Trip Report: Peoria
(Thursday April 6 - Sunday April 9)


We meet up in the Peoria airport in the early evening and do a quick sound check at the venue, Jukebox Comedy Club. We make it as snappy as possible, because dumbass Storm managed to not eat all day*. And so...


FOOD REVIEW: Sizzling India - Peoria, IL
CATEGORY: Indian
Rating: +1*

Both of us have a real jones for Indian food, and something about this storefront across the street from Bradley University gave us the good vibe. We were richly rewarded for our wisdom. Lamb vindaloo brought a whole bagful of spicy, chicken tikka masala was rich and velvety, and palak paneer (a kind of creamed spinach with cubes of fresh cheese) was smooth and flavorful. Side orders of naan (flat bread similar to pita, but without the pocket)--one keema naan (bread with ground lamb baked in) and one garlic naan (take a wild guess)--were fresh, hot, and tasty. Service was unobtrusive, though despite drinking at least a gallon of water between us, our glasses were always topped off to the brim.


Bellies full, we made our way back to the club for amateur night, and the handful of comics we saw were quite good. Performed a short set at the end as a teaser, which went well. Crept back to the hotel and slept like the dead.

The next morning we had a pleasant surprise when we went to do morning radio. Hosting the Top 40/Adult Urban station where we hung out for an hour or so was a DJ friend we knew from when he was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, "Big D". Also did a local spot that was played during one of Mancow's breaks, and weaseled our way onto a third show by serenading them ("Scott & Gin....whyyyy do you hate us?.....") BONUS: Friday is Papa John's day at the station complex, when that chain** brings pizza for the DJs and have their product pushed. The real beneficiaries? Yours trulies. It was also a promotional day for Budweiser, but our DJ friends were slightly less than generous with that booty.

Having gorged ourselves on the fruits of John Schnatter's labor, we had no need to get breakfast or lunch, and napped instead.

Woke up, checked in at the club, and just had time for a quick bite before showtime...


FOOD REVIEW: Lonny's Dairyland - Peoria, IL
CATEGORY: Ice Cream Stand
Rating: 0

In brief, it did the job of sating our hunger, but we wouldn't go out of our way -- EXCEPT to get one of their butterscotch shakes (+1). To be fair, we judged the place in part on the jumbo dogs we had, which are not what you typically go to a drive-in style dairy bar for. Doggers had a nice hint of smoke and were served in a poppyseed bun, but they were prepared in a microwave. Gak. Hot fudge sundae was decent, but nothing special. Ice cream didn't have a ton of flavor, though the fudge sauce was better than typical.


Our feature act was a very funny young guy named Chris Schlichting, and he did a great job with the audiences. Among others, he's got a great bit about his childhood generic Teddy Ruxpin called "Gabby Bear". Early show, though smaller, was much more wired to have a good time, but we had fun with the late show just the same. Introduced two new live songs, "More Than Two" and a version of our "Kid in a Stripclub" song (we actually haven't given that one an official title yet).

Didn't eat after the show (it was after 1PM, anyway) and went straight to bed.

Next day featured sleeping in and...




FOOD REVIEW: La Bamba - Peoria, IL
CATEGORY: Fast-serve Mexican
Rating: 0

Basic reliable fast Mexican, a la Chipotle but not as chained-out. Also not quite as tasty. But good nonetheless. Big points for their salsas, which were fresh and peppy. Ground beef burritos did the job, hot and made to order. Nachos were a slight disappointment, as the chips were cookie-cutter and the cheese sauce tasty but with the consistency of Elmer's glue***.

Killed some time at Guitar Center, where Storm shopped around for...er...a guitar. Found quite a few, and probably going to settle on a Fender Standard Telecaster (MIM) soon, unless someone has an extra just laying around...

[...waiting...waiting...looking around...anyone?....Bueller?...anyone....]

...but probably not.

Early show at the Jukebox was teh r0x0r****. Over 170 people made for a raucus house, and we were so pumped that we barely screwed anything up, including "More Than Two", which got an even better reaction than the night before. Felt like superstars. Badly-dressed, slightly doughy superstars. Second show was tougher, as we were both coming off of the high from the first show, and our voices were about shot from three nights in a smoke-layered room. Still, the crowd gave as good as it got, and it was just as fun as the first show, though in a different way. For the weekend we played to a little more than 400 people, and probably talked to half of them after the shows.

In all, it was a real word-of-mouth-generating kind of weekend. Starting to feel like old times.

Later,

Paul and Storm


* Storm turns into something of a beast if not fed at regular intervals.
** which happens to be our pizza chain of choice.
*** don't get us wrong. We love ol' Elmer's. We spend hours coating our hands with that junk, letting it dry, and peeling it off like dead skin. Who says we don't know how to party?
**** that means we enjoyed it very, very much.