the Damnwells - Soundtrack

"Soundtrack"




She said, 'You got nothing to prove,
but you've got something to lose,
and that something is me.
You got no reason to stay,
say you been running away.
But you run like a thief.'

She wants you, she needs you
A soundtrack to bleed to
But can you shut up long enough to fall in love?

She said, 'Come on, just let me breathe,
I'm tangling now that you leave, get me back to myself.
Tried a thousand and one times,
but the lines are undone,
why not believe what you felt?'

She wants you, she needs you
A hurricane to leave through
But can you shut up long enough to fall in love?

And didn't you hear?
There's a time
And a place that I won't be going
Time won't erase all you fear
Well, you ought to know by now

There is no reason to lie
No reason to lie
Yeah, you ought to know by now

She wants you, she needs you
The soundtrack to bleed to
But can you shut up long enough to fall in love?

the Damnwells return to Chicago

The Damnwells
Double Door in Chicago, IL
12/6/2008

It has been a long time coming for my favorite band to come back to Chicago. Come to think of it, the last time they were in Chicago was June 2007!
I've kept in contact with Alex Dezen over the past 18months and this lil surprise show popped up as Alex and Angela, the newest member of the Damnwells (Alex's wife) were visiting Chicago.

I was particularly thrilled to see Ted, the bassist with the band (founding member) and Jay Barclay, who previously toured with them.

I was nestled close at the front of the stage and knew the words to almost every song. To my credit, I did know most of the words to "55 pictures" which has not been released. The magical moment of the night was when Alex stepped away from the mic and the packed crowd sang "Kung Fu Grip Kiss."

I've seen these guys countless times live and I'm still never tired of seeing them. The Damnwells give it 100% everytime they hit the stage.



















































Alex & Angela Dezen


David & Ted


David with the guys in the band

Halloween

my 1st Halloween in Chicago was spectacular.
Even if you don't have a party to go to, just take a lawn chair and go to the Belmont stop and people watch. I did see fellow Ghostbusters out returned a smile and a wave to me.


Sunny fans will recognize


best costume evah.... seriously


my awesome co-workers

Boulevards in the Fall

One of my favorite parts about Fall is the foliage. It looks especially nice in the boulevards of Zion, IL.

Fall TV Schedule

Getting excited about the new fall tv schedules shouldn't be a surprise to those who know me.
Schedules for the networks are announced back in May, but are subject to (and they do) change.

These are the shows that I watch regularly and try not to miss an episode.
I leave Friday and Saturday alone.
Not included are Sunday Night Football (NBC) and Monday Night Football (ESPN).

New schedule comes out in January with 24, Lost, and Scrubs.

To look at tv schedules to customize your own, I recommend Zap2it and a site that contacted me for my input, the Futon Critic.

Brooke Barrettsmith

On a Friday evening I found myself driving west on Rte 173 in Lake County searching feverishly for a small church off the road where this independent artist named Brooke Barrettsmith was gaining steam.

I have been following this girl's career for a little over two years now. She has overcome some personal family issues that are well documented and for the world to see on her website, but more importantly, created a stronger bond with them because of their journey together.

Brooke isn't any ordinary rocker - she can sing. She competed in American Idol and made it quite far. Getting cut from making the top 12 didn't derail her dreams, she soldiered on and eventually got signed.



Arriving at this small church, I can hear the loud pounding sound of music being played. As I walked in, I see a four-piece band on stage playing with such energy, you would think they thought they were playing in an arena. Armed with a small black t-shirt, a guitar, and her backing band, Brooke managed to electrify the room. To say she wore her heart on her sleeve would be an understatement. Brooke wore the whole room's heart on her sleeve. Her songs of hope, despair, and her faith created a connection with her audience giving everyone a front row seat to her life.



I first found about Brooke as I grew up with her guitarist and fiance, Billy Adams. I'm not sure if I would classify Billy as a musical prodigy, but he's pretty close. I recall being in Billy's basement with his brother over a decade ago watching him play guitar. He had a natural gift for music and it's great to see he's putting it to good use.

The concert was officially billed as her 'CD Release Party.' I picked up her album which she was gracious enough to sign for me.

Brooke's self-titled album is available on iTunes.
Check out the single "Farewell" streaming at www.brookerocks.com

Jim Gaffigan: the Sexy Tour

In the cozy, downtown district of Waukegan, IL lies a courthouse, train station, a few bars, and the Genesee Theatre, which happens to be conveniently less than 15 minutes from where I live. The theatre has been showcasing plays and bringing bigger acts for a few years now. I was particularly interested when comedian Jim Gaffigan was announced to show up.

On a whim, I decided to drive there and see if there were any extra tickets. Gaffigan originally sold out his 8pm show and an extra 10:30pm show was added. I took my friend Christine with me to see if we could find tickets. Before we made it inside, we were looking where to enter and Jim Gaffigan exited the car right next to us. A wave of applause erupted and he waved to the crowd and went in. I found where to enter inside for the box office. Before I could even reach the ticket window, a guy named Mike intervened. Mike approached me and asked if I had tickets. I told him I didn't and was looking to see if there were any. He said he had two openings next to him and his girlfriend and would sell them to me and a cheap price ($40) from what he paid. Its not common to meet a complete stranger who was this kind, but to my surprise, it was the real deal.

A bigger surprise was the location of our seats. We walked down the middle isle and found our seats were dead center 12 rows from the stage.

Gaffigan killed. He spent what seemed to be 30 minutes talking about his love of bacon. "Adding bacon makes everything better. Sprinkle some bacon on that salad and it becomes a game: find the bacon"

"if it wasn't for bacon, we wouldn't know what a water chesnut was"

Gaffigan didn't just repeat old material off his previous albums. He started off the show with a bit on bowling, followed by an ongoing joke of being lazy, and of course television. Gaffigan interrupted his talk of food for some religious jokes. "Abraham circumsized himself. I'd love to hear how that conversation with his wife went..."

Gaffigan closed the show with his signature material, Hot Pockets. As he started, the roar went thru the audience knowing what's coming next. Gaffigan did not disappoint and added some new lines to his infamous hot pocket bit. "Now they have breakfast hot pockets. Hot pocket for breakfast, hot pocket for lunch, dead by dinner!.... murder pockets!"

Incredible circumstances occurred for me to attend this show and it was awesome how it all came together. Even though my jaw hurt after laughing so hard, I would see Jim Gaffigan again in a heartbeat.