Chicago

We headed out to Chicago where we were anxious to try some deep dish pizza. Michael’s parents donated their Sheraton points and we got the hook up for a few days. Im talking VIP club house. Free breakfast and best of all… an Espresso machine. We met up with some of our friends who drove all the way from New Jersey to hang out and see us. We did all the touristy Chicago things and saw the giant space bean (pictured) and Millennium Park. We walked around until our live interview/performance session on Fearless Radio. Chris from fearless radio opened up the session with questions from twitter. Questions dove deep into our food preferences, daily lives and super power aspirations.

check out the interview here: http://www.fearlessradio.com/en/podcasts/item/3952-wild-rompit-090713

Later that night we went to the Guinness Oyster fest where we met up with our friends in Rusted Root. The highlight of the night was seeing Chicago natives Genevieve and her band (Company of Thieves). They played music that is set to release in January. Genevieve is one of the most emotional and beautiful singers to watch. They ended the set with a tasteful rendition of Killer Queen! As expected, Rusted Root came out strong and had everyone dancing and singing. What a night!

The next day we went out to wicker park (The hippest section of Chicago). Sean and Brandon took the van to get fixed while the rest of us walked around and explored the thrift shops, coffee shops, and vegan cafes. We played the Elbo Room that night. The Elbo Room is a cool 50s throwback bar with live music upstairs and downstairs. Mike’s friend Hillary came out and supported us as we battled with the opening night of the NFL Season. After the show we headed outside of Chicago where we stayed with Sean’s friend Aaron who was kind enough to download the most recently episode of Breaking Bad for us.

Des Moines

We stopped by a Hamburger joint for a $3 breakfast in the morning and started making our way over to Des Moines. Sean “Shoulder Pads” Donaghy drove the whole way. Our first stop in Des Moines was at Exile Brewing Co. Exile is a small new Brewery that makes delicious beer. Brandon, Sean and I went their last year before our show with Lucy Stone. Sean reached out to them ahead of time and told them that we would be back in the area. Upon arrival we got a full tour of the brewery from the manager Austin, Brewmaster John, and his dog Roxy. We got to drink a glass of their latest Octoberfest lager that hasn’t been tapped yet! We set up some of our equipment in the Brewery and recorded an acoustic video. It was definitely one of the highlights of the tour and we can’t wait to share the video!

We left the brewery and loaded into Vaudeville Mews. Vaudeville Mews is a small hip venue covered in stickers from past bands. We played with some young talented locals and drank some coffee from Java Joes next door. Brandon, Sean and Mike tried some Chinese Pizza(?). We met a couple from the area, Roman and Bree, who hung out and talked with us after the show. We have been lucky to have met so many supportive people! We are somewhere between Des Moines and Kansas City right now. Stay posted for more!