Wrigleyville, Adler Planetarium and The Pogues!!!!

We started the morning with a quick jaunt to Wrigleyville to get some photos of Wrigley Field and check out all the rooftop seating that the surrounding apartment buildings have installed to sell to patrons hoping for a seat and/or to catch an out-of-the-park homerun. It was cool to see, but obviously it's not baseball season, so it was fairly deserted, save maintenance people, and didn't look as if they were offering tours. Since there was a chilling wind, we decided to head to Adler Planetarium for some indoor fun. We caught a couple of movies; the first, a very short "Great Observatories in 3D" movie about different observatories and how the large telescopes are made. It was neat, but seemed like it should have been longer. Right after that, we saw a traditional planetarium showing "Night Sky" which was brilliant, except for the bajillions of obnoxious Catholic school kids that were in attendance. We both still managed to fall asleep at the very end, though, despite all the chatter. We poked around a bit in some other exhibits, but the day was getting on, so we caught a bus back to the hotel and grubbed down some delicious Chipotle and had a lovely nap.

I had to check in with Mum about our little pur-kitten Vesta. I just miss that cat so much, she helps me when I can't sleep (which I can never seem to do on vacation) and she's our crazy little furry nutter :) Mum said she was fine and lovey today, and she and Fiona will be visiting her tomorrow :) YAY! She loves company! Oh, and we did pick up two little trinkeys from Adler, one for Fiona and one (practical) gift for Mum for schlepping us to and from the train station and watching the kitten. We're not too big on getting souveniers for people anymore, but these two are the exceptions :)

Then it was finally time to head off for a quick bite at Logan's Bar & Grill, which was a great alternative when our first choice of dining establishment, Revolution Brewery, was packed beyond the brim and had an hour-long wait. Logan's was just up the street, and we shared some yummy chicken tenders and sweet potato fries, I had another Guinness and John tried the Arrogant Bastard, which he deemed "pretty good". We sat right in front of a little gas fireplace and overall it had a nice atmosphere, if not a wee crowded.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for, the reason for this trip in the first place, the band that commands the respect and listenership of anyone in their right minds, The Pogues! They played at the Congress Theatre (and I might point out the very theatre where Naked Raygun JUST played last freakin' weekend which we missed so bollocks to that!!) which had lots of well-worn 1920s charm, but definitely on par with the atmosphere of other punk venues. It was massive, however, which was desirable since the very eclectic crowds that The Pogues attract can be somewhat diverse. It's nice to have space to move about. There was everyone from skinheads to old crotchety farts (even more old and crotchety than us!), jocks wearing all their St. Paddy's Day gear to your Celtic-Riverdance types. I must point out, also, that any club that has a ladies room attendant all night long has GOT to be given serious snaps. The place could have used several porta-potties for the event, seeing as the entire second level of VIPs got to hog the only other restrooms in the place and with 2-3 thousand drunkards needing to pee. It was interesting to see on several occasions that the men's room line was twice that of the ladies room!!

The set list was long, and they were a tad late going on. It's their new custom to preempt every show with playing a recording of Straight to Hell by the Clash in honor of their friend (and our fallen music hero) Joe Strummer. They stumbled out, apologizing for their lateness, and then proceeded to rock our fucking socks off!! They began with Streams of Whiskey, and some of the set list included: Poor Paddy, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, A Pair of Brown Eyes (during which crowd surfing skinheads kinda killed the mood as it's a song about maimed soldiers coming home with no limbs or eyes), Repeal of the Licensing Laws, Broad Majestic Shannon (a personal romantic fave for us Schmoopies), Lullaby of London, And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda (another very depressing song about the war in Gallipoli and that surprisingly most of the entire theatre knew the lyrics to), London Girl, Body of an American, Rainy Night in Soho, Dirty Old Town, Tuesday Morning, Bottle of Smoke, Thousands Are Sailing, Sunny Side of the Street, Boat Train, Sick Bed of Cuchulainn, Sally Maclennane, Irish Rover and Fiesta. I may have missed some, and they had two encores, ending the evening with Fiesta, during which both Shane and Spider were smashing beer trays over the heads of themselves and the rest of the band. We purchased a black hoody with the Rum, Sodomy and The Lash logo on it (one of their albums) and the only thing I've ever considered getting tattooed into my skin. A wonderful night; The Pogues could never, ever disappoint, and we made it back to the hotel safely via the "El".

Tomorrow it's supposed to rain, so it will be a day for a photography exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center and a movie somewhere close by. We may head back to see if we can have lunch at that Revolution Brewery, but we'll see where the day takes us :)