Ed Burch and friends - really

I never made it to one of the legendary original Hideout Monday nights featuring Edward Burch, though I've heard many tales about them. I always wanted to go, but the timing was never right. It's kind of a shame, then, that the Monday night show I finally attended was the one where Ed said goodbye to Chicago. Nevertheless, he bid farewell to the Hideout in style - so in some ways it was a perfect capsule of his many Hideout shows, with friends who played with him along the way.

I did actually catch Ed and friends performing Satan is Real last summer, and a song or two from that album made appearances again - among a buffet of musical treats diverse enough to appeal to any audience. Ed played two sets on Monday night, each about an hour and a half in length. The first set was the more tightly orchestrated of the two (literally, in some cases, since a string quartet was on hand.) The second set was much more loose and informal - not that there's anything too formal about an evening at the Hideout in any case.

After playing a few songs with his first guests, Ed asked LeRoy Bach to join him onstage. Together they played my two favorite LeRoy songs - "Special Day" and "Dad Says." (Full disclosure: they're also the only two LeRoy songs I know. But I do love them both.) I've seen LeRoy play many instruments over the years, but had never seen him simply singing with an acoustic guitar - I'm glad I got the chance at least once. More guests followed LeRoy, and I was delighted when the string quartet joined the crowd on stage and masterfully performed John Cale's "Paris 1919." Complete with trumpet. That's one of my (hundred or so) favorite songs, as you may be able to tell from the "About me" quote on this very blog.

A little later Ed called Jay Bennett up to join the party. Obviously Jay is partially responsible for a lot of my favorite music, so it was really nice to see him live at last. He and Ed are clearly good friends - one of the hallmarks of the night was definitely the relaxed, playful interaction between all of the musicians on stage, but it was especially true for Ed and Jay. They played an absolutely gorgeous version of "Venus Stopped the Train" with the string quartet, with Jay contributing some amazing piano work.

So many musicians joined in on stage that I couldn't name them all. John Peacock, Steve Frisbie, Andy Leach, even Pat Sansone for one song. Song choices ranged wide from Boston covers to Doug Sahm; from Beach Boys to Bee Gees; from Feetwood Mac to Willie Nelson. Sam's encore request for ELO was granted beautifully by Ed solo on the piano. Throughout the night it was plain to see how much respect everyone has for Ed - many musicians thanked him for all the music he introduced to them. Many came from out of town (some out of state) to be part of his farewell show. It was also obvious how much people will miss him. The residents of Austin will be adding another great musician to their scene, but I hope Ed won't be a stranger to Chicago.

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!