The Green Mill Part 1

One of the more storied bars in Chicago, the Green Mill, has been around just over 100 years in various forms.

Wednesday night, I went for the first time, with the lovely Ms. Devil, as well as her friend The Bard (not my nickname for her, but consistency is good.) We arrived rather early, having just had some good Mexican food next door in the hour prior.

The band of the evening, Swing Gitan, had not yet arrived, but we made conversation in the meantime. Having brought my camera with me, I was fooling around taking a couple of pictures of each of my two companions, and seeing how I would need to set up the camera to work with the relatively low light of the Mill.
As the band started to do their sound check, it was clear someone was missing.

The empty chair on the stage remained until just before the band was to start their set, and then this man, who I immediately think of walking off the set of the Sopranos lumbers down the aisle and begins to set up his violin. Not the first instrument I expected considering his broad shoulders and stoic face.

Once the band started playing, The Bard immediately started shaking her head. It took me a little bit to pick it up, but the violin was way off, both from the equalizer and volume level. The annoyance did not resonate with me, but after the first couple songs were over, the sound guy came over to made adjustments, and after a couple more songs, it was just about right.

My words will not do justice to the experience. Even after buying the CD on the way out, it is no comparison for actually being there.More on this later.