Before I met up with everyone at Gabe's, I took my sister Lisa out to dinner at the Vine. (The real one, on the corner of Gilbert and Prentiss.)
The Vine: Home of the Vine Stein. (Beer mugs the size of your head!)
Then it's off to Gabe's (with the non-descript sign)...
...where I met up with my friends: former Icon music writer Bill Fare, Jay Parsons from the Gazette...
...and our Roman friend, Fabrizio Battaglia.
Of course we had to drink Premium Grain Belt, (or as Jay called it, "the #1 Champion Beer of the World".)
The opening band, The Blackouts (from Champaign, IL), were awesome.
And this guy tried dancing, which lokked WAAAAAY weirder than this photo makes it out to be.
Jay burns me with one of Fabrizio's Italian cigars, Mafia-style.
Fabrizio is amused...and enjoying "the #1 Champion Beer of the World".
The next band up was The Noble Spirits, from Holland.
Dancing guy looking ominous. (Jay took this picture while I was downstairs, and I guess the guy tried to take the camera because he thought Jay was taking his picture...which he was. Wacky.)
And finally...The Goldstars!
And our friends Goodtime...
...and Skipper!
The Gabe's Wall of Fame...
...although I'm not sure if they actually call it that.
But really, the true landmark at Gabe's is the upstairs men's room urinal/trough.
Then it's off to the Iowa City Yacht Club for Iowa City's own Kelly Pardekooper.
It was his last show in Iowa before heading to Florida for a few months.
After that, we close down the night at Joe's Place, where we're joined by (on the left) "Some Guy Jay Knows" from that night at The Dublin Underground...
...and (on the right in the Roughriders jersey) our friend Clint, who lives in Iowa City.
Jay introduces Fabrizio to an American video game...
...where he gets to shoot a rifle. (God Bless the U.S.A.!)
