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!