Tim Stopulos

Thanks to all of you who came to Goose Island this friday night. That was the best crowd I can ever remember playing for. And, given that this was our debut, and that things weren't perfect sonically, we are even more indebted for your graciousness. Despite all the issues, we had a great time hanging out with all you. We'll be back playing in Chicago in the next couple months, and if we had the exact same crowd, I would be completely satisfied. Of course, if you bring even more friends along to rock, I'm cool with that too. Totally cool with it. Keep spreading the word, keep bumping the CD, we'll make the next show even better. Promise. I love you all.

It's finally coming. All that emptiness you felt each time you crossed off another day on the calendar with your sharpie, unsure when all that crossing would end, it's finally over. The debut performance of the Tim Stopulos Trio is on the books. Mark it down:

9:00 PM - Friday, August 15 at Goose Island Wrigleyville.

Kevin Mileski starts the show at 9, Joy Missile keeps it going, and Tim Stopulos (aka the Tim Stopulos Trio, T Stop Trio, T Stopulos Trio, any variation thereof) will go on around 11.

If you've been waiting to come out to one of our shows thinking "Ehh...I'll make it to the next one" - this is your show. This is the only time we will be playing in Chicago in the next few months. Honestly, your next chance to see us might be when it's very cold outside. So book your flights, put the kids to bed early (might want to wait a few days on this one), get off work on the 15th to mentally prepare, whatever it takes.

As I said, this is the first Tim Stopulos (Trio) show of all time. So I really don't know what it will be like. However, just so we are on the same page, I envision this - more or less:

Keep in mind it's indoors, so make whatever visual alterations that would necessitate. Also it will be me on the stage so, take the picture of that crowd and combine it with this, and you have Goose Island 8/15:

Minus the keytar, the fly girl, and Brendan being really cool.

Here's the point: This will be awesome. I really hope you can make it. I'll see you there.

As I sit on my couch with my computer the day after the Pontiac Cafe show (for an idea of what that might look like - please see "Cribs" in the January section of the archive), everything is pretty still. I can hear the buzz of my dryer start to die away, while the TV is muted and Bach's "The Well-Tempered Clavier" is open to "Fugue in C# Major" next to me. I have a hint of a headache that's exacerbated by the unsufferable beeping of my now completed dryer. It's almost 1 PM, I'm only wearing shorts, I've been up for 5 hours and I still haven't eaten anything. This is definitely the day after a gig. Thank God I don't have to work.

Last night's show was small and short. We played maybe 8 songs, and got paid right around minimum wage. Still, I can't help but think it was a big step forward. "Normal", the first song of the night, is feeling stronger every time we play it. "Wandering" is better than it's ever been. "Overrated" was a blast to play and "Weak and Willing" had huge energy. To everyone who made it - I hope you had as much fun as I did. Hopefully we can do it again soon.

For those of you who still don't believe I play music, I offer indisputable visual proof in the form of four photographs. And I'm not just sitting at the piano not playing, if that's what you're thinking (AD). And for those of you who still don't believe that I have (a) friend(s) with whom I play, I ask you to look closely at the fourth (not the band). That's Justin, and he's playing a "cajon" (pronouced ka-hone'). Translate that however you like. You may notice that in all the pictures, this website plugs itself. It's not a link. It's a website within a website. I think Poe wrote about this kind of thing once.

My band will be debuting very soon. New material. New look. New balance. So stay very tuned.

Uptown on May Day was one of those nights that just worked. It had plenty going against it - late on a Thursday night, storms brewing, sparse crowd, etc. As I'm sure I've mentioned in the past, for any show to be great, there has to be an energy in both the performer and audience, the whole of which is greater than the sum of the separate parts. As the performer on this night, I can tell you that, before the show, I wasn't fully prepared to live up to my side of the bargain. After sizing up the crowd, I figured they probably weren't up for bringing much to the table either. And again, a storm was a brewing. Ominous signs.

However, for whatever reasons, it clicked. I'm going to go ahead and give myself some credit, because nobody was feeling it at the beginning, but I just really wanted to play. So, contrary to what I had predicted, I wasn't holding anything back. And the fine folks at Uptown didn't seem all too interested at first. But as the night wore on, I think I started chipping at the audience's collective shell. By the second set, I was having a blast, and usually, that rubs off on the people watching. I can't speak for the crowd, but as for myself, this show far exceeded the expectations I had subconsciously harbored. Thanks to everyone who came - especially those who could stick around til the end!

Highlights.
1) Mario (people cannot get enough of that, it seems)
2) Normal (new original)
3) Too Close
4) Watchtower
5) Paul Simon Medley (only slightly premeditated)