a TigerRAWk Film

Sunday, August 11, 2024

Audiofeed X (2024)

Audiofeed had its 10th event this year from July 4th through 7th, 2024. It was advertised as Audiofeed X. We have had the privilege of attending every single one since it began in 2023. It felt strange in 2020 and 2021 when there was no Audiofeed due to COVID-19 and its related shutdowns and restrictions in hopes to lessen its effect on all of our health. There has been changes over the 10 years and some folks and organizations have moved on to do other things but we have still enjoyed our time attending. This year, Elphie and I decided we wanted to fill a void that had been left when the Grave Robbers Ministry pulled out last year. There were some who really wanted a place to hang out...specifically the goth subculture. On the trip home, we discussed this a bit and I put out the idea of using a canopy that our friends, The Humans, had which we used during the Cornerstone years. Speaking of which, when you add the years I attended Cornerstone (2004-2012 which was its last year) as well as Creation (1999-2000) and Purple Door (2001 & 2003) I have been at a summer festival almost every year for the last 25 years.

Anyway, back to the canopy, after last year, I considered the idea of borrowing that canopy and setting up an area to hang out. I had received permission to use that canopy and had talks with the folks running Audiofeed about setting it up and the purpose. I ended up buying one that would be lighter weight and seemed to be easier to set up. We don't have towing capacity with our vehicle and the size and weight of the other canopy seemed likely to present challenges. I was thankfully able to figure out loading all that we needed this year without too much struggle and I think it all worked out as a good thing to have at Audiofeed. We will be bringing it back next year and likely as long as we can and the festival continues. I spray painted a sign and printed out the letters to spell "Bare Bones" to hang on our tent so people knew who we were. i used the back side of a canvas I used to make a sign back at Cornerstone for our camp. We named it "Bare Bones" because we were not going to have any special programming or amenities in our tent. It was simply a place to hang out, get some shade, talk to folks. I probably went a bit "overboard" by having some signs ha! along with bones scattered around our site. Jonathan Magee helped come up with the name when we put out the information on social media about the tent and our intentions with it. Thanks Jonathan!

I once again spent a lot of my time capturing footage while at Audiofeed. That is what this page is for anyway, sharing video footage and projects! I had a few "must see" bands including at least one per day that I wanted to capture the entire set. I also offered what I captured to the Audiofeed media team to use for anything that they might want to do. I dropped some of that footage the while at the fest on Friday but the rest I made available through Google drive after going through it at home and editing. I also attempted daily reels that were hopefully manageable in length time wise for social media sharing. I decided I would share those reels myself as well (whether Audiofeed uses them or not). On this page as well as in the video playlist, I put the reels at the end of each day while my usual video project that captures each day plus clips of the artists I saw and captured are at the beginning of each day. In some cases, I used different footage for the daily reels and daily video summaries than I captured and posted for the stand alone video clips of each artist.

We brought some venison steaks and burgers to eat this year then utilized the food vendors for the rest of the time we were there. We were bummed that Guy Allen's booth wasn't there this year and found that he had run into issues with the Health Department.

Once again, we utilized a hotel. This year it was the Rodeway Inn which was just off the highway. Michael Psalmi got a block of rooms there and at another hotel. I'm not sure if he gets any perks by doing this but we decided to go with it. We figured we'd be among others who were at Audiofeed and we did occasionally see a few people as we were coming or going. We didn't have any late night hangs with anyone at the hotel though.

Overall, I think we enjoyed Audiofeed X and look forward to the next one. The team leading the festival had made tickets for next year available during this year's festival with a discount. The discount offer was extended into the week after Audiofeed ended...but the regular price is still really a good deal for what you get. Go to audiofeedfestival.com to get your tickets!

At the top you find the promo reel for Audiofeed X. I utilized the magazine printed by Tuned Up to make this promo reel. I also utilized all the previous lineup flyers which one can find currently on the Audiofeed website. I had them scale in through all nine previous events ending with Audiofeed X and then brought in the original logo. I made the thumbnail on Youtube be the logo which utilized the 'X' but that particular file I actually never used in the promo reel itself. I added some credit information about how Elphie and I filmed and captured the experience one will see through these videos and also gave a shout out to Lee who sent me a clip and I decided to use it as well. I also included the technical specs of the equipment used. Then the Tuned Up magazine comes into play. I decided to film myself flipping through the pages stopping after a full page Audiofeed ad with a full page Tuned Up ad on the other side. This is where I created a freeze frame then covered the article using the band promo flyers that the Audiofeed media team had created. I utilized a banner style Audiofeed logo which utilized the 'X' to cover the title of the article and then I included some quick clips of the bands next to their promos. I did this for each artist I captured during Audiofeed this year. I actually had to make a few of my own "bootleg" promo flyers for a few of the artists, ha! I did my best to make it look as close to the flyers that the media team had made as I could. I think I did ok. I configured a page turn transition for each of the artists so it appears that the magazine keeps going through each until I reached the end with the Rich Mullins tribute. At this point, the song I was using as a soundtrack, "Cuckoo" by David Eugene Edwards, was near its end. I added a few quick clips of our interactions with people of Audiofeed as well as a clip of the Bare Bones before ending it off with my TigerRAWk credit file. I am pretty happy overall with how it turned out. It could have been better I'm sure but I am currently satisfied with it.

I mostly used the same promo video in the project for Audiofeed X 2024 Day 1 (07.04.22024). Instead of keeping the people we interacted with, I used that Audiofeed 'X' logo.

Below is the full playlist of the videos included in this project.
07.03.2024

https://youtu.be/dEqkSiJ4ipM
We left for Audiofeed after I got home from work in the evening of Wednesday July 3rd, 2024. Once again, I had to make my way though some traffic difficulties as a NASCAR track was being built around the parks downtown in Chicago which included Lake Shore Drive. I utilize Lake Shore Drive most of the time during my commute so the lane closures meant some traffic backups. I looked into some other routes but the traffic indicators on those routes didn't look any better. Once I got home, I loaded the rest of what we needed into the car. I had packed quite a bit the night before so there wasn't a lot of extra packing that needed done. On Sunday, I had spray painted our Bare Bones sign and printed others. I had loaded those up the night before as well. I also collected some of the bone I used to make bone broth. I sprayed them down with a hose and then bagged them up to use as decor for our site. The last things we needed to load up were our bags and luggage with clothes and our coolers with food.

Our hope was to be able to leave about 7pm. Just as we were getting ready to go and loading in the last few items, the neighbors daughter pulled into the driveway to visit and blocked us in. We told her we were needing to go and she asked for 10 minutes...that ended up being much longer of course. What annoys me most about this is that she could pull in just a little further and not blocked the driveway but often she does not extend that courtesy. I think it ended up being about 7:45pm when we left. We picked up some Whopper Jr's to eat as we drove. I also tried the Mountain Dew Infinite Swirl which was pineapple and berry. It reminded me of one of the previous Baja variants. I had been able to get the car fully charged before leaving work and indications were that we should be able to get to Urbana without needing any additional charges. We decided to go ahead and stop in Bradley, IL at a Meijer because we needed to pick up some gravel for the sandbags for the canopy and I wanted to get some apples as well. This was more or less about the midway point of the trip. Since we'd be there, I figured I'd go ahead and get a quick charge. Unfortunately the Electrify America network was giving me trouble and I couldn't get the charge to initialize through the app. I tried calling customer support and was on hold for quite a while but decided to try taping the digital card and was able to at least get the charge started. This also prevented me from getting the discounted rate I signed up for at $7.00/month charge so I decided I would be contacting them again to see what to do about this. All that hassle probably added another half hour extra that could have been avoided. (Update: I did get a refund on each charge to reflect the discounted rate I was entitled to.) As we left Bradley, IL, I captured some fireworks with the Crosstour CR-900.

I decided to add in the video files I created showing the spray painting of the Bare Bones sign as well as the printed version using the "Bone" font (as suggested by Jonathan Magee. I had actually considered it before but thank you Jonathan for pushing the idea as well!). I also decided to include the footage from the night before in this area. That footage showed the meats after I had seasoned it and other aspects of loading up. I used a wavy style transition that was labeled as a flashback. I couldn't find an exact sound I was going for in the audio effects so I picked one called "time passing" to use with the flashback transition effect.

We got to the Rodeway Inn at about 10:45pm and checked in. I contacted Kevin about whether we should try setting up our canopy there at night or wait until morning. He said he was on the Audiofeed grounds. I tried to recruit Skot Shaw but he was going to bed apparently. We unloaded what we needed to at the hotel then headed to the Champaign County Fairgrounds to look into where we could set up the canopy and talked a bit with Kevin. At first, it didn't look like we'd be getting it set up but a few folks were up and about and offered to help so we got it set up! We got to use the spot I had hoped for originally but was told it would be meant for the coffee vendor. They had backed out so we were permitted to use their spot...even though the map had us located elsewhere, ha! Our "Bare Bones" tent was raised...the sidewalls were put on and the spray paint sign was also temporarily attached. We finished up around 2am. We made a quick trip to the bank and then headed back to the Rodeway Inn to sleep and hoped to get on site for Audiofeed X around noon.

07.04.2024

https://youtu.be/bYIUSRKRO_M
Audiofeed X began on Thursdsay July 4th, 2024. We woke up to find it had rained so we were happy with the decision to set up Bare Bones late after our arrival the night before. We got ready to go, having breakfast and coffee and got on site at Audiofeed a little bit after noon.

I dropped in the Audiofeed promo video here as a title. It is mostly the same as the stand alone promo video file except the ending which highlighted some people of Audiofeed, I replaced that with the Audiofeed X logo. "Cuckoo" by David Eugene Edwards remains the soundtrack.

I also included a clip flipping through the Tuned Up printed magazine which I actually shot after the festival at home.

Once there, I secured the tent a bit better using the spikes and then it rained so we took a break and took advantage of the cover of the tent. some friends stopped by and also stayed dry for a bit. Throughout the day, folks came by as we slowly got things together as far as decorations. We got a few chairs from the grandstands as well. I hung a bit with Luke and Zach at their booth. I set up the grill to make dinner and realized I had forgotten a knife to cut the onion to put on our venison burger. I borrowed the knife from The Road Dog and momma Linda. When I returned, the coals hadn't caught so I had to add more lighter fluid and try to start it again. It worked this time, however, some of the Audiofeed media team wanted to meet up so I ran over for that.


https://youtu.be/yaUV-QPHCy4
When I returned, I put the burgers on the grill to cook. When they had finished, Bryan Hampton was getting ready to start the Chalklines set at the Subculture Stage. I promised to capture that on video for him...though it will not be publicly shared at his request out of respect for those who may be adversely affected by the stories he shares in this project. This clip is what I made to "document" the set and use as something of a place-holder for the Youtube playlist...I sort of utilized a similar strategy last year capturing and sharing "Name It And Disclaim It" with Bryan's permission so this year, this is what I came up with on a whim. It was a good set...some of the material was shared last year as well but he has added a bit more content. Overall, I really enjoyed the presentation. Afterwards, I was able to return to the Bare Bones and eat my burger! I also tried the Mountain Dew Star Spangled Splash. It was a "red berry" flavor. It has a fruitiness to it. I suppose it was red berries.


https://youtu.be/XuG9sAJuOSI
I returned to the Subculture Stage to watch The Other White Meat. I captured a song called "For The Kill." I used some other footage for my daily summary video which showed the crowd surfing. t was a fun set with some moshing, circle pits, and even some crowd surfing. The stage area at Subculture remains quite small but they did add more space to their overall operation on that part of the grounds. Hopefully they can eventually manage to increase the spectator area a little bit. While I was at Subculture, the Bradshaws made their arrival to Audiofeed and promptly set up at Bare Bones with Elphie. I got to see them when I returned a bit later. 


https://youtu.be/NM77YbWh5k4
I made my way to the Bloodline Stage to see The Ghost Servant. I captured a newer poem, I believe, from what Justin said. i also used a different clip I captured for the daily summary video and use by the Audiofeed media team if they wish. I went over to sit for a few minutes at Bare Bones between acts.


https://youtu.be/JZ9i1ZpnZng
I returned to Bloodline to capture a song from the Junia set. It was my first time seeing them, even though they are based in Chicago and I have seen a number of other projects that the members also do. I captured a song called "Age Parade."


https://youtu.be/fni9c4qrKGU
While I was at Burningtown to capture some footage from The Castros, Elphie captured a view from Bare Bones in the direction of Burningtown. I had planned to capture the entire set from The Castros but I stepped away from my camera to speak with Andrew Prickett for a bit and the set began...and a couple folks (who I will leave nameless) were having a conversation directly in front of my camera, ha! I scrapped that video and captured the song "Yellow Green House." I sent footage of "Pumpkin Pie" to the Audiofeed media team as well for if they want to use it for any reason.


https://youtu.be/G_sTzJWxcQs
I returned to Bloodline to watch Jagalchi after hearing great things. It was a very good set and interesting. It was mostly instrumental with some dubbed in speaking parts. I captured a little over 10 minutes which may have been a song or perhaps was only part of a song...I wasn't sure at the point I cut it off. It was good regardless and if I did cut early, I apologize.


https://youtu.be/_krTbnqUjc0
I returned one last time for the night at the Subculture Stage to watch The Uh Ohs set. It was a solo performance by Anastasia complete with a costume and a moment of celebration with a "cheers!" I captured a Welsh hymn that Anastasia performed partially in Welsh.


https://youtu.be/5V1sf4aN9cc
I returned to Bloodline to capture the beginnings of the set of Rosie Thomas. She had requested that the Audiofeed media team capture a song she would be opening the set with because she was bringing up her kids. The song was called "The Glory Of Love." I captured the footage from the back of the tent, as usual, and I assume some other members of the media team captured better content that I did. Nonetheless, I did show up to capture that part of the set. I sent my clip to Rosie through Facebook Messenger (I wasn't sure how else to go about it) in case she wants to use it.


https://youtu.be/z8W5Nf006VA
I hoped to return to see more of The Uh Ohs set but it had ended. I decided to make my way over to Burningtown to see some of the set of Mitch McVicker. I assumed he might be part of the Rich Mullins tribute at the end of Audiofeed but that turned out to be a bad assumption, ha! so I am glad I caught his set on this night. I captured a song in which he looped a bunch noises then played a song over it. The noises included a rubber chicken and a toilet seat lid. He did this a few different times and it was pretty fun to watch.

After the music ended, while I was outside of the Bare Bones Tent, one of the Hanley's walked by playing a pipe or flute as folks left the Rosie Thomas set. We hung around for a bit with friends at the Bare Bones, finally leaving Audiofeed for the night at around 2:30am. As we approached the Rodeway Inn, we encountered deer in the nearby field.


https://youtu.be/0d0hdxlVGwg

07.05.2024


https://youtu.be/aEeq7wXoNOA
We woke on Friday July 2nd, 2024 for the second day of Audiofeed X. We got ready, ate some breakfast, then headed to the grounds to start the day. We arrived and found that Bare Bones had already been utilized! After prepping with sunscreen and bug spray, I loaded up my water backpack to utilize throughout the day then we relaxed in the tent for a bit before I headed out to check out Cicada at Bloodline.


https://youtu.be/gXJ6L0lIpNA
Cicada appeared to be quite young and played some good aggressive heavy music. I captured a song toward the end of their set. I thought it would have been more fun had they been dressed like cicadas ha! It turned out, they were the only cicadas at the fest.


https://youtu.be/5bL2LV7jVaU
As I was leaving the Bloodline Stage, I stopped to talk a bit with Bryan Hampton about his Chalklines set and the video footage I had captured of it. I arranged with him on getting the footage to him for his purposes. While talking, he mentioned that Isaiah Bridgewater was about to play on the Front Porch. I stated heading over to check that out and while waiting in the shade, Elphie came along with her iPhone as she captured footage. She had done a festival walk through which included story time at the Park, a quick clip of the Inkwell event in Tuned Up, a stop by the Subculture, and passing through the outdoor vending under the grandstands. She captured a conversation I was having with Jim Eisenmenger as he highly suggested checking out Terminus Victor (a great recommendation!). Elphie walked into Bloodline as I set up the camera, capturing a bit of the Terminus Victor sound check. She captured me adjusting the focus of the camera and a guy trying to play his Shofar. She then stopped into the Road Dog and on her way out, encountered Jerry Moshgramps. I captured a song from Isaiah Bridgewater as he played his saxophone. Elphie headed back over to Bare Bones.

A quick note in regards to the editing process. I kept having trouble getting Isaiah's name straight. I knew it began with "I" and was an Old Testament name. I went with "Isaac" at first. I thought I had corrected it in my Instagram post but apparently I did not...I had only corrected it on Facebook. I mislabeled this video (as well as the embedded graphic) so I fixed it upon hearing from Isaiah through is dad's account. I then misspelled it as Isiah before getting it right the third time. My apologies Isaiah! Also, I have run into some sort of issue with the video file of the footage Elphie shot that goes into the project here. I tried to make another file and it seemed to work but then a couple days later, it wasn't functional again. I am not sure the solution here.


https://youtu.be/tDGxzeZSGK4
At Jim's suggestion, I did watch Terminus Victor and I really enjoyed them I captured a song about midway through their set and stayed for the whole thing. I intended to get their music but no one was at their merch when I walked by and when I came through a bit later, it was gone. I suppose I will get it through a Bandcamp Friday in a few weeks.


https://youtu.be/JmnWZjBV7jg
The guy was back by the Bare Bones trying to play his Shofar for the xDoulosx crew who had arrived and Elphie captured that as well. While sitting at Bare Bones I was curious about the music I heard playing at Burningtown. It turned out to be The Maggie Valley Band. Maggie Valley is near where Elphie grew up. I decided to head over and capture a song from their set. It turned out to be the last song.


https://youtu.be/ioJqKHyeSPM
Elphie captured some more footage at Bare Bones then visited the Novelty Collective merch area and guest hospitality. She also walked over to the Front Porch and captured part of a poem by Christy Merry.


https://youtu.be/sSHyk7kuDHE
I had started the grill to cook our venison steaks and corn then went over to capture some footage of Kevin Schlereth's set at Burningtown. He was on the ground among the crowd as is the typical style for a Kevin Schlereth show. I captured the song "Sting" which he introduced speaking about the passing of Cindy Lane and referencing a memorial that was held in her honor in the morning. At the very beginning of the clip, Kevin encouraged folks to take advantage of the 25% off ticket deal for Audiofeed next year and announced that tickets were already on sale.

I returned to the Bare Bones to start cooking the meat to find that the back wall had detached due to a big gust of wind. I tried several times to fix it but to no avail. We would eventually just open up the back end. Perhaps next year I will adjust the set up a bit to try to work better with the wind conditions.


https://youtu.be/m_ef_YzZMzM
While dinner was cooking, I walked over to Tuned Up to catch some of Egypt Speaks set and capture some footage. I captured a poem about how she isn't political and I really enjoyed that poem so I am glad I captured it. I caught the rest of the set before returning to Bare Bones to attempt to batten down the hatches again to no avail. I checked on the process of cooking the meat for dinner as well.


https://youtu.be/CE-oP6b7nuY
I headed back over to Bloodline to see some of the SPACESHIPS set. On my way, there was Dittman K. Rat hanging outside. I don't really know what the story is about Dittman K. Rat but they have been around the festival for a bit now. I captured the song Measure by SPACESHIPS and unfortunately Nat had a moment where he forgot the line. It was a great song so I am glad I captured it despite that little hiccup. I headed back to Bare Bones after their set so I could eat my dinner. I cooked the venison steaks with onions on the grill. I had pre-seasoned the meat but figured I'd add the onion as well. I think it turned out pretty good. I may have overcooked it a bit with the running around I was doing. I also got to try the Mountain Dew Freedom Fusion which was lemonade and peach. I could taste the lemonade but I didn't really notice the peach.


https://youtu.be/xpJCXQ59qqQ
I immediately left after eating to see some of Diaspora A.D. on the Tuned Up Stage. I missed the beginning of the set but I captured a tune called Ring Them Bells which was a Jamaican inspired tune with reggae blended into the metal. The entire project is metal infused "negro spirituals" and Jay Goodwin spoke about Rosetta Tharpe, the African American woman who actually invented rocknroll by adding distortion to Gospel music. I didn't get to see a lot of the set but this song and the rest I got to see were a lot of fun. I ended up leaving early so I could capture footage and see The City of Yanni Depp on the Front Porch. The file for the Diaspora A. D. clip kept giving me trouble after processing. The compressed clip seems to be ok but the full size one was being problematic. When I took a cut off at the end (about 5-10 seconds) it seems to be working ok now.


https://youtu.be/iNXklshInF4
The City of Yanni Depp was a tribute to The Chariot. A variety of people participated in it but I think it was primarily the idea of Nic Gundy. I captured a bit of footage from this but the "official" clip I am sharing here was of the song "Speak." It was a raucous and chaotic good time.

After that was over, Diaspora A.D. just finished up as well so I headed over to Bare Bones for a bit during the "dinner break." Elphie decided she wanted to get an Audiofeed t-shirt so we went into the Novelty Collective to get the shirt and check out what the folks were selling. I ended up stopping at Kimmy Noonen's table and chatted for a bit. She and I were both at Mount Vernon Nazarene University at the same time and also happened to go on a spring break trip to New York City led by Joe Noonen, a professor who had a pretty big impact on my life and ended up being her father-in-law. It was a good conversation and she had some pretty cool art too.


https://youtu.be/6eZZ6NSBX-8
As we left the Novelty Collective, we headed to Bloodline for the xDoulosx set. I captured a song with a fun breakdown and the set as a whole was great. I am glad that they were able to come back this year!


https://youtu.be/RFdAjkdwGG0
I went over to Burningtown next to see some of the Harry Gore ( #harrygore ) set. I ended up capturing a song called "Playing With Matches." The first clip I began to capture was the "Deadman Blues" which I captured last year. I really enjoyed the song "Playing With Matches" and what I was able to catch of Harry's set this year. Elphie captured a shot of me filming Harry, ha! She also got more footage of folks utilizing the Bare Bones.


https://youtu.be/86xl3QjTDy0
I then made my way over to Subculture to watch The Bricks. They were one of the few bands representing punk music so I didn't want to miss that! I captured a song called "Just Like You" and the singer flopped off the stage like a fish. It was a fun set. I picked up a patch and will likely download their music on a Bandcamp Friday.

I went back to Bloodline to catch the last bit of Rig Time. They were interesting...a duo of drums and guitar. They had a passion for All Ages shows and made it very clear. They were a very loud band for just being the two of them and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Elphie captured a new friendship (or more?) budding in the Bare Bones. I stopped for a few minutes before heading over to Burningtown to catch the one song played by Brother Red Squirrel, which was called "Black Lake, " and his tales of playing tunes in the stairwell of JPUSA. There was more music in the set but with Maron Gaffron instead of the Brother Red Squirrel tunes. He did offer to play at folks campsites for free! Elphie captured a shot as she left the Bare Bones of the Leper and Insomniac Folklore crew passing by on their way over to Subculture.


https://youtu.be/YLlUNzOZhko
I went over to Bloodline and captured some footage from the IRAE set. They had played some years ago at Audiofeed so it was cool that they were back. I enjoyed their set. They seem to be sort of carrying that For Today mantel which makes sense with the close affiliation.

https://youtu.be/puWm9v2UcnQ
Back over at Burningtown, I caught the end of the Jeff Elbel + Ping set which featured Maron Gaffron. Chase T. Kangaroo was also there. I thought last year they were a fox or something, ha! I captured a song called "I Can Change."


https://youtu.be/Ku5KhBvbXAE


https://youtu.be/L9MTZVIl9sg
I headed down to the Subculture Stage in hopes to catch some of Leper's set before having to run around a bit. They were late starting which made me unsure if I could see anything. Thankfully I was able to stick around to see one song which opened the set called "Saved By The Blood." There was also an introduction by Dale Vaughn, the stage manager and Skot prayed to open the set as well. There were also some odd guitar noises coming through the system from somewhere. Insomniac Folklore was backing Leper on bass and additional acoustic guitar and possibly some vocals. There is bonus footage though because Elphie captured the final song which featuring Insomniac Folklore and The Castros. The song was Tha Thu Naomh (You Are Holy). I also had trouble with this clip that Elphie shot. the compressed video seems to work out ok (which is the one you see through YouTube) but the full size one has presented some difficulty. I went back and created it again and so far it seems to work but who knows?


https://youtu.be/e0K7IpezLRA
I left after the video I captured to head to Bloodline for the My Epic set. They were still setting up so I rushed to Tuned Up to see a quick few minutes of With Blood Comes Cleansing. I was also able to capture some footage of a song.


https://youtu.be/M83q3S8aEXk
Setlist:
1. Northstar
2. Bloody Angels
3. Black Light
4. In The Air
5. Of Wilderness
6. Open Letter
7. Wildflowers
8. Heavy Heart
9. Hail
10. Lower Still
I went back over to the My Epic set at Bloodline. This was a set I had planned to capture in its entirety. My Epic just released a new album called Loriella and played a few from that along with some favorites from the past catalog. There wasn't too much banter or speaking from stage as there may have been in past shows but the music was great and I was very happy I caught the whole set.


https://youtu.be/9gd5XePQpVg
After My Epic was done, I passed by Subculture to see if Leper happened to still be playing. It was clear everything was over on that stage so I continued to Tuned Up to see Impending Doom finish up their set. I captured a song and watched the remainder of the set.

At this point I headed over to the Bare Bones. I was not feeling so great. It almost felt like flu type symptoms with body and head aches and chills. I was hoping I wasn't getting sick. Lee and his infamous mullet had arrived at Audiofeed. He informed me he was trying new equipment to see how it worked out that he hoped to use as Furnace Fest. Elphie was hungry so we left for a bit heading over to the Road Dog to eat leftovers from the Hog Roast. While there, I spoke to the members of ADJY for a moment and told them they reminded me a bit of All the Day Holiday which thankfully they took as complimentary! We hung out there for a bit, ate, then as we headed back to the Bare Bones, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. Elphie captured a clip of the late night worship in the Park area while I gathered what we needed to take back and pulled shut the walls that had been blown by the wind. I also unplugged the lights we hung in the tent. As we left, Lee came back around and was intrigued to see our electric vehicle...so much so he wanted to see and "hear" it start and watch us drive away. He was car camping near where we parked so it worked out ok for him to walk with us then see the car as he made his way to his own vehicle.


https://youtu.be/10dycN-D8Ko

07.06.2024

https://youtu.be/oHf7uFSBpfQ
While working on the footage and clips I had captured of the artists for this day, I was nearly finished with the edits when I realized I had forgotten to change the date on the embedded text. I think I had two videos left to do when realizing this. I went back through and fixed them all.

On Saturday July 6th, 2024, I woke up still feeling sore and not particularly good. I wasn't sure how the day would go but I went ahead and got up anyway. I took a shower and headed over to the festival grounds.


https://youtu.be/Kb26P5OMsNs
I went early so I could see Nate Allen do his talk called "Hell Yes Or No: The Value Of Values Based Decision Making." I captured a small part where Nate talked about the new album he put out as Good Saint Nathanael called I Write The Songs I Need along with the performance of the song "Someday I'm Moving On" which closed out his session. I enjoy hearing Nate give his thoughts during these talks.


https://youtu.be/oU5kCOqJwM8
I stuck around for the panel discussion that was coming up next after grabbing a cup of coffee in the Novelty Collective area. The panel discussion was titled "Behold! I Do A New Thing: God And The Avant Garde." Loyd Harp hosted it and the panelist were Loyd's wife Christina, Jay Goodwin, and Nate Allen. I captured Loyd's introduction to the session as well as the answer each gave to the first question. It obvisouly got much deeper after that but this is what I captured. I really enjoyed the session and hearing the different perspectives. Both seminars were held in the Tuned Up Lounge.

At this point, I made a purchase from Loyd of an album by The Deadlines which had been released prior to their time at Tooth And Nail Records then I headed back to the hotel to pick up Elphie. I also decided to eat breakfast because I was beginning to feel hungry and also a bit better overall. After a few minutes spent at the hotel, we headed back over to Audiofeed. Elphie captured footage of our arrival again and stopped at the vendor selling candles to buy one for the Bare Bones that had citronella in it to ward off some bugs. I sort of took it easy on this day. I think carrying the camera equipment as well as the water backpack may have been the cause of my ailment. The extra weight I hadn't prepared for may have been why I felt achy. It is just my theory. It is the only thing I had done different from prior years except for the fact I have lived yet another year.


https://youtu.be/CPgAfvVEuE0
The first artist I captured upon returning to the grounds was Laura Anne Reitzel as she played at Burningtown. I believe I caught her playing solo one other time before at Audiofeed but it was good to hear her again. I captured the song "Slow Medicines."

While back at Bare Bones, we got a visit from Ravn Furfjord. I noticed a couple of guys roll through on motorcycles earlier while watching Laura Anne Reitzel and it turned out to be Ravn and his friend.


https://youtu.be/bG7EXrcMXO0
I went back over to Burningtown after chatting with Ravn and captured Glenn Kaiser playing a one string cigar box guitar he had built and called a "Diddly Bo." He played the song "Trouble Of The World." Though I am glad I caught this performance, I sort of wish I had stayed around to see the song he played with Jay Goodwin on drums and perhaps captured that as well. I could hear the song at Bare Bones but didn't see it was Jay playing though.


https://youtu.be/tGv6634p6IA
I was attempting again to figure out our wall situation at Bare Bones while Elphie captured some clips of folks hanging out including "The Boss" Stewart Brown! Elphie and I both went over to The Park for The Noisy Do-Gooders set. I captured the song P.B. and J.'s and Elphie also happened to capture a bit of the song herself so I decided to use her footage and do an overlay of both clips.


https://youtu.be/MBmWUeDXwKc
Next up was the highly anticipated "Florida Man" set. They set up behind the port-a-potties and Bloodline stage for these shenanigans. It was basically a mix of the bands Pocket Shot and Saint Of Pine Hills. I captured what was meant to be the opening tune of "Higher" by Creed but there was a power failure. In my short clip, I spliced in some footage captured by Lee that he had sent me which I thought sort of worked well with my clip (even though he had captured another song than I did). When the bands began playing their originals, I listened from a distance while getting a quesadilla from the La Paloma truck. Elphie captured a shot of me walking to Bare Bones with Lee then some of me eating while folks were hanging out in the Bare Bones. After I ate, I captured some footage of Elbie Allen zooming about on her bike and The Castros talking with Dittman K. Rat near Front Porch where they had apparently just played a set.


https://youtu.be/3Mo1zG8djHM
I captured some footage at Bloodline next of Oyarsa. I have really enjoyed their sets each year I have been able to see them at Audiofeed. It was another fun set!


https://youtu.be/9ErCbuNUnjY
After a short wander, I realized the next band I wanted to watch was Dens so I returned to Bloodline and captured some footage. I ended up capturing a song about their dads called "Men." I enjoyed their set as well.


https://youtu.be/sJ5T74u8WjQ
I headed over to Burningtown next to see some of the set by Turtledoves. I captured their song "Clearing." I have enjoyed these two since they were in The Soil And The Sun (as well as The Psalters before that) and hoped for a reunion of one of those projects as well. Turtledoves is great through too.


https://youtu.be/Csby41UtnVM
I headed back to Bloodline to watch some of the Meadows set, capturing a song. It was the first time I had seen them even though they have played Audiofeed before and I am glad I was able to see a bit from their set.


https://youtu.be/TNJt_7FpwAw
I returned to Burningtown to see catch a bit of The Choir. I was able to stick around for a few songs. The Choir is another band I hadn't ever actually watched despite the fact that they have played almost all of the Audiofeed Festivals and many of the Cornerstone Festivals I attended. I am glad to have finally watched them play. I captured the song "Birds, Bewildered" that they said hadn't ever been played live before.


https://youtu.be/zTT6UdwjS5A
I headed back to Bloodline one last time to see Symphony In Peril. This was one of the bands I really wanted to make sure I saw this year. I was a bit disappointed by the smaller crowd that they pulled in. It was cool to see Bryan Yost playing with them. We had gone to Mount Vernon Nazarene University together and he even booked Symphony In Peril to play on the campus in a little barn that had been the Student Union. When we talked a bit about that earlier in the week, he said that was only the second show ever by Symphony In Peril! I also got a chance to talk with Andy Richards for a bit. I told him I was planning to capture the entire set and I hope what I captured works out for him and others who wanted to see the set. Shawn Jonas did a bit of preaching throughout and true to what Symphony In Peril seemed to always be about, it was a Spirit Filled hardcore set! At the end, Shawn baptized someone with his water bottle.

About halfway through the Symphony In Peril set, when my Canon Rebel T6s automatically stops the recording after 30 minutes, there is a slight gap because I wasn't paying attention to try to cover it up using my iPhone during the moment between the automatic stopping and hitting the button to restart the video. My apologies. This occurs in the song "The Exchange" which is a ZAO song that may or may not ever be performed again.


https://youtu.be/DbYiEh_qmdE
After the Symphony In Peril set, I went over to Burningtown again and was happy to see that Insomniac Folklore was still on stage. I ended up capturing the song "Haunt" as well as part of the ending of the set which I also utilized in the reels and summary videos.

After the Insomniac Folklore set ended, we hung out a bit at Bare Bones before we headed back to the hotel again. I am thankful that throughout the day I kept feeling better and whatever had been affecting me at the end of the day before seemed to be mostly out of my system.


https://youtu.be/KS5h8rJ4JvM

07.07.2024

https://youtu.be/bSZ9rDs9wfg
We arrived at Audiofeed X on the morning of Sunday July 7th, 2024 a little bit after noon. I dropped off what I could at Bare Bones then crossed over to the Burningtown Stage to see Joshua Crozier.


https://youtu.be/uGlKp9kH2VM
I captured a clip toward the end of Joshua Crozier's set. I'm not sure what the song is called but it has something to do with a family member, his grandpa i think, and how they had both suffered a similar injury which he survived while the grandpa did not. I think he accidentally started playing the first verse again but played it off as though he were tricking the audience. It was a kind of funny way of acknowledging the error, ha!


https://youtu.be/eIIZysVCWbY
I had wandered over to where the Bloodline Stage was and was talking with someone about something when Joe McElroy came up and urged us to check out Joel David Weir who was about to play. I had intended on catching him last year but missed for some reason so I went ahead into the Bloodline to hear Joel David Weir. I am glad that I did. I captured a song called "I Am A Boy." I captured a quick clip of another song as well which I used in the daily video summary. This was a really good set.

While here, I officially met Jeff Summers who also has captured a lot of great footage over the years at Audiofeed and Cornerstone. It was nice to officially meet him. He had a bit more elaborate set up than I do including a microphone rig he puts in the center of the room. He mentioned the weight of caring his gear and using a wagon. We talked a bit before I decided to move on to another set. Anyway, you should check out his videos too => Jeff Summers YouTube.

While I'm at it, check out whatever Andrew Pickett has as well!

The Allen's came to hang out in the Bare Bones tent and Elphie captured some footage including getting autographs from the kids and a game of Connect Four.


https://youtu.be/MacyYVzc7IA
I stopped over at Burningtown and captured a song called "While You Wait" by Make Sure. I actually sat down while there for this set. It was a good tune and a relaxed vibe. I didn't see too much but what I did see was good.


https://youtu.be/i5BjcRY-118
Back over at Bloodline, Wind Words was getting ready to play. I had heard good things and their set up was interesting with a cello player, however, it did take a long time to get started. I captured a song that didn't utilize the cello but there was a guest vocal. There were some hints of mewithoutYou in their style.

While relaxing at Bare Bones, I got interviewed for Tuned Up by Morgan. She came by later with Leper to do another interview as it was a bit quieter at Bare Bones than other areas with the stages running. They ended up hanging around a while and chatting too!


https://youtu.be/g5WNyKrmP4c
After the interview, I went over to Burningtown to catch some of Freddie Losambe's set. I captured a funny moment where he may jokes about church and his relatives who come late and other silly stuff. The song was fairly short but I found the entire thing to be pretty funny.

Elphie went over to the Urbana Theological Seminary tent where there was a chocolate fondu fountain. I thought she was going to hit up The Park for the Audiofeed birthday cake as well but she didn't.


https://youtu.be/LxEH64QW9z4
Back at Burningtown, Orion Walsh was playing. I happened to capture a cover of "Ring Of Fire" complete was kazoo and a banana shaker. I was able to see Orion play last year as well and I enjoyed that set too so I was glad I could catch him again this year.

At this point, there was a true dinner break. I walked over to see if there was anything planned at the Front Porch during the 5pm slot and found nothing. I decided to get a BBQ Mac and Cheese from the T and G BBQ truck. It was quite good. While I waited on it, I saw DaMac walk by and realized I missed his set down at Subculture. I was bummed about that. I ate my dinner over at Bare Bones and hung out with Andrew Weichart for a bit. We talked a little earlier and he felt I had blown him off the day before. I think it was probably while I wasn't feeling so great so I apologized. We had some good discussion for a bit and I am glad we did. After eating, Axel Larsen came along with some water balloons. I decided to let him get me with one. It was a bit awkward due to its color and shape ha! He was squirting me with it and it eventually popped.


https://youtu.be/4043FxYT72c
I returned to Burningtown for the Good Saint Nathanael set. He planned to play through his new album and he started the set with a couple songs from the older album. I ended up capturing a song called "I Think You've Got Potential" and also a clip of "Everything's Perfect. Everything's Fine" which I used in the daily summary and reel projects. I enjoyed the set as a whole including the new music.

While this was going on, over at Bare Bones a guy named Joel brought a bunch of ice cream and started an ice cream social. Elphie moved the table to outside the tent area and sort of tried to distance herself from it ha! It was not a planned thing as we intended to keep our tent pretty free of organized events or anything like that. Apparently those who partook of the ice cream did well to clean up after themselves as well so that was nice.


https://youtu.be/taUFMGsCsNE
After stopping by Bare Bones to see how that whole ice cream thing went, I moved along to Bloodline to see Joe Baughman + the Righteous Few. I missed their set last year but I remember seeing clips from others of this group in choir robes and so I was curious to see what they were like. I captured a couple clips and they were both pretty fun. I ended up using the short clip I had captured for the daily summary and reel projects.


https://youtu.be/YKBr1xx1n3E
As I approached Burningtown to see some of Rusty Vining's set. I encountered Stewart Brown who wanted to share a message for more folks to come out to Audiofeed. If you know what's good for ya, you should listen to Stewart as he is the boss! You don't want to get fired! I ended up capturing a song that Rusty said was "A Blessing Song." I'm not sure if that was the title but it is what I ended up titling it. It was song somewhat to the tune of "Amazing Grace" I thought.

I tried to get down to Subculture to see Brave Days but they had just finished up. I stepped into Tuned Up to see if the Brothers McClurg were playing Rich Mullins tunes for their set as part of the Night For Rich Mullins but they were not.


https://youtu.be/0LlrX1Y1gFQ
I returned to Bloodline to catch some of the ADJY set. I really enjoyed them last year...getting the All the Day Holiday vibes so I was hoping it would work out to see them play again. I captured a song called "One Fourth Of July."

Elphie continued to hang out at Bare Bones with anyone and everyone who stopped by.

At this point there is a slight variation from the actual events to the video projects. I went into Tuned Up and captured part of the Q and A / interview with David Mullins. I thought about having it be its own clip and posting it that way but I decided to include it with the footage I captured of the tribute set a little bit later in the evening. The footage I captured and shared of David Mullins was interesting. He talked of some of his favorite songs that Rich Mullins put out and then shared what he would say to Rich today if he could. He joked about wearing a seatbelt and also discussed a bit of the family having a dark sense of humor. He spoke a bit about their relationship as well as with their father. It enjoyed listening to what he had to say.


https://youtu.be/kwaVOICye5w
Back over at Bloodline I captured a song called Breath from Gaffer Project. It was about all I saw because I wanted to get back to the Rich Mullins tribute. I wish I could have seen more.


https://youtu.be/KyhQzr9IRIM
I found I had a few more minutes so I went over to Burningtown and captured a song by Rusty Shipp. I also dropped off something over at Bare Bones before heading back to Tuned Up.


https://youtu.be/UcZkbjgVv5M
A Night For Rich Mullins
Setlist:
1. Heaven Is Waiting
2. Hold Me Jesus
3. New Mexico
4. Creed
5. Hard To Ger
6. First Family
7. Love Of God
8. Elijah
9. Doubly Good To You
10. Growing Young
11. If I Stand
12. Calling out Your Name
13. Falling Of So Many Tears
14. Here In America
15. Sometimes By Step
16. Awesome God
17. Doxology
I ended the festival spending the rest of the evening at Tuned Up for A Night For Rich Mullins. As I wrote earlier, I captured some footage from the Q and A/interview with David Mullins. I put that at the beginning of the video file. I also included when the host explained that the tribute concert would be starting after a brief intermission. When the concert did begin, the host spoke about the Bellsburg project and displayed the first album that they had put together. It is an interesting tribute project recording in Rich Mullins' old home. I had hoped a few more of the performers from the album would have been there. The Brothers McClurg are on the album and were there. Rusty Vining also did a song as well as David Mullins. The others I was not familiar with but the whole night was pretty cool and ended in a pretty epic way.

I was bummed that I had to miss Timbre as she closed out the Burningtown stage but I really did want to capture A Night For Rich Mullins and I am glad that I did.

Quite a few artists also paid tribute to Michael Knott with cover songs in their sets. Unfortunately, none of the songs I captured turned out to be any of the Michael Knott covers.

After the Rich Mullins tribute came to a close, all the other stages were done as well. I went and drove the car up to our Bare Bones tent to start tearing it down. Elphie wasn't ready yet so I abandoned those efforts and joined in with the others helping with tear down by taking down tables, collecting chairs, and eventually working on the Tuned Up stage. Once we were done with all that, I returned to the Bare Bones and got that torn down. Elphie had mostly cleaned out everything from inside and things we didn't need anymore I took to the trash. I gathered the bones the remained and we ended up tossing those into the woods as we drove to Rodeway Inn. Everything pretty much fit easily back in the bag for the canopy except the sandbags. I ended up putting them in a couple of boxes. Before leaving, we checked in with Kevin Schlereth about helping in the morning and seeing if there was anything else we should be doing before we left. He stated he may let us set up in that spot again next year! In the Park, Amy and her new friend Joel (who brought that ice cream) were chatting. He had a watermelon and Elphie licked the entire thing and bit a chunk out of a piece as well. At this point, we headed out to the hotel to sleep a bit.


https://youtu.be/g7IXfdzhJdg

07.08.2024

https://youtu.be/G5m0LIyYBoQ
We woke up and loaded up from the hotel. I hadn't quite loaded out as well as I did for our trip from Chicago meaning our back window was mostly blocked. We got back to the fairgrounds and mostly helped by picking up trash around the grounds. I focused on our Bare Bones area first but then went down the line to check the merch area of the grandstands. While cleaning up, I captured footage of carriage racers practicing on the track. I circled the Bloodline stage and then the stage area footprint left by Subculture cleaning up anything I could find there. I finished up by cleaning at The Park and then came inside the Tuned Up area where Elphie was sweeping. After helping to carry a few items to storage and hanging a bit with a few folks, we made our way out to a Panda Express. It was near an Electrify America charger in a Meijer parking lot. I called customer service to figure out the issues and while I didn't quite get a resolution, I was able to charge and later be refunded. We ate with Tina and Cynthia who would be heading north to the Minnesota/North Dakota border. The drive was fairly uneventful. We didn't stop for a charge but did take a restroom break in the general Kankakee area at a Speedway. I picked up some more Mountain Dew, getting the Liberty Chill variant - 50 Flavors in one and therefore earning a free Mountain Dew! We arrived home about 6:30pm. I mostly unloaded the car and we then relaxed the rest of the evening. I included the credits in this part of the video. It once again highlighted the tech specs of the filming and editing process and gave credit to Elphie as well as Lee for the one clip he shared as well as to myself for the work we all put into this. I included in the background Rusty Vining's performance of "Calling Out Your Name" I captured during the Night For Rich Mullins set. It is a really good song and felt appropriate to use. It also saved me the trouble of finding another track to include!

I ended the video with a throwback to the clip with Stewart Brown's plea for more folks to come to Audiofeed.

Please heed his words. He's the boss around here.

We enjoyed our Audiofeed experience and hopefully folks enjoy watching this which we are sharing of our experience. The reels are a new thing I tried this year specifically as something to share to the Audiofeed media team...I may do this again on other projects. The time spent at Audiofeed always seems to feel short but we are glad to have it in our lives.

Additional soundtrack includes "Cuckoo" by David Eugene Edwards, "Robert Rios" by The Chariot, and "Seatbelt Hands" by Listener.


https://youtu.be/MJX6U6YQIzc
I made an additional video after completing the Audiofeed X 2024 project which gives an introduction to the Bare Bones Tent. In it, there is a bit of history on why we decided to do it but the basic idea was that we wanted to provide a space for people to hang out without any agenda. We didn't do this with any affiliation to any organization or ministry. We just noticed a void in 2023 when such a tent didn't exist with the absence of some others and felt we could try to at least fill that void. The additional soundtrack to this video is "Valley Of Dry Bones" by The Last Hope and "Bones In Rags (Shriven Version)" by Leper.

Footage filmed using a Canon Rebel T6s with an Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphoneiPhone 12 and 14 and Crosstour CR-900 by Elphie and Joel A. Swanson. Titles and other animations created and project edited using Final Cut Pro X on a Mac Mini by Joel A. Swanson.

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

A Shared Life: Spring in Chicago (April - June 2024)


This project is the "Spring In Chicago" project and the footage was collected between our Easter trip to Pennsylvania and Audiofeed. During this time, I collected several clips of Chicago drivers and made a short compilation of how some folks like to drive in Chicago.

04.02.2024 - 04.25.2024
On Tuesday April 2nd, 2024 as I left work, I took a shot out of the Truman College parking garage looking south at Chicago. As I got in the car to drive to work on Wednesday April 3rd, 2024, I captured what would be the last snowfall in Chicago. On Thursday April 4th, 2024, Elphie and I both captured some footage of Stein playing with his new toys. One is a Peep bunny and the other is a catnip paper grocery bag. My mom got them for Stein as well as her cat Charlie (footage of that is featured in the "Winter in Chicago" project).

On Monday April 8th, 2024, I went outside as the eclipse was reaching its peak in the Chicago area. We were not in the path of totality but we did experience 94% coverage though without eclipse glasses it wasn't easy to tell the difference. The sky definitely was a bit darker and street lights began to come on but a glance toward the sun, it was as bright as ever. I got to borrow some eclipse glasses from others who had them and check it out a couple times. I tried to see if I covered my iPhone camera lens if I could capture it but it didn't really work out. I captured the eclipse shape through a hole in a sign on the street projecting onto my hand. I did get to see it through the glasses with my eyes though, so that was cool. As I made my commute home, I kept getting messages of a road closure on Lake Shore Drive and traffic was definitely backed up. The detour it wanted me to take was blocked though so I kept going. I captured footage using my Crosstour CR-900 of the salt trucks lining the side of Lake Shore Drive as I passed by. All exits were blocked into the northern parts of downtown though I could have exited once I approached the parks. I chose not to because traffic remained in motion. Once I got near McCormick Place, the exit to reach there or the museums and Soldier Field was also blocked and in the McCormick Place parking lot was a bunch of CTA busses parked along the outside of the lot. I found something about President Biden being in town for a fundraiser and I assume that was the reason for everything on my commute home.

On Wednesday April 10th, 2024, during my morning commute driving north on Archer I was passed by an impatient driver on my left while I was in the left lane. This driver used the turning lane and southbound inner lane to pass the traffic due to their entitlement. The next day on Thursday April 11th, 2024, I had another driver pass me on the left but this time on Artesian. As I slowed to drive over the speed bump and the driver behind me did the same, another driver went around the speed bump and continued to the left of me and attempted to cross Pershing to the left of the car which was waiting on traffic to cross. That driver disregarded the entitled driver and went ahead of them once the traffic was clear. On Friday April 12th, 2024, as I waited for the light to change at Archer and Western, an old Asian man with a paper umbrella crossed the street in front of me and I decided to keep the video capture of that.

On Tuesday April 16th, 2024, Elphie captured some nice chalk art on the sidewalk. I captured the rainbow as I made my commute home using my Crosstour CR-900. Elphie also captured me watching the two hockey games that would determine the fate of the Pittsburgh Penguins on my iPhone and iPad. On Wednesday April 17th, 2024, Elphie captured a clip of herself serenading Stein. I watched the Penguins season come to an end...I hung up my towel for the season. On Thursday April 18th, 2024, on my commute home a driver decided that they would jump a curb into inner Lake Shore Drive rather than wait on the traffic I guess. I'm not sure that it did them much good as they had to then wait at a red light and the lane from outer Lake Shore Drive likely would get a green light first. On my morning commute on Friday April 19th, 2024, I encountered a broken down Chevrolet Bolt on Lake Shore Drive...I hope that never happens to me.

On Monday April 22nd, 2024 I captured a helicopter flying overhead while I was on Lake Shore Drive. On Thursday April 25th, 2024, I captured several more clips for the compilation of Chicago drivers. In the morning as I got into Uptown, I pulled to the curb side of the road as did the driver ahead of me due to an ambulance making its way toward us. The driver behind me passed us both and impeded the ambulance momentarily before they also pulled to the side but immediately ran a stop sign after the ambulance passed. Coming home I captured a clip of a driver doing something that seems basically standard in Chicago at this point...they pulled up next to me from 2-3 cars back so that as soon as the light turned green they could get ahead of me as they obviously felt they were entitled to do. They were impeded by pedestrians in their effort to get on the Lake Shore Drive ramp in a hurry. They did not drive all that fast and once on Lake Shore Drive, I passed them. Later I captured another fairly regular occurrence on Lake Shore Drive of folks passing on the curb side in a turning lane by the parks only to usually get one or two cars ahead before having to merge due to the lane no longer existing. At Pershing and Western I captured yet another fairly regular occurrence where folks are in the lane to turn south onto Western Avenue heading west on Pershing but their intention is to drive straight and cut off those of us in the proper lane to go straight. Driving in Chicago requires anticipation of the acts of the entitled or you likely will end up getting in an accident.

04.26.2204
On my commute into work on Friday April 26th, 2024, as I waited for folks to merge into one lane off the ramp due to road work from I-55 to North Lake Shore Drive, I captured another couple of Chicago drivers, this time using the shoulder to pass everyone as they obviously felt they are entitled to do.

In the evening, I went to Thalia Hall for a show featuring Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter and David Eugene Edwards presented by Perpetual Flame Ministries. I was pretty excited to see this show and went ahead of time to get a ticket a few months back. I guess it was sort of a birthday gift to myself. They had Thalia Hall set up with chairs and in the middle of the room there was a platform with a piano. The stage had fabric draped like a tent as well as the middle of the room from the balcony. It was definitely a unique experience with very limited tickets. I enjoyed the night and the audience was very attentive. There was very little if any talking during the performances which was a nice change. David Eugene Edwards played his set on the stage and I captured "Howling Flower" from the new album "Hyacinth." Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter played the piano in the middle of the room. Prior to starting, she put some bells and a chain I believe into the piano adding another element of sound to the performance. She played from the new material on "Saved!" I captured a clip of "Poor Wayfaring Stranger." While it was a good show, I saw a post where Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter had her songbook taken from the piano. That was a bummer to hear about and hope that it gets returned. This show happened again on Saturday night.
On Saturday April 27th, 2024, Elphie made cinnamon rolls for breakfast as part of my birthday. That evening we went to Falco's to get a stuffed Hawai'ian style pizza as well as breaded zuccini. Elphie also put "happy birthday" stuff on that prior to eating. I had hockey on all day. We considered going to play some mini-golf but were blocked in by the neighbors and it was late enough that I figured it might be best to wait until Sunday. On Sunday April 28th, 2024, we ate more of the pizza and then we did go to Haunted Trails to play mini golf. On the way, I collected my free Mountain Dew Baja Blast Freeze from a Taco Bell. It was very windy and rained a couple times while we played. A hole with a castle ate our balls as well so we had to get new ones. We gave ourselves hole in ones. I won the game by 10 against Elphie. Afterwards, we got some frozen custard at Andy's just down the street. On Monday April 29th, 2024, I turned 44 and we went to Huck Finn's after I got home from a bit of a trying day at work. We both got french toast dinners. It was good. Overall, it was a decent weekend of birthday celebrating.

(note, though the video below is labeled as "April 2024" there are a couple clips from May...I included it here as a break point between April and May)

https://youtu.be/llhbiDd7d2M

05.01.2024 - 05.11.2024
On Wednesday May 1st, 2024, Elphie and I attended the Sessanta show featuring A Perfect Circle, Pucifer, and Primus at Wintrust Arena in downtown Chicago. We parked in the general area we would normally park to go to a Reggies show and walked over from there. The event information that was sent out by email and posted in social media was very clear that no photography or video was permitted so I abided by the rule. Inside the arena it was also made clear to not take photos or video. Before getting to our seats, Elphie wanted to buy some merch. She got a couple of T-shirts and wanted to get a poster but those had already sold out. We ended up being in the very top row with only a standing room space behind us. This was very different from the picture I had seen of the section prior to purchasing the tickets and Elphie has a fear of heights...but she made it through the show. It was a good show and the set up was such that each band would play a few songs then switch to another band in the form of several "acts." There were no tear down/set up breaks and only a ten minute intermission about half way through the night. The show lasted nearly three hours. During the last song, all three bands were on stage and Maynard James Keegan announced that folks could bring out their cellphones to record the final song. Elphie did and it is posted to her Facebook page. I decided at that point I didn't really need to capture anything since several thousand other people were capturing it. As we left, some odd girl was screaming Johnny Cash at me. She was apparently excited by the patch on my jacket and wanted to get a picture. She happened to be wearing a t-shirt with the same image of Johnny Cash giving the finger. During the drive home, we encountered more wonderful Chicago drivers as they passed on both sides of me as I accelerated after a traffic light. I was in the left lane and one of the cars passed in the northbound lanes of Archer while the other car used the right lane closest to the curb to make their simultaneous pass.

On Thursday May 2nd, 2024, there was a helicopter hovering over Lake Shore Drive again. I decided to capture it again. On Saturday May 4th, 2024, we attended a Lucha wrestling event in Tinley Park at the Soundgrowler. It ended up raining out after only a few matches but it was fun. We got to hang out with the Robieson's too. On Sunday May 5th, 2024, we got some Cinco de Mayo Taco Bell.

On Tuesday May 7th, 2024, our car was hit by debris while driving on I-55. It seems to have been a large rock hit the rear driver's side door leaving a dent and scratches. On Wednesday May 8th, 2024, there was an oddly low airplane over Uptown Chicago. It was also moving oddly. On Thursday May 9th, 2024, after a particularly difficult commute home again caused by Biden being in the area, I picked up some Falco's Pizza for Elphie's mom as she was coming to visit. On Friday May 10th, 2024, we went out of the city to Pioneer Woods to try to see the Northern Lights. They weren't easy to see with our eyes but I did capture some decent pictures with my iPhone. I captured a bit of video too and also captured some coyotes yipping and howling somewhere not too far away. I couldn't get much footage using my Canon Rebel T6s. I need to learn how to get proper settings for future attempts. On Saturday May 11th, 2024, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry with Elphie's mom. It was a fun experience and we saw most everything in the time we had. We then took her to get some Asian Buffet. We also drove out to Beverly Shores in Indiana to try to see the Northern Lights again. We got there in time to also capture the sunset which I did using my Canon Rebel T6s. I was able to get a few decent pictures again with my iPhone of the Northern Lights but they dissipated fairly quickly.
05.12.2024
On Sunday May 12th, 2024, we had planned to take Elphie's mom to church but she decided she didn't want to go. Instead, we took her north to the Montrose Dog Beach later in the afternoon. Because the weather was so nice, it was difficult to access but we got as close as we could parking then walked a bit. That evening, we took her to Reggies for dinner and a ska show! Pilfers were playing with The Kilograms and Cranberry Batcave. She seemed to enjoy herself, especially during the Pilfers set. I captured "Yakuza" by the Pilfers and "America In Black And White" by The Kilograms. Dan Alfonso was drumming for them. He plays in Flatfoot 56 too so it was cool to see him. Chuck Wren DJ'ed through the night playing various ska tunes including some interesting covers.

https://youtu.be/A6buXpB_SDY

https://youtu.be/T7r0yU77SS4

05.13.2024 - 05.19.2024
On Monday May 13th, 2024, Elphie celebrated her "birthday" with cherry cheesecake she made with her mom. On Thursday May 16th, 2024, we went to see the Blue Man Group with Elphie's mom. It was fun! We also saw the Clothes and Hoe's box as we walked to where I had parked. On Friday May 17th, 2024, Elphie took her mom to Navy Pier. I ended up meeting them there. Afterwards, we got Andy's Custard. Before flying back home on Saturday May 18th, 2024, Elphie's mom hung with Stein and played some video games on our console. We took her to get Culver's again before her flight. On Sunday May 19th, 2024, I went to Wrigley Field to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Chicago Cubs. The Pirates won the game 3-2. On the drive home I captured the Buckingham Fountain on flowing at its full capacity.

05.20.2024
On Monday May 20th, 2024, I went to the Riviera Theatre to see Social Distortion with Bad Religion and Love Crimes. Elphie was supposed to come as well but canceled due to not feeling up to it. I tried to get her ticket to someone else but no one else ended up being available. I ended up giving it away to a former client of Cornerstone Community Outreach but I have no idea if he used it or not. While he is no longer under the curfew of the shelter, I don't know if the housing he is in has a curfew or not...or what other factors may have been in play to determine if he could attend. When I arrived, there was no line, however the banister at floor level was taken by folks already. Perhaps a better choice would have been to claim a spot along the banister directly behind the sound and light boards but I decided to stand in front of that area instead with the steps to the lower floor in front of me and hopes my view would be clear. This was a poor choice as my view became obstructed most of the night by the taller folks. While I was able to get decent video clips because I didn't have to worry about blocking the view of others by lifting my arm to film, I didn't really enjoy the show since I couldn't really see much of it. Love Crimes opened the night and the band is fronted by a son of Mike Ness of Social Distortion named Julian. There was a lot of similarity in their sound to Social Distortion as well. I captured a song called "Lost In A Minute." Social Distortion took the stage second. I captured "The Creeps" as they played that and the title track from "Mommy's Little Monster" back to back. While playing a new tune, someone in the crowd had a medical emergency which caused for a fairly long delay as medics dealt with the situation. Social Distortion didn't stop playing quick enough for one guy who determined that they aren't really "punk" and just about the money because he yelled at them to shut it down...they didn't listen to him, apparently. For what it's worth, they somewhat stopped the song, then finished the song, and then stopped the set entirely. They explained what was going on and that they were going to leave the stage so the situation could be addressed. They also finished the rest of the set rather than cutting short. I suppose one can take whatever they want from all that and decide for themselves. Bad Religion finished off the night. I never really listened to them and honestly, just didn't care much about their set. I guess it is a case of just not fitting my personal taste. I captured their final song, "American Jesus." I was frustrated by Elphie's last minute canceling which probably tainted the night a bit but my choice to stand where I did was on me and probably made things worse overall as I couldn't see much. I enjoy Social Distortion but this was an expensive show so in the future, I am likely less inclined to pay that much and/or buy in advance for something that Elphie isn't 100% into so as to not be stuck with an extra expensive ticket.
05.23.2024
On Thursday May 23rd, 2024, Elphie and I went to The Forge in Joliet, IL, to see P.O.D. with Bad Wolves, Norma Jean, and Blind Channel. Traffic was terrible leaving work. I left a bit early figuring it may take a while but didn't quite anticipate it taking as long as it did. It actually took less time to get from home to Joliet than from work to home! Along the way, we saw someone skateboarding on I-55 southbound. We assume the van pulled off on the median likely belonged to the person. Upon arrival in Joliet, I chose to park in the public lot nearby hoping to utilize the charger. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get the charger to activate (I tried them all...same result) and after trying to figure it out, I gave up and we headed over to the show. The first band, Blind Channel was finishing up (couldn't get video) as we got there and the place was packed! We ended up against the back wall attempting to dodge the taller people ahead of us to try to see the show. Norma Jean played second and it was a pretty good set. I decided to capture a newer song called "Sleep Explosion." Bad Wolves was direct support...I can't say I really enjoyed them that much. It just isn't what I care for stylistically. I captured their closing song which was a cover of "Zombie" by the Cranberries. P.O.D. played a good amount of their new material along with some of the hits. I decided to capture "I Got That" which was the name of the tour.
05.24.2024
On Friday May 24th, 2024, Elphie and I went to the Bottom Lounge to see Lords of Acid with Praga Khan. Praga Khan is the founding member of Lords of Acid as well. Since I don't necessarily follow the band, this was news to me...though I thought there was a similarity in appearance, ha! I captured "Out Comes The Evil" from Lords of Acid and "My Mind Is My Enemy" by Praga Khan. Elphie went to spend the weekend with her friend Kat after the show so I drove her to drop her off. Prior to the show, I left work early due to how bad traffic has been all week but managed to get in the area with decent time to eat some dinner at Chick Fil-A beforehand and find somewhere to park.

https://youtu.be/tGFrPF8bQyY

https://youtu.be/9sJgnODnWUs

05.30.2024
On Thursday May 30th, 2024, Elphie and I went to The Burlington Bar to see Dry Wedding with Convert and Bodyman Want. Our friend Jason invited us as Dry Wedding were friends of his out of Portland, Oregon and he hoped to help them have a good show. We enjoyed Dry Wedding. They definitely had some Nick Cave vibes. Convert closed the night and their bass player looked like a Ramone with a Mustache so he was deemed "Mustache Ramone." The opener was Bodyman Want and they were pretty good too. It was a good night overall and it was nice to see our friends! On my way home from work prior to going to the show, I experienced some difficulties with my iPhone. It wasn't working right on showing the maps (which I use typically to determine my route home) and so I restarted it...then it wouldn't play the podcast I was listening to either...it turned out to be an issue with Verizon apparently.

https://youtu.be/OW10fTBPNXU

https://youtu.be/si4uKjtnEs4

https://youtu.be/6USv5qqx6Pw

05.31.2024
On Friday May 31st, 2024, we went to Berwyn, Illinois to see the Nekromantix play at Distro Music Hall. The opening act, Devil Lock, was a Misfits cover band. I figured it best to avoid issues with Danzig so in part due to that, I didn't capture any video. The Nekromantix played a good and fairly long set. I captured "Gargoyles Over Copenhagen." I bought our tickets online while in line figuring it might be a packed show but it seems we probably could have made the purchase at the door. There were tables set up but the rule apparently is you must have a drink in order to be seated. Later, the waitress allowed Elphie to sit anyway. Elphie ended up buying a water.

https://youtu.be/my9X176YuLw

06.01.2024 - 06.07.2024
On Saturday June 1st, 2024 I ended up working all day so to allow some staff to attend the funeral of Franck Moukiama, our co-worker who passed unexpectedly. I didn't realize it would be the whole day but that is what happened. On Sunday June 2nd, 2024, Elphie and I headed to Romeoville to Wasted Youth Tattoo and P.M.A. Piercing Studio so Elphie could get a piercing update. She got two new ones to her cheeks. It seemed to be a better experience than the previous one a few years ago. We also experienced our first cicadas of this brood including one hanging out on a pillar at Taco Bell.

06.08.2024
On Saturday June 8th, 2024, Elphie wanted to go to a techno/rave event at Concord Music Hall featuring Rabbit In The Moon and The Crystal Method. I captured clips from both and then they joined forces to do "Crystal Rabbit" which I captured a clip of that as well. It was quite a late show but it was fun.

https://youtu.be/w8Wasnw4tTo

https://youtu.be/OdGQRjLnd5o

https://youtu.be/BUAncbx0_6o

06.09.2024 - 07.03.2024
On Sunday June 9th, 2024, we went to a block party to celebrate the 48th anniversary of The Alley. ORCS Leather was there and so we figured we'd come and hang a bit with the Hamptons while they were vending. Apparently we came at the right time as they were busy most of the day but it slowed down toward the end. Afterwards, we stopped at the MidsommarFest in Andersonville. Again, there lacked much of a Swedish presence. I got a Glögg slushie from the Simon's booth and searched for the Swedish hot dog but came up empty. I ended up with raclette from the Baked Cheese Haus. It is a Swiss based food. It was good.

On Thursday June 13th, 2024, Elphie and I had our 9th anniversary. We celebrated by grilling venison heart for dinner and watching the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. Elphie made mashed potatoes to go with the meat and also made chocolate cherry brownies! Elphie captured some footage when midnight struck as well. I took P.T.O. on Friday June 14th, 2024 and we went to the Medieval Torture Museum downtown. I guess that is a fitting experience for a wedding anniversary, ha! It was interesting. We took our time checking out all the exhibits. It was interactive so some of the exhibits one could move around or get inside. Afterwards, we had dinner at Luke's Lobster before heading back home. On Saturday June 15th, 2024, we decided to get dinner at Bree Thai. It is one of Elphie's favorite places to go. I noticed that airplanes were approaching Midway for landing on the corner closest to us while dining at Bree Thai so as we left, I decided to drive over to the corner so we could try to capture the landing airplane passing overhead like in Wayne's World. It didn't quite line up as I had hoped but we got close. On Sunday June 16th, 2024, after sending out Father's Day wishes, we stopped at the Nike Missile Site C-44 on the south side of Chicago. It is in the William Powers State Conservation Area. Near the entrance is a memorial with some plaques to honor veterans and we were able to drive back to where the missiles had been stored during the Cold War. I walked back and found an easy accessible path for Elphie and I to get to it so we both went in after I had scouted it. It was interesting to see and marked off yet another Atlas Obscura site.

Monday June 17th, 2024 was Anti-Procreation Day presented by Elphie's organization The Advocacy for Anti-Procreation. I worked then we hung at home watching Olympic Trials and the final minute of the NBA Finals as Boston won its 18th Championship. I also finished cleaning up the skull from the deer I harvested in the fall, glued the bottom jaw back together, and then glued in the front teeth. One of the teeth was missing. On my commute home on Tuesday June 18th, 2024 I saw a large cloud of smoke which appeared to be located north near Damen Avenue...the fire turned out to be a building supply warehouse full of wooden pallets. On Thursday June 20th, 2024, it was the first day of summer but in Chicago, it was rather cool and I captured footage using my Crosstour CR-900 as I approached downtown of the fog cover that took over the north side of the city. I also captured the same on my commute back home. On Saturday June 22nd, 2024, we attended Sanctuary at Underground Lounge for the first time (or at least the first time in a long time). The music and atmosphere were more Elphie's taste and she enjoyed herself.

On Monday June 24th, 2024, Elphie had a day out with her friend Laura and rode the Water Taxi. That night we watched the NHL Stanley Cup Final come to a close in Game 7 as Florida won its first Championship. As I left to go to work on Tuesday June 25th, 2024, I was able to capture a lightning bolt while backing out of the driveway using my Crosstour CR-900. During my commute home on Lake Shore Drive on Wednesday June 26th, 2024 I captured an errant golf ball bouncing by that must have come from Sydney R. Marovitz golf course nearby. Thankfully it didn't appear to have hit any of the passing cars. I wonder how often that has happened.

On Saturday June 29th, 2024, I decided to catch the final game of the Chicago Hounds rugby season. They were playing the Miami Sharks and came away with the win. There was a bit of a skirmish at the end as well. I ended up with a seat in the first row down at one end zone. I think I'd prefer to sit higher for better viewing but it was fun anyway. Back at the house, I captured some footage of lightning bugs. On Sunday June 30th, 2024, Elphie had a follow-up appointment for her new piercings so we returned to Wasted Youth Tattoo and P.M.A. Piercing to take care of that. Afterwards, I did some Audiofeed preparation by spray painting a sign for our Bare Bones tent. I printed the letters out to have hanging as well for another sign.

On Monday July 1st, 2024, we celebrated Canada Day by getting some poutine from Bad Apple. I got the traditional style and Elphie got the pulled pork option. On Tuesday July 2nd, 2024, the city of Chicago had begun to set up the walls along part of Lake Shore Drive for the upcoming NASCAR race. I decided to capture some footage during my commutes of all the set up. I used both the Crosstour CR-900 and my iPhone. I did the same on July 3rd, 2024 though I only used the Crosstour CR-900 that time rather than trying to shoot with my iPhone. After the drive, we finished loading up and headed out to Audiofeed.

Additional soundtrack includes "It's Spring" by Rodent Emporium, "Miracle Spring" by Candy Claws, "Man Is Like A Spring Flower" by Lingua Ignota, "Rainbow Rider Country" by Rainbow Rider, "Rainbow Signs" by Contrary To Popular Belief, "Chicago" by Sufjan Stevens, "A Tornado; An Owl" by Action Action, "Northern Lights" by Hands, "Northern Lights" by Thrice, "Dead Stars (Club Mix)" by Covenant, "Rocket And A Bomb" by Aunt Betty's Ford, "I Love You To Death (Drive Safe)" by The Juliana Theory, and "Race" by Bleach.

Footage filmed using a Canon Rebel T6s with an Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphoneiPhone 12 and 14 and Crosstour CR-900 by Elphie and Joel A. Swanson. Titles and other animations created and project edited using Final Cut Pro X on a Mac Mini by Joel A. Swanson.