Levis is the main reason were able to make it around the country this summer giving away tens of thousands of free treats. Part of the deal with them helping us out is that wed try to stop at as many Levis stores, showrooms, and events, as possible. It worked out great last week after Pitchfork Fest when I was in Chicago.
For some reason I assumed there was only one Levis store in Chicago and quickly got the address of Google Maps. As I got close to the store on Michigan Ave. something didnt seem right. I was supposed to have a parking spot saved out front but there was no parking at all on the block. I headed to the store to meet Elaine only to find out I was at the wrong Levis store… doh. I realized I was going to be a little late getting to the correct destination but figured, as long as I was at A Levis store, I might as well give some ice cream to all the folks working.
Next up was the Levis store off Milwaukee and Damen in Wicker Park. Elaine had used her motorcycle to save me a parking spot right out front and I squeezed Bessie in and got things in order. Its very interesting how different it is to randomly give away ice cream on the street versus backstage at a festival. People on the street are generally a bit more perplexed about the idea of free ice cream.
The neighborhood was quite cool and mellow and I hung out for a couple hours dishing goodies. One of my favorite moments was when a kid on a bike came by to get ice cream then asked how long I would be there. I told him at least an hour then he took off. He ended up riding up and down the street eating his popsicle and telling people there was free ice cream in front of the Levis store. Ha ha.. thats the best hype man you can have. Things picked up a bit after that and we slang to some families, to a couple ladies getting their hair done, and some karate kids.
Casey Oconnell, who we did a story on in Off the Wookie, had recently sent me a painting and Gooch forwarded it along to me in Chicago. While there was some downtime I used some plastic mirror holding thingees to hang it in the truck. Its so great cuz now shes staring at everyone as they come up to the door of Bessie to get cream.
As I wandered (a lil lost) down the block I happened to pass The Boring Store. To avoid any confusion, there was a sign in the window stating, Not a secret agent supply store. This was yet another learning center ran by 826, who runs the Superhero Supply Company (and learning center) in Brooklyn where we slang a bunch of cream a few weeks ago. It was past their closing time so I snapped a few pics of what I could before moving on down the road for dinner. Click here for good rundown on The Boring Store.
Once I got back to the truck I ran into my friend Mollie from LA whod just got some dinner with Tim from Califone. At the same time we were chatting, Jamie Lidell, whod preformed at Pitchfork the day prior happened to be walking by and we all chatted for a bit and ate some ice cream before I made my way back to the trusty Apache Motel.
