The project for A Shared Life: Summer in Chicago 2024 took place between Audiofeed X at the beginning of July and our road trip vacation in September to a few national parks, states I had never visited, as well as Canadian provinces that were new to both Elphie and me. That road trip was followed up by my attendance at Furnace Fest 2024: End of an Era.
This footage includes a few fireworks shows, a few baseball games, some storms, some driving, as well as annual summer events such as the Chicago Air and Water Show and Lollapalooza. Well, my footage is a drive by of Lollapalooza. We made a quick weekend fly out to North Carolina and had a visit from the Vermin Supreme campaign as they were in town for the Democratic National Convention.
There is also a fair amount of live concert footage including the return of Brick Assassin. I captured that show in its entirety!
The intro to the project is the same as I have been doing. I took a few still photos and then created a title page using Motion.
The intro to the project is the same as I have been doing. I took a few still photos and then created a title page using Motion.
07.09.2024
On Tuesday July 9th, 2024, I went to the Beat Kitchen to see Brave Days. I missed the first band and decided to just capture footage from the Brave Days set. Earlier in the day, I somewhat helped connect them to J.P.U.S.A. for a place to sleep. I had some conversation with the band previously about this show but didn't realize it was that night until I was at work and trying to coordinate with them for a place to sleep.
07.10.2024
On Wednesday July 10th, 2024 I went to Wilson Abbey to see a show by The Crossing. It would be their second to last show ever. It was apparently scheduled for Tony Krogh to be able to play for his family who had come to visit for the first time in many years. I captured the song "Roman Rule" from the set. I wish I could see the final show but we will be gone on our way to our vacation by then.
On the way home, I ended up driving as the Navy Pier fireworks were going off. Had I thought about it, I may have parked at Montrose Harbor and watched before making the drive home. I ended up capturing some of the firework show using my Crosstour CR-900 as I drove by.
07.12.2024
On Friday July 12th, 2024, I went to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play again the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. It turned out to be a firework night! The Pirates won the game 4-1. The post game fireworks lasted about 10 minutes and there was a Jimmy Buffet theme. I had also captured a clip of some hula dancers during one of the inning breaks. As I left the stadium, I captured a shot of downtown Chicago as the old Comiskey Park home plate.
07.13.2024 - 07.22.2024
On Saturday July 13th, 2024, we attended the Ollie Mob BBQ. It was held at Kyle's house this year and it was a good time gathering with friends who could make it! They had Reggies cater it this year so we had some good pulled pork and mac-n-cheese among other tasty foods. I skipped the Pirates win over the White Sox for this, ha! On Sunday July 14th, 2024 I went to the Pirates game against the White Sox again and the Pirates won 9-4. They completed a sweep going into the All-Star Break and things were looking promising for the season at this point. That wouldn't last much longer. In fact, it didn't even last until the Pirates came back to Chicago on Labor Day.
I didn't get footage of this but I drove to the EVGo chargers nearby to get a fast charge and just after I plugged in to charge, a tornado warning sounded. The other person charging unplugged and took off. I figured that there wasn't much I could do at that point should a tornado happen to be in that general area so I remained plugged in. It got pretty windy and heavy rain and I didn't think any footage I captured would show much. It was nighttime so it was quite dark, however, there was a lot of lightning flashing as well...just no bolts to capture. The next night on Monday July 15th, 2024, however, I did go outside to see what I could capture as we were once again having tornado warnings. I didn't stay out in it too long as the affected area seemed like it could be pretty close to us. Since it was dark again, it was hard to see what might be out there. I'm not sure if it was the moisture from the storms but as I made my commute on Tuesday morning July 16th, 2024, there was interesting cloud cover over the city. There were also some downed limbs in the neighborhood but nothing to impede my commute.
On Friday July 19th, 2024, Elphie and I went to see Twisters in the AMC Cicero theater. We parked next to a sports car which had a Modelo beer can in the cup holder. Thankfully, no tornadoes hit while we were watching the movie!
I drove to Warren on Saturday July 20th, 2024. I needed to get the car inspected in Pennsylvania which I had scheduled for Monday and would use a sick day. I made the trip without much of anything noteworthy happening. I drank another Mountain Dew Infinite Swirl and brought one for my mom to taste as well. On Sunday July 21st, 2024, I went to church and lunch with my family at Mama Jane's which has replaced Perkins. After lunch, while watching the Pirates game on television, some fawns came through the backyard right next to the window then relaxed under a tree. They were there for quite a while before apparently being summoned by their mother. My mom and I went and got ice cream at River's Edge in the evening.
I woke up early on Monday morning July 22nd, to drive to Erie, PA to Hallman Chevrolet dealership for my inspection, tire rotation, and for the Auto Butler appointment and also to have a dent removed from a rock hitting the car in the spring. I got the inspection and the tire rotation. They stated that they could not remove the dent due to apparently not being equipped to do so and they didn't do the Auto Butler either. I drove back to Chicago and got in town relatively early. I didn't have much noteworthy on the commute either except that I arrived at a EVGo charging station that ended up being out of order. I made the decision to try to drive to the next one and looked into some emergency plans in case I didn't have enough to quite make it. I ended up pushing on and making it to the next station in South Bend with some miles to spare! This ended up being a longer charge for that reason but it was ok. I was still having difficulties with the Electrify America app not properly giving my account the discount it was meant to give. This eventually got reimbursed and I ultimately had to cancel my Electrify America account and make a new one which resulted in a refund of the money they hold for charging. I think, in a way, that worked out to my benefit really.
On Saturday July 13th, 2024, we attended the Ollie Mob BBQ. It was held at Kyle's house this year and it was a good time gathering with friends who could make it! They had Reggies cater it this year so we had some good pulled pork and mac-n-cheese among other tasty foods. I skipped the Pirates win over the White Sox for this, ha! On Sunday July 14th, 2024 I went to the Pirates game against the White Sox again and the Pirates won 9-4. They completed a sweep going into the All-Star Break and things were looking promising for the season at this point. That wouldn't last much longer. In fact, it didn't even last until the Pirates came back to Chicago on Labor Day.
I didn't get footage of this but I drove to the EVGo chargers nearby to get a fast charge and just after I plugged in to charge, a tornado warning sounded. The other person charging unplugged and took off. I figured that there wasn't much I could do at that point should a tornado happen to be in that general area so I remained plugged in. It got pretty windy and heavy rain and I didn't think any footage I captured would show much. It was nighttime so it was quite dark, however, there was a lot of lightning flashing as well...just no bolts to capture. The next night on Monday July 15th, 2024, however, I did go outside to see what I could capture as we were once again having tornado warnings. I didn't stay out in it too long as the affected area seemed like it could be pretty close to us. Since it was dark again, it was hard to see what might be out there. I'm not sure if it was the moisture from the storms but as I made my commute on Tuesday morning July 16th, 2024, there was interesting cloud cover over the city. There were also some downed limbs in the neighborhood but nothing to impede my commute.
On Friday July 19th, 2024, Elphie and I went to see Twisters in the AMC Cicero theater. We parked next to a sports car which had a Modelo beer can in the cup holder. Thankfully, no tornadoes hit while we were watching the movie!
I drove to Warren on Saturday July 20th, 2024. I needed to get the car inspected in Pennsylvania which I had scheduled for Monday and would use a sick day. I made the trip without much of anything noteworthy happening. I drank another Mountain Dew Infinite Swirl and brought one for my mom to taste as well. On Sunday July 21st, 2024, I went to church and lunch with my family at Mama Jane's which has replaced Perkins. After lunch, while watching the Pirates game on television, some fawns came through the backyard right next to the window then relaxed under a tree. They were there for quite a while before apparently being summoned by their mother. My mom and I went and got ice cream at River's Edge in the evening.
I woke up early on Monday morning July 22nd, to drive to Erie, PA to Hallman Chevrolet dealership for my inspection, tire rotation, and for the Auto Butler appointment and also to have a dent removed from a rock hitting the car in the spring. I got the inspection and the tire rotation. They stated that they could not remove the dent due to apparently not being equipped to do so and they didn't do the Auto Butler either. I drove back to Chicago and got in town relatively early. I didn't have much noteworthy on the commute either except that I arrived at a EVGo charging station that ended up being out of order. I made the decision to try to drive to the next one and looked into some emergency plans in case I didn't have enough to quite make it. I ended up pushing on and making it to the next station in South Bend with some miles to spare! This ended up being a longer charge for that reason but it was ok. I was still having difficulties with the Electrify America app not properly giving my account the discount it was meant to give. This eventually got reimbursed and I ultimately had to cancel my Electrify America account and make a new one which resulted in a refund of the money they hold for charging. I think, in a way, that worked out to my benefit really.
07.24.2024
On Wednesday July 24th, 2024, Leper played a show in Berwyn, Illinois at a place called The Outtaspace. We had been there once before. They played with a couple other local area bands. It was cool to see Bill there! I captured "Black Lacy Veil (Voal Negru De Dantela)" from Leper's set and it was the first time they had played that in a while and the first time for me to capture it in quite a while as well.
07.28.2024 - 08.05.2024
On Sunday July 28th, 2024, Elphie got a puzzle piece tattoo on her butt by The Enigma. He was at Sideshow Gelato and Elphie was able to schedule a time to get it done while he was there. We got some gelato afterwards then went to visit Kate at Outskirts Vintage before getting pho at Dong Ky. While leaving we encountered terrible traffic on Lake Shore so once I was able to take an exit, we took a scene Ashland Avenue drive.
I captured my drive-bys of Lollapalooza from Lake Shore Drive on both Thursday August 1st and Friday August 2nd, 2024. On Monday August 5th, 2024, we had a "Winchester" at Denny's in Oakbrook Terrace. We coordinated the best that we could a pick up for The Castros and took them to their very first "Winchester"! We took Roosevelt all the way out in hopes to alleviate some highway anxieties.
08.07.2024
On Wednesday August 7th, 2024, I went to Subterranean to see The Juliana Theory on their tour for the 25th Anniversary of "Understand This Is A Dream." They played through that entire album, shared some stories then played a short set of other hits as an encore. I captured "Duane Joseph" as it felt appropriate especially with the tagline of the tour announcement. I expected it to be a sold out packed room but the crowd seemed a bit lighter than my anticipation.
https://youtu.be/Hgss47yhMSk
08.08.2024
08.07.2024
On Wednesday August 7th, 2024, I went to Subterranean to see The Juliana Theory on their tour for the 25th Anniversary of "Understand This Is A Dream." They played through that entire album, shared some stories then played a short set of other hits as an encore. I captured "Duane Joseph" as it felt appropriate especially with the tagline of the tour announcement. I expected it to be a sold out packed room but the crowd seemed a bit lighter than my anticipation.
https://youtu.be/Hgss47yhMSk
08.08.2024
On Thursday August 8th, 2024, I captured some footage of the practice flights for the Chicago Air and Water Show while going to get my lunch. As I left work, there was some sort of protest or demonstration happening outside of Truman College. It seemed that it had something to due with bicycles.
08.09.2024
On Friday August 9th, 2024, The Castros put together a show in the J.P.U.S.A. Garden Room. They had Alma Russ play with them as she was passing through the area on tour and some J.P.U.S.A. members in their band called Men And Angels. I captured "Cuckoo" by Men And Angels, "Deep River Blues" by Alma Russ and "Fly Away" by The Castros.
https://youtu.be/aipeJ6kpbIs
https://youtu.be/39YfPv_ddnw
https://youtu.be/gtPgwLgSLFU
On Friday August 9th, 2024, The Castros put together a show in the J.P.U.S.A. Garden Room. They had Alma Russ play with them as she was passing through the area on tour and some J.P.U.S.A. members in their band called Men And Angels. I captured "Cuckoo" by Men And Angels, "Deep River Blues" by Alma Russ and "Fly Away" by The Castros.
https://youtu.be/aipeJ6kpbIs
https://youtu.be/39YfPv_ddnw
https://youtu.be/gtPgwLgSLFU
08.10.2024
On Saturday August 10th, 2024, I got up early for a Saturday to try to catch some of the Chicago Air And Water Show. I decided to get off the train at Roosevelt then walk to the lake and head north along the lake shore. I hoped to be able to see something as I walked but the staging area was obstructed by the city buildings. I eventually got to the Ohio Street Beach area where I set up to watch the show south of the staging area. I was able to be shaded along the support wall of Lake Shore Drive. I captured quite a bit of footage of the aircraft doing their aerial tricks and fly bys. I got home then pretty much promptly left for Navy Pier for The Great American Lobsterfest. Elphie came with me this year and while we did have a bit of a wait, we got our meals and enjoyed them both! After the lobster, Elphie got a churro sundae. We then waited for the Navy Pier Fireworks, finding an empty bench to sit on as we waited. It was a good, quick show. We slowly made our way to the car then eventually out of Navy Pier to go home.
08.13.2024
Afterwork, I parked then hung out by Wrigley Field to try to hear some of the sets by Rancid and Smashing Pumpkins. I didn't care about sticking around for Green Day. I got there as Rancid ended and listened to the whole set by the Smashing Pumpkins before I left. I captured some footage.
08.15.2024
On Thursday August 15th, 2024, Little Jessi hooked me up with a guest list spot for her show at Reggies. The Mad Caddies were headlining, The Iron Roses were direct support, and Little Jessi and Something To Do opened the show. She had just flown back from some Europe dates a day or so before. I had asked if she was going to be there to play, just out of curiosity, and she offered to try to get me on the guest list. That was way cool of her! I captured "Richard Spencer Punched In The Head" by Something To Do during their set. I captured "Screaming for A Change" from The Iron Roses. Apparently the Mad Caddies were stuck in Canada at the Halifax, Nova Scotia airport for a couple of days and barely made it to the show! They had to borrow the gear of The Iron Roses.
08.16.2024 - 08.25.2024
On Friday August 16th, 2024, I left work a bit early to catch a flight to Charlotte, NC with Elphie to celebrate her sister's 50th birthday! We encountered a storm arriving in North Carolina and routed a bit around it. I captured some lightning outside of the plane as we were approaching. The birthday party was on Saturday August 17th, 2024 and there was some good Carolina BBQ to be had along with R.O.'s Slaw. Elphie helped with the balloon purchase of which there were many! It was something of a pool party and we enjoyed the pool for a bit until a storm came in. On Sunday August 18th, Elphie reserved a room at the Golden Corral to celebrate her sister and her mom's birthdays and probably some other birthdays in there as well. It was a good gathering of folks and good food. We flew back to Chicago on Monday August 19th, 2024. Before we left, I made sure to eat some more BBQ with R.O.'s Slaw! We ended up having a very delayed flight due to continued storms around Charlotte. The plane was diverted to Greenville, SC which wasn't all that far away. It had to be diverted to refuel. A lot of people rescheduled and we ended up having a pretty empty flight to Chicago. As we flew, we passed over Cincinnati and all our friends there so I decided to capture a clip of that. The delay made things a bit weird because we had some of the Vermin Supreme crew needing a place to stay during the Democratic National Convention. When we finally got back to Chicago and to the house, they were there waiting on us. We got them situated and then I went to bed so I could get back to work!
On Wednesday August 21st, 2024, I captured some footage of the road blocks for the DNC on my way to work. That evening, we attended a Vermin Supreme Presidential Rally at Sideshow Gelato. They made a flavor of gelato in Vermin's honor. The rally was interesting to say the least but it was a good time. On Friday August 23rd, 2024, we attended the last of the summer BBQ's at the Holy Trinity Community house. We provided some venison burger which everyone seemed to enjoy. It was a good time hanging out there. On our drive home from getting groceries on Saturday August 24th, 2024, I captured a large piece of debris on the highway with my CrossTour CR-900. It explained the traffic slowing down!
08.27.2024
On Tuesday August 27th, 2024, the street where I work was taken over by the "Chicago P.D." television show. It made it difficult coming and going from our building. I had to get an escort returning from lunch. I captured a few clips of a murder scene outside the building. That evening, Brick Assassin was playing a reunion show at Liar's Club. It was an all punk lineup and a lot of fun. I decided to bring my Canon Rebel T6s and hoped I could get set up in such a way I'd not get knocked into too much and have the microphone base break again (this happened last time Brick Assassin played, ha! Some guy walked through me instead of passed me and as a result broke the base of the microphone. I ended up having to use Gorilla Glue and so far it's held up ok!). Other bands who played were Kaleko Urdangak from Basque Country somewhere in the Spain area of Europe and locals Bad Sons and Danger Feet. I captured the whole set of everyone but Danger Feet. I wasn't quite ready when they started and was still trying to figure out where to set up. I probably missed about 2-3 minutes of their set.
https://youtu.be/mWVGbrWlV4w
https://youtu.be/IQcQPBrbts0
https://youtu.be/ins_3jMttHY
https://youtu.be/zbWi7-MtoLU
08.28.2024 - 09.10.2024
As I left Liar's Club after midnight on Wednesday August 28th, 2024, I captured lightning using the CrossTour CR-900. During my commute to work on Thursday August 29th, 2024, I captured the cloud cover over the city again using the CrossTour CR-900. On the commute on Friday August 30th, 2024, I captured the set up for the beach volleyball tournament on Oak Street Beach.
I decided to go to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday September 2nd, 2024 through Wednesday September 4th, 2024. The weather was nice for all three games and I was able to secure fairly low priced tickets. The Pirates won 5-3 on Monday September 2nd, 2024 during a Labor Day Margaritaville/Jimmy Buffet themed game. This ended up being the second time this year as the White Sox had one as well. How did both Chicago teams had Margaritaville/Jimmy Buffet nights against the Pirates? Weird. As I drove home I captured the American flag displayed on the downtown buildings for Labor Day. On Tuesday September 3rd, 2024, the Pirates won again! This time they got a shutout 5-0. I got home to collect the mail and found a big spider. My streak of Pittsburgh teams winning while I was in attendance in 2024 ran out on Wednesday September 4th, 2024. Not only did the Pirates lose, they couldn't even get a hit and lost bad! The score was 12-0. My streak ended at 6 events (one for the Penguins, and five for the Pirates - three against the Cubs and two against the White Sox).
On Saturday September 7th, 2024, Elphie and I tried some Baja Blast gelato while at the Taco Bell in Highland, Indiana as part of our grocery trip. I thought it tasted like a sherbet and I thought it was pretty good.
09.11.2024
On Wednesday September 11th, 2024, Elphie and I went to see +LIVE+ with Stone Temple Pilots and Soul Asylum at the Huntington Bank Pavilion on Northerly Island in Chicago. Due to the early start, I had Elphie meet me near Reggies where we could catch a couple of busses and get to the venue without paying high parking prices. She bought us some tacos from Tio Luis. We got the seats for $25 using the Live Nation/Ticketmaster deal. The last time we had been in that venue, there was a seated bleacher area but the rest was just standing room. We had a decent spot I think. I captured "Selling The Drama" by +LIVE+, "Big Empty" by Stone Temple Pilots, and "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum. All were hits for the bands and "Big Empty was used in The Crow soundtrack.
This was the last thing we did prior to leaving on our vacation to end the summer so it is the end of this project.
On Tuesday August 27th, 2024, the street where I work was taken over by the "Chicago P.D." television show. It made it difficult coming and going from our building. I had to get an escort returning from lunch. I captured a few clips of a murder scene outside the building. That evening, Brick Assassin was playing a reunion show at Liar's Club. It was an all punk lineup and a lot of fun. I decided to bring my Canon Rebel T6s and hoped I could get set up in such a way I'd not get knocked into too much and have the microphone base break again (this happened last time Brick Assassin played, ha! Some guy walked through me instead of passed me and as a result broke the base of the microphone. I ended up having to use Gorilla Glue and so far it's held up ok!). Other bands who played were Kaleko Urdangak from Basque Country somewhere in the Spain area of Europe and locals Bad Sons and Danger Feet. I captured the whole set of everyone but Danger Feet. I wasn't quite ready when they started and was still trying to figure out where to set up. I probably missed about 2-3 minutes of their set.
https://youtu.be/mWVGbrWlV4w
https://youtu.be/IQcQPBrbts0
https://youtu.be/ins_3jMttHY
https://youtu.be/zbWi7-MtoLU
08.28.2024 - 09.10.2024
As I left Liar's Club after midnight on Wednesday August 28th, 2024, I captured lightning using the CrossTour CR-900. During my commute to work on Thursday August 29th, 2024, I captured the cloud cover over the city again using the CrossTour CR-900. On the commute on Friday August 30th, 2024, I captured the set up for the beach volleyball tournament on Oak Street Beach.
I decided to go to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday September 2nd, 2024 through Wednesday September 4th, 2024. The weather was nice for all three games and I was able to secure fairly low priced tickets. The Pirates won 5-3 on Monday September 2nd, 2024 during a Labor Day Margaritaville/Jimmy Buffet themed game. This ended up being the second time this year as the White Sox had one as well. How did both Chicago teams had Margaritaville/Jimmy Buffet nights against the Pirates? Weird. As I drove home I captured the American flag displayed on the downtown buildings for Labor Day. On Tuesday September 3rd, 2024, the Pirates won again! This time they got a shutout 5-0. I got home to collect the mail and found a big spider. My streak of Pittsburgh teams winning while I was in attendance in 2024 ran out on Wednesday September 4th, 2024. Not only did the Pirates lose, they couldn't even get a hit and lost bad! The score was 12-0. My streak ended at 6 events (one for the Penguins, and five for the Pirates - three against the Cubs and two against the White Sox).
On Saturday September 7th, 2024, Elphie and I tried some Baja Blast gelato while at the Taco Bell in Highland, Indiana as part of our grocery trip. I thought it tasted like a sherbet and I thought it was pretty good.
09.11.2024
On Wednesday September 11th, 2024, Elphie and I went to see +LIVE+ with Stone Temple Pilots and Soul Asylum at the Huntington Bank Pavilion on Northerly Island in Chicago. Due to the early start, I had Elphie meet me near Reggies where we could catch a couple of busses and get to the venue without paying high parking prices. She bought us some tacos from Tio Luis. We got the seats for $25 using the Live Nation/Ticketmaster deal. The last time we had been in that venue, there was a seated bleacher area but the rest was just standing room. We had a decent spot I think. I captured "Selling The Drama" by +LIVE+, "Big Empty" by Stone Temple Pilots, and "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum. All were hits for the bands and "Big Empty was used in The Crow soundtrack.
This was the last thing we did prior to leaving on our vacation to end the summer so it is the end of this project.
Additional soundtrack includes "Summer Sun" by Rodent Emporium, "Fireworks Up There" by Neko Nine, "Reggae Summertime" by The Aggrolites, "Wounded But Worth Of Flight" by Fil Smif, "Carolina Moon" by Glenn Kaiser Band, "Nite Flights" by Danny And His Fantasy, and "Election Season" by The Homeless Gospel Choir.
Footage filmed using a Canon Rebel T6s with an Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphone, iPhone 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.
