The Flim is Okie-Dokie

Date: 12/7/06
Venue: Quencher's
Band: Karaoke Dokie
Price: Free Admission, but too much altogether
Things I missed to be there: Les George Leningrad, Grace Kulpa and KK Rampage at Empty Bottle, DJs at Bar Vertigo
Reasons I went: Too drunk to leave

I've never ever liked Quencher's and now I know why. I've gone there too late. Quencher's is a great bar when there's no one there, full of no-frills sandwhiches and sides and exotic beer, like a low-rent Hopleaf.

But if I had shown up at the end of the night, rather than just had it all happen around me, I would have turned around, left, and gone back to the Mutiny.

Thursday was a shitty day. Only kinda shitty because I had just received a paycheck I was waiting for but downhill after that. I was supposed to DJ at Liar's Club but that was postponed so I had this big, free night spread out in front of me, where I would have to pay to get drunk. My girlfriend was having ladies night in my neighborhood at the Map Room but it was girls night out so I couldn't go. Meanwhile the heat was shut off in my place so I had to go somewhere, so I picked up my rat and left.

Les George Leningrad was doing a free show at Reckless Records. I couldn't think of a better way to kill time, especially since I've actually started to listen to my Les George records recently. It was my first time riding my tricycle in the winter and it was weird running it over ice. For some reason or another 1st Gear was shot and 2nd was jumpy and by the time I was in Wicker Park my hands were frozen into claws. Then something terrible happened. My chain broke. It's alright. I would watch the band, get drunk on whatever the special was at Pint, eat fried cheese and take the bus home. Then I realized that I'd forgotten my wallet. When I got to Reckless, Les George was already broken down and meandering about. I was starting to freak. I called Sarah, who uPassed me onto the train on her way to the bar, went home and started over.

Google Search: "bar food", "Logan Square"
Best Result: Quencher's

I grabbed my friend Margaret and went to Quencher's which was the closest bar food bar to my house. Their special was a thick, unnamed Chocolate Lager that actually tasted choclatey. They also had buffalo tater tots. My friends Kelly and Bettie showed up and it was starting to be a party. I snuck the waterbottle mojito out of my bag and chugged it, then filled it with a can of Sparks. By the time the band started setting up we had no intention of leaving.

I guess being a live-band karaoke band is a good deal for musicians, the same way being a club DJ is a good deal for me. You swallow your pride and give the people what they want to hear. I don't know how many of the members of the (wack-ily named) Karaoke Dokies were in bands but I'm pretty sure that their keyboardist played for the Sonnets.

They had a pretty good crowd, almost too-full of familiar faces. There was the older lady from all the punk shows that everybody calls Mom, there was the daughter of my last boss's boyfriend, a girl whose roommate gave me a handjob five years ago, and another DJ from WLUW. Still, I was determined to enjoy Karaoke and not just be cynical, and I did. The band had a good variety of songs, ranging from cheesy and guilty classic rock pop classics to predictable (but awesome) punk rock favorites. Margaret and I kicked ass doing The Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl". Then the four of us blew David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust".

Overall it was a fun night, but like I said, if I would have seen it coming in as an outsider, and not from my fuzzy stoop at the drunk table in the back, I never would have believed it.