Coronado Theatre
Rockford, IL
April 11, 2003

This was yet another combo trip for me. I tend to do that – sneak in a CT fix while on the road for another reason. Read on if you wanna hear all about it. If not, click here to skip to show only stuff, click here for Rockford ramblings or click here for the set list… ‘mkay?

The real reason I headed north this time of year can be summed up in one word: mom. After her diagnosis in February, she had to postpone a visit to her grandson in Texas, so I scraped together the money to take her grandson to her. :)

Luckily for me, the timing was right to get over to Illinois for two shows. I’ve always wanted to see CT in Chicago, so a show at the Vic, as well as another chance to see the guys at the bee-u-tee-ful Coronado was too much to resist.

Of course all four of Zach’s grandparents were more than happy to baby-sit while I was gone. Imagine that. ;) Due to a work commitment, Tim couldn’t make the trip, so I was on my own with Zach.

Most of you don’t know this but I have a HUGE fear of flying.

Alone.

With a one year old.

Who, in their right mind, would choose do such a thing?!?!

As it turns out, my fears were unfounded. Zach was a perfect angel on the plane. And no, I’m not exaggerating. I know I’m his mom, but dangit it, my boy was perfect that day. Hell, he was perfect for the whole trip: he took his naps, slept at night and put up with an endless parade of friends, neighbors and coworkers. LOL I was so proud of him.

Anyway, we made it in to Columbus on April 10. That night we had dinner with all 4 of the grandparents. Fun times. God help us, Zach already know when he has an audience. I don’t know where he gets his flair for the dramatic?! LMAO…

ROCKFORD

The next morning I hit the road bright and early for the 7 hour drive to Rockford. The weather was beautiful – bright and sunny all the way. I keep forgetting how green grass is up in the Midwest. LOL We’ve got grass in Midland but it just doesn’t look that brilliant.

I chose the route that avoided the Chicago area. Not sure if it saved me any time, but I can now say I’ve been through Normal, IL. ;)

This may sound dumb but I really like car trips. When I was a kid I hated them, but these days I relish the chance to listen to music and think some non-mom thoughts. In the player today was an assortment of CT disks, as well Foo Fighters, Wayne Kramer and the soundtrack of The Last Five Years.

If anyone out there likes musical theatre and wants to talk about this show, for the love of god, email me. Jason Robert Brown’s music makes me cry every time I hear it. In a good way. His use of strings, particularly the cello, is wonderful. It’s a crime that this show didn’t do better in NYC.

Come to think of it, Jason Robert Brown is to musical theatre what CT is to rock: unbelievably great music that DOESN’T GET ENOUGH RECOGNITION, GODDAMNIT.

OK.

I’m done. ;)

When I pulled into the Clock Tower Hotel to pick up Cara, she’d already made a friend. I guess some Maryland transplant had plopped down beside her and proceeded to tell Cara her life story.

Bwahahahahahahha!

Poor Cara. She thought that she wouldn’t have to deal with freaks once she was out of New York City. ;)

Anyway, it was good to see my fellow acting/CT pal and I was glad that she’d braved the flight to Chicago for these shows.

After checking into the hotel and grabbing some lunch, we toured around CT’s hometown. We got a couple laughs from marquees that day. Guilford High School’s read: SPRING BREAK. LOL

Then, according to the sign in front of the Coronado, Guided By Voices would be the "Specil" guest. Of course this got me going, playing with the pronunciation. My guess was "spee-kil" because it rhymes with "fecal."

I kid GBV.

We waited around the Coronado stage door, hoping to hear a bit of sound check, but the timing didn’t work out. We had to get back to the hotel to meet up with our two friends from Japan: Junko and Mutsumi. Great to see them both – and I was happy that they’d arrived safe and sound.

After dropping off their things, we headed back downtown, got some photos of the Coronado and took them to the public records room at the downtown branch of the library.

Yes, people, the ’68 and ’69 Guilford High School year books are there. I’m sure the librarian thought we were all insane. I know I’d seen those photos before, but it was fun to see them in person.

Of course we had to have dinner at the infamous Beef-A-Roo. Cheese fries taste better when you’re sitting underneath a CT shrine. :)

Back at the Coronado, Brian from Upstaging saw us coming down the street and gave me a hard time – kinda picking up where he left off in Austin. LOL As luck would have it, we got to see Robin, Rick and Tom as they arrived for the show.

Right before we headed into the theatre, Cara got a call on her cell phone. She handed it to me and it was Elliot’s from Scotland! :) Hearing his voice made me realize how close it was to show time, so we made our way into the lobby to meet up with him and other friends.

There were so many folks there – I know I’m gonna leave out some names, so I won’t even try. Although I do need to give a shout out to Ron who was good enough to buy me a couple drinks before the show. :D

I got a couple smart ass comments from people. I have lost a little weight since the last time I was in Rockford. ;) And yeah, it was nice to be back in Rockford in a non-pregnant state. Not only was I more comfortable, I could have a cocktail, too. ;)

For the first time, I blew off the opener. I knew I’d be seeing GBV in Chicago and I decided I’d rather chat with friends instead. :)

In fact, I was such a Chatty Cathy that I lost my companions. Junko found me after a bit and we dashed upstairs to the balcony to pay our respects to the Rick seat. LOL On our way there, I saw a young girl – maybe 9 or 10 – who had on a cool pair of checkerboard pants. She looked all proud of herself when I complimented them.

Back in the mez, I proceeded to gab right up to show time. The lights went out and I was on the wrong side – doh! So I scurried over to my seat just as the guys were about to take the stage…

Ok. True confession time.

By the time I got to my seat, someone was in it. As I was trying to sort that out, a stream of people ran past me to stand in the pit. While I don’t condone this sort of behavior, I got caught up in the moment and went with them. I figured, screw it. If security was gonna let people do it, then I might as well.

Of course, this gave way to feelings of guilt… how pissed would I be if someone without a ticket did that to did that to me?

As it turns out my moral dilemma was moot. By a bizarre twist of fate, I was standing next to Colleen who had just emailed me that day to offer me that very spot! We didn’t get exchange contact info, so thank you Colleen – wherever you are!

So… to make a long story longer, I ended up with a really amazing seat for a show in the guys’ hometown. Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!

THE SHOW

FASHION REPORT

SET LIST

RICK SAYS...

Rick seemed pleased to welcome us all to his hometown and talked about how good it was to be there. In the closest thing I’ve ever heard him come to a political statement, he added that with all the craziness in the world today, he was glad that we were all there and safe.

Despite being full of hometown pride, he cracked on the Rockford Register Star, asking people to raise their hands if they’d ever found a typo in that newspaper. Several hands went up. LOL I guess they got his birth year wrong and he wanted to set the record straight.

Of course there was talk of the new album. Perhaps Rick has been teased about the ever changing dates in his announcements, so he’s become more ambiguous. "Some time this month or next month."

One of the funniest moments of the evening was just before "Heaven Tonight." Rick came out with the mandocello and told everyone what it was. So Tom starts "Mandocello" to which Rick replied, "Uh, Tom, this is a mandocello, but we're not playing 'Mandocello.' So Tom starts a different tune and Rick cut him off again, "No, Tom, that one didn't make the album." So Tom starts yet another song and by this time Rick is just LHAO.

I love it when they crack each other up. :D

The standard intro for BEC these days includes a mention of the world record he helped set. Rick encouraged us to chant and clap as much as possible in honor of that. If you’ve not seen any photos of the event in Washington, click here. They’ve got some video clips, too. Good stuff!

When Rick reemerged for the encores wearing his Icehogs jersey, he talked about how the hockey team had almost made it to the second round of the playoffs. I think the team should wear that style jersey all the time – if they did I’d bet they’d go all the way. :)

MISC.

The guys all seemed to be in a great mood. This would be why I make the effort to get to the Rockford shows. They always seem so happy to be back home. Good energy and lots of smiles all around.

And who wouldn’t be happy to be playing in that gorgeous theatre?! It’s always a pleasure to visit the Coronado. I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again kudos to everyone who worked so hard and did such a great job restoring the theatre. If you’d like to see what it looks like, click here. They’ve got some nice photos and video clips all around the facility.

The new songs are wonderful. "Best Friend" and "Scent of a Woman" are my favorites. This was the first time I’d heard the former and it was every bit as good as the reports I’d read. It’s a dark, brooding song and Robin just tears into it. Great, great stuff!!!

That said, you can tell it irks Rick to not have a solid release date for the new album. All I can say is, I’m a patient woman. I love the studio stuff I’ve heard and just like everyone, I want it released ASAP. However, I also want the guys to get a record deal they’re happy with. After almost 30 years in the business, they deserve it, damnit.

POST SHOW

After thanking Colleen profusely for the great seat, I gathered my things. When I picked up my backpack, there I found another Rick pick. Woo hoo! Score! :D How'd it get under there, though?!

The four of us decided to wait with the crowd outside the stage door for a chance to say hi to the guys. It was at this time that I heard about Nance's problems with security during the show. From the sound of things, they cracked down on her for using flash photography. Although they weren’t necessarily enforcing the rule with every one. I do know Junko had her film trashed, too...

Back at the stage door, BEC was the first one out. After going in to the tour bus he reemerged with a pen and asked if anyone needed anything to be signed. Awwwww…

Tom was the next one out. Thankfully everyone in the crowd was respectful and left the man alone since he was with a big group of his family members. It was cute to see him pile into a limo with all of them though. :)

Robin and Rick were the last ones out and were kind enough to spend some time with us. Both of them signed many an autograph, chatted with fans and posed for photos.

Rick scored some major brownie points with me when he asked about my mom again. Of course I always tell mom when Rick asks about her. When she heard about his thoughtfulness she got all misty. Like mother like daughter. :)

After traipsing around downtown Rockford, hoping to find a bar to get a drink (and not have to pay a buncha $ to get in) we gave up and went back to the hotel. My exhaustion ultimately won out over my desire to be social. LOL Especially since we knew we’d have an early day the next day for the Chicago show.

Whew!

Thanks for reading. One Chicago review, coming up!