride there first. Then he had a turn on the bouncy castle. We were getting hungry, so we went through the fest a bit and bought some burgers. The good thing about Burger Fest is that a lot of the stands sell small sliders, so you can try a lot of burgers without stuffing yourself.


Goose Island Legendary Stilton Burger Slider (cracked pepper, roasted garlic, dusseldorf – $4)

Jen got the Murphy’s Slider (Irish cheddar, bacon, tomato bacon aioli, pretzel bun -$2) from Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro and I got the Legendary Stilton Burger Slider (cracked pepper, roasted garlic, dusseldorf – $4) from Goose Island. This burger was awesome. The cheese and the roasted garlic were so rich and delicious. I also got a Leinies Classic Amber, maybe my first mistake of the day. It was, by then, in the 90s and I was so hot and sweaty. Plus I rode my bike there. I shouuld have been gulping water, not beer.


Hamburger Mary’s


Hamburger Mary’s Mighty Aphrodite Slider (stuffed with olives, spinach & oregano, with baby spinach onion & feta cheese – 2 for $6)

We also tried the Mighty Aphrodite Slider (stuffed with olives, spinach & oregano, with baby spinach onion & feta cheese – 2 for $6) from Hamburger Mary’s. This burger was good, but not amazing.


Quinn creating his masterpiece.


I told Quinn to make a Batman face.

Since it was so hot, we mostly chilled out under the kid’s art tent while Quinn worked on some projects. We didn’t stay long at the fest before walking back a few blocks to Jen and Chad’s house. Quinn had to go to a friend’s birthday party anyway. Also, their backyard was way cooler. It’s shaded and had a breeze. We needed to cool off. We were so hot, we didn’t even stop to see any of the gardens in the Roscoe Village Garden Walk on the way home, like we did last year.

When Jen took Quinn off to his birthday party, Chad and I headed back over to Burger Fest. We had roadie beers for the walk over and the tough security guard would not let us through with them. So we had to chug. Probably my second mistake of the day. Followed by much more beer hydrating.. let’s just say, I did NOT ride my bike home that night.

Chad and I stopped by the Village Tap stand. This is our favorite bar and we’d just been there on Friday night. Our waitress was telling us about the mediterranian burger they were going to sell. Chad and I stopped by and talked to the Village Tap owner to aks if the burger would be on their menu any time soon and the owner said it would be likely. So, we passed that one up, knowing we’d be eating it soon.


Murphy’s Slider (Irish cheddar, bacon, tomato bacon aioli, pretzel bun -$2) & Pulled Lamb Slider (Irish Whiskey BBQ sauce – $2)

On Jen’s recommendation, Chad went to the Mrs. Murphy’s & Sons Irish Bistro stand. He tried both the Murphy’s Slider (Irish cheddar, bacon, tomato bacon aioli, pretzel bun -$2) and the Pulled Lamb Slider (Irish Whiskey BBQ sauce – $2) there. He loved the slider, but not the lamb, and didn’t even finish it. I tried it too… very flavorless. Chad also had a Turkey Slider (gouda, onion jam – $4) from Goose Island, which he really liked.


John’s Place Cowboy Burger (1/4 pound angus beef burger, pub cheese, bacon-onion jam, bbq chipotle drizzle – $5)

John’s Place had a burger called the Cowboy Burger (1/4 pound angus beef burger, pub cheese, bacon-onion jam, bbq chipotle drizzle – $5) that was the Burger Fest winner last year, so I tried that. I was totally intrigued by the bacon-onion jam. The pub cheese was kind of cheez whizzy, but it worked. Added a nice creaminess that complimented the savory bacon and onions.

Trent and Loden recently moved to Roscoe Village and brought their doggies Charlie and Winston over to the festival. We sat for a bit and decided once again that we were too hot, so we headed back to Jen and Chad’s backyard, where it was much cooler.


Chad, Winston, Cortez, Drake


Drake, Jill, Halle, Charlie


Halle


Winston

Jill, Brian, Halle, and Limey met up with us there. We sat around the backyard watching the Cubs game, visiting, and drinking beer (mistake!). After a while Jen and Quinn came back. It was getting to be around dinner time, so we decided again to go back to Burger Fest. Everyone went over, except Jen, who smartly had enough of the heat and decided to stay home.


Goose Island


Goose Island Turkey Slider (gouda, onion jam – $4)

On my third trip to the fest that day I tried the Turkey Slider (gouda, onion jam – $4) from Goose Island that Chad was raving about.


Stanley’s Kitchen & Tap


Stanley’s Kitchen & Tap Roasted Corn Salad (chipotle, cilantro, onion – $2)

Also, my coworker Dave had told me that on Saturday he had the Stanley’s burger and corn side and both were good. It looked like they were only selling full-sized burgers and I was trying to avoid those, so I just got the corn side. It was light and fresh and just a bit spicy. Perfect for the hot weather. This was a good-sized side, so I passed it around to share and everyone really liked it.


Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro – Murphy’s Slider (Irish cheddar, bacon, tomato bacon aioli, pretzel bun -$2)

I also tried the Murphy’s Slider (Irish cheddar, bacon, tomato bacon aioli, pretzel bun -$2) from Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro. Many of us tried this slider and it was great, but the meat patty was a little small for the bun. But the bun was a pretzel roll, so we didn’t mind much. This was a delicious little slider.

So, after a while people were dispersing. I went back to Jen and Chad’s house because Chad had to drop Quinn off for bed. I was getting so tired. By then it was maybe 7:30 p.m.? And I’d been back and forth from the fest drinking beer and eating burgers and sweating my butt off in 90+ weather since 11:00 a.m. I was done! Chad was trying to get me to rally, saying that since I’d opened the fest that day, I needed to close it too, but I just couldn’t. Foghat was playing. Foghat. I was not rallying for Foghat. I took a cab home. My bike is still in Jen & Chad’s garage!

Oh, and the winner of Burger Fest? Each hamburger stand had a code on it and you texted your votes in. I thought that was a great idea. I voted for Goose Island because I enjoyed both of their sliders. Very good. But guess who won? STANLEY’S! The place Dave told me to get the burger from and I didn’t. Oh well. Mrs. Murphy’s & Sons Irish Bistro placed third, losing second place by only one vote! Select Cut Steakhouse won second place. I don’t think any of us even got a burger from that place! On a side note, Dallas used to live above Select Cut probably something like 10 years ago.

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Hall and Oates at Ravinia

July 8th, 2011 · No Comments

A couple Sundays ago Dallas and I headed up to Highland Park to see Hall and Oates at Ravinia, the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States. Hall & Oates is one of Dallas’s favorite bands OF ALL TIME and we have listened to them together for as long as we’ve known each other. We even had one of their songs at our wedding reception. You Make My Dreams was the last song played that night.

Originally we’d planned to go with a whole big group of friends and sit out on the lawn at Ravinia. Lawn seats are seats where you can’t see the band, but you just sit around and relax and pack a picnic and drinks and listen to the music. Ravinia is one of the very few concert venues in the country to allow people to bring full meals and alcoholic beverages to shows. Reserved seats (in the pavilion) were something like $80, but lawn seats were only $26. Well, none of our friends followed up when we emailled them and all tickets sold out, reserved and lawn! So, it ended up being a date night for us, which was fine too.

We arrived a little later than we expected and ended up having to park in overflow parking. Then we had to carry all of our things over to the Highland Park Metra stop and take a bus to the Ravinia grounds. Once there, the whole lawn was already so packed! We ended up walking around with all of our stuff (chair, sheet, picnic, drinks) trying to find a spot to sit. By this time Dallas was freaking out. He’d never been to Ravinia before, he didn’t know what to expect. And if there are three things he can’t stand they’re 1) traffic, 2) waiting in lines, and 3) crowds of people. We were dealing with all of that! As a side note, I”ve been to Ravinia before, but it was years ago. I went once in 2004 for Ben Fold and Rufus Wainwright. And I went once in 2006 for a FeedBurner outing. Buddy Guy was playing that night.

Once we found a place to sit and settled in, we were all good. No one was going to be leaving for hours. We didn’t need to worry about people and getting back to the car or driving for a while. We busted out our food and drinks. Dallas had beer, I had wine. I brought cheese and crackers from Provenance, a small Logan Square wine and specialty food store. We had the best caramelized onion Potter’s Crackers and paired them with some with both a blue cheese and Otter Creek pesto cheddar. Originally, I’d planned to get sandwiches from Cooking Fools, but when I stopped in, their selection of cold sandwiches was severely limited, so I just picked up some penne with lemon basil pesto and cherry tomatoes. Then I went over to Red Hen Bread and got a couple sandwiches – Turkey on a Bollo (House roasted turkey breast, provolone, red onion, tomato, arugula, mayo, and whole grain mustard served on a rosemary bollo) for me and a Knuckle Sandwich (Honey roasted ham, salami, prosciutto, provolone, red onions, tomato, romaine, and our red hen vinaigrette served on a ciabatta panino bun) for Dallas. Everything was so delicious!

Intense Angry Birds session during the opening act.

The first band was called Company of Thieves. They were a band local to Chicago who had been touring with Hall and Oates. We both liked them. The singer’s voice reminded me of Adele.

When Hall and Oates came on it was so awesome. We knew the words to every song they played. They were all old favorites. We sang along, ate our snacks, enjoyed our drinks. It was such a great time. I can never understand how Ravinia can be so calm and relaxing when you’re surrounded by thousands of people in close quarters. The mix of people there is so crazy. Young people, old people, families, of all races and backgrounds. The mom and dad next to us were playing Uno with their son while he jammed out to Maneater. It was so fun!

At the end of Hall and Oates’ set, we decided to leave. It was during the encore that we had a short wait for the bus. We could still hear the music very clearly so the line was still a party. But we ended up getting on the bus fast, got to our lot fast, and actually drove right out of there and onto the highway without any traffic at all… and we only missed maybe 2 songs. Awesome.

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Green Mill

June 14th, 2011 · No Comments

Ross and his girlfriend Chelsea were in town this weekend. We met up with them at Ribfest, where it was rainy and only about 50 degrees outside. When Ross flew in on Wednesday for work it was 97 degrees. He didn’t even pack a coat. Little did he know how fickle Chicago weather is!

We wandered around Ribfest for a while, drank some beer. Dallas and I stopped to talk to Josh at the Smoke Daddy booth. We also shared some kalbi ribs (and both agreed that when we make them they are better!). To use up some tickets and get out of the rain we had some corndogs and onion rings.

We then met up with some other friends – Todd, Brian, Sara, Brett – at Corner 41, which was kind of a mistake. It was nice to get out of the rain, but the bar had pretty much run out of beer. We bought their last 5 Coors Lights and they were all warm. I hate Coors Light, but I put it on ice and it actually was not that bad. Honestly, it tasted like water.

Chelsea used to live in Chicago and wanted to take Ross to the Green Mill, Chicago’s historic jazz club. I’d never been there and also wanted to go, so I tagged along. It was pretty cool, even if you’re not that into jazz, you should go once. That night’s jazz quartet consisted of drums, bass, and two saxophone’s. The band was called Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things.

We only stayed for a drink and one set, but it was enough to get a feel for the place. Ross and Chelsea went back to their downtown hotel and I went back to Logan Square where I met up with Dallas for a late night beer and slice of pizza at Boiler Room.

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Night Out in Logan Square

June 2nd, 2011 · No Comments

Friday of Memorial Day Weekend.

Groupon for Real Tenochtitlan. Jess, Jen, Chad, Quinn and I. Quinn got arroz y frijoles and said his OJ tasted funny. Minutes later he passed out. I swear he didn’t have any pours from the pitcher of margaritas.

Jess and I split to go to Cole’s. Nathan’s band, The Pear Traps was on at 10:00 p.m. midnight.

Late night, Alice’s Lounge. This is really in Avondale, but I don’t want to change the post title. Polish dive bar. Crazy laser lights. Karaoke. The bar doesn’t close until 4 a.m. We did not stay quite that long.

Okocim.

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