Hey Suburbia

Chi-town was a little intimidating, so we did not dive in there right away. Instead, we pulled up in the suburb of Mokena. Our research had told us of a show there, so we went to check it out.

The venue was in a strip mall in an industrial park, next to a limo garage. It reminded me an awful lot of the Pav. I wasn't all that comfortable there... it seemed more like a spot for suburban kids to watch each other's bands than a full-on meeting place for punk rock ideas. That's not a bad thing; venues like this need to exist too, but there was quite a cultural gap for me. I only stayed for the opening bands (who split a 30 minute set) and the second band, so I don't have a lot to report. It seemed like almost everyone there knew each other except the bands from out of town.

We didn't want the evening to be a total waste, so we hit up a fast food joint I've never seen back home. It's the one with the rep for being a stoner hangout... you know, frome the title of that movie. Big mistake. The horribleness of this restaurant cannot be understated. The slogans on display inside contained subtle double-entendres relating to the place's *ahem* "munchie" reputation, which kind of made for an entertaining evening. The sheer badness of it all.

Without a local contact, we headed for nearby Bloomington, where we actually know some folks. We got there too late to meet up with them, so we slept in the car... only for the second time, though. Let's hope it's the last. Poison made us an awesome breakfast this morning, which made up for a crappy night's sleep. After that we met up with our B'ton friends, who are generously entertaining us right now.