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I had a ticket to see Les Claypool's Gold tour in Chicago on Wednesday. He took all three of his bands on tour together - Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, The Claypool Lennon Delerium and Primus. I never put it on our calendar, so had kinda forgotten about it until my friend messaged me on Monday to say he wasn't able to go.
Tuesday night I saw where someone had posted a video of Union Pacific's Big Boy. It is the world's largest and most powerful operating steam locomotive. Built in 1941, it weighs 1.2 million pounds and stretches 132 feet long. It doesn't come around very often. This year it's on a coast to cost tour for America's 250th. So I looked it up to see where it would be and when, and see if I'd have an opportunity to see it. It turned out that it would be in the Chicago area the next day - the day I was going to Chicago for the concert. Perfect! And my friend wasn't going to the show, so I didn't have to worry about dragging him to this thing.
It was in West Chicago, which is a little town pretty far west of the city. I got on the road at 11:00, which was a little later than I'd planned, and I also hadn't planned on stopping for lunch. The town had planned on huge crowds, so they set up shuttle buses stopping at various parking lots around the area. I chose one and parked. I was the only one there. I waited ten minutes for the bus (and was the only one on it), and it took 25 minutes to complete the circuit and get me to the train. I finally got there at 2:30, and the event was to close at 3:00.
On the way down I was wondering what I was thinking - it's a big train. Is it going to feel spectacular. I honestly don't have a good feel for how big a normal steam train is, since I've only seen a few in my life. But it turned out to be pretty cool. And yes, it looks huge. I must have spent about 45 minutes around it (you could see it from one side from outside of the closed off area), and got almost 200 photos.
It was near 90°, and I sweated a lot. I didn't get any water, and the water I had in the car was then too warm to drink. I drove downtown, which took over an hour. Then I wandered around for another hour before I finally got water.
I bought parking at a garage there, and had a pass on my phone. I got in OK, but getting out was an issue. It took me a couple of tries to get out, but then I realized I wouldn't be able to go back in that way. I walked completely around the block and didn't see a way back in. I went up to the door I came out of, and just then someone was coming out, and he let me in. I found a different exit, and this one had a scanner where I could use my parking pass to open the door to go back in. Why is everything so hard?
I ate at Goose Island Brewery, next to the venue. Got in the venue just a few minutes before showtime. It was open air general admission. I'd heard old people complain about standing for too long, and I always assumed it was their feet or legs that gave out, but I've learned it's my back that hurts. I'm also too old for most of these shows. Frog Brigade was good, much as expected. Claypool Lennon Delerium was good, but I was hoping for great. I've watched shows on YouTube and loved them, but there really wasn't much added by the live experience. Much more subtraction. Much of that being the crowd. Everyone was constantly pushing by, going in our out. And I wasn't close enough to see anyone very well. The sound wasn't as good as when I'm listening on my headphones. And those two bands only played for an hour total.
What makes a show worth it for me these days is when I can get into it physically, like dancing or jumping around. And that's what I expected from Primus. But they didn't deliver on that. Claypool seemed to be stuck in the trippy, jammy Delerium mode. They still sounded like Primus, but somehow more laid back. They only played two songs I recognized, "My Name is Mud," which I didn't enjoy, and "Tommy the Cat," which I did. I saw them just last year, and they played their hits which had the whole place (literally) jumping, but they didn't do them this time. It wasn't the lack of songs I knew that was disappointing - I really wanted to jump.
It was an early show, being on a school night I guess. Started at 7, ended at 10, and I got home at midnight.
Tuesday night I saw where someone had posted a video of Union Pacific's Big Boy. It is the world's largest and most powerful operating steam locomotive. Built in 1941, it weighs 1.2 million pounds and stretches 132 feet long. It doesn't come around very often. This year it's on a coast to cost tour for America's 250th. So I looked it up to see where it would be and when, and see if I'd have an opportunity to see it. It turned out that it would be in the Chicago area the next day - the day I was going to Chicago for the concert. Perfect! And my friend wasn't going to the show, so I didn't have to worry about dragging him to this thing.
It was in West Chicago, which is a little town pretty far west of the city. I got on the road at 11:00, which was a little later than I'd planned, and I also hadn't planned on stopping for lunch. The town had planned on huge crowds, so they set up shuttle buses stopping at various parking lots around the area. I chose one and parked. I was the only one there. I waited ten minutes for the bus (and was the only one on it), and it took 25 minutes to complete the circuit and get me to the train. I finally got there at 2:30, and the event was to close at 3:00.
On the way down I was wondering what I was thinking - it's a big train. Is it going to feel spectacular. I honestly don't have a good feel for how big a normal steam train is, since I've only seen a few in my life. But it turned out to be pretty cool. And yes, it looks huge. I must have spent about 45 minutes around it (you could see it from one side from outside of the closed off area), and got almost 200 photos.
It was near 90°, and I sweated a lot. I didn't get any water, and the water I had in the car was then too warm to drink. I drove downtown, which took over an hour. Then I wandered around for another hour before I finally got water.
I bought parking at a garage there, and had a pass on my phone. I got in OK, but getting out was an issue. It took me a couple of tries to get out, but then I realized I wouldn't be able to go back in that way. I walked completely around the block and didn't see a way back in. I went up to the door I came out of, and just then someone was coming out, and he let me in. I found a different exit, and this one had a scanner where I could use my parking pass to open the door to go back in. Why is everything so hard?
I ate at Goose Island Brewery, next to the venue. Got in the venue just a few minutes before showtime. It was open air general admission. I'd heard old people complain about standing for too long, and I always assumed it was their feet or legs that gave out, but I've learned it's my back that hurts. I'm also too old for most of these shows. Frog Brigade was good, much as expected. Claypool Lennon Delerium was good, but I was hoping for great. I've watched shows on YouTube and loved them, but there really wasn't much added by the live experience. Much more subtraction. Much of that being the crowd. Everyone was constantly pushing by, going in our out. And I wasn't close enough to see anyone very well. The sound wasn't as good as when I'm listening on my headphones. And those two bands only played for an hour total.
What makes a show worth it for me these days is when I can get into it physically, like dancing or jumping around. And that's what I expected from Primus. But they didn't deliver on that. Claypool seemed to be stuck in the trippy, jammy Delerium mode. They still sounded like Primus, but somehow more laid back. They only played two songs I recognized, "My Name is Mud," which I didn't enjoy, and "Tommy the Cat," which I did. I saw them just last year, and they played their hits which had the whole place (literally) jumping, but they didn't do them this time. It wasn't the lack of songs I knew that was disappointing - I really wanted to jump.
It was an early show, being on a school night I guess. Started at 7, ended at 10, and I got home at midnight.
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Date: 2026-06-05 07:13 pm (UTC)From: