Tag: Chicago

Posted on

Austin Vegas’s Day Off

Last weekend we hit a trip into the city of Chicago. I woke up this Friday morning and really just didn’t want to go into work today *cough, Cough*. My woman just happend to be out to Chi-town for work and I hop the first flight out so to get a chance to cruse this new-to-me city for two days.

Unfortunately for us, there are plenty of conventions in town the weekend of the 19th so we’re forced to have a room with the Christian Womens Movement at the Hyatt Regency O’hare. The rate wasn’t bad, the room was big with full office capabilities but it was 45 minutes by the blue line to the city and if we had to take the red line, it was even longer with the back track. Although I didn’t get to recite “Danke Schoen” on a float there were plenty of highlights of my weekend.

Friday was opening night for the MBL Hometown series as the Chicago White Sox were hosting the Cubs. Tickets for the game were sold out months before I even knew of the trip but StubHub had a few options not too far off face value. We missed a little tailgating and because we had to pick up the tickets off the parking lot, we didn’t get to our 300 level seats till the bottom of the 2nd. Still hovering over home plate, the view was great even if we missed some fireworks and spinning wheels (home run celebration at US Cellular field).

Being at the home town field, we were out for the former Series Champs and they didn’t disappoint. Maddux was flustered all day and the Sox came out on top with a 6 – 1 win over the cubs. I guess the tension was eminent as the follow up game at Wrigley field was a dog fight literally and an altercation at the plate caused the benches to clear. We were at a bar when this incident happened and Chicago lit up with fire, one way or the other…

After the game there wasn’t much planned so we too to the trains get out downtown and see what happens. We pop out of the Red line at the Chicago to the appearance of a huge tent and blue music filling the streets… A parade? No, but it was the Weber Grill Restaurant – BBQ Block Party. A yearly celebration and firefighter grill cook off, with beers, wine, BBQ and blues for 8 hours. Koko (of “Wang Dang Doodle” fame), Lonnie Brooks and Dave Specter and the Bluebirds featuring Tad Robinson performed. Lonnie Brooks (pictured) was off the hook rocking back n forth on the stick and getting the mildly liquored crowed going. Not bad on the BBQ but the kicker was the great weather and a few local brews for $3 ea.

Playin tourist on Saturday we walked downtown, Millennium Park, and Millennium Mile, took a bike tour of the lake and surrounding museums including the Married w/ Children intro fountain: Buckingham Fountain, and experienced a great tourist tour by taking the architecture cruise of the Chicago river ways. I snapped some shots around the river. Rather than wait in lines all day for the Sear’s Tower view, or paying the 10 clams for the Handcock center, we took the elevator shot up to The Signature Room, for a few NY priced Martinis…

Check out some photos and I could update this, sometime later:




















The full gallery of Chicago architecture and other photos

Posted on

History of House Music

I was a fan of parties before I was a fan of house, but I soon realized it was the spirit of and behind the music that facilitated the culture, love and respect for the people around it that really inspired me to dive deeper into dance music itself.

Many people, more now than ever should understand the history and depth of the sound and where it came from as the music still changes form and wavers in and out of the underground. There are many stories, histories and theories. Most have elements of truth and here are a few.

Here’s one lengthy but interesting history lesson for the development of both House music and the dance culture around it, written by Phil Cheeseman for DJ magazine.

The gist of what I tell people and what the basis of house was birthed in Chicago by djs playing new music to a dance heavy scene whom were looking to do something different from the dying disco sound and wanted to focus more on the purity of the rhythm and dance aspects of the music rather than the glam of the scene and the people that surrounded it. The development of new synthetic and electronic rhythms and drums as well as the introduction of samplers facilitated the growth and developments of the first house tracks.

The term “House Music” started from the type of music played at a late 70’s early 80’s Chicago club called The Warehouse; which over time was shortened to just The House. Frankie Knuckles (“The Godfather of House”’s Myspace page), a New York DJ transplant in Chicago, was the first pioneer playing a combination of new sounds from disco, funk, breakbeats, techno and house which all was generalized into a single style of music being played at the Warehouse as just “House music”.

From then on House took on new forms, sounds and genre’s developing from talents like: Kraftwerk, Afrika Bambatta, Jesse Saunders, Chip E., Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, Farley Keith, Ron Hardy, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Mateo & Matos, Blaze, Adonis, Todd Terry, Frankie Bones, Larry Levan, Tony Humphries, Ian B, Eddie Richards, and many many more…

Not everyone understands House music; it’s a spiritual thing; a body thing; a soul thing.
Eddie Amador’s “House Music” (1999)