Our Home State's Capitol...where Blagojevich refused to stay and boy did he miss out!

After a 6+ hour drive through towns with a population of 83, 20 mph winding backroads, going from Kansas to Mexico to Louisiana to Illinois in a matter of 30 minutes, and eating lunch (i.e. making sandwiches in a truck stop parking lot) we finally got to The Keg...which turned out to be a real tavern! Of all the options we came across online under one club name in our state's capitol (see previous post for options) it ended up panning out to be the one that was most desirable for a band...although I personally kinda wanted to play at a scooter & motorcycle repair shop but that's neither here nor there. Upon our arrival at The Keg we were greeted with warm hellos from locals, cold beers from the owner Becky and an absolutely adorable 10 week old little English Bulldog named RJ.

The Keg was more of a tavern and less music clubby but it was certainly a rockin' atmosphere. The "stage" was quite compact so we had to find a way to make our equipment and killer PA (see previous post for description) fit. After moving and experimenting with different positions, ;), we came up with a practical means of performing for the Springfield locals while leaving ourselves room to play. Prior to even striking one chord we were handed shots of "tekweela" by the infamous Clyde to start the "show off right." That started things off and they continued that way throughout the 2 hour set filled with crowd participation, more shots, and several dry but great shout outs from the peanut gallery. Showing face in Springfield was our wonderful friend Mandi from Chicago. We sure had no problem getting along with the Springfieldians and the feelings were mutual on their behalf. "Anytime you guys want to come back" is what we left The Keg to and Becky will probably be taken up on that. Now it's off to Champaign to play two shows in one night; The Phoenix from 5 to 7 and Joe's from 9 to 11.

Kevin James