The Freaks Come Out at Night

Again, this song is NOT on the radio, but it's appropriate for this post. On Saturday, we headed to Chicago to celebrate Kelly's birthday. Kelly had suggested something a little different for the big 25. . . a goth club in Lincoln Park called Neo. Seeing as I am the polar opposite of goth (I wear more cable-knit than capes), I was very entertained at this idea and eager to check it out. I figured the people watching had to be outstanding. So we headed up to Chicago and pre-gamed at Kelly's place for a while. Everyone tried to get in the mood by wearing black (except for Kelly's friend Shane, clad in an all red ensemble) though I think only Kelly and Brian managed full-on goth look. We took a picture of the group and the all black gathering kind of looked for an ad for One Tree Hill or some other teen drama. So after a mishap with a bus (CTA: when people are standing under the bus stop sign, that means they want to ride) that led some interesting cab rides (in Kelly's, Kelly made an impassioned plea to CTA, complete with fake tears, over the phone about poor college kids who can't afford taxis; in my cab, we jammed to Love FM), we got to the club. We walked down the dark alley to Neo and entered to find a large black room with an interesting mix of people. I saw a guy in a french blue dress shirt (I didn't think those were allowed), a guy who could have passed for a lost Nelson brother, and some people who were more standard goth. We headed to the bar, and Nancy and I were delighted to see they had Woodchuck. Also available were $2 PBR drafts. I did not partake, but Kelly did and was pleasantly surprised to find that what was supposedly to be $2 PBR ended up being Blue Moon, quite a steal. Other PBR drinkers did not get so lucky. We ended up sitting in a lounge type area in one corner of the club, perfect for watching the ever growing amount of Neo patrons, including a man in a cowboy hat(again, are those allowed?). After a little bit Kelly, Melanie and I went out to dance. The music was kind of techno-industrial, but they threw in some 80's stuff as well. The styles of dance on the floor were quite varied; some danced like at a typical bar or club, one man danced somewhat like a Charlie Brown character, and others were bending and stretching like taffy, including a man in pinstriped pants and a guy with black pants that laced up the sides, revealing some unnecessary thigh. It was pretty dark in there so I couldn't always see everyone that was coming in, and much to my chagrin, I did not see any vampires or people with fangs. Everyone kept telling me that those people come later. Alas, it was not to be, as Melanie and I left pretty early, but I'll have to ask everyone else if there were any fang sightings. After a trip to the bathroom, where Nance and I encountered someone talking about her industrial-strength bra, Mel and I headed back to Kelly's to get the car. The fun of the evening was not to end there; on the way out of Kelly's parking lot we saw the BEST PORT-A-POTTY EVER. Pictures will follow. Overall notes on the evening: Neo was a lot of fun and not as intimidating as I expected, with the added bonus of Woodchucks. Kelly, have a lovely birthday tomorrow! More news later.