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The descent of roughly two million people on what is really not that big a city was doomed to be a logistical nightmare (a “clustercluster,” as our bus driver Vince called it), and Hideout owners Tim and Katie Tuten saw it as their patriotic duty to contribute to it. So on Sunday morning they packed two buses with musicians, staff, Hideout regulars, and canvassers from Interchange, the organization that cooperated with the club to organize Obama fund-raisers and canvassing car pools. Then they emptied half the bar into plastic soda bottles for the road, to contribute to the juvenile-delinquent-field-trip vibe. Any bus filled with Waco Brothers and Tortoises and Icy Demons and sundry friends and relations is going to be a party bus by definition, but on top of that there were a lot of rambunctious rest stops and awesome in-flight movies. (Muddy Waters? Anime? Ray Harryhausen? Thumbs up.)
The hotel in Baltimore, where we stayed Sunday and Monday night, was surprisingly luxurious. It was, however, in Baltimore, which posed a problem on Monday, the evening of the Big Shoulders Ball itself (blogged here at the Reader and at DCist, among other places, and benefiting the Future of Music Coalition and the Chicago Public Schools Marching Bands Program). More on that later.
I want to thank everyone who had a hand in organizing this, because I’ve never been so proud to play a small part in the Chicago music scene–even now, when I no longer know just what that part will be.
