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Danny's Reading Series
Monday Jul 11, 2005.
By Erin Brereton
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For me, Tuesday nights are often about laundry, or, rather, desperately searching through my pants for quarters for laundry. But last Tuesday I was midway through my friend Jenny's visit, so that meant hitting Danny's for its free-as-can-be weekly reading series. (Which is usually held on Wednesday nights, but hey, it was a holiday week and I can't think of a better way to recover from firecracker after-burn than listening to people perform.) Located on Dickens, Danny's is Bucktown at its best: dark, low-key and full of indie hipsters. On certain Wednesdays, it's also home to the free reading series, featuring poets, musicians and the like, starting at 7:30 p.m. sharp. My friend Jenny is music at its best: clever, creative and a general powerhouse in the world of experimental composing. Although Jenny doesn't always start at 7:30 p.m. sharp (she's actually more of a morning person), she was kind enough to fly out to Chicago from Berlin to visit and perform a few pieces at Danny's. And, like Danny's, Jenny is the real deal. I am constantly awed and amazed at how she successfully balances her immense creativity (often channeled through instruments I didn't really knew existed, sometimes because she made them) with her solid Irish practicality, which allows her to focus on the business side of the industry, securing grants, making travel arrangements and you know, having money so she's not forced to live off eating sheet music. Mmmmmm, Canon in D! Not all extremely creative minds find it easy to think that way, which makes it hard for some to make a living. And although I technically am in a creative field (hey, this bad boy doesn't just write itself), when I talk to Jenny about what she is working on, or see her in action, I am always just blown away by how much (and how seemingly easily) Jenny pushes the edges of what you'd expect from someone behind a microphone. All I do to get creative is sometimes start a sentence with "And," which you're technically not supposed to do. Woo hoo!!! Look at me cut loose!!! For all those reasons, I love seeing Jenny perform. And although Danny's wasn't the biggest venue she's ever played (the girl last year lived and often performed in a castle—please note that as America continues to cut arts funding, Europe provides its creative types with free housing that comes with a moat), it was an excellent one. The 20-person audience sat glued to the three sets of performances: First, a choral group who sang a lovely arrangement of the phrase "You're shit and you know you are;" a local poet who closed his set with a humorous poem about beer, women and longing; and, finally, Jenny, who headlined with three pieces, one she hadn't composed and two she had. One piece involved the amplified sounds of nature, painstakingly recreated through various vocal techniques that replicated the sound of tiny insect wings flapping or animal footsteps. Those sounds were balanced out with several decade-old recordings of scientists discussing frogs, but luckily not dissecting frogs, as I was forced to do in seventh grade. A piece containing recordings of that would have just had to feature the sound of an exacto knife cutting and some light vomiting. However, it was Jenny's last piece that was the real crowd-pleaser: a multi-medley of pop songs, single words and lines strung together into a music memorabilia rollercoaster. After much clapping, the crowd returned to drinks drafts and chatting. The entire set of performances lasted maybe 45 minutes; it moved at a brisk pace and had the perfect mix of music, spoken word and a well-placed break to keep the crowd engaged. Danny's readings are often followed by a DJ, but we didn't linger to dance; Jenny and her boyfriend had plans and I'm in the midst of a move so I needed to go to Walgreen's. It was time to get creative with some moving boxes and paper towels. And let me just tell you, I may not be as adept as some at thinking outside the box, but when it comes to packing up my apartment, I'm all about being able to fill it. Fast. With everything I can. The Reading Series resumes in August at Danny's, 1951 W. Dickens. Call (773) 489-6457 for more information. And learn more about how cool Jenny is here.
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Erin Brereton is our resident urban cowgirl on a bi-weekly search for life on the cheap.