When your first gig starts with no comped drinks and ends with two cases of free beer, it's easy to feel like Karma is smiling upon you. Thus was our Wednesday and Thursday in Bloomington, Indiana. Upland Brewery mirrors many Michigan micro-breweries with its emphasis on quality craft beer and gourmet food catering to the refined hipster or independent music lover. Since we were not offered food, I can only vouch for the one beer I was able to try, the lemon flavored but not too sweet Wheat Ale. Upland houses a cozy indoor bar with a rather spacious outdoor patio, and so we played outside...on the pavement, without shade, in the sticky, Indiana summer. I can not tell you how much sweat we produced in total, but I can say the ice in my tall glass of water melted long before I finished drinking with a tablespoon of condensed air covering the exterior.
Upland was arguably not our strongest show especially considering we had not played together in a month, but we gained a few fans including one Upland employee named Kayle. Kayle warmly invited us back to his home a few miles away.
Perched in front of four acres of open field, just minutes away from sprawling suburbia, Kayle said that he would love to host an outdoor music festival in his backyard, like a mini-Woodstock for the good people of Bloomington. A complete drum set planted in the middle of the house ready for spontaneous free-jamming confirms these dreams and his priorities. As a former bassist for Hillary Duff's band, Kayle has the chops and experience to be a professional musician.
He also gets to take home the bottled beer that the brewery is unable to sell, beer bottles that are too full or too empty according to Kayle. With no taste for Upland's Wheat Ale, he offered us two full cases (40 bottles) for free! Sure we have limited space in the van, but what kind of gracious guests would we be to turn down cases of micro-brew beer?
After an extended jam session in the wee hours of Thursday morning, Nic, Eric and I collapsed in our respective beds and dreamt of hand drums accompanying electric guitar grooves. There's no lake around, but the spirit of 'Phish' was very present.
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| Upland Brewery Exterior Street View |
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| Our parking lot setup |
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| Nic and Eric by the van and the stage |
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| Cool Upland bike rack made of old bikes |
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| Kayle's House |
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| Kayle's commemorative plaque |
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| Close-up of plaque |
