Sat., April 11, B.L.U.E.S., Chicago, IL -- I keep meaning to ask someone what the hell B.L.U.E.S. stands for, but every time I think of asking, I'm by myself. Does that mean something? Anyhoo, we picked up Tony and his wife, Bev, and had Joanna's mom, Bobbie, along with her roommate, Mary, so it was quite a van-full. Bobbie hadn't seen Joanna perform for several years, it was concluded--at least four. Mary had never seen Joanna perform mainly because she has an extreme case of agoraphobia and claustraphobia that prevents her from being in a crowded room or driving in a car. Tonight, though, Mary had the Bach Flower Rescue Remedy clutched in her hand, and it made things tolerable for her. I had suggested she get some a few weeks back, and was glad to see she had. She tolerated the trip to the club in the crowded van, and I was proud of her for being brave about the club--because B.L.U.E.S. always packs out when Joanna plays there. Tonight was no exception almost from the git-go. The stage is microscopic and I had to literally balance my kick drum off the edge of the stage to give me enough room to swing my arms. Even at that, I was missing about four inches on the sides, so had to forgo my favorite 12" splash cymbal that I usually place back of the hi-hat, and reposition the floor toms very scientifically. It was the night before Easter, so the crowd seemed strangely subdued. The streets were kind of empty, too, perhaps filled with the wafting portent of religiosity...who knows? Nonetheless, we rocked the place. After the first set I checked in with Bobbie and Mary who had taken up residence right in front of the stage--right in front of Joanna's seriously blasting Victoria 100-watt amp. Bobbie said she loved it, and Mary was also actually having a good time, and looking somewhat relieved. I love Rescue Remedy. I've never seen it fail. It's always a FOUR-SET night at B.L.U.E.S., so we were shamelessly lengthening every song. Joanna said she was playing like shit, but I certainly couldn't tell. Sounded like she was rippin' it up to me. We rocked on through the night, and on the last set Joanna got the young sax player with the leopardskin finish on his instrument, who plays with a local funk horn band (names escape me, as usual), who got a great response, and was very complimentary of the band. At 2:30 a.m. it was over, and I lugged the drums out without Darnell's help, as he had opted to stay at home with the baby, since there was really nowhere to keep her in the club while the band was howling. I bought a t-shirt with one of 10 B.L.U.E.S. logo designs to choose from, and got a bumper sticker for one of my drum cases. Got to look like I'm a road dog, ya know...