What a weekend.
It turned out to not be as emotional as I was expecting (don't get me wrong, there were plenty of tears), but the concerts were MAGICAL.
First of all, my weekend started off weird. I was feeling really out of it and off Friday night, so I (sadly) canceled plans with a friend to deal with my body and brain. I was so out of it that Fuzzy suggested that I go to bed, even though it was only 8:30pm. So I did. And I slept until 8:30 am! TWELVE HOURS OF SLEEP. Damn. Homegirl was worn out.
Saturday I woke up, went to boxing, then Fuzzy and I headed to Revolution Brewery for some lunch. It was soooo good--Pork belly sandwich? Yes please! Then I met up with Jen to head over to Soldier Field for the show.
Keith Urban was the first to perform, and he put on a solid country rocking set. Jen and I drank weak margaritas, expensive cheap beers and got fried in the hot sun. Then on came the Dixie Chicks! They were awesome. Sadly, they only played for an hour, but they rocked it the entire time. I feel that the energy was just a little off, though, with them as an opener--they are too good to not headline. They haven't released an album or toured in 4 years, so it makes sense that they got back into it as an opener, but I can't wait til they headline a whole show again so that they can rock out and the whole audience can be right there with them. Even though it was too short, the show was amazing. And Natalie was kicking some badass hair.
(photo: Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)
Here is our view of the stage. If you click on the large size, you can see Natalie in the screen:
I'd been so focused on the Dixie Chicks that I forgot that the headliner was the freaking Eagles! Woop woop! They played a really solid 2 hour set and every song was awesome. It was great seeing Joe Walsh and hearing him live. They also played some solo works--especially cool was "Dirty Laundry," which has never been more relevant. They rocked it.
Here is "Hotel California." I especially love the Chicago Skyline in the background.
By the end of the night, we were exhausted.
Yesterday was the Jethro Tull show! Fuzzy and I hadn't been out to Ravinia for a couple of years, and this was the first time we've had pavillion tickets. We took the train over and settled in for the show--the place was packed and we both wished we were wearing sweatshirts and pants--it was chilly! (Sidenote: I was really happy with the ease of getting in and out of Ravinia--the train got us there in plenty of time, we were near the bathroom and never really had a wait, and once the show was over, we hopped back on the train and were home in no time. Even with the giant crowd, it was easy peasy.) Procol Harum was the opener, which is noteworthy to me, as they were the opening band for Tull when Christopher and I first saw them in Dallas when I was 13. As always, they put on a rocking show, with Ian Anderson leaping all over the stage and being a giant goofball as always. They opened with "Nothing is Easy" and rocked a solid show.
We were sitting next to a really nice man who had seen them 40+ times. He had this awesome Tull tattoo:
Hardcore.
I had forgotten that in every live show they release large white inflatable balls in the audience--I got really excited when they came out during the encore of "Locomotive Breath." Setlist Here.
I defintely felt Dad's presence at the show, and I was really sad that he wasn't there with all the other mid-50's dads that were there with their kids. I miss him. I won't say that I'll never see Jethro Tull again, but if I don't, I think that this was the perfect end of a huge era. Everything came full circle.
Fuzzy took some photos, which I will post once they are online. Until then, here is one of my fave Tull videos:
Update! Photos by Fuzzy!
Ian Anderson and Martin Barre
Ian doing the leg thing.
The balls at the end of the show. I have been calling these "giant inflatable balls" but Fuzzy reminded me of the correct term: Balloons.
