Afishionados,

Chicago was short but awesome! I got into town around 1 P.M. Chicago time, had lunch, took a nap, then hitched a free ride downtown in plenty of time to see Missy Higgins perform at Martyrs’. Last year, I found out by simple luck that Missy Higgins was performing in Seattle. That concert was excellent and I had a great time. I spent the entire evening standing about 5 feet away from Missy as she sang for about an hour and a half.

The concert in Chicago blew that one way out of the water. The concert was sold out even before the show started. The venue was still a hole in the wall, but the Chicago crowd was a lot more lively than Seattle’s. I think Missy liked the Chicago crowd, too, because she spent a lot of time giving background info on her songs and joking with her fans. She even extended her stay and played a handful of extra songs because people were enjoying the concert so much. The show felt much more intimate than last year’s. Missy doesn’t have a single song that I don’t like, but she does have some that I enjoy more than others. And as far as my favorites, Missy played ‘em all :-).

I borrowed my mom’s camera for the trip, but I didn’t take it to Martyrs’, which worked out just fine because it was far too dark inside to take any good photos and flash photography was prohibited. Thanks to MySpace, I got a bulletin from Missy that said she’d also be playing a free gig at the Borders bookstore in the heart of downtown Chicago. Since I didn’t know this when I planned my trip, I hadn’t planned on going. But since I drove myself, I quickly readjusted my schedule.

Martyrs’ probably had two or three hundred people there. It was packed pretty full and it was hot as hell. Borders, on the other hand, was a completely different animal. Only 30 or 40 people showed up for it. And guess who had the frontmost seat directly in front of Missy :-D?

The Borders gig started at 12:30 P.M. I showed up at 11:00 to grab a good seat and some coffee. My chair was literally two feet away from Missy’s piano. I was even closer this time than I had been in Seattle. This may not sound so amazing to people not familiar with Missy Higgins, but consider her audiences in Australia: Typically 4,000-12,000 people at $65+ a pop. Here’s a photo of the Live Earth concert that was held in Australia. Missy performed here, so you get the idea.

I killed the time by chatting with the guy who set up her equipment. Unfortunately, I never got his name, but he was very friendly and I know he was from Perth. We prattled on about Australia and Australian musicians, and he reinforced the idea how insanely lucky I was to be so close to Missy at a free “concert”. Since I don’t live in Australia, I don’t think I can fully comprehend how popular she is over there, but I like to think that I can, at the very least, appreciate it.

Me, looking very tired from getting up at 7 A.M., driving to Chicago for an 8:00 P.M. concert, not going to sleep until 2:00 A.M., and getting up at 8:00 A.M. to see Missy at Borders. Holy crap.

Around 11:40, Missy came out to finish setting up her keyboard and guitar. By this time, there were probably 10 people (most of whom were at the concert the night before) waiting for the event to start and Missy was kind enough take some photos with us. So, it seems that crossing my fingers paid off after all.

The Borders event was, of course, a much shorter show than the Martyrs’ concert. But it really felt like a private party and Missy was there just to entertain us, and only us. She didn’t even have a playlist, she just took requests for songs off her new album from her fans (I managed to sneak in a request and Missy played it. Woo!)

After about 30 minutes, the show switched to an autograph signing. Convenient that I brought my CDs with me. I jumped in line fast enough to be third.

I was nervous when I talked to Missy, but she’s a very cool and down-to-earth person and seems like a really easy person to get along with. I can only imagine how much money she’s made since she started singing, and I’m glad that she hasn’t gone the way of the “American music star” and let all her fame and fortune go to her head.

As she signed my CD covers, I told her she was my favorite singer and more than worth the 5+ hour drive to see her. And then she looked at me like I was crazy and asked, “You drove 5 hours to see me? Where are you from?” I thanked her for her awesome performance at Martyrs’ and told her I’d drive back to Chicago in a heartbeat if she ever came back to sing, which resulted in a very Australian, “No worries”¹ and a “Thanks so much!”.

I’m sorry if this seems like too much rambling, but it’s been a very fast 48 hours and I’m completely burned out from driving for 10 of those 48 hours. I’ve probably bored most of you, but I think I really wrote this post for me. I’ve seen Missy Higgins live three times now, and each time keeps getting better and better. I’ll never forget my (too short of a) trip to Chicago, and I’ll never forget the concerts or the opportunity I’ve had in just getting to sit down and talk to Missy Higgins. It’s been one of the greatest experiences of my life, and means the world to me.

I took 51 photos at Borders, but I kept the flash off as to not annoy or distract Missy while she sang. Here are just a few that I thought turned out especially well. I also want to say that the guitarist in the green shirt (Ben Edgar, also quite good) is also very cool. He, too, thought I was crazy for driving 5 hours to see Missy.

¹ This phrase translates to “No problem” for any Yanks not familiar

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 12:46 am and is filed under Australia, Awesome, Music, Photos, Travels. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.