Why is there a naked guy drinking tea at the table?

1/19/06
Show: Loto Ball, Grace Kulpa, Lord of the Yum Yum, and Black Bear Combo
Cost: $5
Things I missed to be there: Iunno.

Reversible Eye is quickly becoming my favorite place to see shows in Chicago. Then again, I haven't been going to shows as much as I should be. Last week I missed out on shows at Betty's Blue Star, Underground Lounge, Beauty Shop, and South Union Arts. Our omnipresent friend Party Steve moved to Portland months ago. He came back to visit a week or two ago and he was telling me about party spots I'd never even heard of before. Magical Forest? What the fuck is that? South Union Arts has been putting on all kinds of shows lately and I still haven't made it out to one. The Orphanage is holding occasional shows as well as a weekly open mic/jam for the burning man rave hippie set. For nearly a year, The Studio (formerly the Heartland Studio Theatre) has taken over the Fireside Bowl's gig of holding nightly all-ages punk shows and I still haven't made it out. For even longer than that, any poet worth their shit in this city has made it out to the Lyricist Loft. Not me. Sigh.

Why do I love ReversibleEye though?

1. It's a gallery that actually functions as a gallery instead of just a place to see shows.
2. It's a gallery that currently has puppets and dolls.
3. They're regularly holding interesting shows there, mixing music and performance art.
4. It's less than ten blocks from my house.
5. BYOB

So, um, yay. I don't have a point there. I totally lost my train of thought. Good for me. Blog.

When I first got there, Loto Ball Show was playing. Their mp3s they have online are all industrial-tinged waltzes and circus songs, but live they sounded like the soundtrack to a children's adventure film, as if Gogol Bordello had taken over Giorgio Moroder's soundtrack for "The Neverending Story." I could picture an adventure for each song. Flying through the air, running blindly through the woods as the light of day escapes. I don't know if that's what they were going for, but it was pretty phat.

Next up was, I beleve, was Grace Kulp. They were kind of a droney folk band so we all sat on the floor. I couldn't tell if I liked them or not. The final verdict was that I liked them but wasn't in the mood for them. They were very-goth friendly, right down to the singer's forced Peter Steele/Peter Murphy vocals.

Third was Lord of the Yum Yum (and his roadie, Maximum Happy). Lord of the Yum Yum was awesome. He's always awesome. Move along.

Ifihadahifi was supposed to play, but they got scared of the snowy roads so they hid in Milwaulkee and Black Bear Combo closed out the show. One by one, everybody in the room started dancing. "It's your bar mitzvah, Eric. Let's dance!" my roommate yelled. It wasn't Klezmer, exactly, but very old world Eastern European and very funky. I'm glad to live in a city where we have such a glut of bad ass marching bands. Next time someone starts badmouthing the Windy City you tell them that. And look at the fun, blank stares they give you. Good times.