Ok, a long week of concerts, most of which I saw for free or at a severely discounted rate. After the Rolling Stones on Wednesday there was Stanton Moore and his trio including Robert Walter at the Elbo Room. I'd never been to the Elbo Room for a show, but man, it can bring the dank. It's a tiny tiny crypt-like room underground where you hope to god the person next to you isn't going to freak out from the claustrophobia. Good sound though.
Then Friday was a great Ani Difranco show at the Chicago Theater (thanks to Dan's friend John) which is pretty much the opposite of the Elbo Room with its space and grandeur. Ani's getting to be very preggo, so I'm glad I got a chance to see her as she'll probably take a year off touring after this one. She was in good form, even with less backup band than I've seen her with, and the show was mellow and nice. I'd only seen her at the beginning of a tour before, so it was nice that her voice wasn't blown out and she was in good spirits and energy. We had great seats, in the owner's box in the Mezzanine which felt decadent and cool. Great sound, of course. Some of my booth-mate's friends left early and gave us their tickets in the 4th row, so we went down and sat really close for a few songs. Lots of superfans screeching along with the songs though, so I could only take that kind of distraction for so long.
I'm kind of tired of the cold, and my ears are actually stopped up for the last couple of days, either from all the rock or all the cold, or both. I'll be happy to have a mellow week this week and finally catch up on some podcasts and all of my new music in my iTunes at work.