Monday, 6 February, 2006 - Tour Eve
Illinois’ practice space is at the end of a series of winding roads in an industrial complex in Feasterville, PA. There’s a stiff, frozen basketball net hovering over a car. The doors to the car are all open. Band members are draped over the seats, skinny legs hanging out, feet tapping to the beat of a cabaret-country style song blasting through the speakers from guitarist Dru Lee’s iPod.
Although the tune sounds like a scene straight out of A Mighty Wind, with a female vocalist and a contentedly strummed autoharp, it quickly becomes obvious (from the “fuck” peppered chorus) that some acoustic-lovin’ folks from who knows where down south have covered the Illinois’ song “Camoflauge.”
Quietly smiling, singer Chris Archibald asks Dru where he found the tribute. “My friend gave it to me. Dude, I don’t ask questions,” he replies.
The inside of the building is spacious, with high metal ceilings and cinderblock walls. The whole massive room is littered with artwork, with a stage set in the middle surrounded by folding chairs. The three of us, Sean, Derek and I, sit in different rows and listen. Plucked banjo and drumming pours from the stage, so upright and precise. Illinois fill the huge room with their even bigger sound. Eyes closed, Archibald leans into the microphone.
Illinois manager, Derek, who brought us here tonight, grins. “Just wait ‘till you see their show,” he says. “Illinois will never let you down.”
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