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Memories of the Aragon
Nov. 22nd, 2009 12:08 amAfter last night's incredible Pixies show, (which, by the way, I enjoyed from the floor instead of my usual spot in the balcony) I keep thinking about my past experiences at the Aragon Ballroom...I have so many memories connected to that place and the music I've seen there that I'm feeling the need to catalog them.
Maybe this makes me a nerd (well, I already KNOW that I am one so it goes without sayin) but I'm gonna record a list of all the shows that I remember, and whatever moments or details come back about each particular show. I might even consider doing this sort of entry again for other venues...might be cool to have one for each of the places I've frequented to hear musics.
Alright, here goes:
1. The Offspring - 1995. This was the first REAL rock show I ever went to. I was sixteen years old, and a junior in high school. Prior to this I'd seen a live performance of Sir Mix a Lot and Saigon Kick in my high school's field house, as well as a B96 Bash with a bunch of pop and hip hop groups, but I don't really count those because I went to them for the sake of going, and not out of any sense of rabid fandom. I didn't own a car in high school and so my friend Sarah, who was a year ahead of me, drove us there in her Mom's gray Nissan Sentra. We also brought along two other friends, Lisa and Jenny, and this caused a bit of drama. Two other friends, Nancy and Sara were pissed about being excluded, and gave me some grief about it later, but I felt like my hands were tied because Sarah had invited Jenny and Lisa and me first, leaving no room for additional passengers in her vehicle. And since I wasn't the one doing the driving, I felt like I wasn't in a position to be telling my chauffeur who should or should not be occupying her seats. Anyway, I remember it being very cold, and feeling the bite of the late-winter Chicago air as we crossed Lawrence Avenue, walking from the parking lot to the venue. I also remember that we stood on the main floor, trying to get as close to the stage as possible, but getting caught in the thick of the crowd. We endured the crush of bodies and flying drops of sweat, and the splash of beer from plastic cups, all for the sake of being able to dance to our favorite songs from The Offspring's breakout album Smash. We screamed the lyrics of Bad Habit, Self Esteem, and Come Out and Play right along with the band, or at least Sarah and I did. I kinda remember Lisa and Jenny (maybe just Jenny) being too reserved to give themselves over to the music. We were hoarse and sweaty by the time we left, and so Sarah cracked the windows of the car for the drive home, and we blasted a cassette of Smash as we followed the curves of Lake Shore Drive all the way back home.
2. Butthole Surfers - 1996. For this one I was seventeen years old, having just graduated high school. I was out with the aforementioned Sarah in the borrowed Nissan Sentra -- we had spent the afternoon driving around in search of amusement (I wanna say we got lost on our way to some particular destination, but I don't remember what that destination was) when a radio DJ announced that the Butthole Surfers, who we both loved thanks to their single Pepper, was playing a show that night and tickets were still available. Seeing as how we had nothing to do, and had money in our pockets, we exchanged a wide-eyed look and one of us, I think it was her said, "Wanna go?" We agreed to do it then and there, and we drove back to our area so we could stop at the Ticketmaster located in the Carson Pirie Scott at North Riverside Mall. From there we drove pretty much straight to the Aragon, and were smart enough to locate some street parking this time rather than shelling out for a over-priced spot in the lot across the street. We broke into a run when we were about a block from the venue (we were both drinking lots of mountain dew from large taco bell soft drink cups throughout our day of driving and really had to pee) and passed two middle aged men who leered at us and asked us to come back and run past them once more (we were both wearing fitted tees -- I specifically remember mine was dark red with rings of black around the collar and sleeves -- it was the shirt I referred to as my "Jenny from Kids" shirt because I was a little obsessed with that movie at the time). This grossed us both out and we ignored them and went through the security line as fast as possible so we could hit the bathroom and relieve ourselves. I bought a t-shirt being sold by the Toadies, one of the opening acts, it was dark blue and had an ice cream cone on it. And I actually ended up enjoying the toadies set a little better than the butthole surfers, though their performance was cool too, because they used a screen as their backdrop and projected weird and psychedelic images on it while they played. We stopped to eat at the Mr. Sub on Ogden and 1st Ave. after the show and this ended up getting me in trouble with my mom, who was mad that I didn't make it home before my curfew. I was pissed because if memory serves, I don't think I got in more than 10 or 15 minutes late and so I thought she was overreacting, especially since I was only a couple months from leaving for college in Milwaukee.
3. Foo Fighters - don't remember too much about that one, except that it was the second time I saw them during the Colours and the Shapes tour. The first time was at the Riviera, and this was a much bigger show. I went with Mike.
4. Marilyn Manson - I think this show took place in 1998, during my second year at Columbia College. I went with Mike and another Sara (the one who wasn't able to join us for the first Offspring show) and again it was cold. We had to stand in a long line outside before the doors opened -- it stretched down Lawrence to Broadway, and veered north, running parallel to a strip mall. Sara was a die-hard Manson fan, and she was so psyched to be there. What I remember most are: 1. the gigantic "DRUGS" flashing lighbulb sign that was lowered from the ceiling at a certain point in the performance. 2. the tall model-looking girl who was dancing in front of us on the main floor. She was clearly coked out of her mind, which seemed strange considering she was with a couple that was old enough to be her parents. 3. the guy in the flannel shirt who extended his hand and tried to get me to take it, until Mike stepped forward and then flannel guy realized I wasn't there by myself and was suddenly profusely apologetic.
5. White Stripes - this was a good show, but was overshadowed by number 7 so I can't really recall anything from it.
6. Gorillaz - this was one of the first shows where I felt sort of old because there were kids there not tall enough to see over the merchandise counter. I went with Mike. We sat in the balcony. At the end I bought a brown t-shirt that displayed Gorillaz lead guitarist, Noodle.
7. White Stripes/Flaming Lips NYE 2004 - easily the single best show I've been to at the Aragon or anywhere else for that matter. Mike and I joined Steph and her ex for this one, and we secured prime seating in the balcony since we knew the floor would be absolutely insane. The Flaming Lips played first, and since this was right around the time of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, they incorporated gigantic puppet ballons into the performance. Yellow suns I believe, and some animals, and Wayne did his hamster ball thing over the tops of everyone's heads, and he serenaded Jack White with a song about a fiber optic Jesus, and lots of colorful confetti dropped from the ceiling, and the White Stripes closed it out, and I wish I could extract more details from my head but for now my insistence that it was incredible and fun and memorable is gonna have to suffice.
8. The Offspring 2004 - I intentionally dragged Mike to this one because I knew it had been almost ten years since that first show and I wanted to see if one of my favorite bands still had the power to move me. It was another all-ages show and all the kids who had discovered the Offspring when they made their late-nineties, early 2000s comeback made me feel old but I didn't care much because they played all the songs that I screamed along with back in '95 along with some newer material and I screamed along with it all over again, though this time from the balcony, and at a certain point I stopped caring how old I was and just gave myself over to the music, much like I did back when I was 16. I also bought a t-shirt to replace the worn, faded one I bought at that first show, and in fact as I type this I am wearing that shirt. It is just as worn and faded as its long-discarded predecessor.
9. The Pixies - November 20, 2009 - This show was meant to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the release of Doolittle. I'm still processing it so I can't say much, except that the use of projection screens and creepy images brought back memories of the aforementioned Butthole Surfers show. That, and it was super great to be surrounded by hardcore music fans, not just posers who were there to hang out. Maybe I'll come back and add more to this later.
Maybe this makes me a nerd (well, I already KNOW that I am one so it goes without sayin) but I'm gonna record a list of all the shows that I remember, and whatever moments or details come back about each particular show. I might even consider doing this sort of entry again for other venues...might be cool to have one for each of the places I've frequented to hear musics.
Alright, here goes:
1. The Offspring - 1995. This was the first REAL rock show I ever went to. I was sixteen years old, and a junior in high school. Prior to this I'd seen a live performance of Sir Mix a Lot and Saigon Kick in my high school's field house, as well as a B96 Bash with a bunch of pop and hip hop groups, but I don't really count those because I went to them for the sake of going, and not out of any sense of rabid fandom. I didn't own a car in high school and so my friend Sarah, who was a year ahead of me, drove us there in her Mom's gray Nissan Sentra. We also brought along two other friends, Lisa and Jenny, and this caused a bit of drama. Two other friends, Nancy and Sara were pissed about being excluded, and gave me some grief about it later, but I felt like my hands were tied because Sarah had invited Jenny and Lisa and me first, leaving no room for additional passengers in her vehicle. And since I wasn't the one doing the driving, I felt like I wasn't in a position to be telling my chauffeur who should or should not be occupying her seats. Anyway, I remember it being very cold, and feeling the bite of the late-winter Chicago air as we crossed Lawrence Avenue, walking from the parking lot to the venue. I also remember that we stood on the main floor, trying to get as close to the stage as possible, but getting caught in the thick of the crowd. We endured the crush of bodies and flying drops of sweat, and the splash of beer from plastic cups, all for the sake of being able to dance to our favorite songs from The Offspring's breakout album Smash. We screamed the lyrics of Bad Habit, Self Esteem, and Come Out and Play right along with the band, or at least Sarah and I did. I kinda remember Lisa and Jenny (maybe just Jenny) being too reserved to give themselves over to the music. We were hoarse and sweaty by the time we left, and so Sarah cracked the windows of the car for the drive home, and we blasted a cassette of Smash as we followed the curves of Lake Shore Drive all the way back home.
2. Butthole Surfers - 1996. For this one I was seventeen years old, having just graduated high school. I was out with the aforementioned Sarah in the borrowed Nissan Sentra -- we had spent the afternoon driving around in search of amusement (I wanna say we got lost on our way to some particular destination, but I don't remember what that destination was) when a radio DJ announced that the Butthole Surfers, who we both loved thanks to their single Pepper, was playing a show that night and tickets were still available. Seeing as how we had nothing to do, and had money in our pockets, we exchanged a wide-eyed look and one of us, I think it was her said, "Wanna go?" We agreed to do it then and there, and we drove back to our area so we could stop at the Ticketmaster located in the Carson Pirie Scott at North Riverside Mall. From there we drove pretty much straight to the Aragon, and were smart enough to locate some street parking this time rather than shelling out for a over-priced spot in the lot across the street. We broke into a run when we were about a block from the venue (we were both drinking lots of mountain dew from large taco bell soft drink cups throughout our day of driving and really had to pee) and passed two middle aged men who leered at us and asked us to come back and run past them once more (we were both wearing fitted tees -- I specifically remember mine was dark red with rings of black around the collar and sleeves -- it was the shirt I referred to as my "Jenny from Kids" shirt because I was a little obsessed with that movie at the time). This grossed us both out and we ignored them and went through the security line as fast as possible so we could hit the bathroom and relieve ourselves. I bought a t-shirt being sold by the Toadies, one of the opening acts, it was dark blue and had an ice cream cone on it. And I actually ended up enjoying the toadies set a little better than the butthole surfers, though their performance was cool too, because they used a screen as their backdrop and projected weird and psychedelic images on it while they played. We stopped to eat at the Mr. Sub on Ogden and 1st Ave. after the show and this ended up getting me in trouble with my mom, who was mad that I didn't make it home before my curfew. I was pissed because if memory serves, I don't think I got in more than 10 or 15 minutes late and so I thought she was overreacting, especially since I was only a couple months from leaving for college in Milwaukee.
3. Foo Fighters - don't remember too much about that one, except that it was the second time I saw them during the Colours and the Shapes tour. The first time was at the Riviera, and this was a much bigger show. I went with Mike.
4. Marilyn Manson - I think this show took place in 1998, during my second year at Columbia College. I went with Mike and another Sara (the one who wasn't able to join us for the first Offspring show) and again it was cold. We had to stand in a long line outside before the doors opened -- it stretched down Lawrence to Broadway, and veered north, running parallel to a strip mall. Sara was a die-hard Manson fan, and she was so psyched to be there. What I remember most are: 1. the gigantic "DRUGS" flashing lighbulb sign that was lowered from the ceiling at a certain point in the performance. 2. the tall model-looking girl who was dancing in front of us on the main floor. She was clearly coked out of her mind, which seemed strange considering she was with a couple that was old enough to be her parents. 3. the guy in the flannel shirt who extended his hand and tried to get me to take it, until Mike stepped forward and then flannel guy realized I wasn't there by myself and was suddenly profusely apologetic.
5. White Stripes - this was a good show, but was overshadowed by number 7 so I can't really recall anything from it.
6. Gorillaz - this was one of the first shows where I felt sort of old because there were kids there not tall enough to see over the merchandise counter. I went with Mike. We sat in the balcony. At the end I bought a brown t-shirt that displayed Gorillaz lead guitarist, Noodle.
7. White Stripes/Flaming Lips NYE 2004 - easily the single best show I've been to at the Aragon or anywhere else for that matter. Mike and I joined Steph and her ex for this one, and we secured prime seating in the balcony since we knew the floor would be absolutely insane. The Flaming Lips played first, and since this was right around the time of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, they incorporated gigantic puppet ballons into the performance. Yellow suns I believe, and some animals, and Wayne did his hamster ball thing over the tops of everyone's heads, and he serenaded Jack White with a song about a fiber optic Jesus, and lots of colorful confetti dropped from the ceiling, and the White Stripes closed it out, and I wish I could extract more details from my head but for now my insistence that it was incredible and fun and memorable is gonna have to suffice.
8. The Offspring 2004 - I intentionally dragged Mike to this one because I knew it had been almost ten years since that first show and I wanted to see if one of my favorite bands still had the power to move me. It was another all-ages show and all the kids who had discovered the Offspring when they made their late-nineties, early 2000s comeback made me feel old but I didn't care much because they played all the songs that I screamed along with back in '95 along with some newer material and I screamed along with it all over again, though this time from the balcony, and at a certain point I stopped caring how old I was and just gave myself over to the music, much like I did back when I was 16. I also bought a t-shirt to replace the worn, faded one I bought at that first show, and in fact as I type this I am wearing that shirt. It is just as worn and faded as its long-discarded predecessor.
9. The Pixies - November 20, 2009 - This show was meant to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the release of Doolittle. I'm still processing it so I can't say much, except that the use of projection screens and creepy images brought back memories of the aforementioned Butthole Surfers show. That, and it was super great to be surrounded by hardcore music fans, not just posers who were there to hang out. Maybe I'll come back and add more to this later.
