Chicago, IL: Reenact ‘68 & The Co-Prosperity Sphere
Chicago called us to her, and after a long day on the road, we finally arrived. This marked the first time in a big city since we’d left New York, and some of us (myself included) cheered. This also marked the first time the bus had to park significantly far from both of our gigs, so we packed a day bag and headed on over to an anti-war gig called Re-enact ‘68 in Grant Park, which focused on — you guessed it — reliving the 1968 protests of the Democratic National Convention. A peppy little march and a short set in the park were followed by a per diem dinner (our first since leaving town the previous Friday!) and a couple hours to wander around the city. Some of us split off to stay with friends and come back in the morning, permission slip and phone numbers in hand, and some of us stuck around for the evening’s event — another anti-RNC party, this time with our friends Black Bear Combo at an art collective space called the Co-Prosperity Sphere where we were advised to be extremely careful. We played and slept and ate breakfast and had our morning meeting without damaging any artwork, a feat of which I was incredibly proud, and then peaced out of Illinois for Wisconsin.
Indianapolis, IN: Fringe Fest & Show @ Piradical House
Next we headed to Indianapolis for the Indy Fringe Festival and a show at the local anarchopunk booking collective called Piradical House.
RMO at Piradical House, originally uploaded by jTuba.
That night found us sprawled out at a nearby campsite, because of last-minute housing complications, and as stressful as the evening was for the day’s co-captains, I have to say that I was in full support of this change. I much prefer sleeping outside under the stars than a hard dirty floor in a big crazy punk house. (Not that I don’t love big crazy punk houses.) Sparkling with fresh Indiana dew, we woke up the next morning mostly happy and refreshed, and climbed back on the bus once more.
