Let's have a ball

I had a great birthday weekend. Friday U joined me, piloting The Boat. We both managed to get some work done (her way more than me) and also Ate-a-Pita. Then Maudie and Trish arrived (yay!) and eventually we headed to Largo for my Jon Brion birthday show. We had enough people to fill both of our tables for four. I looked over the new menu items, but I'm still all about the Largo salad. Ditching an old standard dinner choice at Largo can be fraught with peril.

Jill Sobule opened for Jon, accompanied on most of her songs by Greg Leisz on pedal steel. It was my first time seeing either of them, and I wouldn't mind doing so again. Jon came on around the usual time - freshly back from England, according to Flanagan - and proceeded to play for about three hours without a break between sets. Happy birthday to me, indeed. U is, of course, the JB setlist queen, but I can mention some random highlights. Very early in the set, Jon gave us a little crash course and demonstration of all of his pedals and what they do, which I loved. I'm astoundingly clueless when it comes to gear, and Jon's nice, succinct summations of each pedal's function ("This one takes a sound this big and adds something this big down here") were very informative.

The first half of the set was, I believe, pretty much Jon's own stuff. I particularly adored the harmonica and toy piano (celeste?) version of "Knock Yourself Out". Then for the second half, Greg Leisz came back out on pedal steel, and Benmont Tench was called out to play piano. I was so happy to see Benmont. Favorite Benmont moments of the night: his solo during "I Don't Hurt Anymore"? Maybe? I can't remember now for sure, but I do know that I had a stupid grin on my face the whole time. Also, the part during another song (damn, I'm bad at this) when he started throwing some little celeste accents in along with his standard piano work. In the covers department, there was a lovely rendition of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", and a healthy dose of Beatles covers, including a sort of guitar riff medley by Jon. I also thoroughly enjoyed "Gigantic".

After the show, as we were leaving the club, we noticed a commotion a few doors down that was preventing us from walking to our car. "Hey, that ho-bag in pink. That's Paris Hilton," U said with a touch of horror. The ho-bag in pink stalked into a club, and we were able to pass.

Saturday's weather was absolutely gorgeous. We brunched at Hugo's, and then headed to the Getty Center. I thought the Getty was great: awesome views, impressive architecture, beautiful gardens, interesting water features, and of course, art. For free. I had no idea what special exhibitions were going on until we arrived, but one turned out to be paintings of Caspar David Friedrich and Gerhard Richter. Gerhard Richter is one of my favorite painters, so I was extremely pleased. There were also some excellent photography exhibitions. After an hour or two of art, we grabbed some drinks and spent a long time soaking up the perfect weather on a grassy slope overlooking the gardens. Children tossed paper airplanes and had rolling contests down the hill. I chose not to dwell on the fact that I'd be back in the Wisconsin winter the next day.

Saturday night, after some Persian/Irish ice cream, we saw ASSSSCAT at the UCB Theatre. Jello Biafra was the guest monologist, and he was fairly entertaining, if also fairly self-important. The improv was very funny. (I'm limbering up for the Second City marathon next month.) We finished up the night at an excellent cafe in Los Feliz, on Evonne's recommendation. Trish's friends joined us, and we hung around until closing time.

And then on Sunday I came back here and it was 40 degrees. The end!

As long as I gaze on Union Park sunset

Sunday was Day 2 of Intonation Festival at Chicago's Union Park. I had one goal for the day - to see Jon Brion. It's so rare that he performs anywhere outside of L.A. anyway, let alone Chicago. But since his tendinitis, even his Largo appearances have dried up. This was definitely not to be missed.

I started the morning checking out Gina's new digs on the North side, and we really had the best of intentions to keep Heidi and Uyen company on their Jon vigil. But by 11:30 it was raining and our resolve failed. We instead lunched at the Golden Nugget, watched an Eddie Izzard DVD, and got to Intonation around 4:00 p.m. In time to catch the end of Annie's set, and (more importantly) dryness, spotty sunshine, and mellow temperatures. Perfect weather for air guitar, headbanging, and hair flinging during the Sword. For the guys around us, I mean.

By the time Jon came on, we had quite a solid presence up front. Even Sooz, balancing delicately on her crutches, was in the fray. Jon's set was obviously way shorter than his Largo nights (although he was the first non-headlining performer I saw to get called back for an encore) and he was mindful of that, keeping his customary long-burning song builds somewhat limited. Though he didn't show it while playing, it also seemed pretty clear that his wrist was bothering him. He brought along some piano assistance in Benmont Tench, who is on tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Even though Jon can't be that used to the outdoor festival crowd, he did a great job of combining his usual improvisation, witty comments, cover songs, and originals in the slightly more structured atmosphere.

Somewhere along the line there was a request for "Glenn" to come up. I thought, "Nah..." But sure enough, Glenn Kotche came up and slid behind the drum kit to help out on a few songs - including the encore of "Waterloo Sunset". The very first time I ever saw Jon at Largo, Benmont Tench and Glenn Kotche were among the surprise guests. So this was like very pleasant déjà vu. The interaction between the three guys onstage was great. Near the end of the main set Jon made Glenn play a crazy drum solo, which is something you don't get to see too often. And Jon even kicked his piano over at the end of a fabulous version of "I Believe She's Lying". Rock. And. Roll.

We stayed a little while after Jon's set, and listened to some Robert Pollard from the other stage. (In retrospect, telling Glenn that due to outdoor festival acoustics nobody would have been able to tell if he sucked anyway was probably not the most reassuring statement.) Then we went out for Thai food, and wound up at the Hideout on Sam's suggestion for the second half of Ed Burch and friends' performance of the Louvin Brothers' "Satan is Real". It was pretty awesome. After a brief foray down North Ave. I dropped Gina at her place and headed back home. And then the thunderstorms and pouring decided to arrive. Yay! Oh well. Still better than during the festival.

My pictures are taken from Chicagoist, by the way. Visit Chicagoist!