BRAVE Tour Journal

Chicago, IL June 21, 2003
Paid: $100 (after we were offered $20)
Journal entry by Trevor

   We played at Nitecaps in Chicago in a really nice part of the city. Before we played we went to a local restaurant and had some really good pizza, and on the way out, the owners and bartenders wished us a good show, thanked us for coming, and invited us back…it is so nice to see and interact with positive people. It's easy to become callous and jaded about things living in D.C. Not that it's a bad place to live, it's just that, generally, the attitudes at home can be less friendly. For instance, when standing in line at the grocery store or the bank, no one will speak to one another, but in Chicago everyone is chatty and friendly!

   I remember our first gig in Chicago at Luney Tunes, one of the patrons leaving stopped and yelled to us from across the street, "Thank you for coming to Chicago, and playing such great music. Please come back anytime!" It's as if he, as a citizen of Chicago is personally responsible to the welfare and livelihood of his town, and he is looking out for and representing his city in the best light! I love that attitude! Thanks! Civility is the lubricant of society, and if more people had these positive attitudes, I think there would be less conflict in our world…we are all on the same team.

All right, enough philosophy…

   The gig was really awesome, and the crowd was very much into the music. However, this has been the tour of gear mishaps. My beloved 18" K crash has cracked on the edge, and is still usable live, but has a strange metal on metal sound when played…I'll have to retire it. Scott's amp was going in and out at South Bend and Chicago, and despite the diagnostics we ran at the hotel, it only does it on stage. During the Chicago gig, Ben's bass completely crapped out and began emitting some sort of electronic fuzz sound, like that of robots farting, but the band after us was very cool to let us borrow their bass for the last few of our tunes. Thanks!

   Albert Rybka, Daniel and Rami, and Angelina and Brayman came out to support us, and did a great job! Thanks for your support! We had a great time talking with them after the show, standing on the friendly streets of Chicago at 2:30a.m.! Daniel and Rami invited to their house for food, showers, and satellite TV, which was very tempting, but we had to get back to South Bend to the hotel (which is on the way home). Thank you for the great offer, Daniel and Rami!

We got back to the hotel at sunrise, and slept for a couple of hours before the long and arduous drive home!

Thanks to everyone for your support! It's great to see our friends and fans again! See you soon!

Set List: New Song, Escape, Persia, Dark Waters, Trapped Inside, Spirit, New Beginning, Lost in Retrospect, New New Song, Bluer Skies

Trevor and BRAVE…


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