Friday afternoon started our next adventure for the weekend. It was going to be all about music, fun, food, and more fun. We had reservation to spend the night downtown. CeeCee James was in town to play at Buddy Guy’s Legends. Rich had been following CeeCee for a while. She is amazing.
CeeCee is a blues woman out of Oregon. She had won Best Song this year at the Blues Awards in Memphis. I hate to state it this way, but CeeCee James has the voice of Janis Joplin and the blues chops of such greats as Howlin Wolf.
On vacation, I had become more acquainted with CeeCee’s work since Rich had put one of her albums on one of the jump drives we used for our music while driving. I was more than a little impressed. I love her voice, but her way with a song got me. You could tell this was a professional who knew how to present the material to you.
Enough about that. We left the house and headed to the train station. We were hopping the 3:03 train for downtown Chicago. As we waited, we realized our fellow travelers today were headed down to Lollapalooza. Most everyone was 16 to 30 years of age. The talk was most inane and teenage. When had I gotten so old? The train filled up fast as it stopped at the regular stations to pick up other travelers.
We arrived on time into Ogilvie Station. After waiting for the car to clear, we made our way out and down to the platform. It was a sea of bodies, backpacks, and suitcases. The flow of the bodies took us out of the doors and to the top of the escalator. There were more people on the floor below.
Outside, we found a cab and gave the driver our destination. By now, it was definitely rush hour on a Friday in Chicago. We had seen the lines of trucks and cars on the expressways into town. It was going to be a busy drive going anywhere tonight. I didn’t envy the cab driver trying to negotiate the street traffic. Cars seemed to be everywhere. Pedestrians were jaywalking and just stepping out of nowhere into the street.
Watching everyone, I realized there was a new dress code for the twentysomethings or older. I decided this should probably be called urban weekend wear. The mix was pretty much bermuda shorts in a rainbow of sherbert colors on the guys with typically long sleeve shirts rolled to the elbow. It was 82 degrees outside. Weren’t they hot? In contrast, the girls are in the briefest of short shorts with tanks or even tube tops. Rich wanted to know when the 70s came back into style.
We arrived at the hotel and paid the cab driver. Inside, people were congregating in the lobby. I like this boutique hotel because the clientele tend to be Europeans on holiday. Just never know who you will meet in the elevator. Besides, it is just around the corner from Buddy Guy’s.
We checked in. Since it was Lolla weekend, we had to sign a statement that we would behave, not destroy property, and abide by quiet time hours. What goes on when these kids are in town? I signed it since I figured we were in no danger of breaking any of the rules. Oh yeah, we also had to have a bright neon green wristband applied to our arms to prove we belonged here after hours.
The elevator got us up to our floor and we discovered that our room was directly across from the elevator. Quick and easy in. Unfortunately, the bed wasn’t the king size that I had ordered, but it would do. We just needed to sleep once we returned.
I changed clothes and we headed out. Downstairs, we made our want to Buddy Guy’s. This is just one block up and one block over. We got in the door to find the place was basically empty. This was not the filled to the brim place we tried to squeeze into last year. The bouncer at the door stated it was early. We were more than welcomed to come in and find a table. We could camp out all night and no one would try to kick us out. Sounded good.
We walked around the floor and Rich picked out the table with the best vantage point of the stage, without putting us on the stage. I was happy with it. It was getting to be around 5:30 at this point. The first act was tuning up and getting prepared to start his set.
Looking at the beer menu, we see that there is something special called Buddy Brew. The waitress tells us it is a wheat beer. That sounds good for the summer and easy to drink. Rich gets his first one in a commemorative glass. It says: Damn Right This is Buddy Brew. Nicholas Barron takes the stage and sings us into the beginning of our evening.
On the way into the bar, I almost ran into a guy in a wheelchair. Now, I’m not normally that clumsy. I kind of turned around and there he was. He apologized and I walked around. Later on, this guy is in front of us with his beer listening to Nicholas play. After a couple of comments, he introduces himself as Terry and he seems to be a regular that everyone knows. We talk off and on through the evening until the place starts to get packed and I assume he went home.
We ordered appetizers to get us started. Rich got the fried okra and I got the crab cakes. The crab cakes weren’t bad. The okra was a little spicy. It was a little more than I could take; but for okra, it wasn’t bad. Nicholas took a break and then returned for his second set. He played a lot of 60s soul and folk tunes around some blues numbers. His regular gig is Sunday afternoons at Buddy’s. This was just his fill in spot apparently.
Rich went up to check out what t-shirts were available. He came back to the table and said that nothing struck him as something he had to have. He said he thought Buddy Guy was sitting at the bar. I thought he was in California for the Mammoth Lakes blues show. Trampled Under Foot was arriving there today to play this weekend. I was sure I saw Buddy’s name on the list of performers. I decided I had to check this out. It was totally unexpected to have Buddy here.
I went by the bar, but didn’t see anyone I could recognize. At the desk, I was checking out the shirts. The guy behind the desk told me I should buy a poster and he could have Buddy sign it. I asked if Buddy was here and heard that indeed he was sitting at the bar at that moment. I saw a nice poster I liked and agreed to come back with money. I went back for the dollars and told Rich he was right. I explained about buying a poster and getting Buddy’s signature.
At the front, I purchased the poster I wanted. The guy found a nice cardboard container to keep it in. He got out a Sharpie and handed it to the girl behind the desk telling her to have Buddy sign it. I was going to wait at the desk, he told me to follow her. I did, pronto.
A young couple was trying to approach Buddy when we arrived at the bar. He didn’t acknowledge them and turned to the girl with my poster. He signed it and I said thank you to which he replied, “You’re welcome.” Apparently, you have to buy something for Buddy to talk to you. I was so thrilled to have talked to Buddy AND gotten his signature. Once the ink dried, I packaged away my new found treasure. I protected it the rest of the night.
A couple of beers later, we ordered dinner. Rich went for the jambalaya with cornbread and I got the crawfish etouffee. When the plates were delivered, we discovered we should have just ordered one. The helping was huge! There was no one either of us could finish these off by ourselves or even with help from the other one. They were delicious though.
So the second act comes on. A lot of people dressed in white clothes appeared on the stage. There were four singers, a bass player, a drummer, and a keyboardist. They milled around for a while. A lady came out to the stage to introduce the singer. She had us pronounce the name correctly a few times. La Wandia. OK. So a singer in 4 inch heels and a very tight, short dress came on. OK.
LaWaundia appears to be a gospel singer trying to figure out how she can set herself apart from the other acts. She has a great voice, but she doesn’t really seem to know what to do with it. The songs were okay and she did a good job with the sounds. The place was filled with people who knew her, so they were getting into the songs.
At about this time, Lolla was over and the kids were coming into the place to continue their musical experience. Every table was filled and there was standing room only. This is what we wanted to avoid. An older gentleman came by and asked to sit at our table. We said yes. No reason to share. Besides, everyone who worked there seemed to know him and made sure to say hello to him. Made me wonder later who he was.
Then it was time for CeeCee James. I must have been having a bad night because I almost ran into CeeCee when I first entered the place. She was crossing in front of me headed to the bar while I was looking around the place. I stopped up short to let her cross. I saw the side of her face and recognized her right away from photos on her website. It was definitely CeeCee.
The band was prepping the stage with their setup and instruments. There seemed to be a big disagreement about where all those guitars were going. CeeCee made a decision and left the stage. The guy moved the entire rack of guitars again behind her back. Finally, the show was ready and CeeCee kicked it off.
It’s a little unfair to say that CeeCee sounds like Janis Joplin. CeeCee only sounds like Janis, but better. This is a more mature voice with a lot of richness. This might have been what Janis could have been later in life. CeeCee is a great songwriter as well as a singer. Many of the tunes are hers with a few older, well established songs thrown in. Also, CeeCee has a very gritty side of her that you get from listening to her stories and life experiences. I loved this part of the show.
After the first set, I told Rich he should get his newly purchased CDs signed. He hesitated and claimed he was shy. Not me. I got out my Sharpie that I brought along for the occasion, grabbed the unwrapped CDs, and went to the stage. I asked CeeCee to sign them. When she asked who they should be made out to, I said to Rich. She looked at me funny. I explained that my husband was too shy to come up himself and I pointed at him. She waved at him and laughed. Successfully personalized another set of CDs!
People started getting their pictures taken with CeeCee. I pushed Rich up toward the stage. She was so gracious about putting her arm around him and letting me snap away. She was so nice.
The second set started and we settled in to listen. People were slowly melting away from the tables and moving to the door. Not us. We were here for the duration. A few diehards hung in there with us. These were the twentysomethings. Pretty soon, these drunken souls were on the floor and attempting to dance. They weren’t very good at it. That didn’t stop CeeCee from encouraging them and interacting as she worked her way through her last set.
I realized that Rich hadn’t bought a CD for Chad at work. Chad has become a CeeCee James fan through Rich’s invitation to listen to some of her songs. I went to the desk and bought the Seriously Raw CD for him since I liked the songs on here the best. At the end of the night, I asked CeeCee to sign it as well to Chad. She probably thought I was the biggest pest. Chad should be happy though.
So the last song was played and we all begged for an encore. Apparently, the club has an agreement to stop playing music by 1:00 for the sake of their neighbors. That was too bad. I think CeeCee wanted to do more. We surely wanted to hear some.
I did find a new guitar hero though. CeeCee’s husband, Rob “Slide Boy” Andrews is the principal guitarist for the group. He plays one mean slide guitar. He might be one of the best I’ve ever heard. I loved his style.
So we gathered our poster, beer glass, CDs, and magazine. Out on the street, we headed to Michigan Ave. One block over, we walked into our hotel and verified that we belonged there. In the elevator, I couldn’t stop talking about the show. It was impressive. Rich reminded me about the quiet hours. Darn, I could keep talking about this.
In our room, we prepared to bed and snuggled down for a good night sleep. I’m pretty sure I dreamt that I heard CeeCee singing to me all night with that slide guitar in the background. What a great night.
