Andy and I went to see Jim White play at Schubas on 29 June. The show was scheduled for 9 o’clock, and the doors were supposed to open at 8.30. For whatever reason the doors were still closed at 8.45 and there was a line of people waiting to get in. Then Jim came through the doors and started apologizing to everyone. “I’ve never seen anything like this, “he said. “Thanks for waiting.” He made his way down the line and one by one shook everyone’s hand.

He gestured over to the corner where a smiling woman dressed casually in jeans and wearing glasses was standing. He said, “That’s my sister. She came to see the show too.”

The show was incredible! The band was funky & tight. And damn, the guitar player Chris was so so so yummy. Were Andy & I the only gay people in the crowd?

Afterwards Jim was talking to people & selling his cd’s & some t-shirts that he designed himself. He said that he didn’t think they’d ever played better than they had tonight. When it was my turn, I went up to him and shook his hand again. I told him I was awfully glad he was on Luaka Bop or I might not have ever heard of him. I bought ‘Wrong-Eyed Jesus!’ and told him how hard it is to find here in Chicago. He said, “Yeah, that’s what I’ve been hearing.”

He was very friendly, very modest, very at-ease. He said that opening for Dave Matthews was strange; the crowds were so huge that there seemed to be a quarter mile between him and the closest audience member! He asked me what I did & so I told him that I work for Intelligentsia Coffee (www.intelligentsiacoffee.com), the best damn coffee in Chicago. He said, “Please don’t tell my tour manager that; he’ll want to go and get some but we gotta be on the road tonight because tomorrow we play in Columbus, Ohio.”

Seeing Jim White was everything a $12 concert should be!