Chi in Chicago….

Woke around 9am, showered dressed and headed out to the venue to pick up a couple of tickets for a friend i was to meet up with later in the day. I got to the venue around 10:15 only to find out the box office didn't open till 11. It was a beautiful day but a little humid, it said 81 on the weather readout on the train here and it certainly felt like it!

I laid out on a bench by the venue and sunbathed for a little till around 11 ish, as i sat up i saw a guy coming out of the venue and a couple of people taking his picture. I could tell he was someone famous but had no idea who he was, 6ft 7”, black and walking out of the united centre he had to be a basket ball player! I took the following pics and within 5 minutes of putting it on my facebook page my friend Wendy replied to say it was Scottie Pippin, an ex NBA guy who was pretty good by all reports! He’d obviously been good enough to make enough money to buy a nice car!

I took the train back to the hotel, got back just as Kim and Joe were heading out to Navy pier for some lunch so the three of us took a leisurely stroll up towards the pier.As i said it was real humid today and i mentioned this to Kim and told her her hairs gonna get all frizzed out when she goes outside. “ no it wont, I've just chi’ed it” she said.  (Chi pronounced Chee) She then went on to tell Joe and i about her hair straigtener’s called “Chi” These get real hot and stop the hair frizzing out!

As we headed out of the hotel we saw the following waiting at the traffic light! are you really allowed to drive a car like this in the US ?

 

We called in at Millennium park for a couple of shots of the been and the outdoor theatre and then carried on walking up the waterfront past the marina and on to the pier.

The pier looked a lot nearer than it actually was! i guess due to the size of the ferris wheel we could see at the entrance, we seemed to walk for miles and it never got any nearer! After nearly getting run over by bicycles on the sidewalk several time we eventually arrived at the pier and called Gina and Mara who had left their hotel a while after us and were going to meet up with us. They were 15 minutes away so we sat down and ordered a drink at Harry Caray’s on the pier.

The girls arrived 10 minutes later and they glad to get some food to soak up the left over alcohol in their bodies from the night before!! We saw Marcia (Ron's wife) Greg and Colin walk past the restaurant and had a 5 minute chat. Ron was working today so Marcia was playing tour guide for the day.

After lunch Kim, Joe, Maria and Gina headed to the ferris wheel, i walked back down to Millennium park where id arranged to meet Lorri to hand over the tickets id picked up for her that morning. Made my way back to our hotel and by the time i got there Joe and Kim arrived in a taxi. Joe had crashed in our room the night before and hadn't got a change of clothes so his friend Eric was bringing him some over when he came over for the show. Joe grabbed a shower in our room however he had no “product” for his hair! Kim had the best product ever she said, she could “Chi “him!!! and she proceeded to do so! much to the amusement of me, Kami and everyone else that wanted to see the video in the bar that night (you kinda had to be there to get the funny side of it)

After Joe had had his “makeover” we got a couple of cabs and headed out to the West End bar where tonight's pre show meet was.It was a little further on the street from last nights meet up place but only half a mile from the venue. Ron had reserved a room for us all that its own private bar and by the time we arrived I'd guess the place was 75% full!

Mark, Beth, Kami, Kim, Joe and i all sat down for some food and 5 minutes later Eric walked in with his brother and sister Jennifer. I hadn't seen Eric for about 4 years and it was great to see him again. Eric and Joe came over to the UK in 2002 for the UK shows of Rogers “In The Flesh” tour, they were both 19 years old, had never been out of the US and were travelling alone, i picked them up at Kings Cross station without having ever  met them before and we had a fantastic week driving round seeing the shows in the UK and Dublin, something we reminisced about a lot both last night and during today. Two fantastic friends with a huge passion for Roger and music in general.Justin had also arrived who again had come over to the UK in 2002 and hung out with us all, i hadn't seen him for 3 years and it was great for us all to meet up face to face again instead of via messages on a forum! Lars had also flown in earlier today from Copenhagen to join us for the next weeks worth of shows and would be travelling to Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Boston with us all.

Adam, Myself, Justin, Joe and Eric       Eric, Philippe, Jennifer, Adam and Joe         Eric, Myself and Adam

 

People were arriving all the time and it was kinda hard to keep up with who was here, who wasn't, who id met the night before and who i hadn't!
Album with pictures of all the pre show meet up people below, as you tell from our faces we had a fantastic time and all get on so well together, just like one big extended family.

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I had a good chat with almost everyone, managed to get round and take pictures with most people too. I had wanted to have a good chat with Johnny “floyd”  but he wasn't at the meet up. Lauren had given him my cell number and he texted me to give me his seat details in the venue where i said id call by and have a chat. The bar had a shuttle bus again to take us all to the venue so we caught that around 7pm and arrived at the show about 7:15.
 
Then onto the show…………..